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.

Cacti research project revisited

In April 2019, three researchers visited the land and took samples from several of our native cacti. Read my wife's blog post for the story.

I've been published!

The new Peterson Field Gide to North American Bird Nests was recently published, and it features two of my photographs. Turn to page 425, and you'll find my images of a nest and eggs made by a golden-cheeked warbler on our land. Co-author David Moskowitz found my photos on a post that my wife wrote on her blog in May 2015.

 

UPDATE January 3, 2022.....The Blanco Library purchased their own copy of the field guide. Right now, they have a nice display that spotlights me and the book!

Snakes alive!

These are a few of my snake friends that I've videoed on the land. Before cleaning up the land to make it  passable, this would have not been possible. I have created lots of places for them to seek refuge and hunt prey through the many brush piles scattered throughout the place. By the way, the stick I used with the hognose was not to cause it harm but merely to try to pet it. I was a little apprehensive about petting it with my hands. Just recently, I've seen a few black whip snakes averaging about 4 feet long. Trying to get their picture was next to impossible. If ever the day happens when I can, trust me, I will post it! So far, I've seen no venomous snakes in all the years I've been going out there. But you never know one day...

Hog-nosed snake

Rough Green Snake

Checkered Garter Snake

 I highly recommend this book for those who tend to clear all or most cedar from their land.