Her Second Trip to the Wild (with us)

 Wild things have restless wings that too often need to fly.

~ Michael Xavier

 We have gotten out of the habit of walking in the wild. There always seems to be something - we are gone, or it's hunting season,* or the weather interferes.

Today we were lured by a cool, cloudy morning and the promise of wildflowers.

We also wanted to wear Zelda girl out. She is a young dog and needs more exercise than she receives.

So we loaded up and headed to the wild. No hunters (or target shooters) were parked along the roadway. It was obvious from the deer trails and hunters' paths that no one much had been out. The paths were none too clear - new growth and wildflowers were coming up in the pathways. We also noticed no signs of deer or hogs, just some digging that looked more like armadillos than anything.

Zelda explored the area, but kept fairly close-by. We tried to keep track of her as well - it would be easy to lose her in the high grass.** [Calling "cookie" doesn't work for her, but "treat" might.]

Many wildflowers had started to bloom and we took advantage of one large patch of bluebonnets for family photos. We will be back to see how spring progresses.

The birds were out in force, but moved quickly as Zelda flashed through. We will have to work on our identification by song. As it is, we can only saw we saw many little brown birds and one cardinal, but enjoyed the morning songs of many.

At the creek the cricket frogs were making their presence known. We managed a couple of recordings of their calls for reporting - along with all the plants and wildflowers, the armadillo damage, and one jaw bone at the creek I am calling "raccoon," one identifiable butterfly, and two bees.

DH and Zelda are napping. I'm next.

Zelda blends into the dry grass of the prairie.

Woohoo! Time to run!

Zelda and Little Bluestem (I always want to call it Baby Bluestem)

Dogs and kids always need to get in the water.

Yellow flowers (sorry, haven't looked them up).

"Can I get back in? Watch this!"

Maybe the 4th or 5th dip in the creek.

Everyone looks good in the bluebonnets!

Time to go home for a nap.

Stickery things: 

It's not enough that this place is full of brambles and cactus, but sharp and unpleasantly evolved plants and animals are everywhere.

Thistles starting to bud along the bank of the creek. At least I am betting these are thistles.

Proboscidea louisianica, Louisiana Devil's-claw

More Devil's-claw - I don't think I ever noticed this growing here. It is a plant that seems to like to grow near creek/river banks.

Multiple Devil's-claw vines were scattered in this part of the prairie.

There were plenty of cockleburs - look closely at those hooks on the ends of the barbs.

And what the heck is this thing? I knew even from a distance it was something different.

I made them mistake of touching it and immediately was impaled on the spikes.

These seed pods are small, but a hazard.

Bumblebee with the wild verbena

Honey bee drinking at the edge of the creek

Jaw bone at the creek.

I think raccoon.

 Amid the thorny trees and brambles were nests from last year. These birds were brilliant! It would be a challenge for predators to find their way to eggs or baby birds.

Detail of one nest.

There were many sulfur butterflies, some moths, and katydids moving too fast for me. But these creatures almost cooperated.

Pearl Crescent

Strange little guy with skinny legs.

And the wildflowers have started their colorful dance across the prairie. I'll be a while refreshing my wildflower memory so identification will continue.

The first bluebonnet we saw.

Dewberry blooms among the brambles.

Yellow clover

Wild plums are blooming.

Indian Paintbrush

Detail of the Indian Paintbrush

Bluebonnet patch, maybe 50'x20'

Wild verbena (with some vetch around it)

The invasive wild mustard*** was there, but nowhere in the amount we have seen in the past. I often pull it up as I go along, but I did not bring bags for invasives or trash.

Only after looking at the photos did I notice that the two sections of prairie were distinct. One, the dryer part close to the gate was still mostly brown with dry grass (and Eryngos and Maximilian Sunflowers).

Upper section of the prairie.

The section along the creek was bright green with short soft grass beginning to grow.

The lower meadow near the creek which is just beyond that tree line.

DH disappears down the steep creek bank.

The creek was the creek...slow and somewhat scummy.

Cedar Creek. I have to laugh - I often try to get a good photo of an aircraft preparing to land at the nearby airport. This was an accident.

And we were delighted with everything.


NOTES:

* Dove, turkey, and waterfowl hunters are allowed out here. Unfortunately the place is abused. It is past time for me to see how we can adopt and work on this place.

** She is almost the exact color of the Little Bluestem. We are such native grass nerds now.

*** http://www.texasinvasives.org/plant_database/detail.php?symbol=raru

[The "with us" disclaimer is in recognition of Zelda's time wandering homeless - BUS - Before US.]