Along our route to Taos, New Mexico, we stopped at Earthship Biotecture on 28 May 2021.
Road Sign
Earthship Structure
Walk around Earthship structures
Martha Staying Hydrated
Ready for Warmer Climes
GMC Truck with Visitor’s Center in Background
May 27 2021
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, near Mosca, Colorado, on 27 May 2021. With the melting mountain snow, Medano Creek was flowing at the foot of the dunes, providing families with a “day at the beach.”
Sangre de Cristo Mountains
On the Road to the Park/Preserve
Outside the Park/Preserve
Outside the Park/Preserve
Landscape Outside the Park/Preserve
Great Sand Dunes Park and Preserve
Families Enjoying the Dunes
Martha Walking Out to the Dunes
Dwarfed by the Surroundings
Looking Back Toward Parking and Medano Creek
Medano Creek Still Fed by Melting Snow
Martha with Water At-Hand
Flowers on the Dunes
Parting View from Colorado Route 150
Parting View from Colorado Route 150
Parting View from Colorado Route 150
May 20 2021
Fringed Puccoon or Narrowleaf Stoneseed
Fringed Puccoon or Narrowleaf Stoneseed [Lithospermum incisum] found outside Broken Bow, Nebraska on 20 May 2021. It’s a member of the Borage (Boraginaceae) family. National Wildlife Federation’s Wildflowers of North America, page 161, states it blooms in spring and summer on roadsides, in open woods, and on prairies. It is different from the from the Hoary Puccoon and Western Puccoon, in that its flowers have jagged edges.
USDA Plants Listing: Lithospermum incisum
Fringed Puccoon – 20 May 2021
Fringed Puccoon – 20 May 2021
May 19 2021
Yellow or Western Salsify
Yellow or Western Salsify [Tragopogon dubius] found in Concordia, Kansas and Grand Island, Nebraska on 18 and 19 May 2021, respectively. It’s a member of the Aster (Asteraceae or Compositae) family. National Wildlife Federation’s Wildflowers of North America, page 569, states this species was introduced from Europe, blooms in Summer in disturbed places, and is widespread. Its common genus name is goatsbeard and its bracts are longer than a Tragopogon pratensis.
USDA Plants Listing: Tragopogon dubius
Yellow Salsify – Concordia, KS – 18 May 2021
Yellow Salsify – Grand Island, NE – 19 May 2021
May 19 2021
Goat’s-Beard or Yellow Salsify
Goat’s-Beard or Yellow Salsify [Tragopogon dubius] seen at Alma Creamery, Alma, Kansas on 17 May 2021 and Grand Island, Nebraska on 19 May 2021. It’s a member of the Aster (Asteraceae / Compositae) family. National Wildlife Federation’s Wildflowers of North America page 569, records that it was introduced species and the USDA site has it found in most of the United States and Canada.
USDA Plants Listing: Tragopogon dubius
Goat’s-Beard – Alma, Kansas – 17 May 2021
Goat’s-Beard – Alma, Kansas – 17 May 2021
Goat’s-Beard – Grand Island, Nebraska
May 17 2021
Abilene, Kansas and Dwight D. Eisenhower
Only the grounds of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood home could be viewed in Abilene, Kansas on 17 May 2021.
Sep 06 2020
Monarch Caterpillars
Monarch caterpillars [Danaus plexippus] found in Fletcher, North Carolina on 14 September 2018, and in our backyard on 24 August 2019 and 6 September 2020. Also shown is caterpillar excrement, called “frass.” Reader’s Digest North American Wildlife, page 264, shows that this species can be found throughout the United States, southern Canada, and parts of Mexico.
Butterflies and Moths of North America: Danaus plexippus
Monarch Caterpillar – 14 September 2018
Monarch Caterpillar 24 August 2019
Monarch Caterpillar – 6 September 2020
Monarch Caterpillar – 6 September 2020
Monarch Caterpillar Frass – 6 September 2020
Sep 05 2020
Maryland Meadow Beauty
Maryland Meadow Beauty [Rhexia mariana] found at Creasman Farms, Hendersonville, North Carolina on 5 September 2020. It’s a member of the Meadow Beauty (Rhexia) family and has “eight conspicuous yellow stamens.” Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 160-161, states it blooms in summer in low meadows and sandy swamps.
USDA Plants Listing: Rhexia mariana
Maryland Meadow Beauty – 5 September 2020
Maryland Meadow Beauty – 5 September 2020
Maryland Meadow Beauty – 5 September 2020
Sep 01 2020
Grass Spider
Grass Spider [Agelenopsis pennsylvanica] found on the roadside of the Blue Ridge Parkway on 1 September 2020. The NWF Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America, page 398, says their “web has a retreat tunnel that serves as a shelter; it is not sticky; insect prey are rushed, captured, and hauled to the retreat.”
Grass Spider – 1 September 2020
Grass Spider – 1 September 2020
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