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
So I had always just called the Giant Swallowtail’s species Papilio cresphontes. Afterall that is what is my Kaufmann butterfly guide from 2003 calls the Giant Swallowtail. But as we all know, science marches on. In 2014, a paper came out titled “A new Heraclides swallowtail (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae) from North America is recognized by the…
Everyday there is good stuff to observe. Here was what I saw today. 🙂 So much cool stuff to observe! All-night streetlights make leaves inedible to insects, study finds Thanks Claire! These oldest inhabited termite mounds have been active for 34,000 years Man vs. Nature: New Research Uncovers Real Story Behind the Disappearance of Earth’s…
My calendar says it is time for several species to return. I have heard the Upland Sandpipers going overhead. Stay cool! I avoided plastic for a week. Here is what I learned about a plastic-free life New Research Unravels the Evolutionary Secrets of Ancient Seas’ Forgotten Rulers Incredibly Rare 520-Million-Year-Old Worm Fossil Solves Ancient Evolutionary…
Second part of Claire’s yard tour! Claire and Paula have racked up 762 species for the yard now. And that number may already be out-of-date. That is quite impressive! Researchers Have Uncovered Fundamental Differences in Biological Processes Between Males and Females Mysterious 2,500-Year-Old Graveyard Found Filled With Young Children Keep looking! The more you know,…
Yesterday we traveled to the north. Well, not that far to the north. However it was three degrees cooler than the 99F here at home. 🙂 More from the tour tomorrow! Incredibly Rare 520-Million-Year-Old Worm Fossil Solves Ancient Evolutionary Mystery Saturn’s rings are disappearing! Keep looking! The more you know, the more you see and…
So the first trough had no vertebrates! Yeah! We continued on. The next water trough had fish and of course are vertebrates! So it was good news, only vertebrates were fish in the water troughs, no dead mammals or birds! And fish were ok about being in the water. LOL. These Bizarre Blood-Sucking Fish Have…
Today on the LBJ Grasslands we went looking for drowned vertebrates in the water troughs. Specifically for drowned bats. So I had read a paper that said bats sometimes drowned in water troughs out west. Well, this needed to be checked out. There were 8 troughs to be surveyed. Though we only did 6 today….
Summer is definitely here, eh! High was 103F here. Stay cool! A Record-Breaking 17 California Condor Chicks Hatched at the L.A. Zoo This Year Airplane glory: What is it and how to spot one? A New Type of Wood Just Discovered Could Revolutionize Carbon Storage Keep looking! The more you know, the more you see…
Meeting Austin had been just a chance encounter. He had just stopped to make sure we were ok. Sure glad he did, now we have a new friend! So many nice folks on the back roads. 🙂 Thank you Austin! It had been a wonderful day exploring Austin’s property! There was a lot that did…
Last year at Austin’s place they had a very hot fire. The fire was so hot it killed many large oaks! Even some of the Little Bluestem did not come back. Heat is testing the limits of human survivability. Here’s how it kills 11,000-Year-Old Housekeeping: New Study Reveals That Hunter-Gatherer Homes Were Surprisingly Organized Is…