Texas
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Puttering Around the Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site
Jack’s Creek, which feeds into the Navasota River around the bend to the left of the photo. Virginia Springbeauty, Claytonia virginica A very chilly plain-bellied Watersnake, Nerodia erythrogaster. The Navasota River Hemisphaeric Liverwort, Reboulia hemisphaerica, with both male and female reproductive parts visible. I don’t usually see this species like this, usually it is in its non-reproductive phase. Close up of the female archegonium, the globular structures, and the darker, male antheridiums above. Leather Lichen, Dermatocarpon miniatum Effervescent Tarpaper Lichen, Collema furfuraceum A remnant fireplace, there were a couple of these around the grounds, if I recall correctly. Pennsylvania Pellitory, Parietaria pensylvanica, growing out of the fireplace. Rabdotus sp. I’m…
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Late Winter at Fort Parker State Park
An interesting limestone creek wall with black maidenhair ferns, Adiantum capillus-veneris. Sound on for lovely creek sounds. Golden-eye Lichen, Teloschistes chrysophthalmus with a sunburst lichen, Xanthomendoza weberi. Winter Grapefern, Holubiella lunarioides White Avens, Geum canadense Common Script Lichen, Graphis scripta, with an unidentified liverwort. Orthotrichum pusillum moss with a rosette lichen, Physcia sp. Bare-bottom Sunburst Lichen, Xanthomendoza weberi Roundleaf Scurfpea, Pediomelum rhombifolium Alabama Lipfern, Myriopteris alabamensis Overlook of the Navasota River Bulbous Adder’s-Tongue, Ophioglossum crotalophoroides Cutgrass (Zizaniopsis miliacea) & creek A stately bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa Blunt Woodsia, Woodsia obtusa Small spring at the east end of the lake/Navasota River Ranunculus sp. at the spring In mid-January I went up…
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Guadalupe River State Park on Film – November 2024
All photos above were shot on a Minolta XG-1 on expired Kodak Gold 200 35mm film. All photos above were shot on a Minolta XG-1 on expired Kodak GC 400-8 35mm film. To continue from my last post, here are photos from other rolls of film I recently had developed. These two are from expired 35mm film and I really love the outcome for both. It’s giving “looks like 1975” but in reality it was 2024. The Montezuma cypress along the river as well as the rock wall on the river provide excellent backdrops for photography, whether on film or digital. Since we have typically gone to this state park…
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Country Dirt Road Botanical Finds
Gaillardia aestivalis winkleri, white firewheel White firewheel with a nectaring little yellow, Eurema lisa This is a locally uncommon to rare grass, Gymnopogon ambiguus, bearded skeletongrass. I’ve only ever seen it over on the Big Sandy Creek Unit of the Big Thicket. I suspect it may be more common in some of these areas but people generally ignore grasses. Oenothera rhombipetala, fourpoint evening primrose A few weekends ago, Chris took a random dirt road that his GPS said to take to get to the Beaver Slide Trail in the Big Thicket. It was a pleasant drive, lots of interesting plants to look at outside the window. Then we entered a…
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Late July at Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve
Geraldine’s cabin, steady through the seasons. Hibiscus aceuleatus, pineland hibiscus Marshallia graminifolia, Grass-leaved Barbara’s buttons A few of some of the Platanthera chapmanii, Chapman’s fringed orchids along the boardwalk Two of the Chapman’s in bloom. Ascelpias rubra The boardwalk down near the pond. When it cools off I’d like to sit down here and read or paint at some point. The beginning of liatris season. Some scenes from a quick trip to the Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve back in July. It was a quick trip but there was quite a bit blooming as you can see. I wrote a different post over on Substack with about similar things that…
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Bogging in Angelina National Forest
These photos are from October 2022, though they feel like they are from much more recently — no, now they feel ancient. I started drafting this a year or so ago and never published it, so I’m making an effort to launch some of my older drafts on here. So much has changed since 2022! This is from a bog near Boykin Springs in Angelina National Forest, a really cool area that I’d like to get back out to this spring, between Big Thicket hiking trips. Ribbed Mock Bishopweed (Ptilimnium costatum) with a green lynx spider and her egg case. Black swallowtail caterpillar on the ribbed mock bishopweed Pitcher plant…
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Thanksgiving at Guadalupe River State Park
Gladicosa pulchra It’s been a hot minute since we went to the Hill Country. Well, it’s been a hot minute since Forest and I have been to the Hill Country. Chris goes almost quarterly either to Austin, or more recently, to San Antonio, for work projects. But it has been since late winter or maybe spring of 2023 since I’ve ventured to the Hill Country for recreational purposes. We made plans for Thanksgiving camping at Guadalupe River State Park, which the last time we’d been there was four years ago in 2020 for Thanksgiving. We also paired that trip with South Llano River State Park. I don’t think I ever…
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Hickory Horned Devil | Wildlife Wednesday
Back in late October we went camping at Huntsville State Park. It had been several years since we’d been and I needed to tackle some trails there for the hiking guidebook I’m writing. Which, now that I look at my archives, I can’t find that I wrote about that here….??? Oh, wait, I found it, hiding in a life update post from June. Yes, still plugging away on hikes for that and I probably should post an update soon of how that is going! It was rather warm for October at the state park but we carried on and sweated it out. On Saturday of that trip, we had one…
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Southern Twayblade Orchid (Neottia bifolia)
I have finally given up any pretense of writing in a timely manner here. Or sticking to a frequency schedule. Life is busy, writing time is scarce. Let’s roll back to February of this year when we hiked the Four Notch Loop of the Lone Star Trail up in Sam Houston National Forest, where we did a quick overnight hike to see the southern twayblade orchids. Unfortunately I don’t know when we will be back on the LST or anywhere in Sam Houston because the Forest Supervisor just issued a major closure order for a significant portion of roads and trails in the NF due to historic flooding events in…
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Boykin Creek Explorations
Let’s travel back in time to October 2022. It’s been almost a year since we were in Angelina National Forest and I’m itching to get over there again. Some days I wish I lived somewhere in central/SE Texas, or rather further east than I currently do live in “SE Texas”. We were over in the Big Thicket/Woodville area on Saturday and as rural as some of that area is, you can tell the suburbs are moving out there and even the rural is still rather built up. I digress… I think I might have shared a little bit from this area last year at some point but I know I…
