Dogs and Wildflowers (Another Trip to the Prairie to Come)

You shall walk where only the wind has walked before
and when all the music is stilled
you shall hear the singing of the stream
and enter the living shelter of the forest.
  ~ John Glascock Baldwin

Slow and sure will win the race...a prairie-to-be.

My friend CPW invited us for a walk in the wild today. 

The wildflower bloom has begun and an incredible variety of flowers were waiting for us. The first thing we saw as we arrived was a field of Texas Paintbrushes. CPW, Jack, and Terra greeted us at the house and we headed out for a second time to observe and identify plants and other creatures on the property they are restoring to Blackland Prairie.*

CPW, dogs, horses, and the wild...does it get any better than this? I think not.

It's a lovely place.

There is always so much to see.

The river flows on just beyond this tree line.

We did not walk the entire 50 acres, but did manage a couple of miles, through pastures, close to the pond, and along the river. The property has a variety of soil - clay, sandy loam, and a gravely section (perhaps because it was quarried down to the gravel layer during the war). With different soils come different plants.

These are the hands that plan and plant.

What a lovely morning - photographing flowers, reigning in adventurous dogs, sharing ideas for future wildlife related activities, but mostly enjoying being out in the wild.

Here's a little of our day (and some firsts - for me anyway):


Wild Dogs: 

Terra and Jack sniff out "something." Zelda rolls in it (not the last time, either).

Terra waited for us. She's the mature pup on this adventure. I had not met her, but enjoyed her enthusiasm.

Jack came back. He's the wanderer/dare devil of the bunch.

Zelda rolled in every disgusting smell she could find. She had one bath before I let her in the car. She had a second bath before I let her in the house.

I love this view of Jack running in the bluebonnets.

Well, and I love this stinker. She slept the rest of the day - 6 hours! We need to take more hikes!

Wild plants and wildflowers:

This may be the first year I have seen the blossoms of the Mexican Buckeye.

Fringed Puccoon [I'd remember this flower and name if I had ever seen or heard of it before this observation.]

Texas Baby Blue Eyes

False Dayflower

Texas Yellow Star

Texas Bluebonnets and a Texas Paintbrush

Pink Ladies

Yuccas

More Texas Bluebonnets

Winecup Mallow

Ten Petal Anemone and Woodsorrel

Texas Toadflax

A thistle - it will bloom soon enough.

Dakota Mock Vervain

I told CPW, "I think this is a broomrape,** but I haven't seen one in Texas." And it is. It is a Hemp Broomrape. [A first]

Texas Stork's Bill [a first]

Common Dandelion

A field of bluebonnets (and a dog)

Birds:


We saw more birds than we photographed. The Northern Cardinals were in the trees. We heard their "chip, chip, chip" - territorial call/warning. They sang to each other, but did not stay long.

Mockingbird

 Mourning Dove Nest...maybe.

We heard a bird singing and singing. Looking around we finally saw a small bird far across the yard. I took a few photos.

And I could see the bird start to sing, again and again. It was a Carolina Wren.

Other interesting things:

Evidence of beavers at the pond. Now that is exciting.

NOTES:

*First visit - https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7263365169211268358#editor/target=post;postID=3788833121544259272;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=13;src=postname

**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orobanche [I have seen Ivy Broomrape in the woods of Ireland and Oak Broomrape in Ohio.]

Junior Master Naturalists at Berry Springs! [Service Project 2019]

The adventure of life is to learn. 

The purpose of life is to grow. 

The nature of life is to change. 

The challenge of life is to overcome. 

The essence of life is to care. 

The opportunity of like is to serve. 

The secret of life is to dare. 

The spice of life is to befriend. 

The beauty of life is to give.

~ William Arthur Ward

What can I say about these young naturalists? They are smart and curious - hardworking and efficient. They don't mess around.

This is the second year I have known some of them and their families.* It is the second year I have attended their service project - getting the scum and such off the ponds at Berry Springs Park.  And once again I am so inspired by these young people.

