I saw this little honey bee that looked it was pollinating a Texas baby blue eyes. Female honey bees are responsible for collecting honey and although they have a stinger, they can only use it once since they die after they sting. Male honey bees only purpose is to mate and are not even equipped with a stinger. The queen bee’s purpose is just to lay eggs, and she can lay up to 2,500 eggs a day during the busiest summer months.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5619200
I saw this ladybeetle crawling around on a leaf in the same area that I saw the honey bee. Asian ladybeetles are native to Asia and were introduced to North America in an attempt to control aphids, small bugs that cause damage to plants and crops. Although they look a lot like the popular ladybug, they’re actually seen as pests and can bite, whereas lady bugs cannot.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5619145
I see this flower a lot wherever I go whether it be a park or just on the side of the road so I decided to find out what they are. They’re called pink evening primroses, or pinkladies, and they’re native to Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, although they’ve spread throughout the U.S. The name evening primrose comes from the fact that these flowers tend to open their flowers in the evening and then close them back up by early morning.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5619337
I thought I had never seen a dive because I thought all doves have white feathers. The white-winged dove, or Zenaida asiatica, is a dove that is mostly gray with the exception of its white-tipped wings. I have seen this bird multiple times at St. edward’s and had no idea that i was seeing a dove. This bird is native to the southwestern parts of the United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Interestingly, with the rise of urbanization and people with backyard feeders, it has expanded the area in which the white-wing dove ventures. It has migrated as far north as Canada! Such a small, but mighty bird!
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5446493
When I first moved to Austin, I thought this bird was a crow. I later learned this is actually a great-tailed grackle or Mexican grackle. It’s official name is Quiscalus mexicanus. It is a medium-sized bird. It’s tail is just as long as its body, making it an easy bird to spot. The great-tailed grackle is called “cuervo” in different regions of Mexico because its glossy black feathers. Every morning when I wake up and when I get coffee at Jo’s Coffee Shop on St. Edward’s campus, I hear this bird. It is loud and shrill. This bird is noisy because it is a highly social bird. This bird certainly has my attention with how much noise it makes.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5466151
Daisies are my favorite flower! They are so unassuming, yet bright and welcoming. Okay, maybe a plant can’t actually be these things, but daisies make me feel this way when I am in their presence. This daisy is a Blackfoot Daisy, officially named Melampodium leucanthum. This one is young; blackfoot daisies get to be six to twelve inches tall and twice as wide. They have eight to ten white petals with a bright-yellow disk center. These particular daisies smell like honey! They live in the Southwest, mostly in plains and meadows. Can’t wait to go back to Wild Basin and watch this daisy grow!
Ilex vomitoria, or yaupon holly, is a species of holly that is native to southeastern North America. The name “Yaupon” comes from a word in Catawban (a Native American language). The Catawban name is “yopún”, which comes from the word “yop”. The word “yop” means tree. So basically “Yaupon Holly” means “Tree Holly” which is redundant, but cool! My mom loves decorating our house with holly around Christmas time. On Christmas Eve, my dad would make chocolate cake and take a branch of holly from our tree outside and put it on the cake. Seeing this Yaupon Holly reminded me of Christmas and my dad’s cakes.
There are a lot of evergreens near my home in Maryland, so this Juniperus ashei reminds me of home. Interestingly, it is a dioecious species, with separate male and female plants. This evergreen is native to northeastern Mexico and the south-central United States. Large numbers of these plants live in central Texas, right where we are now in Austin! It grows up to 33 ft tall, and provides year-round shade for wildlife and livestock. I found this plant at the Wild Basin Preserve, home to many animals that can take advantage of this plant for its coverage. Ashe Junipers do not need a lot of water because it is a drought plant, so it can handle the Texas heat.
Verbesina virginica L., or Frostweed, has a unique story behind its nickname. When winter weather brings ice, the stems release water that freezes into different and unique shapes. I want to come back during winter when it is cold enough for water to freeze and see these cool structures! The intricate ice designs on this plant has resulted it it being given a plethora of nicknames including: ice ribbons, ice flowers, ice fringes, ice fingers, ice filaments, ice leaves, frost flowers, frost ribbons, frost freaks, frost beards, frost castles. The cold never bothered it anyway.
If I were to have a gang name, I would want to be called “SkullCap”. The name skullcap is the common name for scutellaria. This actually comes from the Latin term “scutella” which means “small dish”. Maybe not a good gang name. Another reason why Skullcap isn’t a good gang name is that these plants are flowering plants that are beautiful, vibrant purple color. Probably not so tough looking to be a purple flower called “small dish”. Nevertheless, this cool plant from the mint family was found in the Wild Basin Preserve!
