Plant Sightings – Page 27 – The Hermits' Rest

Dang Horses, but Whee, a New Sedge

Not much to write about that I have time for, other than the fact that my precious horses were naughty. It’s my own fault for trying to keep them in the front pasture overnight so I could ride Drew this morning.

Drew and Mabel apparently knocked most of the fence between the two pastures down because they WANTED that greener grass. I hope they are happy. I’ll come up with Plan C.

So, I rode Apache this morning instead, and we had a fine time. We walked on the road! Briefly. Very briefly.

All these guys wanted was to hang out with me before it got hot.

Plan C was ride Drew after he ate, while the other horses were nearby. It was still 100° at that time but the sun was less intense. He was much more focused and friendly today, and even seemed glad I got dozens of pieces of dried pepper weed out of his mane. But, no riding occurred. He kept having back leg trouble. He could canter to the right just fine, but the second time he tried going left, he sounded like he hurt. Eek!

So I petted him, walked him around and told him he was a good boy. We see Tarrin tomorrow, so I’ll know more then. It’s weird, because he seemed ok Friday, though I didn’t push him. And he certainly could gallop yesterday, as seen here.

Anyway, since I had to tromp all over the pasture this morning, I also looked at plants. I was happy to see Devils Claw (Proboscidea louisianica) blooming. It is a fascinating plant with aromatic oil and edible seed pods that are beautiful dried. They’re pollinated by native bees. Thanks, Wikipedia, for that info.

While inspecting the downed fence, I saw something unfamiliar and pretty, so of course I photographed it.

I touched its stem and realized it was a sedge, which makes sense, because it was growing in a spot that stays damp longer than most of the pasture. I guessed it was a nutsedge. Two other sedges grow there, too (yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) and pine barren nutsedge (Cyperus retrorsus)). I looked it up this evening and found it was a new plant I hadn’t seen here before. Short-point flatsedge (Cyperus acuminatus) is common from here up north to Canada. It’s certainly a pretty one!

I’m glad I’m so easily entertained.

Life Returns after Upheaval

I guess that gives me hope on US Independence Day.

I went out to the front pond, which we enlarged in the drought last year to be bigger and deeper. All the dirt that was dug up became a large berm that the horses just love. We call it their hill.

The horses and Fiona are always up on the hill eating…something, now that the heavy spring rains got things so soggy (though it’s droughting back up again).

Sometimes they eat at the base of the hill.

I decided to go out there and see what is growing on what was a big pile of dirt at the end of last summer. I knew there were seeds in the soil, as well as wind blown seeds. And I learned in Master Naturalist training about plants that thrive in disturbed soil, so it was time to check out the renewal process!

The clump of plants you see above is typical of what I found. At right are annual black-eyed Susans. They are all over the area, so I was pleased to see them. The green stuff in front is prairie tea (Croton monanthogynus) another annual whose roots are helping to stabilize the soil. All the pretty yellow flowers in the middle are the decidedly are the dreaded buffalo burs (Solanum rostratum) that will cover the horses’ manes and tails, as well as the entirety of Fiona if they don’t get mowed down. You will also see green antelope horn milkweed (Asclepias viridis). Those seeds are wind born. There’s even a small Dakota mock vervain (Glandularia bipinnatifida), the most common verbena here. It will be back. Whew, that’s a lot in one clump.

Elsewhere I found many plants had already passed their season, like the red seed plantain and the thistles. There were a few pink evening primrose that give me hope that they’ll be all over the slope soon, like they used to be. I didn’t see any bluebonnets. Maybe next year, but some upright prairie coneflowers/Mexican hats were ganging on. Their roots will help with runoff, too. It’s a plant that does like disturbed soil, like the plantain.

Other common plants that appear in disturbed soils include sand mats like matted sand mat (Euphorbia serpens) and prostrate sandman (Euphorbia prostrata) my least favorite weed. Here, they are helping cover the bare soil and help prevent more erosion. Prairie bundle flower (Desmanthus leptolobus) is another low-growing stabilizer plant.

