Black Creek Lake

Black Creek Lake

July 1st was such an amazing day with the low temperatures at Black Creek Lake. Yes, I still am hoping for another one of those days soon. However it looks like the forecast is predicting HOT. A wonderful place to visit Black Creek Lake on the LBJ NG! Everyone stay cool! Some Newts Lay a…

Great bird list

Great bird list

Yesterday was a wonderful day to be at the grasslands. The morning was cloudy, cool and with a few raindrops sprinkled in. My bird list of 19 species included the following: American RobinCarolina Chickadee – sawCarolina WrenEastern Wood-PeweeGreat Crested FlycatcherGreen Heron – sawIndigo Bunting – sawLouisiana Waterthrush – sawMourning Dove – sawNorthern Cardinal – sawNorthern…

Fifty percent chance

Fifty percent chance

Well, I bet you were waiting on pins and needles to know the answer to was it coming or going from yesterday’s post. 😉 So I will get right to the answer. Yep the Bluebells were blooming! However this field was not loaded with plants this year. Keep looking! The more you know, the more…

Side trip

Side trip

Today I needed to visit the produce market in Forestburg. So I decided to make a side trip. The trip was going to be short, but instead it ended up more like two and half hours. What can I say I am easily sucked in. LOL Tomorrow I will give you the answer. 😉 It…

Orange Sherbet

Orange Sherbet

It is so very nice to see so many butterflies and moths out today. As I started my afternoon walk there were lots of Little Yellows, Orange Sulphurs, Mexican Yellows and Sachems! Orange sherbet sounds pretty good today. LOL Our high today was only 104.6F, heat index high 117.3F, and low humidity of 32%. It…

Stay or leave?

Stay or leave?

The thistles are some of my favorite plants. In fact the genus Cirsiums were the first plants that I tried by hand at keying. So I am fond of them. Additionally it is a magnet for insects! FYI, most of these photos were taken in just a fifteen minute time span in our yard. 🙂…

Nectaries

Nectaries

Nectaries are small glands that secrete nectar in plants. However to complicate things there is an additional place where these glands are located. When the glands are located outside the flower they are referred to extra-floral nectaries. Some scientists think the extra-floral nectaries provide an enticement to insects to help protect against other insects. The…

Old Friends

Old Friends

Well, it was dang hot so of course we planned our afternoon mostly in the car. And we were going to visit old friends of Shirley’s. Certainly it is always great to visit Shirley’s old plant friends. And I like to think of them as my old friends now as well. 🙂 Every 17 Years,…

Survey at the grasslands

Survey at the grasslands

So I actually had a purpose that morning. I was conducting a small survey in area where I had not searched before for the Narrow-leaf Morning-glory (Ipomoea shumardiana). However no new patches was found. It was 11 o’clock and we had made the circle for the survey. So now we were done at the grasslands….

Hover only

Hover only

In case you missed it, today (Wednesday, June 21, 2023) was the summer solstice at 9:57 am CDT (in Fort Worth, Texas). And perhaps we need to invest in a row boat…we got .04″ of rain. If you can still call that rain. LOL Now on with the walk from Monday morning! As you probably…