Interesting fallen tree right? Well, it probably doesn’t look like much. But here the first bug was trying to get in my hair. And I could not see what it was.
Then I saw them! And at the end video, with my arg moment was the second annoyed Honey Bee that investigated me. The bee probably said the same about me. LOL The Honey Bees seemed to be finding plenty of pollen. So now I wondered how long they will stay in this spot since the snag had fallen.
Perhaps in some of the nearby holes in upright trees, they will move for a safer spot?
Maybe the bees were visiting the chickweed? Unfortunately, many of the chickweeds in our area are non-native. Two genera in North Texas go by the common name of chickweed, Stellaria and Cerastium. There are six Cerastium species in FNCT of which only two are native.
So the other genus, Stellaris, both of its species in FNCT are non-native. After reviewing my photos and the key at home, I believe it was Stellaris media. Darn, because there was quite a bit of the stuff in this area. However, the bees might have been happy with it.
Indeed, a shelf fungus with an attitude.
As we stood looking at the above fungus, suddenly this fell from above. However, we had no clue to its identity. But it sure was pretty.
Next we found a nice patch of the Funaria hygrometrica mosses as we headed back to the car.. Of course, Jeanne ID’d this acrocarp moss!
The final find was a liverwort called Texas Balloonwort (Sphaerocarpaceae texanus) in the damp sandy path! Certainly, was hard to believe there was damp soil.
So I just happened to recognize it because sometimes it will show up in our woods. It is ephemeral plant which likes damp spots and is a winter annual.
Sorry you upset the honeybees. That shelf fungus with attitude is hilarious.
the liverworts are really cool! I found a honeybee hole a few weeks ago in a cemetery…I wanted to investigate further but thought better of it!
So magical to find a bee hive! Sweet!
I remember the balloonwort!! Fun one. Really cool about ancient neuroptera at Walmart. Guess everyone has to do their shopping…
Ha ha!