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Ahh...now I get it.

walksandrambles — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:32:03 +0000

Having moved here last fall, I noticed this sign each time we walked the Drinking Horse trail, but it took till last week to understand its relevance. This trail is coming alive with wildflowers and this post is a collection of photos of some of the beauties we’ve recently admired along this path and across the highway on the ol’M trail. I’ve learned the names of a few.

Most noticably now, one can’t help but notice hillsides laden with this yellow beauty…

…named balsam arrowroot. It’s plentifulness is a delight on the trails. Next we noticed…

which, if I’m not mistaken, is larkspur. A striking shade of purple.

We were absolutely smitten by a male blue grouse as he put on quite a strutting display for us (or, well, maybe for the female we finally spotted) at the top of the trail. Look closely at the centre of this photo and you’ll spot the strutter in among the rocks…

This walk took place last Sunday – Mother’s Day – and my husband and our eldest walked with me, and toted coffee and goodies along to make our rest even more pleasant. MD was along, too, but here she’s out of sight, scouting behind the picnic table, looking for dropped muffin crumbs. That little bichon nose can find the tiniest morsels.

Enroute down we came across more varieties of spring flowers, including beautiful crocuses…

…and a few that are still unnamed, but should you recognize them I’d be pleased to learn their names…

I think I recognize this last one, but the name escapes me.

And, over on The M trail, flocks abounds…

Fall and winter each displayed a special beauty in our adopted home state…and now spring is unfolding with truly big, brilliant blue skies set against vibrant colours. Makes one wonder what summer will bring!

(This photo courtesy of our eldest.)

Soap Plant Explosion

Sandy Steinman — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:16:10 +0000

Tonight when I went out to dump the recycling and garbage there was an explosion of Wavy-leafed Soap Plant in my front yard. Our front yard is mostly a California native plant garden. The Soap Plant was planted several years ago and has been getting progressively better each year. Tonight it just exploded. There are many flowers in bloom on the four to six-foot stems. Wavy-leafed soap plant only open in the late afternoon or evening, remaining open during the night but closing by the morning. Each flower only blooms for one day, but there are many buds on each stem. Pollination is by evening or night-flying insects. Wavy-leafed soap plant is a bulb that typically grows on rock bluffs, grasslands, chaparral, and in open woodlands. The fibers surrounding the bulb were widely used, bound together, to make small brushes. Extracts of the bulbs could also be used as a sealant or glue.

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Yosemite And Mono Wildflowers 5/19/13

Sandy Steinman — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:15:31 +0000

John Wall just posted a report on a recent trip through the Yosemite High Country and to Mono Lake. He found wildflowers, a bear and did some nice nighttime and landscape photography . In bloom were Dogwoods, Lupine, Shooting Stars, Snow Plant, Mt. Pride, Phacelia bicolor and the tiny pink Monkeyflower (Mimulus nanus), that I usually see in July. Check out his photos and posting at: John Wall’s Natural California: Goin’ Up The Country.

Bassi Falls - May 19. 2013

daneaffr — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:00:59 +0000

Bassi Falls is a seasonal waterfall fed by snow runoff. It rests about 5000 feet in elevation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

An hour on the Spring Creek trail

montucky — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:59:27 +0000

A little spare time in the late afternoon, a short drive, cool green shade and flowers.

Scarlet Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja miniata

Kinnikinnik, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Howell’s pussytoes, Antennaria howellii

Woodland Strawberry, Fragaria vesca

Yellow Coralroot, Corallorhiza trifida

This encounter made my day! It was the first time that I’ve encountered this saprophytic orchid. Its greenish tinge suggests that it may be capable of manufacturing at least a part of its food to supplement its normal diet of decaying organic material.

Smallflower Miterwort, Mitella stauropetala

Heart-leaf Arnica, Arnica cordifolia

Early Blue Violet, Viola adunca

Star-flowered Solomon’s-seal, Maianthemum stellatum

Feathery False Lily-of-the-valley, maianthemum racemosum

Western Gromwell, Lithospermum ruderale

Jenner Headlands - May 11, 2013

daneaffr — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:31:57 +0000

This area is currently restricted to docent led hiking only. They are working on developing parking and trails so they can open it up to the public, but there is no date when they expect that to be complete. The headlands offers sweeping views of the Pacific and an assortment of delightful flora and fauna.

