Orange to Whites

From orange to whites -- I did not notice the white flowers as much as the reds or blues (probably because white is not a color). When I did, most often, it was a flower where some feature caught my eye, and it always was one that I had never seen (except yucca and pricklypoppy). Even the names of these flowers are new to me. (You would think that I would recognize all the names from all those westerns I have read.)

Plains Blackfoot - Melampodium leucanthum (Aster Family - Asteraceae)

White Pricklypoppy - Argemone albiflora (Poppy Family - Papaveraceae)
The white-colored sap from this plant is poisonous, so livestock will leave this plant standing and eat everything around it.

Lyreleaf Parthenium - Parthenium confertum (Aster Family - Asteraceae)

Crow Poison, Yellow False Garlic - Nothoscordum bivalve (Lily Family - Liliaceae)
This flower grows from a bulb.

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Texas Bullnettle - Cnidoscolus texanus (Spurge Family - Euphorbiaceae)
Some people are allergic to the milky sap from the stems
and to the stinging of the hairs.
(take pictures and don't touch)

Salt Pennywort - Hydrocotyle bonariensis (Parsley Family - Umbelliferae)
This plant has interesting leaves and grew at the edge
of my campsite at Galveston State Park.

Anacahuita, Mexican Olive - Cordia boissieri (Borage (herb) Family - Boraginaceae)
The fruit is edible and is used to make jelly
and a cough medicine in Mexico.

Guajillo or Thornless Catclaw - Acacia berlandieri (Pea Family - Fabaceae)
with a butterfly - Hackberry Emperor - Asterocampa celtis
Too much of the leaves and fruit is toxic to livestock and causes
"guajillo wobbles" in the legs of sheep and goats.

Torrey Yucca - Yucca torreyi (Century-Plant Family - Agavaceae)
This has to be one of the most interesting plants in the south,
because I take pictures of it everytime I see it.

The references I used for this post are:
Texas Wildflowers by Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller
Peterson Field Guides: Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers
Kaufman Focus Guides: Butterflies of North America by Brock and Kaufman
Butterflies through Binoculars: The East by Jeffrey Glassberg
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Native Plants of South Texas

Stay tuned for doses of pinks and purples soon.

Orange to Reds

I am home from my Texas trip and have been reviewing my images. (1,300+ in-focus)

I have never seen so many wildflowers along Texas roads and in the parks as this spring. I heard some people complaining that there was lots of rain this winter. (good for flowers and me)

I have finished squeezing my oranges (48 lbs) and will show you doses of orange to reds, blues, yellows, whites, pinks, purples. The colors of the flowers made me want to stop every moment for another picture to try to capture the fields of paintbrush, which appear orange from a distance; the gorgeous red of the heartleaf hibiscus; the shape of the coral bean, and to gather and play with its beans; interesting fruit of the cactus, and to pick and eat them like strawberries.

Yellow Flax - Linum rigidum (Flax Family - Linaceae)

Indian Blanket - Gaillardia pulchella (Aster Family - Asteraceae)

Texas Paintbrush - Castilleja indivisa (Figwort Family - Scrophulariaceae)

Coral Bean - Erythrina herbacea (Legume Family - Leguminosae)

Coral Bean seed pods - Erythrina herbacea (Legume Family - Leguminosae)

Heartleaf Hibiscus - Hibiscus martianus (Mallow Family - Malvaceae)

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Heartleaf Hibiscus bud - Hibiscus martianus (Mallow Family - Malvaceae)

Christmas Cactus fruit - Opuntia leptocaulis (Cactus Family - Cactaceae)

Since I had 6 years of Latin in highschool and college, I really should use it! (I do think this study has always helped me in reading)

The references I used for this post are:
Texas Wildflowers by Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller
Peterson Field Guides: Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Native Plants of South Texas

Stay tuned for doses of whites soon.

Orange to Oranges

Doses of oranges and orange continued:

As I walk along the nature trails at Falcon State Park, I start to notice the smaller orange things, like flowers and butterflies:

A flax family flower (species unknown),

a globemallow flower (Mallow family, species unknown) with an orange butterfly (Sulfur family, species unknown),

a Golden-fronted Woodpecker with a golden hair-do (species known, after all, I am a birder),

a Red Admiral, but orange in this light (species known, sometimes I am lucky),

a Calico Bush or Texas Lantana (species known, sometimes google helps) with small brown and white butterfly (species unknown),

and another dose of orange from the Altamira Oriole eating a grapefruit (red, not orange).

I have started squeezing and drinking my second 10 lb bag of oranges. I just can't get enough doses of orange or oranges.

Long-tailed Jaeger 3

(Bird ID is corrected in It is a Parasitic Jaeger on Nov 30, 2007)

Here are the remaining pictures of the Long-tailed Jaeger.

right side,

front breast,

left side,

right side with head turned back,

flying away,

flying and turning,

and flying along side the boat.

This was an incredible birding experience. I sure hope it is not a once in a life-time one but even if it is, I will always remember it.

Long-tailed Jaeger 2

(Bird ID is corrected in It is a Parasitic Jaeger on Nov 30, 2007)

We continued our Whooping Crane Tour with Captain Tom on the Skimmer. It was a great tour and we saw over 50 different species of birds.

The tour was almost ready to leave the waters near Aransas NWR, when on an oyster shell shoal, there sits a Long-tailed Jaeger. Is it the same bird that we had seen 2 hours and 15 minutes earlier?

This photo is from the first sighting.

Now, the sky was darker, it was windier, the seas were rougher and some rain was forecasted soon. It was impossible to take pictures in the rough water. So Captain Tom maneuvered the boat to the other side of the shoal where the water was more quiet and I shot images until the Long-tailed Jaeger flew away.

This photo is from the second sighting.

You can see from the markings on the flanks and neck that it is the same Long-tailed Jaeger that we saw earlier.

More pictures in the next blog.