The weather was perfect for an outing to the Dixon Water Foundation. Furthermore, it is so delightful to have Claire along to share the morning with me.
First up, Gracilis Bladderpod (Physaria gracilis or syn Lesquerella gracilis)! Certainly a favorite spring flower for me that likes the prairie!
Next another prairie loving flower, the Slender Leaf Daisy (Tetraneuris linearifolia)!
We had been heading to the grotto, but I decided not to risk going through the soft mud. Stopping at the first stream crossing, we decided to explore up the stream where I had not been before. There were sure to be interesting stuff awaiting us. Here are the recent tracks of a raccoon that had waded through the creek before us.
Suddenly, I saw a water creature dart across the bottom of the creek. My first thought was a dragonfly larva.
As we got closer, Claire spotted the pinchers! It was a three or four centimeters long crawdad or if you prefer crawfish. To ID one, Claire found that you need to look at eyes and underbelly. So it will be safe to say, it is a crawdad! 🙂 Look closely at the photo; do you see all the eggs around it?
A person Claire knows, says they are probably Cricket Frog eggs.
In fact the creek bed was covered with the eggs!
Adult Cricket Frog!
Mournful Thyris (Pseudothyris sepulchralis) was a nice spring find. It is very distinctive black and white moth and one I always enjoy seeing each spring!
A new species for me was this Prairie Burnet (Poteridium annuum) in the Rosaceae family. I know it looks nothing like rose, but thanks Abby for getting us to the correct ID!
Yellow Star-grass (Hypoxis hirsuta) was blooming. This was a spring favorite of Shirley’s. So to find one, look in the seepy areas.
The Prairie Paintbrush (Castilleja purpurea) can be seen in the prairie and along the roadsides in Wise County now.
The Dixon Water Foundation is a real treasure!
Keep looking!
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know.
9 Comments
It was really fun! Thanks for taking me there!! On the frog eggs, cricket frog was just a guess as they lay earlier than some other frogs and we saw one there. Nothing identifiable in particular.
The moth is small. It is only about8 to 10 millimeters. Another spring moth I love is the Grapevine Epimenis (Psychomorpha epimenis) which I have not seen yet. It is a black with larger white bars on the fore wings and larger orange bars on the hind wings. https://bugguide.net/node/view/1062065
It was really fun! Thanks for taking me there!! On the frog eggs, cricket frog was just a guess as they lay earlier than some other frogs and we saw one there. Nothing identifiable in particular.
Good to know. Thanks again!
Nice to see so much water. The moth is gorgeous. I do love crawdads and frogs but not to eat. Looks like a great outing.
Twas fer sure fun!
Cool frog eggs!
Happy to see the froggie eggs as the world needs more frogs. I have never seen that beautiful moth. Great photos as always.
The moth is small. It is only about8 to 10 millimeters. Another spring moth I love is the Grapevine Epimenis (Psychomorpha epimenis) which I have not seen yet. It is a black with larger white bars on the fore wings and larger orange bars on the hind wings. https://bugguide.net/node/view/1062065
Fantastic post! Crawdad, yellow star-grass, prairie burnet wow. Lovely morning!
Definitely a lovely morning 🙂