The Next Wave

The katydids seem to be dying out now. Don't get me wrong, they're still around - their calls fill the day and night, but they are definitely reduced in numbers.

No problem - Mother Nature sends the next wave of insect invaders: grasshoppers!

It's almost biblical, one pestilence followed by another, but I don't think there is anything supernatural at play here. On the contrary, what's happening is completely natural and part of a large pattern.

Earlier in the year, we had very timely rain fall. This led to a great wildflower spring and all the plants benefited and thrived. With such a great amount of food available, the insect populations soared. Most noticeable were the katydids, the walking sticks, and now the grasshoppers.

This photo, shows a female standing on our house's exterior rock wall. You can see the ovipositor, or egg-laying organ, sticking out the back. She has tiny wings on top and of course the giant rear legs for leaping. The legs have tiny spikes on them and her body is quite colorful - green, yellow, white, brown, and red.

This one is unique in appearance, which is why I took its photo. There are many out there.

I wonder what the next wave of invaders will be?

More Water Dish Visitors

I was reviewing all the game camera photos that we've taken. We first put the camera up in January of this year. It's set up along a dirt road and pointing at one of our wildlife rainwater collectors.

I found some interesting ones that were missed earlier.

This one is from January 15th, when we were experiencing a robin invasion. I think they were on their way south. The camera took many photos like this. I can count 7 and maybe 8 in the photo. Do you see the 8th one?

The next photo is from February 22nd and it's of a possum. I know possums are common but we hardly ever see them and the game camera has only caught this one.

The last photo is fairly recent, from June 23rd. It shows a young white-tailed deer buck nuzzling a fawn. You can see the velvet on the buck's antlers. The fawn's are usually with their mothers and I've never seen one with a buck. The bucks are usually solitary or in a group of 2 or 3. The does and fawns are usually together in larger herds.

Tiny White Flowers

I took this photo at the end of April and I've been trying to identify the plant ever since. The flowers are tiny, maybe 1/8 inch in size and the plant is very short - just 3 or 4 inches tall. What attracted me to it was the way the flowers are grouped into little squares. These square-shaped arrangements were rare. Most of the plants just had clumps of white flowers.

I think it might be Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota), but I'm not positive. It's also known as a wild carrot. Another possibility is Yarrow (Achillea millefolium).

I like the nearly symmetrical arrangement and thought it would make a nice black and white photograph. With the conversion, I emphasized the white flowers and de-emphasized everything else. This makes the flowers pop and along with a slight glow, give them a dreamy quality.

 Please leave a comment if you can help me identify the plant!

Seeds, Seeds, Seeds

I went out for a short walk this morning. With the daily highs above 100, the best times for a hike are in the morning or in the afternoon. Nicely though, that is also the best time for photography with a soft, diffuse light which eliminates harsh shadows.

Usually on my hikes, I'll notice common patterns. I think this is due to my mood or mind-set, but whatever the cause, the theme that I picked up on this morning, is that various plants are putting out fruits or seeds. After the spring rains and before the peak of summer, these plants are producing fruit,  perhaps as an insurance policy for the future.

There's a patch of bristlegrass right in our front yard. I've seen it many times before, so why did it catch my eye this morning? It was something about the beautiful way it waved in the breeze. The seed heads are about 2 feet above the ground and they are turning a yellow color as they mature. I'm not sure exactly what species it is, but I'm pretty sure it's a native.

A little further along, just outside our gate, I saw a Texas Persimmon (Diospyros texana) with many berries. Most of them are still green, but you can see a ripe, black one. The berries are edible and quite sweet. I've tried them before. The only drawback is that the dark juice can stain your fingers, mouth, and clothes!

And finally, many of our Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii) cactus are bearing fruit. The deeply-colored pears are also edible, but I've never tried them. They too have spines, so you have to peel them carefully.