Hallways as Flora and Fauna Viewing Areas

brushytophouse — Mon, 20 May 2013 02:49:08 +0000

The two adaptable areas on the east and west sides of the common living area are part bunk space, office space, hallway, and nature-viewing zones. Designed to accommodate bunk beds, trundle beds, or a convertible sofa, these areas serve as a pass-through to the bedrooms on each side of the house and bring the number of guests that we could potentially accommodate to 10-12. Closing the sliding barn doors offers additional privacy from the common living space.

Technically, we are still in a drought here in Texas, but we’ve had some fairly decent rains recently and things have greened up quite nicely on and around our property. While Bluebonnets are the star of the show in March and April, other less auspicious, but just as lovely wildflowers bloom well into summer.

Engelmann daisy appears to be the predominate wildflower species right now.

The color of the petals of Mexican Hat can vary. The shape of this flower is uniformly recognizable.

One of my absolute favorites is Antelope Horns, both pre and post bloom.

Skullcap ejects a pop of purple into the mix.

Yet another one of my favorites, both pre and post bloom, is the Nodding Thistle.

The Hill Country appears to have gotten the memo that the Pantone color of 2013 is Emerald Green.

Hike Along Independence Trail

sacchan13 — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:53:33 +0000

The Hike

Today I went hiking on the Independence Trail near Grass Valley, CA. There are two segments of trail, one East and one West. We took the former. It was a pleasant, level walk through vibrant vegetation. Although there were only a few areas that offered views of the Yuba River, there were enough interesting aspects to make the trip worthwhile. These included a good variety of wildflowers, a few large granite boulders, and a number of fun, wooden footbridges to cross. These were rather worn, and a few of the boards looked as though they didn’t have many seasons left in them. There were also a number of places where nails stuck up, and might trip the unwary. It wasn’t a challenging walk, and it didn’t lead anywhere particularly interesting; but it was very flat and broad, which was nice for avoiding ticks and poison oak.

View of the river

Purple wild-flower against a stump

Bear-clover blossoms

Blackberry flower

Red wild-flower

Flowering tree

There were many white and black butterflies hovering around these flower clusters.

Thistle puff

Wild grape?

The footbridges

The rock arch

Fern

The rock arch

the route

Balanced

magicalmysticalteacher — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:53:11 +0000

Sunflower in an irrigated field, Southern Arizona

Sometimes paradise
is a sunflower balanced
between earth and sky.

Text and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher

More Blue Monday

More Macro Monday

More Monday Mellow Yellows

More Carpe Diem: “Temperance”

More I Heart Macro at Shine the Divine

More Postcards from Paradise at Recuerda Mi Corazon

Bird On Wire

Chris Foster — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:32:49 +0000

Floral Foray

At the end of a morning’s bird surveying I often treat myself to an extra wander, especially if I’ve ended up somewhere particularly lovely. Freed from the pressure of getting in another count before the late morning lull, it’s finally possible to relax and pay attention to the myriad other sights and smells of spring. For example: earlier this week I finished up next to the adjacent wildlife trust reserve’s information board, which sported a tiny picture of an early purple orchid. Thinking this sounded a good object for a quest, I ignored my stomach’s persistent rumbling requests for the fat rascally deliciousness waiting back at the car, and plunged into the woods in pursuit of the real thing.

Perhaps due to the stop-start-stop nature of this spring, most floral displays I’ve chanced upon so far this year have been of one or two species, desperately throwing their energies into flowering at the first sign of a decent weather window. In one little corner of Berkshire’s Moor Copse, however, the ground flora has got itself organised and put on as varied a display as one might see in a shop window, as if preparing for a one-stop field guide photography session. The show began just a few paces in from the wood’s edge, and I immediately began to lose myself in a reverie of petals and sunlight.

An especially merry reverie, for this was the sort of British wildwood I love. The endless, primordial wildwood of myth and legend has of course long gone, but there are pockets of forest here and there that retain a sense of timelessness. To go to these woods is to enter another realm, where sound and weather and seasons are qualitatively distinct from those in the everyday world outside. The pace of superficial change in a single wood during spring can be startling, as I wrote about last year. But take the long view, and to walk in the woods can be to tap into deep time, a faraway place unchanged from spring to spring and from age to age. This is the disorienting magic of the woods, for in reality ‘ancient’ woodland need only have been around for 400 years or so to be classified as such, and only 14 patches or so in the entire country are larger than a square mile.

