Jul 2007

Oct 1, 2006.... Armadillos eat yard eggs

2am....the guinnea fowl is screaming...the dog is barking...the armadillo that I've seen evidence of recently by plowing up around the farm yard is eating a nest of guinnea eggs...they are ready to hatch...with near fully formed chicks....it's not unusual for an eggeater...usually a chicken snake to feast on an egg nest just before hatching ...apparently an armadillo has the same instinct to wait to the tastiest time or the most nutritious time...

This is probably his hole because it looks to b currently used...often I've heard that snakes will share an armadillo hole...do you think that perhaps armadillos sometimes eat small snakes?...they love eggs..

Oct 2, 2006.... Ragweed Alert

Ragweed alert....Many people in central Texas are very allergic to ragweed. It is blooming now. There is a common ragweed that usually gets 1 - 2 feet tall. It can pollinate as heavy as the gigantic ragweed which stands 3 - 4 feet tall. Each are shallow rooted and can be pulled up by hand easily. You want to pull them up before they are pollinating however. If you mow over the common ragweed it simply remains low and has many pollinating heads and is more trouble to pull up.

Oct 3, 2006.... Antlions love ants...

One of the wilder of the wildlife on the farm is the voracious anteater, the ant lion or commonly known as the doodle bug. A curious or inattentive ant slides into the antlions landsliding vortex and the mandibles of the ant lion grip the welcome intruder tugging him underground to enjoy a tasty meal. The armadillo would enjoy tasting some well fed doodle bugs.

To catch a doodle bug, choose a toothpick size twig, lightly touch the cascading wall of the doodle bug home, the doodle bug will throw up dirt above the falling creature to insure that it falls to the botton of the cone. You can tell where the doodle bug is by watching where the dirt is being thrown from. Wiggle your stick in that area until you can see the doodle bug. Pick him up, take a look and return him and let him get back to work catching ants.

Oct 4, 2006.... Unidentified egg...

I found this egg this morning under the 15' tall burr oak tree...I'm not sure of the kind of egg? Any suggestions?

I've spotted a red tailed hawk today, 3 caracaras and several Bewick wrens in the juniper trees that I'm currently thinning out. One cottontail rabbit scrambled from where I was working... Commonly on the driveway are a number of scissortailed flycatchers. Today 3 were chasing a much larger crow or grackle from the area.

Mom turned 90 at a party at the farm.

Oct 5, 2006.... Juniper (cedar) removal....

Juniper seeds on the female trees are good bird food. The male trees however release in December a potent pollen that many people are extremely allergic to. The posts from the cut male trees are used for fence post and other building projects, they are very strong and insect resistent. The matted needles below the trees are good habitat for various creatures and make good garden mulch. I did remove one 18" rattlesnake during the cutting of this set of trees. The stacked limbs of the junipers make additional wildlife habitat. Junipers are criticized for extreme water absorption. I will plant nitrogen fixing legumes (bluebonnet flowers) in the open spaces left by the removal of the male junipers.

High temperature...92 degrees F.....Record is 94. Too Hot!

Oct 6, 2006.... Underage Farm help...

Farm help keeps getting harder to find.....

Spent the morning cutting juniper.....I found many grasshoppers in the field of coastal grass....far away from the chickens range.

Butterfly infestation....something in the environment triggered the arrival of a mass of these butterflys arriving today...a cool front came late in the evening. The best time for photographing the butterflies is early in the morning when they are spreading their wings and warming up in the sunshine.

I also photographed monarchs and swallowtails this date.

Squirrels and cottontail rabbits seen.

Oct 7, 2006.... Cactus fruit...

The prickly pear cactus protects itself with it's many thorns but the fruit is delectable to eat. The red "tuna" fruit reminds me of the taste of watermelon. It's juicy and has a similar texture. A bird carefully arranged the pears on a blade of cactus and has eaten through to the seeds.

In parts of Texas during a drought the spines can be burned off with a small propane torch or cut off. The cattle will love them when there is no chance a sticker will puncture their lip and they provide needed water to livestock when water is scarce.

This particular long leaf cactus is unique. Generally the cacti
have round leaves, these leaves are longer and narrow.

Oct 10, 2006.... Osage Orange - Bois d'Arc-Hedge Apple...

These are the names given one of my favorite trees. The grapefruit size fruit is eaten by armadillos, possums or raccoons or all three plus other small mammals. Each fruit has hundreds of seeds. The wood is orange and extremely dense, excellent for carving and fenceposts though straight pieces of wood are more rare. The limbs have a natural arch and retain their flexibility long after they are cut. The wood is a natural for bow making. The branches are thorny and the tree can be cut back so that it is an inpenetrable fence. The trees have been often used as windbreaks as well.

Oct 17, 2006.... Spinybacked orbweaver
                          Gasteracantha cancriformis

This spider is so unusual!  It has a hard enamel looking back with black spots and little horns sticking out in 6 places. It is a thick fullback looking spider....the web looks very inefficient...stringy and not well organized....and has a butterfly in it's web.....

This spider was difficult to photograph because the background was the sky...I placed the board and my hand on the other side of the web so the camera would not set the aperature for the bright sky....

Oct 19, 2006.... Camouflage.....The Fence Lizard

I was photographing butterflies and I saw some movement by my foot....the lizard stayed perfectly still....it protects itself by blending in with the sticks and grass around it...perfect camouflage....I slowly set the camera to the closeup range and lowered the camera to within a foot of the lizard to take the picture...Once I got too close the lizard quickly ran away.

Oct 26, 2006.... Seed planting time....Live Oaks & Bluebonnets

The live oak acorns are under all the trees around Austin this time of year. Some have bb size holes where they are invaded by borers, others sprout and are ready to plant in pots or in the ground and keep your fingers crossed...they may be beautiful trees to be appreciated by the next generations. (Planted 30 seedlings, 8 in pots)

Bluebonnet seeds need to be planted 1/8 inch under soil during October and November for next springs beautiful flowers. The legumes are nitrogen fixing benefiting the soil. It's also the Texas State flower. (Planted handfuls of seeds today.)