Vines are also useful for holding the soil down. Two I saw were Texas bindweed (Convolvulus equitans), one of our wild morning glories, and balloon vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum), a pretty but non-native and invasive ground cover. These seeds are brought in from upstream. Some years they totally cover the creek banks, because they also love disturbed soil, like after a flood.

Vines I did not see but expect soon are the dewberries, tie vines (the other wild morning glory), saw greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox), and passion vine. Those take longer to get started. I could do without more of any of these, along with the mustang grapes, which I’m still snacking on. They are as bad as kudzu for covering trees and bushes.

Tree in center is covered with grapevines and greenbrier.

Anyway, nearly all the rest of the plants I saw are other opportunistic pioneers. Ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya); curly dock (Rumex crispus), a common plant in damp areas here whose seeds feed birds; willow dock (Rumex salicifolius); dove weeds (Croton lindheimeri); and Carolina bristlemallow (Modiola caroliniana), which also grows low to the ground and earlier in the year had pretty flowers. And I almost forgot two flowers, the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and lemon bee balm (Monarda citriadora). The latter is just about done for the year.

If you’ve slugged through this you’ll finally find out what the horses are eating. I was surprised to see no Bermuda grass, but some bunch grass I can’t ID, a gramma grass, and a brome. Natives!

One of these plants, or perhaps the long stuff none of the horses like in their pasture (not sure what it is), is making Apache have allergic reactions all over his face. He’s on Zyrtec now. 21 per day for the first week. Hope it helps. I’m grateful Tarrin knew what was going on!

And that’s enough about the hill.

Things to Wonder About

Still I’m a little surprised that I managed to get in so many interesting observations when camping under an official “heat dome” phenomenon. I think what helped was that some of the interesting things showed up right next to me.

This little feller was conveniently on my hand this morning. It’s a bronze jumping spider.

It also helps to be around people who are as excited about nature as you are. Our camping neighbors were very excited that one of them had found a live cicada. Then, when he went to show us, it had just emerged from its old exoskeleton. He kept saying, “THAT WAS IN THERE??” It did appear much larger.

Resting up before starting to screech endlessly.

And here’s another beautiful sight to wonder over. This guy, a skink, was two feet from the RV steps. I really appreciate all that nature coming over to show itself to me.

And finally, I didn’t have to go far to see woodpeckers, either. A downy showed up. I like these little birds almost as much as the incredibly entertaining yellow-bellied sapsuckers (they are the smallest woodpecker). My photos weren’t great but I got to see it well through binoculars. The red-bellied male came over so often that I got the feeling he was used to us.

I had to go a little further to get butterfly photos, but there were lots at the campsite, too. I just got all lost enjoying the giant swallowtails meandering around. Here are a few others I saw.

I can’t help it. Buckeyes are too pretty to omit.

I am excited enough just to see new or unusual plants, but some of the other things I ran into filled me with awe. There’s just a lot of STUFF to see if you look around, and you don’t have to be at a park or zoo to see things that bring wonder.

There are wonders right at home, too. This evening, we were watching fledgling barn swallows trying out their swooping and diving techniques. They were small but agile. At some point, we couldn’t believe our eyes. One of those little birds was a large butterfly! It flew with the birds, swirling around like it was one of them. I think Kathleen and I were both dazzled. Did we really see that?

No photos of the flying display, so enjoy this rainbow scarab beetle.

Yep, it pays to be observant, even when you’re just relaxing behind the house. It pays to look around in the water trough, too. That’s where I found the beetle.

Stay safe, Texas friends. It’s HOT.

Just the Highlights

Oops, it got too late for me to share much about today, but it was another fun but hot one at Fort Parker State Park.

I enjoyed watching people launching kayaks from the Navasota River boat ramp

The big thing was getting to see my favorite nightjar, the Chuck-Will’s Widow, in person. These birds are very hard to see, but it moved when I came upon it on the nearly empty trail I took today. I got photos that you can actually tell are of a bird! These guys blend in with leaf litter and are more active at night, so I lucked out. They are loud but shy, like me.