As I walked, I recalled that this time two years ago I barely knew the name of a single wildflower. The list of plants of which I know very little is still lengthy, to say the least, but after three seasons’ surveying amid the trees I’m at least able to greet common woodland flowers like a gathering of old friends. The whites of anemones, stitchwort, sorrel and ramsons; yellows of celandine, primroses and archangel; blues and purples from the orchids, violets and bluebells; the bright pink of ‘red’ campion; and the fresh, cool green of wood spurge. Natural artistry bests almost any garden I can think of.

Bird On Wire

Eventually I stumbled back out into the open, and made my way towards Sulham village and snack time. As I passed the wood edge I’d surveyed an hour or so earlier I heard a ‘tseep’ drifting from somewhere high in the trees. Something in the tone hinted at the presence of another old friend. I stopped and waited, straining to hear over the wind and a blackcap’s rich song. The blackcap paused a moment. ‘Tseep,’ went the mystery bird, followed a few seconds later by ‘tsup’. I was pretty sure what I was hearing by now, but peered up at the branches hoping for confirmation. This was hardly as distinctive a song as a chiffchaff, after all. ‘Tseep, tsup, seep,’ it continued, and still no bird was visible. I was just about to give up when the bird revealed itself in a few frenzied seconds of activity: something smallish and brownish, darting out from a lofty branch, performing a couple of loops and then flitting back up to the branch it started from. Unmistakably a spotted flycatcher.

Though undistinguished in appearance and as a vocalist, spotted flycatchers are much loved little birds. Partly for the little out-and-back-again hunting expeditions I witnessed, often described as ‘sallying forth’, but also I think because of their charming, gormless yet mildly proud expressions – both these characteristics are shared, incidentally, with New World flycatchers, despite them not being that closely related. (See peewees!) Flycatchers of any sort tend to be rather endearing.

As a migrant species, spotted flycatchers must annually face an epic, scaled-up version of their little return flights in the shape of a journey to Africa. It’s probably a little nationalistic to think of migrants as ‘our’ birds, since in the flycatcher’s case they spend no more than half the year here, but I like to think that the woods and gardens of Britain where they nest are their home perches, from which they sally every September and to which they’re drawn back every spring, as surely as if they were attached by a piece of elasticised string.

Alas, though, whether because half of those strings snap on the way, because something has changed on the southern African wintering grounds, or because they aren’t productive enough in the breeding season (or all of the above – current evidence is not wholly conclusive), flycatcher numbers in the UK have taken a tumble. Around half as many return each year as used to, a sorry state for a bird that is usually so faithful to a perch. Coming back is in their nature, is surely what they are supposed to do.

What is known is that spotted flycatchers are quite fond of the sort of open, light-filled, mature woodland edge on which I saw the one I’m writing about, a habitat of which I happen to be quite fond, too. I hope they’ll be keeping me company there for many years to come. Spotted flycatchers might not posses one of the quintessential songs of spring, but the season wouldn’t be quite the same without them.

To hear a spotted flycatcher, head outside! Or visit Xeno-Canto

Photos: Early Purple Orchid; Bluebell display at High Wood, Oxfordshire; Stitchwort; Yellow Archangel; our little flycatching friend.

Arum Lilies, a dedication and 11 new species/subspecies

fynbosblog — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:46:53 +0000

On the 19th of May I think of my brother Mark, who’s birthday this is, and this blog is dedicated to him. Peonies are my favourite flowers because they bloomed in our garden the day he was born and I picked some to bring to the hospital the first day I met him.

Yesterday I took the dogs for a walk in the evening and as we crossed the dam wall I saw the first Arum Lily of the year. I’ve seen them on the roadside already; all winter the roadsides and fields are covered in them – amazing that something so rare and precious in Europe should be a common winter wildflower here. They thrive in watery places and the streams and banks on the farm are covered in them, hence this first sighting. Before our run this morning I took this photograph – the flower shimmered against the brown dam water – its perfection needs no embelishment.

