What a lovely day to visit one of my favorite state parks, Ft. Richardson State Park in Jacksboro, TX!
As we entered the park near the fort’s parade ground the Killdeer were marching across the grass!
Our first trail was the Kicking Bird Trail. We saw birds and the path was lined with mosses!
Then we headed to the popular Lost Creek Trail which is lined with beautiful lichens. Many of these lichens will glow under a UV light.
Here was a first for me on a Prickly Pear Cactus, a Resin Bee nest!
Jim’s sharp eyes spotted the 2mm Red Velvet Mite (Trombidium)! It really is quite stunning.
And while I was up looking at the mosses and lichens, Jim found an interesting Potter Wasp (Eumeninae)!
Another great find on this trip was the Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica)! Correction: This is a Trachemys scripta Pond Slider! Thanks to groverbrown on INat. Still it was a cool turtle!
Indeed, the tiny Powdery Cloak Fern (Argyrochosma dealbata) is always a welcome sight!
Finally this heart shaped lichen said it all. We love this park!
What a great way to spend the day – so many gifts along the way. Will be on the lookout for a resin bee nest now too.
Hooray for the park acquisitions!
FYI I had remembered a similar pebble construction that I had found back in 2023. See my find here…https://bugguide.net/node/view/2314921 So I did some further searching on the Resin bees this morning and found this on BugGuide https://bugguide.net/node/view/79004 …..Pebble Bees (Dianthidium). My friend James Hung suggested another possible genus a Rotund Resin Bees (Anthidiellum). Thanks James!
That really is a special park and you found lots of treasures. I’m not familiar with a resin bee nest. Glad you had a beautiful day.
I’ve never heard of a resin bee. I’ll be doing some research. Hooray for more state parkland!
What a great way to spend the day – so many gifts along the way. Will be on the lookout for a resin bee nest now too.
Hooray for the park acquisitions!
The resin bee nest is really cool!
FYI I had remembered a similar pebble construction that I had found back in 2023. See my find here…https://bugguide.net/node/view/2314921 So I did some further searching on the Resin bees this morning and found this on BugGuide https://bugguide.net/node/view/79004 …..Pebble Bees (Dianthidium). My friend James Hung suggested another possible genus a Rotund Resin Bees (Anthidiellum). Thanks James!