I just remembered I saw one at the ranch, sitting on a fence post. I can’t believe I forgot. So this means two sightings!

Other highlights were a sweet fawn and a lot of fun trees.

And we had a nice chat with two couples who fled Austin for a more rural life, like we did. It was fun sharing stories. More tomorrow.

Can You Camp when It’s Super Hot?

Spoiler alert: yes, you can. Even I can, with good planning and a little luck. I got through today with only one little bit of heat dizziness. Hooray.

First, we booked a trip to a shady park and I was careful to try to select a shady campsite. I did, though I sacrificed a lake view. We are next to the lake, but there’s brush blocking the view.

The lake is about a foot past the big trees. I like the bent one.

We were actually able to sit outside much of the afternoon, thanks to the shade and a brisk breeze. I got to knit and read, and of course look at and listen to birds. There’s a red-bellied woodpecker that comes by often, and I even got photos where you can tell what it is!

But my smartest way to deal with the heat and still have fun was to do all my “hiking” while it was still relatively cool. Now, don’t think I went out before I had my coffee. I’m not that driven. But I was out by 9, and went three mikes or so. Yes, much of the time I stopped every few feet to look at a plant or butterfly, but I did get 54 exercise minutes!

I went through some very pleasant and shady paths, and though there were few wildflowers, like yesterday, I did find some beautiful new flowers. My absolute favorite is this one, which is one of two plants, both that can be called butterfly pea. Or pigeonwing. I hope I get iNaturalist help with it.

So beautiful. I can sorta tell where it got its Latin name, *Clitoria mariana.*

The other flowers I enjoyed, maybe mostly because of their name, were the trailing fuzzy-beans. What a cute name. In fact, there are multiple fuzzy-beans in North America. Huh.

It’s a vine that grows very long tendrils.

It was a fun plant day, for sure. Here are other highlights. A couple are a little blurry because the phone was running low on battery so I took pictures fast.

The trail I took led to the old Springfield cemetery, which is in the park. Springfield is the place that used to be where the lake is now. It has some old graves, ones with interesting features, and some unmarked ones. I thought it was interesting that some of the Black workers who built the park are in there, from the 1930s. There were not many integrated cemeteries then.

After the cemetery, I got on the road, but still found lots to look at. I knew I’d gone far enough when I realized I was at the park store. That’s a ways away from the campsites. I rested in the air conditioning there and enjoyed teaching the employee about iNaturalist and Merlin Bird ID. I can’t help it. We had fun.

My hiking boot fell apart when I took it off. I’ll try to get it fixed. It’s only 28 years old!

Lee and I relaxed and watched a movie this evening. Camping is so good for us both. I treasure these times of relaxation and being surrounded by nature. By the way, I passed no one on any trail. Bliss!

Hey I’m in Mexia, Sorta

What’s Mexia (muh-hay-yuh)? It’s one town over from Groesbeck, the county seat of Limestone County, Texas, since the previous county seat it under a lake, which I’m right next to at the moment. That’s right, the middle of nowhere, Texas, just a different nowhere from where I usually am.

Actually, Lee and I are on this month’s camping trip, which is to Ft. Parker State Park. It’s very pretty and woodsy. It’s history is interesting. Ft. Parker is where some young woman was captured by Native Americans and liked it. She was not happy to be “rescued” by “civilized” people. This park is right near it, and was built, as were many Texas parks, by the CCC. What’s interesting is that the dam and buildings were built by black members of the CCC. They re-used most of the wood they cut down to build the buildings. It sounds like they had lots of fun on their off-duty times.

It’s just as hot here as it is at home, but it’s shady. We have a beautiful campsite. I was impressed that Lee got us backed in perfectly between two trees.

Of course, I could not keep myself from going on a walk. I meant to just go around the camping area, but I ended up going down a beautiful trail. I got to see where people can go kayaking and swim, too.

