Catherine and I left Denise’s and headed to the Becker Prairie, also in Cooke County. This prairie is always worth a stop!
Becker’s Prairie always has much to see!
Catherine said, “bumblebee!” So off I went to chase them. 🙂 This was a American Bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus). Moreover this species is also being considered for the Endangered Species List. ;-(
Catherine headed in a different direction.
Among the many species includes the Prairie Ground Plum (Astragalus crassicarpus) with its fruit, Cornsalad (Valerianella amarella), and Bladderpod (Physaria gracilis), the yellow one!
Shooting Stars (Primula meadia) are a reason to stop!
A really dark vibrant Shirley’s Star! A post or two ago Alesha asked me what pollinates the Shooting Stars. Well, bumblebees do! Moreover they are the hungry queens preparing for the new season. They do something called buzz pollination. They use vibrations to dislodge the pollen. You can see them do this on the nightshade plants as well.
Across the dusty road, was one lone Death-camass (Toxicoscordion nuttallii) blooming!
Indeed a beautiful friend came to dine. They are the Poison Ivy Sawfly (Arge humeralis).
There were two friends on the Death-Camass. And this one was going for the full dive!
Indeed it had been a lovely day with Catherine and visiting Denise’s prairie too!
Becker is slways wonderful – so sorry I missed it this year.
How appropriate- an ancient egg for Easter – will be interesting to know what secrets it has inside.
Glad to see TPWD acquiring new places – hope to see them someday.
The egg is amazing. Even if it was in ideal conditions it’s still an extraordinary find. Hard to imagine.
I love bumblebees.
That’s the right word… extraordinary!
Becker is slways wonderful – so sorry I missed it this year.
How appropriate- an ancient egg for Easter – will be interesting to know what secrets it has inside.
Glad to see TPWD acquiring new places – hope to see them someday.
It does seem appropriate somehow that the Poison Ivy Sawfly likes to hang out with Death Camas. 🙀😳
Yes this blew my mind!!