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
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…
Gracie likes to tease the humans. See the stick in the water about four feet in front of her. She likes to drop it in the water; thinking we were going to wade in to get. I don’t think so. LOL. She picks it up herself to carry on! This was weird. I thought…
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….
While at the Garnett Preserve, we came across some scale on a Chittamwood (Sideroxylon lanuginosum subsp. oblongifolium) tree. It really was quite pretty. And my curiosity was stirred as well. Here is what I found… This is a Chittamwood tree. When the new leaves are coming on, they are this light green unlike most of…
Do you remember I found these cocoons on the grasslands last week? I left half of them in the prairie. They were tiny and bright yellow! Well, they hatched! They opened each cocoon with this perfect round lid. Here’s what they looked like. There were about 2-3mm long not including legs or antenna. Amazing how…
Rain drops made this interesting pattern on sandy loam in our woods. Colorful inside of a grasshopper leg. The color jump out as I walked along the path! A Mexican plum flower blown off in the storm yesterday. Petals have already dropped. The sepals look like a starfish! Ten-petal Anemone with a small bee….
Paula saw the first of season Scissortail Flycatcher! This was up in Norman, OK. They got spring before us LOL. But I believe I heard one on this afternoon walk, but could not see it. Yeah Paula! Yesterday, Kathy (down in Fredericksburg) had multiple flocks of Sandhill Cranes go over. I also saw my FOS…