There was a cool floating bridge to go over, and I ended up at a pretty bird blind kind of dock, from which I could see lots of great egrets roosting. I also saw some cormorants.

While wildflower season is pretty much over, there was still much to see on the trail. Many vines and shrubs are in bloom, so if you looked carefully, you could see much beauty. You didn’t have to look hard to see all the Turk’s cap in bloom. Those red flowers are showy (and have the sweetest nectar of any plant). The trumpet vines are also blooming, so there’s no lack of color. With the heady scent of button bush all around, it was like a sultry jungle.

There was a reasonable breeze so I didn’t overheat (and it was cooling off by the time I went out). I really enjoyed the peace. It wasn’t quiet. There were at least three kinds of cicadas drowning out the few birds I heard (mostly cardinals, white-eyed vireos, wrens, and cuckoos).

This thing is a cattail toothpick grasshopper. Huh!

I’m looking forward to heading out early tomorrow for more trails. I have a cooling towel!

You Can Do It, Too: Nature Blogging!

Someone told me last week that they just couldn’t understand how I’m able to observe so many things around me and have time to document it. I’d never thought about it being a challenge. It’s just what I do. And I find it so rewarding and fun to keep learning about life around me.

So, in true formulaic blogger fashion, I’m going to list ways that you, too, can become a nature blogger (or at least a nature noticer).

1. Look where you’re going, up and down. When I lived in suburban Brushy Creek, near Round Rock, I always took long walks through my neighborhood, long before there were the great trails they have now. I tried to get my housemate, Jeff, to come along. He said it was boring, just going by those same houses every day. That flummoxed me. For me, I saw something different every day. The seasons changed, different flowers bloomed, birds flew by…but you had to look. Literally, there’s always something interesting to look at if you make an effort.

Today I looked up and saw a vulture stretching his wings.

2. Record what you see. I never go outside without my phone, because invariably there will be something I want to remember, even if I’m just checking the mail or gathering eggs. It takes a little practice to get good phone photos, and if you read this blog, you’ll know some of my images aren’t great, but they document what I’ve seen and let me look up more information.

I wanted to know more about this guy. It’s apparently a young garden spider. I’m not sure.

3. Educate yourself. The reason I took the Master Naturalist class in 2018 was that I wanted to know more about where I live. This way I know what’s normal for this area and what’s unique. I learned how to use iNaturalist to narrow down what I see and to get more from Wikipedia and other sources. Just using the ID function on your phone or a simple identification app will quickly teach you what you’re likely to see and what to look out for.

I knew it was time for the mustang grapes to start ripening. I did find a few!

4. Use all your senses. Listening for birds, butterflies, grasshoppers, and frogs helps a lot in knowing what’s around you. I wish there was a Merlin Frog ID app and a similar one for crickets and other insects. I hear them but only can ID a few frogs. And don’t forget the sense of smell! I know when rain lilies are out before I see them, and I’ve mentioned how lovely the aroma of bluebonnets and white clover can be!

The bluebonnets are just about done. This genista broom moth caterpillar found one.

5. Write it down or log it somehow. You’ll never remember all the things you see. That’s why I upload my photos to iNaturalist and add notes. It’s also really why I blog. I want to remember the stories behind where I’ve been, what I’ve seen, and how it affects me. I have a record of how the weather changes and what new things pop up. A notebook or journal is another great option. You can log the temperature and make art, like the afghan I’m making, or keep records of rainfall through the years like my husband does. It’s fascinating to analyze.

This temperature blanket has turned into a monster. I’ve decided I’m making it in 3 parts and sewing it together later.

6. Keep at it. That’s the key. The longer you make the effort to observe the world around you, make a record of what you’ve seen, and written up notes, the more you’ll have to compare, the easier it will be to identify who shares this world with you, and the more likely you are to want to care for the planet that cares for you.

Well, that’s what I think. I’m glad I got to get out a little today and look around. I’ve not been feeling well for a few days, so I’ve been taking it easy. I’ve got plans to help me handle the heat better than I did over the weekend! Now enjoy the outcome of my observations today, of the ranch in late spring.

