Welcome to my nature blog! I love sharing my photos of North Texas! I will keep looking out and hope you do too.
Comments welcome. Thank you, Mary
It was pretty good day for birds yesterday. On the grasslands outing, I had my FOS of White-eyed Vireo. I didn’t see it, but certainly heard it. Also heard the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and Black and White Warblers! The best bird seen was the bobbing tailed waterthrush! Hard to tell whether it was Northern or Louisiana….
While at the Garnett Preserve, we came across some scale on a Chittamwood (Sideroxylon lanuginosum subsp. oblongifolium) tree. It really was quite pretty. And my curiosity was stirred as well. Here is what I found… This is a Chittamwood tree. When the new leaves are coming on, they are this light green unlike most of…
On the tour, we had a nice view of a female Harrier that sailed across in front of us. That was the bird highlight. We had several Loggerhead Shrikes, meadowlarks, and of course the vultures that day as well. After the Garnett Preserve, we stopped in to check on another special Shirley plant on…
We took a hiking and driving tour yesterday in Montague and Cooke counties. Today’s post will be the hiking part on the Garnett Preserve. This is now owned and managed by the Thomsen Foundation. Always a delight to visit this wonderful preserve with 469 species of plants. The Redbuds are just spectacular! This is a…
More good stuff 🙂 Pussy toes (Antennaria parlinnii)! Did you think it was going to be a kitty cat? 😉 This was a favorite plant that Shirley liked to show me in Cooke County. It was certainly easier to see there since it was on the roadside. Pussy Toes (Antennaria parlinnii) are in the Asteraceae…
The Redbuds are going like gangbusters! The creek was much wider than other creeks we have been going to lately. Ground-plum (Astragalus crassicarpus) is an interesting plant. It has fruit that resembles a small plum. The flowers are really pretty. This plant is a legume. Never tire of the roots along the banks! There was…
We found a new plant for the grasslands. I never would have thought I would find this orchid in our area. This is super cool! I drove home like a mad woman! Why, because the petals were not suppose to stay on for only a couple of hours. And of course we had no idea…
I hear this banging coming from the dining room. What is Jim up to I wondered? It was not Jim but our feathered friend looks to be back. Grrrr. I hope he does not do it too much or we will be putting up the screens and outside shade. A cardinal attacked the windows for…
Do you remember I found these cocoons on the grasslands last week? I left half of them in the prairie. They were tiny and bright yellow! Well, they hatched! They opened each cocoon with this perfect round lid. Here’s what they looked like. There were about 2-3mm long not including legs or antenna. Amazing how…