We made it back to the car, BUT I wanted to look for one more thing out on the barrens above the grotto. So off we went.
Not what I was looking for, but the White Prairie Rose’s rosehip was nestled in the grass. I had never noticed the hairs on them before.
Not the usual shaped cow patty!
Here is what I wanted to locate, the Cymopterus (Vesper macrorhizus)! It certainly was not big and this was the biggest bloom we found that day. The lack of rain certainly can not be helping. This was on February 1st. Today’s rain, (Feb 17th) was nice but not near enough. We only got two-tenth of inch at our house.
Last meadowlark in the tree! There had been five or six all facing the same way. Earlier we saw a male Northern Harrier and quite a few sparrows. Mostly Savannahs and Vespers.
We could not stop now. The prairie and rise ahead was calling our names LOL!
First stop was this Honey Locust tree! It was loaded with interesting stuff.
Besides the multiple spider egg casings, we found multiple of the Praying Mantises oothecae (egg casings).
A ladybug stopped on this one! Amazing how many egg cases were on the one tree! And so easy to see the finds in the tree’s winter apparel (or maybe that would be the lack of…no leaves).
Limestone rocks littered the field among the grasses!
Panorama view of the prairie! And don’t think this was the end, there still are more cool treasures yet to come on this outing at Dixon!
Alan, I agree. We have that type of rain gauge too. We’ve loved having it and can read it with binoculars from our dining room window if the weather event is still going on.
I really love that prairie so much.
Prairies are full of surprises. And beautiful.
Certainly a fav of mine too😎
Speaking of rain, I managed to get 0.16″ here in NW Dallas. I was excited to use my new rain gauge; https://smile.amazon.com/Stratus-Precision-Mounting-Bracket-Weather/dp/B000X3KTHS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1CC9YZ80DQU7N&keywords=Stratus+Precision+Rain+Gauge+with+Mounting+Bracket+%2814%22+All+Weather%29&qid=1645200691&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=stratus+precision+rain+gauge+with+mounting+bracket+14+all+weather+%2Clawngarden%2C74&sr=1-1. It measures rain in a hundredth of an inch.
Alan, that definitely looks like a niffy gauge! And so happy you got to try it out. Thanks for sharing the type you got!
Alan, I agree. We have that type of rain gauge too. We’ve loved having it and can read it with binoculars from our dining room window if the weather event is still going on.
Great idea Suzanne! Using your binos!
The cymopterus is always cute