Happy 4th!

Happy 4th!

So the visit to the grasslands on Thursday was great as usual. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a breeze, but since we go really early it is not too bad. It started out on the roadside to hunt for a plant. I didn’t find it, but maybe it…

Mint-loving Pyrausta

Mint-loving Pyrausta

I was going to make this post about my visit to the grasslands yesterday, but changed my mind this afternoon when I found this visitor on my backdoor. (I am easily distracted.)The Mint-loving Pyrausta (Pyrausta acrionalis) sat there for sometime. There are 61 species of the genus Pyrausta in America north of Mexico. Their larva…

Gaura mollis

Gaura mollis

The Lizardtail is such a nice plant. It has a wet-like feel to it. It is one of the host plants for a White Lined Sphinx moth. I have not seen one on it this year, but I’m still watching for them. The plant can get six feet or so tall. With all the rain…

Milkweed

Milkweed

This morning I checked in on Carol Clark’s blog and found that she an excellent explanation of the differences in Green Milkweed and Antelope Horns Milkweed. So check out her post on “Green Milkweed and Antelope Horns Milkweed, Let’s sort those out!“! She has done some other great posts you might want to look over…

Cool Beetle

Cool Beetle

A few years ago while out surveying on the grasslands, I came across this cool beetle. I thought it was a moth, but Suzanne who was with me, knew that it was a beetle. It does not look like the typical beetle. There are always new things to learn! Articles: The Alchemists Had It Right?…

A few beetles

A few beetles

We had company today! My nephews were here and we had a grand time. We looked at bugs, fossils (Devil’s Toenails), and snake vertebras. Of course they took some home. Well, not the bugs. Keep looking!

Spider webs and stuff

On this morning walk, the spider web is what caught my eye first. The funnel spider webs were most interesting to me on the thickness and where they put them. I wondered how spiders catch something when some have such visible webs. At least a lot of them are so visible to us. Then I…

Two cats and a dog

Two cats and a dog

Yesterday was such a cool morning! I just had to go for a hike at the grasslands. It was perfect weather. Articles: Smelling in Stereo: The Real Reason Snakes Have Flicking, Forked Tongues Smaller Bodies, Longer Wings, Earlier Migrations: Untangling the Multiple Impacts of Climate Warming on Birds Two cats and Gracie! What fun! Keep…

On the Bois D’arc

On the Bois D’arc

We have this one particular Bois D’arc tree that just seems to attract the bugs. Every year I find lots of butterflies and other insects on it. The other Bois D’arc trees do not seem to have the same attraction. Juneteenth in Galveston – General Order No. 3 by Union Troops Marked the Official End…

Playas

Playas

This is the last of the photos from the May 27th outing. We had stayed in the woods on the side of hill below the limestone barrens for the first half of the outing. There was a breeze that day, so it was pleasant even out in the sun on the barrens which was the…