The air was thick this morning with 92% humidity. It felt like you were wading in water LOL.
The humidity did not stop the Eastern Leaf-footed Bugs from mating early this morning!
The little cats are starting to hang out. This is a type defense to evade predators by dropping on their silk threads.
I watched another one start the climb back up. It twisted and swung on the climb.
For several mornings now, I have seen the White-lined Sphinx at the Lyre-leaf Sage.
Gaura! The unopened buds.
The Gaura flowers!
Ten-petal Anemone going to seed!
A native dandelion! It is either Pyrrhopappus pauciflorus which has a tuberous thickening root or P grandiflorus with fibrous roots. Hard to tell apart unless you pull one up.
The parents left the babies home alone! These are the Carolina Chickadees. When a baby bird has no feathers and eyes shut after hatching, they are called altricial.
Keep looking!
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know.
6 Comments
Yay chickadees!!! We are certainly on opposite sides of the cold front 🤣
That humidity did me in today. Love the shape of the gaura buds!
We have had a white lined sphinx around daily for days now. Visits everything tubular like the sages, skullcaps, etc. Really fun watching it zooming around.
I did not know or totally forgot about 2 species of the native dandelion. Guess I’ll have to go pull one tomorrow. I let them go in my backyard 3 years ago and they have taken over. But the native TX Dandelion is a gorgeous plant, much better than the nonnative. Because it has been so prolific I can spare one and pull it up. Now to find someone who will come pull up my Pink Evening Primrose. They left the spot I put them in and have taken over a whole flower bed. The plants they are surrounding are starting to look bad and disappear. My Salvia texana died out, Monarda fistulosa is dying back and the tiny special plants are being smothered. But the blanket of pink is pretty.
I guess that is why the Pink Evening Primrose does so good along the roadsides. Mine not are so spreading. Will you try to move some of the other plants? Did you see you could use in salad? https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=oesp2 And especially beneficial to native bees.
Hooray for the chickadees! I’ve had lots of white-lined sphinx moths too. Pink evening primrose is one of their larval host plants, and I have a lot of that. Like Kathy it’s taken over a couple of my beds.
Yay chickadees!!! We are certainly on opposite sides of the cold front 🤣
That humidity did me in today. Love the shape of the gaura buds!
We have had a white lined sphinx around daily for days now. Visits everything tubular like the sages, skullcaps, etc. Really fun watching it zooming around.
I did not know or totally forgot about 2 species of the native dandelion. Guess I’ll have to go pull one tomorrow. I let them go in my backyard 3 years ago and they have taken over. But the native TX Dandelion is a gorgeous plant, much better than the nonnative. Because it has been so prolific I can spare one and pull it up. Now to find someone who will come pull up my Pink Evening Primrose. They left the spot I put them in and have taken over a whole flower bed. The plants they are surrounding are starting to look bad and disappear. My Salvia texana died out, Monarda fistulosa is dying back and the tiny special plants are being smothered. But the blanket of pink is pretty.
I guess that is why the Pink Evening Primrose does so good along the roadsides. Mine not are so spreading. Will you try to move some of the other plants? Did you see you could use in salad? https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=oesp2 And especially beneficial to native bees.
Those babies look like Dr. Seuss characters. Sweet babies. Hope they all make it while you’re gone.
Hooray for the chickadees! I’ve had lots of white-lined sphinx moths too. Pink evening primrose is one of their larval host plants, and I have a lot of that. Like Kathy it’s taken over a couple of my beds.
I didn’t know its host plant was the pink evening primrose. Thanks!