Then off we went for our favourite weekend run. The northern boundry of the farm abutts the nature reserve and the lower slopes of the reserve are covered by a commercial pine forest. Crazy in this environment where the fynbos needs to burn every seven years or so in order to regenerate but if the forest goes up it will be a disaster, not least because there is a village in the middle of it. That said, we love it. On hot days it’s a joy to run through the forest’s dappled light and today was an unusually hot autumn day. Once we leave the property both wolfhounds go on the lead. I probably look a bit ridiculous running along with these two huge dogs, one of which weighs more than I do, but even with baboon sightings they are too polite to pull me over or the lead out of my hand. A passing cyclist generates no more than an enthusiast tug from the dogs, and pedals all the faster when he sees them. They are gentle giants but look quite fierce; this may be Africa, but I feel perfectly safe.

As we set off I was thinking that surely I wouldn’t find anything new on the farm – after all a few days ago I photographed everything I could see. Now I’m curious to see how the year goes, because in one day I’ve identified 11 new species and subspecies, not all of which I’ll talk about yet but still; 11. And as I think about it 12 because I saw the buds of one of very favourite flowers about to bloom and didn’t take a picture as the months to come will offer splendid opportunities to capture it at its best. Out I went thinking, probably won’t see anything new today and 11 new things pop up. This bodes well for our blogging year.

We ran later than usual so the Oxalis, mentioned in a previous blog, are all showing off in the glorious autumn sunlight and as soon as we left the house I notice this lovely yellow version, on the banks of the roadside and also in the lands, this in the last couple of days. There are 120 Oxalis fynbos subspecies so forgive me if I dont’ try and identify this one which doesn’t have a perfect match in my book.

While on the subject of Oxalis, I published a picture of one from the southern part of the farm which I described as unusual. Clearly I shall be humbled by this blog; this flower may be unusual on the southern boundry, but in the north of the farm these jewel-like flowers are everywhere. There is one road in particular which always has the best display of flowers and of course it is littered with these lovely pinky white stars. On closer study I believe it may be Oxalis Argyrophylla.

While photograhing those I noticed this creeping pink Oxalis with finer leaves and a creeping or rambling disposition. I can’t identify it but it is most certainly a different and very charming sub-species.

Ericas or heathers are one of the great marvels of fynbos and the flowers take many forms, often bells or trumpets, others less musical. The trumpets are to my mind the most beautiful of all – and this coral version has started to flower in the past week or so. The morning light was not good enough to capture it and I had a busy Sunday afternoon in the garden so I asked Peter to take me up to the top of the farm this afternoon to capture it in the southwestern sunlight.

This expedition led to several more sightings which I’ll share during the course of the week – too much for one blog. One thing I saw late last night, photographed this morning and again this afternoon is this tiny, delicate flower, of which I could find only one example in the middle of a fertile piece of road. Initially I thought it must be yet another of the 120 sub-species of Oxalis but on looking at this photo that’s clearly not the case; the leaves are all wrong. I think it must be Chaenostoma, yet those in my book are all shrubs and this is somewhat standalone. Perhaps this plant will develop over the years, or I shall find others that permit a more accurate identification. Delicate, delightful, terribly discrete and utterly charming.

Finally – what on earth is this? It looks like it belongs in a very smart herbaceous border, yet here it is, casually on the roadside, red berries glistening in the afternoon sun. Further investigation is clearly required and we need to see what the flowers look like. What a beauty. And if you look closely you will note the little violet wild lobelia flowers growing through it.

Babe what you say we go pickin' Wildflowers?

MichelleMarie Antell — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:50:35 +0000

Country songs always seem to fit a lazy Sunday….
Pickin’ Wildflowers is something my lil sis and I did growing up. Little did we know we were bringing all the pollen and bugs, but we didn’t care. I am thinking of my sister today!!!

05.19.2013 One flower and another....

Steve Gingold — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:41:29 +0000

Sorry. I am just not as good at coming up with snappy titles as are most of my friends. Every once in a while I think of a good one, but mostly…meh. I should be writing science abstracts.

I went to High Ledges yesterday to check on the yellow lady’s slippers but they are still several days away from opening themselves to the world. It was a nice hike….uphill both ways (yes, that is possible) so some good exercise anyway. I stopped at the Podick Conservation Area in North Amherst looking for painted trilliums but they were actually a bit past. The ticks, however, are going great guns and I took a few dozen along for the ride. All clear now thank goodness. Another good round of exercise there. Finally, I visited my usually reliable Dean Brook area and there were plenty of painted trilliums about to open but the lady’s slippers were still in tight buds. Seemed like a good bet for today.