Nature Discoveries Liven Up Our Day with Joy

Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.

I can answer today’s blog prompt easily, because it fits in so well with what I wanted to talk about, anyway. If you didn’t already know this about me, I’ll tell you what I do that brings me joy: it’s discovering new things about the nature around me. Today was a great example.

Today I’d intended to relax and recover from yesterday, but the life around here kept pulling me in. I’ve been careful where I go lately, since scorpions appear to be this year’s plague. I found one in my bath towel, then one in an outdoor chair cushion, and finally one out in the grass, where they should be. That didn’t bring much joy, though.

What brought me great joy today were two discoveries. First, I found a plant I’d never noticed before!

Nodding green violet *Pombalia verticillata*

It’s tiny! I know I’ve seen the plant, but never these beautiful flowers. I was extra disappointed to see it has no Wikipedia article. It appears to be native to the southwestern US and northern Mexico. I just adore it’s secret beauty.

The second nature observation came when Anita and I were sitting by the pool drinking wine, since I was too tired to cook a big dinner. Anita said something like what the hell is that, and I looked over to see a weird creature.

We quickly realized it was a wasp dragging a large wolf spider. It was making progress, too. At one point the wasp left, so I could get good photos of them separately. The first thing I did was find out what kind of wasp it was. I knew it was pretty, with a striped abdomen and blue-black wings.

Well, duh, it was a spider wasp! I looked deeper into these wasps (so glad I had my phone right there) and found out this was a female wasp, and that these wasps prey on large wolf spiders. They take them to their nests, which are shallow depressions in the dirt, and lay their eggs in the spider. Mmm.

Anita said I should get a video, so I did, forgetting to turn the camera sideways. The link is on Facebook because I can’t get it to load here. But it’s cool to see how fast the wasp drags the spider and how she climbs stairs with it. We were glad when she finally found the edge of the patio!

That was really fun. Besides that, we got to see a great blue heron right in the other side of the fence, and, right after I played the call of the yellow billed cuckoo for Anita, one flew over and made its call. I hope it hadn’t heard me.

I had other fun with domestic animals, too. The chickens were something else. Sigh. I found a small mouse in their feed, so I got it in a cup and tossed it outside, thinking I’d done a good deed. Oops. I looked out the door and realized Buttercup had instantly pounced on it. Who needs a cat, right?

Buttercup, center, points out that mice are more nutritious than tortilla chips, which Lee gave them.

In a cuter chicken anecdote, I was hanging out with Bertie Lee, the smartest chicken, and she drank out of my cup of water. I love watching them drink. She won’t let me pet her, but Billie Idyll will. They are all so different!

The horses were glad I was home and back into our normal routine. I found them conferring about it today.

Yes, things ARE much nicer when Suna is here to give us food and treats.

Apache wasn’t even grumpy from working so hard yesterday! That brought me joy, too.

Crops Cropping Up?

Well, that’s an exaggeration for sure. But hey, I did find one plant volunteering on the fence line next to where the chickens used to be. It’s a squash! Now I just hope no one gets it with the weed eater.

My other “crop” is a potato that’s growing where I put some old ones to add to compost. We will see if anything grows. At least it’s something green. I have such bad luck growing things here.

My only other crop is my poor asparagus. It got weedeaten. I can’t blame our helper; it’s in with a bunch of annoying native plants (weeds) and some sorta edible native plants we don’t eat. That’s because all my plants failed. But look at it! It’s coming back. I’m going to put my weird tomato stakes on my volunteer and hidden crops so the kind people who take care of the yard will know what’s not a weed.

That’s what I have for you today. I’m tired from training people at work, from waking up extra early, and four hours of horse stuff in the sun. All this was fun, though. The horses are making me proud, and I’m figuring out lots of the things I need to work on! I’m looking forward to a weekend show and learning more. Check out these running boys. Tarrin worked them HARD, but she hosed them off later.

Happy trails! And look, Apache is showing good form!

If only I could look less serious when concentrating.

