On the second day of the quail survey, I was lucky! Two bobwhites calling. One each on two different units! There are twelve locations which I listen for five minutes at a location. I will repeat this two more times at each location. The following photos are from Sunday after we finished the survey.
The views from the mesa are just gorgeous!
Pineapple Cactus (Coryphantha sulcata)! I wonder if the Dodder (Cuscuta) (orange stringy stuff) will try to latch on to the cactus?
White Compass Plant’s (Silphium albiflorum) resin glistened!
Rainbow Grasshopper nymph blending!
So the Pallid-winged Grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis) is even harder to spot.
This Praying Mantis ootheca may be the smallest I have seen. It was only about a half inch long!
Walking further, a Pineapple Cactus (Coryphantha sulcata) was closing down.
Then we were surprised to still see one fully open!
The Foxtail Cactus (Escobaria vivipara var. radiosa) had a crown of babies on top! All that we found of this species, had finished up for season.
Foxtail Cactus (Escobaria vivipara var. radiosa) with its product for the season, a green fruit. Dr Blue has germinated these three; Escobariamissouriensis, E. vivipara, and Coryphantha sulcata. Check out her blog post (By popular request: germinating native cacti) about the process if you have a hankering to try.
A Red or Carolina Saddlebags perched only for a moment!
How does Square-bud Primrose (Calylophus berlandieri) manage to still be blooming in this heat and dry weather?
Two quail. Thats the best news I’ve heard n a long time. Hope you hear many more before end of survey🤞🏽🤞🏽
So glad you recorded quail! Grasshopper camouflage is amazing.
Makes me happy too!