OK, so enough of a build up. Here is a painted trillium from this morning:and a not quite ready for prime time pink lady’s slipper:Oh yeah, please click the images to see them a bit larger.

It’s funny…yesterday I gathered ticks like fly paper in the tall grass at Podick. Today I was rolling all over the ground in the pine woods getting these shots and not a tick to be found. Go figure.

Plumas County Wildflower Update: May 18, 2013

Sandy Steinman — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:31:51 +0000

Joe Willis’s blackoaknaturalist blog has two new wildflower reports with photos on his findings in the Oakland Camp area in Plumas County. Flowers found included Lady’s Slipper Orchid, Wild Hyacinth,Spanish Clover, Blue Gilia, Yarrow, Fare-well-to-Spring,Western Dog Violet, False Solomon’s Seal, Maclosky’ Violet, Red Larkspur, Sticky Cinequefoil, Orchard Morning Glory,Rose Clover and Diamond Clarkia. See his posts with more information and photos at:
blackoaknaturalist: In the Vicinity of Berry Creek
blackoaknaturalist: Friday’s Outing, Part 2

Dog Mountain in Bloom

mflahertyphoto — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:31:11 +0000

A rusting railway bridge along the Columbia River just outside Stevenson, Washington.

I hiked Dog Mountain in the Columbia River Gorge yesterday. It was late in the day, so I only made it half-way up the steep hike. Although I’ve hiked it many times before, this is the first time I didn’t go all the way. But since the goal of the hike was to catch sunset from a position far above the Columbia River, and since there is a photogenic viewpoint about halfway up, I wasn’t disappointed.

The hike up Dog Mountain on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge is popular for a reason. But everyone had gone by sunset and I had it to myself.

Dog Mountain is on the Washington side of the Gorge and is one of the area’s most popular hikes. Get there from Portland by driving east on I-84 to the town of Cascade Locks, cross the Bridge of the Gods into Washington ($1 toll), and turn right on Hwy. 14. Continue east through Stevenson and look for the wide gravel parking lot on the left. It is just over an hour’s drive.

There is a loop option by going left on the trail from the parking lot, following signs up the Augsberger Mountain Trail and returning on the main Dog Mountain Trail. Or just climb up the main trail to the right (east) from the parking lot. This route forks not far above the parking lot, allowing yet another loop option. Be aware it is a steep hike, about 7-8 miles round-trip to the top and back.

Flagged trees and wildflowers stand up to a stiff west wind on Dog Mountain in Washington’s Columbia River Gorge.

This time of year the entire upper mountainside is covered in blooming wildflowers. The iconic flower of this area, the bold yellow balsamroot, is on the wane. But it is joined in mid-May by purple lupine and red indian paintbrush, along with other flowers. Clouds nearly ruined the chances for pictures, but I managed to get a few. I even did a self-portrait, which is rare for camera-shy me. It was windy, which is typical for the Gorge.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. They are copyrighted and not available for download without my permission, sorry. If you’re interested in either download or printed high-resolution versions, just click on the pictures. Then click “add image to cart” to see price options. Don’t worry, it won’t be added to your cart until you make your choices. Thanks very much for your interest, and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Balsamroot bloom far above the Columbia River on Dog Mountain in the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area.

Enjoying the Journey

corbingirl77 — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:22:49 +0000

When I set out on my walk last night with Jazzmin down that access road I’d never traveled bef

May 19

Every Day in May — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:57:51 +0000

Wallflowers growing near a rail fence.

Sunday Column: Wildflowers

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:49:24 +0000

Happy Sunday. It’s a beautiful one here at the ranch. It’s raining, the trees are turning green right before our eyes, the flowers are blooming and I have my nose to the ground, inspecting, documenting and making sure I don’t miss a single bloom.

Wildflower season is my absolute favorite time of year, an obsession that started with a 4-H project and has continued throughout my life.

This week’s column attempts to explains that fascination a bit.

Coming Home: My love of wildflowers started young
By Jessie Veeder Scofield
Fargo Forum
Sunday, May 19, 2013

Lord, when I die, bring me back as a wildflower on the North Dakota Prairie.

Its Not All Bad

whyilovewesttexas — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:23:56 +0000

The wind started blowing this morning like it is going to be one of those that you get inside early and keep your head down. That really doesn’t stop the sand, but it helps you not to dwell on it too much. These little yellow flowers where doing well yesterday so they made the first picture. Notice the amount of bugs that are on the blooms. Should be a good year to make Wildflower seed, if we get a little moisture along the way.

