Red and green!

Red and green!

 Red and green for Christmas day! Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus). Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana). Wild Plum. Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida). Blackberry leaf. . Yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Prickly Pear cactus and tuna. Post Oak (Quercus stellata). Unknown plant rosette. Moss with its sporophytes. Unknown leaf on a rosette. Live Oak (Quercus fusiformis) Plants still hanging on…

Untitled Post

Untitled Post

 Pleasant day eh! Wispy cirrus clouds  form between 16,500 and 45,000 feet. The ant and the Darkling Beetle (maybe Eleodes tricostata). Both went their separate ways. This ground beetle was making a meal of the leftover pecan. Maybe in the Pterostichus genus. Milkweed fluff. Gayfeather (Liatris mucronata) standing tall! Not sure what plant this is,…

Drips!

Drips!

On  October 27, 2017 we had sleet (at least at my house). Glad it is not a repeat performance today. Thirty-three degrees is the lowest we have had today. That is cold enough for me. Sure makes Gracie frisky. Drips on honeysuckle vine. Drips on Frostweed (Verbesina virginica). Drips on the grasshopper (might be Chortophaga…

Birdy

Birdy

 It was a birdy day. Saw some very nice birds! Some of my “first of season” birds were dark-eyed junco, white-crowned sparrows, and red-shafted northern flickers. Also saw chipping sparrows, vesper sparrows, cardinals, blue jays, red-tailed hawks, mourning doves, meadowlarks,black vultures and turkey vultures. Got a great look at the Red-shouldered Hawk. Meadowlark Multiple Loggerhead…

Did you guess…

Did you guess…

 Armadillo? That is what it was. It had died about a month ago. Gracie did try to gnaw on it then. It was not stinky enough to roll in at that time. But she decided to bring the tail over to the path yesterday. Only thing left of it now is the tail and the…

More

More

 Yesterday’s finds were great. The orchids were the highlight of the day’s adventure, but certainly not all. The following are some of the other highlights. It just blows me away that the remains of these creatures lived some 145-100 millions years ago and that most all of our area was under the sea. Mussels and…

Great day in the field

Great day in the field

 It was cloudy start on the grasslands this morning. The prairie was looking good!  Our first exciting find of the day was the Nodding Ladies-tresses (Spiranthes cernua). Closeup.  This species of orchid a lot times is self-pollinating  (another word for it is androgyny) and the flower never opens. Update: Oct 25, 2020  I have since learned…

Easy shots

Easy shots

This cool and cloudy day meant the insects were not moving much so easy shots.  American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) was right where I left it when I returned four hours later. And again it was still on the gayfeather at 3pm. Harvestman (Leiobunum vittatum) was cooperative as well.  Pearl Crescent (Phycoides tharos) Common Meadow…

Cool day

Cool day

 Not so windy today and such a wonderful temperature.  The Nodding Ladies-tresses (Spiranthes cernua) have started to bloom. Love the way it spirals around the stem.  Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus) impaled by a Loggerhead Shrike. The shrike is also known as the Butcher bird. The shrike will come back later for its cache. I have…