The First Wednesday group was a happenin’ rain or shine. The forecast had been so promising today. However, all we got was a lot of sunshine this morning. Oh well, maybe tonight…fingers crossed!
When sunrise starts like this, it has be an omen for a good day. 🙂
The First Wed group started along the shore of Little Cottonwood. The Common Ground-cherry (Physalis longifolia var subglabrata) seed pods were not pop-able. They had holes at the bottom of the pods.
However the Balloonvine (Cardiospermum halicacabum) was a different story. Its pods are three sided and some of those did pop! We were off to a great start!
Some of the lakes at the grasslands are stocked. It is not uncommon to find fishing lures. However the crawdad was a new lure for me.
The Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium var canadense) is a common plant along the wetter areas. I call it the porcupine egg plant. LOL Look carefully at this particular plant. Do you see the cats?
This might be a Painted Lady. So it does have a lot of hairs on the head, however to me it didn’t have enough hairs on the rest of its body like I normally observe. The setae (spikey things) yes. Maybe it was just different since it was not on a thistle. Moreover the webbed nest was not nearly as substantial that I usually see on a thistle nest. So for now I am just going with Brush-footed Butterfly (Nymphalidae).
Side view of the above critter.
Some were pretty darn small!
Another cat! However this was on Wooly Croton (Croton capitatus). Rolled up in the typical fashion for the Goatweed Leafwing butterfly. Thanks Art for holding it open for the shot.
Another cat was nearby! Possibly a Gray Hairstreak. However it is hard to distinguish the hairstreak (Theclinae) butterfly’s larva unless you raise them. They vary a lot and look very similar. The Gray Hairstreak can be on a variety of host plants.
More tomorrow on the First Wed outing! Cross your fingers and toes for rain tonight.
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know
5 Comments
Did you take the brush footed cat home to rear so we will know for sure?
Cool lure. My dad always had a lure that looked like a mouse. Apparently mice could swim across a stock tank and get snatched by a large mouth bass. So a mouse lure was part of the tackle box.
I did not take one because they were small. And we have a small trip planned so care would be an issue. Perhaps they will be bigger and I can go back to collect one. A mouse lure, very interesting!
Did you take the brush footed cat home to rear so we will know for sure?
Cool lure. My dad always had a lure that looked like a mouse. Apparently mice could swim across a stock tank and get snatched by a large mouth bass. So a mouse lure was part of the tackle box.
I did not take one because they were small. And we have a small trip planned so care would be an issue. Perhaps they will be bigger and I can go back to collect one. A mouse lure, very interesting!
Nice morning of cats! Thanks for linking to the article about Michelle’s project. I hope you got a good, hail-free rain!
It was a good cat day! Michelle deserves the recognition. Great job Michelle! And yes we got a good rain, 1.6″ YIPPEE!
Nice cats!