This Chocolate Flower is always one of my favorites since I like chocolate so much. It is probably the hardiest of all the Wildflowers in this area and has a tap root that will go down four feet if the subsoil is not to rocky. Most people just think it is another Sunflower until they inspect it closely.

This little White Wildflower was making the best of a tough year and giving it all it had. You can see some of the blooms had frozen back, but it continued to just put up more.

The Farmers have been planting the irrigated cotton in the area this past week and it doesn’t need a hot dry wind. They will need a lot of prayer to make this crop. God willing their efforts will be reward by a good rain soon. Keep your head up. John Tucker

Columbia River Gorge Wildflower Report: Lyle Cherry Orchard 5/18/13

Sandy Steinman — Sun, 19 May 2013 16:04:20 +0000

Oregon Wildflowers has a new wildflower update for the Columbia River Gorge for Lyle Cherry Orchard:

The Panicled Death-Camas (Zigadenus paniculatus) has gone to seed but there are still a number of wildflowers in bloom, especially at the higher elevations: Taper-tip Onion (Allium acuminatum), Ball-head Cluster Lily (Brodiaea congesta), Scouler’s Hawkweed (Hieracium scowler var. scowler), Heart-leaf Buckwheat (Eriogonum compositum var. compositum), Columbia Frasera (Frasera albicaulis var. columbine), Columbia Gorge Broad-leaf Lupine (Lupinus latifolius var. thompsonianus), and profuse Velvet Lupine (Lupinus leucophyllus) near the end of the trail.

See all their reports at: Oregon Wildflowers

Garlic Mustard

Linda Makiej — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:51:51 +0000

These grow wild in my yard! I recently discovered that the leaves are edible and taste like a little

Spring is popping out all over

Jo Ann — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:46:14 +0000

With so much rain, everything is growing at an incredible rate and new wildflowers are popping up every day. Just yesterday, I noticed Ox-Eye Daisies in the fields and Fire Pinks and Goatsbeard along the roadsides. Fleabane, a member of the aster family that tends to grow prodigiously in Virginia, is probably the most common wildflower in bloom now.

Ox-Eye Daisy

Fire Pink

Goatsbeard (Yellow Salsify)

We’re really trying to get our garden and orchard going this year, sometimes working in the mud because of all the rain. I’ve been busy adding perennials to the rock garden I started last year and found this little salamander hiding under one of the plants. I tried to identify him, but there are just too many salamanders in Virginia. Does anyone have any idea what species this guy might belong to?

We also have what I believe to be a Little Brown Bat roosting in our porch rafters. I was surprised to learn that while most bats hibernate in large colonies during the winter, they may remain solitary the rest of the year, roosting in trees as well as man-made structures. I hope this one gobbles up lots of insects!

Each year, the same birds (or their offspring) return to raise another generation and there are nests everywhere. Bluebirds and phoebes have nests in the porch rafters and are busy making dozens of food runs everyday. Crazy wrens will nest anywhere: a pair is raising its young in the log splitter! My next post will probably be an update on the nesting birds.

Fuzzy Scorpionweed (Phacelia hirsuta)

noir33 — Sun, 19 May 2013 12:11:02 +0000

Greater Celandine

Linda Makiej — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:47:10 +0000

Growing along the edge of my “country” lawn…. invasive, yes – but pretty to

Predilections

Steve Schwartzman — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:19:11 +0000

Click for greater clarity.

The ray flowers of the Engelmann daisy, Engelmannia peristenia, have a predilection to curl under in the heat of the day. Certain insects have a predilection to eat those rays, curled or not, as you can see from some of the chomping that has taken place here, especially at the top. And speaking of insects, Val Bugh informs me that the tiny striped insect in this photograph, which I’ve been noticing a fair number of around Austin this spring, is a predatory thrips* in the family Aelothripidae and the genus Aeolothrips. With all the rays of sunshine pouring down on the bright yellow rays of the Engelmann daisy, you might say that this little creature got to thrip the light fantastic.

Date: May 1. Place: west side of Interstate 35 near Wells Branch Parkway in far north Austin.

————

* Like species and series, thrips is a noun whose singular and plural are the same.