After working like maniacs for two hours, they picked up their tools (rakes, rope, gloves) and headed home with another service project under their belts. They navigated a fire ant attack and kept working -- taking time out to "observe" some Blanchard's Cricket Frogs that were calling nearby and to take a "bird break" to welcome the Yellow-crowned Night Heron back to the park.**

Berry Springs is one of "my" parks. I love it. I come here to be in the wild, alone and with friends. It's a park full of wonder. So here are a couple of photos of the naturalists and more of the nature.

Find your park.

So, you throw the rake out into the muck. A rope is tied on the rake and you hang on to the other end so you can pull the rake with the attached yucky stuff to shore. The scum and such is then hauled away leaving a much clearer pond surface for the creatures that live there and the park patrons who fish.

Families* get in on the act...you are never to young to volunteer.

Bird Break! See that Night Heron across the pond? [Don't worry. You know I have more photos!]

The heron was perched on a limb.

Was it asleep?

I don't know if it was sleeping, but it was balanced on one leg - unipedal resting.***

They are odd birds - somewhat like a Great Blue Heron. There is often one at these ponds during the spring and summer.

Come take a walk with me along the paths and trails and see what we could see...


I. What other birds were in the park on Saturday? Well, besides the YCNH there were cardinals, White-crowned Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Great-tailed Grackles, Northern Mocking Birds, vultures, Red-winged Blackbirds, Blue Jays, Eastern Bluebirds and more. Here are a few photos snagged before and after the pond cleaning:

Northern Cardinal. This is the male. The female was there too, but she avoided the camera.

Field sparrow.

Really bad shot of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Carolina Wren on top of a dead tree sing loud and proud!

Singing and singing.

White-crowned Sparrow.

Female Red-winged Blackbird.

One of the Northern Mockingbirds refused to turn around.

This mockingbird was making his presence and territory known.

Another mockingbird flew in.

And as I prepared to leave the park, a Great Blue Heron flew over. There is often a GBH at the ponds.

II. What flowers did we see? It is the beginning of the bloom and lovely. Here are some of the wildflowers and other plants just getting started:

The park was covered in blooming dewberry vines.

Wild onions

Wine cup (this is a special one that doesn't bloom just anywhere).

Fleabane (a tiny multi-petaled daisy-looking thing)

Creeping Buttercup

Rusty Blackhaw

Watercress

Dakota Mock Vervain

Texas Bluebonnets

Texas Paintbrushes

Blue Water-Speedwell. It's a lovely delicate flower blooming all around the water-ways.

Buffalo Gourd - Okay, it's not blooming, but it will. It's a stinky gourd...very interesting.

This is a Prickly Poppy I suspect. Whatever it is, I'll fall in it and be stung when the flower comes. DO NOT PICK!

Texas Baby Blue Eyes (with some vetch growing among the blooms).

Closeup of Texas Baby Blue Eyes bloom.

Ten Petal Anemone (white flower).

Ten Petal Anemone (pink flower).

False Dayflower between two Baby Blue Eyes blooms.

This is sort of cheating. I only saw these blooming on the road just outside of the park, but they are lovely. It's the Texas Star.

III. There were insects too. Here are a couple that posed (I made them extra large so you can see them better):

Pearl Crescent

Rambur's Forktail (It is a damsel fly/dragonfly type insect).

IV. Amphibians? We saw and heard Blanchard's Cricket Frogs.

This is a "good-sized" cricket frog. They are difficult to catch. Well done!

 V. What about mammals? One can always depend on a squirrel to show up!

Fox Squirrel

NOTES:

*This is an incredible group - parents as well as older and younger siblings pitch in. Good Water Master Naturalist volunteers assist. And park employees are there to provide guidance and some muscle as well as hauling the piles of green stuff away.

**I am easily distracted. Most of the JMNs saw the heron (One young volunteer declined a bird break - "I'm here to work," she said.). One young naturalist recognized the bird. And I never did get the recording of the cricket frogs. They stopped calling about the time the project was complete.

*** https://www.birdnote.org/show/why-birds-stand-one-leg
https://goodmorninggloucester.org/2013/12/28/why-do-herons-stand-on-one-leg/