Meep Meep...

This roadrunner showed up a while back and wasn't a bit nervous about me being there. Since removing the cedar and allowing native grasses to flourish, there is now plenty of food for wildlife. This one kept going into the grasses, retrieving grasshoppers and a lizard. Every time it would get something, it would go over the rock fence. A minute or so later, it'd repeat the process. I think it was feeding babies.

Down under in Blanco County, Texas

I found this vertical cave on our land. It is located on one of the highest points in our county. One day, I noticed a depression in a cactus bed and became curious. After removing the cactus and dirt, I found this cave. It is 7 feet deep. But it could go deeper and wider because all the dirt that filled in over time. Maybe some day I'll finish what I started. No telling what kind of treasures I'll uncover.

Good morning deer...

 

                      This deer greeted me this morning at the land...

Sowing the trail...

I decided that I had too many trails on the land so I closed quite a few. This trail divides the prairie from the woodlands. The seeds I gathered are from our Indiangrass plants. Next year, I hope to see these grasses flourish. I've done this on other areas of our land, and it has been very successful.

Girls day out...

 I drove up to our land this morning and found these three girls having a good time.

Our little prairie on the hill...

 This is the result from years of clearing the "pioneer" cedar and reseeding the land with native grass seeds collected from the property. This spot is also the perfect place for watching the sunset or just relaxing and listening to the birds and the breeze flowing through the trees.

The view from the top of our land

Years ago, the cedar was so thick that if you were 10 feet away from the edge of this spot you wouldn't even know this view existed. One thing you don't see is the road that divides the hill from across the street or the new subdivisions going in all around us.

Enjoying nature on a beautiful fall morning

And then there was light!

                          Found this cacti off of one of the trails.

Clearing most of the cedars allowed the native grasses to come back, and what a come back!

Flowering Indiangrass. My favorite native grass. A prolific seed producer. 

Found this handsome high-eyelashed jumping spider (Phidippus mystaceus) on the picnic table. I think he enjoyed my company because he stayed for awhile.

This is a cardinal jumping spider (Phidippus cardinalis). Beautiful! I think he enjoyed being photographed.

Checkered gartersnake (Thamnophis marcianus). This one was on the same trail as the cardinal jumping spider. I hope the snake didn't find the spider.

                 Indiangrass with the rock wall in the background.