More Waterfalls and Flowers and DUNG BEETLES!

I did promise to finish writing up my trip to Pedernales Falls State Park. Gosh, I hope you like wildflowers and scenery and stinky insects. I had lots of energy for hiking/looking at plants, thanks to sleeping so well. Ahh. Total darkness and no barking or licking makes for great sleep.

So, once I woke up on Sunday morning, had my coffee, and analyzed bird songs (so many vireos), I took off for the other nearby trails. First, I took the Coyote Crossing trail, which led deep into a very humid woodland area and crossed a mostly dry creek that feeds into the river.

There were many interesting fungi, ferns, and vines in the moist environment. I also got to see a ladder back woodpecker. Mostly I enjoyed the deep green solitude.

Once past that trail the scenery was very different, with seemingly endless swaths of black-eyed Susans and their friends. There were lots of new flowers there, and I had one of those “Linda Jo moments” when I got practically giddy over plants. But I didn’t have a fellow Master Naturalist to exclaim to!

The next trail was the one that led to the swimming area of the river. I must admit I forgot there was a river to go to, because I was so mesmerized by the flowers. The trail went down steep steps. Every time I stopped I said to myself that THESE were the prettiest flowers I ever saw.

And there were so many butterflies that I felt like Snow White in the meadow. They were flitting all around me. It was magical!

I finally got to the river, and was happy to see it wasn’t crowded. There were just a few families wading around and playing, plus a woman with a big dog.

Mystery flower. INat thinks it’s bindweed.

Eventually I turned to go back, stopping to photograph lizards and more flowers. I let the family with the dog pass me on their way up, then encountered the dad resting halfway up. I said something about taking it slow because I was a naturalist, and we got to talking about his interest in foraging. Talking to them made me not even notice the steep climb! Finally, someone was interested in my blathering.

They left to take a bathroom break and I headed back along the road, where I found some phlox and other plants that like sand.

The family drove by and asked if I would like a ride back, and to be honest, that sounded good. So I joined them. They said they were thinking of driving to the big falls, and invited me along. I’m glad they did. It was a ways down the road.

We had a fun walk to the falls. The best part was when I saw a dung beetle rolling a ball of poop across the path. Carl (the dad) got all excited, because he didn’t know we had them in Texas. That got the two boys and the wife excited, too. She took movies and we had a grand time watching the beetles while all sorts of people passed us, probably thinking we were weird. But it was educational!

We finally made it to the overlook, and it was gorgeous. We saw a wedding party, too. We were all too tired to go down to the river, but they were going to go Monday morning. I was fine just looking down. The photos don’t do it justice, for sure.

And that’s about it for adventures. The rest of the day we sat outside a lot and went in to watch movies. I don’t know what to think about the Legion of Superheroes movie. They did stay pretty true to the characters…but it was nowhere near as good as Ant Man and the Wasp. Marvel does make a good movie.

Back Home

I was glad to get home on Monday, but sure enjoyed my wallows in nature. I needed that rejuvenation. Of course, there’s plenty of nature here. Just look at the baby birds in a nest on our back door!

Too tired to peep. A storm kept them awake.

Speaking of storms, one showed up out of the blue yesterday and dumped a ton of rain in a short time. It was full of thunder and lightning. The dogs were NOT thrilled, and since I was the only one in the house, all five indoor dogs clustered around me. Penney and Carlton were under my desk. Harvey was beside my chair. Alfred was standing on the other side of the chair panting into my face. At least Goldie just stayed on “her” couch.

Eventually, Penney wormed her way into my lap and did that unbearable wiggling and trying to squirm up to the top of my head, or inside me. I’m not sure what her intent is, but it’s hairy, hot, and whiny. Thank goodness I discovered the guys were stranded in the garage so I “had” to take them umbrellas. That allowed the dogs to distribute themselves among three people. Whew.

And oh yes, I’ve had my dose of cuteness. look at Jhayati! She’s so soft! And like my dad, she’s never met a stranger. Sara is in love. I’m pretty thrilled, too.