I finally found one!

I finally found one!

What did I find you are asking. I have been hoping to find a nest of a Dickcissel for years and yesterday was my day! I had hope to see their blue eggs, but finding the nestlings is pretty neato too! Gracie and I were starting out on the afternoon walk when I heard the…

Right where we left it in March

Right where we left it in March

More good stuff!  And lots of sunshine today. High temperature today was 80 degrees for us. We got a nice amount rain from yesterday’s storm…1.30″ Indian Blanket with a tiny beetle! Southern Purple Mint moth (Pyrausta laticlavia)! Snake Herb (Dyschoriste linearis) has an awesome throat! Texas Bindweed (Convolvulus equitans) has several colors from white to white…

All critters welcome

All critters welcome

We have gotten .39″ since yesterday. It was a nice rainy day eh! And I can’t believe I still need my knitted chicken hat! Thanks Claire! I wondered if this might be a tarantula burrow? It was fairly big. Let me know what you think. The Bewick’s Wren family is growing! A top view of…

Chickadee chronicle

Chickadee chronicle

Here’s the chronicle of the Carolina Chickadees with the dead bluebird built into the nest. March 25 – nest with dead bluebird, mosses, fur, and grasses. March 29 – 7 eggs! April 11 – Very fresh! Fourteen days after all seven eggs laid. April 11 – angry bird! April 15 – Mom sitting on nest….

Feet in the air!

Feet in the air!

The leaves on a thistle tied together with silk. It is the Painted Lady caterpillar! Thistles are its host plant. Frass of the Painted Lady caterpillar! Buprestid beetle on Prairie Verbena! Thin-lined Owlet (Isogona tenuis) is a common moth in our Post Oak woods. Baby Bluebirds growing fast! Found this pretty green cat on an…

Pollinating

Pollinating

This girl was into something with an orangey pollen! Really tiny on a Post Oak leaf. I believe it may be a type of Crambine Snout Moth (Subfamily Crambinae). This is the Green Soldier Fly (Hedriodiscus binotatus). Close up the wings. It is a beautiful critter! And it looks like it has been doing some pollinating…

Bobwhite!

Bobwhite!

 I have seen a half dozen Bobwhite here for the last couple of days. I first saw them yesterday (at the obelisk) at the edge of our woods. They exploded up in flight before I got to see them well. Then this morning they were at the same place and Jim got to see them…

37!

37!

 It was cold this morning. We got down to 37 degrees…brrr.  But maybe even colder the next couple of days. I wonder if it will be the last frost. My Mom used to say, it was needed for the blackberries to set.  Our Tharp’s Spiderwort is blooming nicely. The Buprestid beetles (Acmaeodera ornatoides) are enjoying it too….

Dangelmayr Prairie

Dangelmayr Prairie

 Oh my gosh, the Dangelmayr Prairie is so beautiful! Thank you so much to Denise and her daughters for showing us your special prairie! The Shooting Stars were amazing! The land has been in the family since 1893! These were really dark! And then there were a couple of white Shooting Stars. You don’t see…