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…
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…
On the tour, we had a nice view of a female Harrier that sailed across in front of us. That was the bird highlight. We had several Loggerhead Shrikes, meadowlarks, and of course the vultures that day as well. After the Garnett Preserve, we stopped in to check on another special Shirley plant on…
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…