It was a lovely afternoon celebrating the Texas Land Conservancy 40th anniversary at the Dixon Foundation near Leo yesterday.
We met at the Clint Josey Pavilion where the Elm Fork chapter of Master Naturalists and Texas Land Conservancy had set up displays.
On the walks, we saw many plants including Blue Sage, annual buckwheat, Liatris (gayfeathers), and grasses to mention just a few. Among the butterflies was this Reakirt’s Blue (Echinargus isola)! Additionally, I saw a couple of monarchs floating high overhead.
At the half way point of the walk, the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society had set up a cooking demo. I was ready for a taste! The meatballs were the first menu item that was ready.
As we continued the walk, the Antelope Horns had some nice guests on board. One monarch caterpillar!
On a nearby leaf was a brown lacewing!
Two Antelope Horns milkweeds over, the other royalty, the Queen caterpillars!
Two more critters, Garden Webworm Moth (Achyra rantalis) and a black ant! The milkweeds were a good place for the insects.
Then one participant showed off the Common Wood-nymph as a fashion accessory!
Of course, the second group were at the Dutch oven demo just in time for the brownies. So the smiles tell it all.
Next, the armadillo made an appearance!
A praying mantis also got a meal!
This was by the far the coolest critter of the day for me, a Buckeye caterpillar shedding it skin! Caterpillars shed their skins between instars as they grow. Never having seen the skin before it was a real treat.
Indeed, a great day was had by all. So if you didn’t make it this time, be sure to watch for other opportunities to visit the Dixon Foundation in the future.
Keep looking!
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know
10 Comments
Nice to see the beautiful cats. The skin shedding is a great photo. And armadillo looks healthy. Glad you went.
I forgot to add that Susan H. prompted me look closer at the Buckeye cat. I saw it and the skin when I was releasing it. But I was really ready to go home so was not really looking carefully or thinking about what I was seeing. The cat, I had picked up earlier to show folks. Thanks Susan!
We had an awesome group. Michelle projected about 20 attendees, but the number turned out to be almost 30. Those trainees are intelligent, energized and sharp-eyed. They found so many good things, including several monarch cats!
Nice to see the beautiful cats. The skin shedding is a great photo. And armadillo looks healthy. Glad you went.
I forgot to add that Susan H. prompted me look closer at the Buckeye cat. I saw it and the skin when I was releasing it. But I was really ready to go home so was not really looking carefully or thinking about what I was seeing. The cat, I had picked up earlier to show folks. Thanks Susan!
Fabulous day! Was it pretty well attended?
It was nice crowd of about 20-30 people I estimate. So pretty good. How was your training that day at Rock Creek and Chisholm Trail?
We had an awesome group. Michelle projected about 20 attendees, but the number turned out to be almost 30. Those trainees are intelligent, energized and sharp-eyed. They found so many good things, including several monarch cats!
That’s awesome! We both had terrific groups!!!
Thank you so much Mary! We had a great day. Our whole team is excited to visit the site again!
Thank you again for the wonderful guided hike.
It was a fun event. And happy 40th to TLC! See you sometime down the road 🙂
So good to have a good prairie nearby!
Indeed, we are lucky here in North Texas with Dixon and the grasslands. 🙂