Last month I was expecting Spring and actively looking for signs of the early anemones. I looked for them everyday in my front yard. On February 18th I saw the first ones!
AnemonesA Host of Anemones At The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (February 2024)Purple Anemone At The Wildflower Center
The first day of Spring is celebrated in North America on the Spring Equinox, I am celebrating Spring now because so much fresh life is emerging all around. Green shoots are coming up from the ground and sprouting from tree branches. And there is the blooming of flowers…from the pinky purple buds on my redbud tree to the purple spiderwort blossoms popping out every day. The days are getting longer and warmer. Birds are becoming more vocal and active. Some will soon leave to breed farther North (white throated sparrow seen below), while we welcome other species home from their wintering grounds in the South. I am guessing some of you have already seen some purple martins (early Spring arrivals). Other critters are emerging on sunny days (lizards, snakes, insects)
White Throated Sparrow At Wildflower Center (ready to fly North to spend the warmer months)Carolina Wren Wondering What Their Significant Other Is Up ToSignificant Other Taking A Dust Bath In Potting Soil In Our Raised Garden BedAnole Sunning On My Porch Glider
I am embracing them all in my heart and soul, these little joys of Spring.
And, No, I didn’t forget! The Blue bonnets are starting to bloom!
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (February 2024)
I missed my slow walk this morning. I missed my slow walking friends, but right now it is too hot for me to be outside.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is visited by thousands of people each year. Young and old, locals and tourists, the people come to view the flowers and other native Texas plants. Trails wind around the 284 acres and people can move at their own pace. There are fast walkers that get their steps in and medium walkers moving from one patch of spectacular floral colors to the next. There are parents pushing strollers and kids running around the lawns in the children’s garden. And then there are the groups of very slow walkers. They can be seen in groups of 6 or more, huddled around a flowering bush, taking turns to get the best angle to get a good shot with their close-up camera lenses. Some carry binoculars that they point at the trees and grassy fields. These women and men are participating in the weekly Fauna Survey, finding, identifying and documenting all the non-plant life that call the Wildflower Center home.
The Fauna Project is a weekly survey event led by Val Bugh (check out her website: http://www.austinbug.com). She has been at this since 2010 and has amassed quite a record of the bio diversity contained within this site. Her special area of expertise is entomology. The walking is slow because there is so much to see. At least every other plant will have a little insect on it doing something: eating another insect, mating, hunting, etc. Each survey is different. Here are some of my photos taken on the surveys so far this year.
Red Eared Slider Turtle (February)Robin (February)Leopard Frog (March)Ribbon Snake (March)Great Horned Owl Mom On Nest (April)Fox Squirrel (April)Tarantula (April)Buckeye Butterfly On Milkweed (April)Juvenile Great Horned Owl (May)Texas Spotted Whiptail (May)Beetles On Thistle (May)Dragonfly (May)White-tailed Deer Print (May)White Eyed Vireo (May)Texas Spiny Lizard (June)Beetle (June)
So, get out and do a slow walk. You never know what you might find.
According to their website, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is home to at least 1,800 insect species (93 of these are butterfly species), 148 bird species, and 15 mammal species.
I like keeping up with the news of the world most days and especially during this time of our Covid -19 stay at home. I watch the daily White House Corona Virus Task Force press conferences live so I can hear what they are saying without it being chopped up into incomplete sound bites later on. Watching from a comfy chair in my bedroom while playing solitaire I often glance away from the puffed up orange haired human on the screen and check on the scene outside my window. I distract myself from the insanity with the natural calming beauty of my backyard. I can see red admiral butterflies and monarchs sipping nectar from the pink and yellow lantana blossoms. There is also a hummingbird feeder with a lovely black chinned hummingbird in attendance. I scold the humming birds for fighting each other over the feeder. “There is enough for all of you!”, I tell them, at the same time knowing that it is in their best interests to be territorial. The butterflies calm me and the hummingbirds distract me. But, the creatures that bring me the most pleasure lately are the little green lizards who are in abundance this year.
Anolis carolinensis
Almost anytime I turn away from the puffed up man on the screen I look out and spot these guys puffing up their bright, pink throat pouches (dewlaps). They move along the tree branches or fence top and stop. Then they puff out the pink pouch a time or two and then move on. Then they stop and do it again. This behavior in these male Anole lizards (Anolis carolinensis) is to attract a female. My grandmother used to say they were “showing their money.”
Green Anole with partially inflated dewlap
Anoles Mating?
They are among many Iguanid lizards in the Family Iguanidae. They range throughout the south eastern United States from Oklahoma south through much of east Texas and east to Florida. They are not true chameleons, but change color from brown to bright green.
Green Anole in brown on brown branch
Just like the ubiquitous face masks and empty store shelves, these little lizards seem to be everywhere. I see them on walks in the neighborhood. There is one that hangs out near the front porch and I have seen at least three different ones at the same time in the back yard. Or maybe there were always that many of them around. It is just that now I have more time sitting at home enjoying nature from my window. Making lemonade out of pandemic lemons.
Green Anole on gargoyle statue outside my window
*Photos taken by author
*Reference: Texas Monthly Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Texas-by Judith M. Garrett and David G. Barker
Natural Musings 