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
Yeah for the rain! So far .68 inches and some pea sized hail at 6pm. We could do without the hail, eh. Hagen’s Sphinx (Ceratomia hageni) has very good camouflage! A close up of its hairs! Looks like a bristle brush doesn’t it. Its host plant is the Bois D’arc. Remember the frozen spittlebug frothy…
Jim immediately knew the theme of today’s post as we started our morning walk LOL. Our low was 29! I would guess this is the last frost this spring and my blackberry patch still looks good! This spot on our morning walk is a cold spot. Lots of frost! The colors were highlighted by the…
By the time many of you will read this, it will be Wednesday morning and hopefully the last frost. Today (Tuesday) the low was 45 and high was 58. I worn my heavy coat with that wind blowing today. Engelmann’s Daisy (Engelmannia peristenia) is looking pretty across the road from our mailbox! Close up. It…
It got down to 37 again this morning! High was a wonderful 75 degrees! I found what the green caterpillar from yesterday was…Figure-Eight Sallow (Psaphida resumens) caterpillar. Small Phigalia (Phigalia strigataria) has multiple shades from this brown to a yellow and white colors. Ladybug larva! Square-bud Primrose (Calylophus berlandireri) has started to bloom! There are…
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….
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…