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
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…
Today I went on a NPAT (Native Prairies Association of Texas) field trip to the historic Barnett Ranch. The Barnett family has operated the cattle ranch since around 1887. The Barnett Ranch is recognized as a Family Land Heritage Ranch. Before we headed out to see the ranch, we saw his barn. Skip told us…
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….
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…
It certainly was a great day to be hunting fossils. Judy and I use to go all the time some 15+ years ago. Maybe we should start again. 🙂 The formation is called Duck Creek. The creek’s name is Morris Branch. A future fossil! Gastropod fossil, maybe Cerithium bosquense Two smaller Heart urchins (Macraster)! Brachiopod, Kingena wacoensis…
On Friday, I went out to Judy’s farm south of Decatur. We looked in her creek to find these wonderful fossils. Judy spent many childhood days in the creek and even found an arrowhead one time! Here’s what was found on Friday. The formation is in the Cretaceous Period which is between 145 to 66…
There is a bird’s nest up in the tree. The trees are also at the head of a seep on the hillside. I’m not sure, but maybe a vireo’s nest. Can you see the calf? It was brand new and Gracie found it. Mama watched us very carefully. She did not charge us, but closely…
Ah, the temperature was so nice this afternoon. No breeze and 62 degrees, I could not have asked for better. Today’s mission on the grasslands was to check if the Trout Lilies (Erythronium mesochoreum) were blooming. The first critter was this Dainty Sulphur. A delightful find! I have not seen the usual numbers this winter….
Continuing on with Tuesday’s grassland visit… Possumhaw. Bushy Bluestem. It likes the wet areas. The sandstone is just wonderful! It is like a sun! Beautiful reds. You can’t see too much of these colors? I would say not. 🙂 I can see a cat’s face in here. Back further from the cat face. Colors are…
I hope everyone gets time to celebrate nature this holiday season. These are the last of the photos from Tuesday’s adventure. First big petrified wood! But wait…there was second big chunk of petrified wood further along! I like this photo because of the rainbow glare surrounding the sandstone. The honeycomb rocks were cool in the…
