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 is a tad chilly today, but tis nice to see the sun again. Our low this morning was 41 and the high was 61 degrees. Our four day total was 1.32 inches. I think the plants are happy! Here are the last of the grasslands photos from the April 13th. This was a cool…
While sittin’, sippin’ tea, and watchin’ out my shop window this morning, I saw Lark Sparrows (FOS), White-crowned and Chipping sparrows, cardinals, mockingbirds, a Lincoln Sparrow, crows, a Turkey Vulture, and two flocks of hundred plus each of Franklin’s gulls. The Black-chinned hummers were at the dining room window. This is what I…
More photos from the grasslands… Eastern Red Cedar with fungus where a limb had been cut off. Closer view. Gnarly oak! Can you find the dragonfly? Closer…sometimes even when you know where it is, they can be hard to spot. It is a female Common Whitetail. Greenbriar is starting to flower. This is a…
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…
White Compass Plant or White Rosinweed (Silphium albiflorum) was nibbled to a stub. The cows or maybe the deer must like it. We found multiple of the plants eaten. I don’t know what caterpillar this is on the Chittamwood, but it will completely defoliate the new leaves. Don’t worry, the tree will quickly get new…
I saw my FOS Yellow Flax (Linum rigidum) blooming today! Yellow Flax (Linum rigidum) is so lovely, but don’t look at it wrong or the petals will fall off LOL. The following photos are from the grasslands on April 6th. Isn’t the White Honeysuckle beautiful? Four nerved Daisy (Tetraneuris scaposa) and a bee. The daisies…
I saw my FOS towhee on the grasslands yesterday! I could not see which towhee species. Tiny and FOS spiderwort! This looks to be where the hogs bellies rub as they step over the log. At least that is what we thought. Jeanne should know. She has too many at her house. I can see…
Hexapoda proper noun – six-legged arthropods; a taxonomic group (subphylum or superclass) comprising the insects as well as three smaller groups of wingless arthropods: Collembola (Springtails), Protura, and Diplura (Two-pronged Bristletails). Hexapod noun – a member of the Hexapoda. (Source: BugGuide.net) Common Oblique Syrphid (Allograpta obliqua) on a thistle. This is a type of a hoverfly….
Redroot or Jersey Tea (Ceanothus herbaceus) is almost ready to bloom in our back field. A favorite of the butterflies. I found this beetle upside down. I turned him right side up but… It was determined to flip back. So I left it. Seven-spotted Lady Beetle (Coccinella septempunctata). Six spots on the sides and one…
In the creek we have been exploring, I have shown you the iron oxidizing bacteria. Today I will show you what I found in the reddish foam that is in the creek. This is the large picture of the foam in the creek. Closer view! Closer still! So what is it really? It could be…