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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Our high wind gust yesterday was 32mph! So maybe a rock in the pocket might have kept someone from blowin’ away? What I have always called tickleweed was blowing up against the fences. On the way to town, I saw a six strand barbwire fence covered in the tickleweeds. This photo was from yesterday when the…
Brazos Bend State Park is worth the trip. We have been there several times. We did not see the alligators this time. It was too hot for Gracie (our dog) to walk that far, but we have seen them plenty of times before at this park. We actually took a two mile trail early in…
Every day, twice a day, the local Canada Geese fly by first one way, then back. The flock has grown from just two in the spring to about 35 now. Eryngo (Eryngium leavenworthii) Meshweb weaver spider and insect prey A hundred is my guesstimate of the millipedes on my backporch. Closeup Corn Earworm (Helicoverpa zea)…
But no photo 🙁 First one I have ever seen one here at our place. So it was pretty exciting. Of course, my phone was in my pocket when it was disturbed and flew. Bold Jumper (Phidippus audax) looks like it is ready for Halloween? This Banded Argiope (Argiope trifasciata) is a male. He is…
Yesterday, after we climbed out of the creek bed, we walked along the top of the mesa in the prairie. So the following are a few things that capture my eye on the top of the mesa. Gayfeather (Liatris mucronata) with a Meshweb weaver (Dictynidae) web under the blooms. Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) on Gayfeather. We…