It’s been a great day, for many reasons, and a great weekend. We took Apache out again today, and he was his old self again! He and Spice were very brave when they came upon some people building a new gate between our two pastures.
But they had fun. Fiona kept plopping down and rolling whenever she found dirt.
I also had fun seeing things this weekend. One is that I see signs that I wasn’t mistaken, we DO have a loggerhead shrike this year. I didn’t see one last year, and I was bummed. Today I saw lots and lots of insects impaled on our fence, though!
Plus! I’m very happy to share that another chicken started laying. Her first egg is pinkish and has little blue spots! On the other hand, Hedley, the one that lays white eggs, has started spending a LOT of time in the nest box. She did lay today, but if she’s gone broody I’m just giving her three eggs and letting her go for it.
I also found two new and interesting insects. First is the extremely cool Beelzebub Bee Killer Mallophora leschenaulti, which is a type of robber fly. This things is huge, loud, and intimidating. I saw two yesterday and two today.
The other new insect is what I’m excited about. It turns out that my entry of the Long-jawed Longhorn Beetle Dendrobias mandibularis is the first one Milam county and the farthest north it’s been seen.
Also, this is one of the most beautiful insects I’ve ever seen. So colorful!
I’ve been waiting to finally see something new and different to share on iNaturalist and I finally did! I feel so scientific.
The Hermits' Rest 
I’ve never noticed bugs on a barb-wire fence like that. So the bird impales them and lives them there to come back later and eat them?
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Exactly. It’s the loggerhead shrike, a fascinating bird!
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