Odds and Ends

Photos, Art, and Anything Else I Might Want to Put Here

Rock Wren

September 28, 2006, North Lakes Park, Denton, Denton County, Texas

Osprey

September 27, 2006, Ray Roberts State Park (Greenbelt access off of FM455 near dam), Denton County, Texas

This moth was hanging on a piece of grass.  I think it may be still expanding its wings after emerging from the pupa.

May 7, 2006, Unit 49, Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands, Wise County, Texas

Purple coneflower

May 7, 2006, Unit 49, Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands, Wise County, Texas

Prairie larkspur

May 7, 2006, Unit 49, Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands, Wise County, Texas

Kathy Saucier and I visited Clear Creek and walked in the dry lake to see the rookery.  Nobody's home yet.

February 3, 2006, Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center, Denton County, Texas

Note the egret skull in the nest.

February 3, 2006, Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center, Denton County, Texas

Mom and I found a pocket gopher near Rucker's Pond!  We see their mounds of dirt all the time, but this is the first time we have ever seen the creator of the mounds.  All it ever stuck out was its head.  Several times it pulled leaves down into the hole.  After several minutes it disappeared and put dirt up the hole and we could see the dirt moving for a few moments.  Finally nothing was moving anymore, so I suppose it went burrowing on its merry way!

January 29, 2006, Rucker's Pond (Unit 55), Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands, Wise County, Texas

Crablike Spiny Orb Weaver, Gasteracantha cancriformis

December 30, 2005, an orange grove near Tampa, Florida.  Thanks to Joshua Rose for identifying this unique spider!

Click here for more mushrooms from Unit 55 (Rucker's Pond) on the LBJ National Grasslands on November 3, 2004.