A grandparent is
a little bit parent,
a little bit teacher,
and a little bit best friend.
~ Unknown
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The pond at the springs - The moon and a star (okay, it was a planet) were bright in the sky.
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Some friends gathered at the park to look and listen. Some "best friends," B, C, and M were on their first froggy/toady adventure. I don't think it will be their last.
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| Heading down the path towards one of the springs. KM has been monitoring amphibians (among other things for over 12 years. She led the way this evening. |
As we headed down the trail we saw all kinds of interesting plants and creatures. We had some surprises - a herd of White-tailed Deer grazed in the meadow/prairie restoration area and ignored us while a Nine-banded Armadillo waited around long enough for everyone to get a look before disappearing into the underbrush. The plants were a reminder that spring wildflowers aren't the only growing things of interest to be found in the wild. Fall-bloomers could be found as well as summer-bloomers now exhibiting their seed pods.
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Buffalo Gourd*
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Frost Weed**
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Liatris - one of my favorites (probably because my mom loved it so)
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Balloon Vine
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White-tailed Deer (a little too far away for a good photo)
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| KM heads down to take the water temperature - part of the data we will report. |
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Large Milkweed Bug on the milkweed*** we saw between the path and the water.
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| Did we do the "milkweed dance?" Well, maybe not, but we were excited to see it and the insects. |
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Examining the first amphibian of the night -woohoo! [We had heard Rio Grande Leopard Frogs, but this toad allowed itself to be caught.]
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You gotta love Gulf Coast Toads - they show up!
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Noting the particular characteristics of the Gulf Coast Toad.
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| Our young citizen scientists did not even flinch at this large spider (building a web across the creek). |
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Climbing Hempvine was blooming profusely on the railing at the fishing platform.
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We will give you one guess of the identity of this last specimen.
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Examination
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Of course it was a Gulf Coast Toad! [This toad was a bit larger than the first.]
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All in all we saw three Gulf Coast Toads and one American Bullfrog. A number of Rio Grande Leopard frogs were heard calling along the waterways. As we were about to end the watch we were gifted with the call of the Barred Owl, "who cooks for you." The call was repeated. It was the perfect hello and goodbye for the evening.
We hope you are able to get out in the wild. Listen. If you are lucky you might hear the Barred Owl calling just after dark.
NOTES:
* Buffalo Gourd - https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/ethnobot/images/cucurbitabg.html
**Frostweed - https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=vevi3
*** I'm not sure that this is Green Antelope Horns Milkweed (as was identified in iNaturalist). I don't usually see it this late in the year. I'll watch the observations post to see what the experts say.
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