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
Be sure to wear your hunter orange if you are on the LBJ National Grasslands! Check TPWD for a complete list. Crambid Snout Moths (Crambidae) have 860 species in 10 subfamilies. This one was on Palafoxia (Palafoxia callosa). Green lacewing (Chrysopidae) on Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) . Shiny mushroom on a fallen Blackjack (Quercus marilandica) Keep looking!
My morning started off with this pretty Mint-loving Pyrausta (Pyrausta acrionalis) moth. Only about about 8mm (5/16″). Here are two millipedes. They crossed paths but went on their separate merry ways. The small one is in the class of Millipedes (Diplopoda) The bigger one I got to order Flat-backed Millipedes (Polydesmida). An example of a House Centipede( Scutigera coleoptrata) courtesy of Judy. It…
Yesterday was a nice day to be at the grasslands. Cow patty mushrooms. That’s what I call them. Underside. Plenty of petrified wood. Cool rock embedded in the sand. Big piece of petrified wood More petrified wood and little pebbles This round rock was on a pedestal of dirt. It was so perfect! The gullies…
This handsome and looks-very-fresh Bull Snake came by around noon today. Four and half to five feet long! Missouri Basin Goldenrod (Solidago missouriensis) Another view of the seed heads. I believe they are as pretty as the flower. Another awesome sunset tonight. Five minutes later. Keep looking!
Red Oak These feathers were stuck in some grass. Not sure what kind of bird, but possibly a roadrunner. Can you find the Green Lacewing? It moved when I took the photo and I thought I didn’t even get a shot. Rose hip of the White Prairie Rose (Rosa foliolosa) Slender one-seed Copperleaf (Acalypha monococca)….
Wow, what good birds I had this morning! Red and Yellow Shafted Northern Flickers, Western Meadowlarks, Spotted Towhee, Song, Savannah, White-throated, Harris’, Field and Vesper sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, chickadees, cardinals, crows, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Blue Jays. Obscure Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca obscura). Such a beautiful grasshopper! A round nest out of a square hole. I pulled…
November 2020! Hang on! Had my first of season Fox Sparrow and Yellow-rumped Warbler today. Also saw a Lincoln’s Sparrow and Dark-eyed Juncos. No photos ;-( The phone really is not much good on bird photos except to perhaps get an ID or proof. Cottonwood trees are showing their fall colors. Fiery Skipper Parasitic Flies…
Pleasant day eh! Wispy cirrus clouds form between 16,500 and 45,000 feet. The ant and the Darkling Beetle (maybe Eleodes tricostata). Both went their separate ways. This ground beetle was making a meal of the leftover pecan. Maybe in the Pterostichus genus. Milkweed fluff. Gayfeather (Liatris mucronata) standing tall! Not sure what plant this is,…
We had some patchy frost this morning. Our recorded low was 31.6 degrees. First frost of the season! When it warmed up, the bugs came out. This is a Little Yellow (Pyrisitia lisa). White Checkered-skipper (Pyrqus genus) Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon) on the Fall Aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides). I believe this little red spider might be in …
Yeah, for the sunshine I say but of course grateful for the rain we got. The wood of a dead Live Oak (Quercus fusiformis). Kinda of an oxymoron, eh. A few scales left on the armadillo tail. Snake skin in our garden pond. The Loggerhead Shrike has a new item on its menu…the field cricket…