Oasis

Blotched Water Snake

(Nerodia erythrogaster transversa)

     This particular snake was filmed swimming in the north end of The Pool.  After watching it for a few minutes, I went around to the other end of the pool, sat on a broad stone, and spent the next hour watching four such blotched water snakes swim around the pool's edges and back and forth across the small waters.  Once, a Nerodia swam to the center of the pool and floated still.  Then another swam out to it and immediately the two of them splashed the water about and then swam off in different directions.

     I should admit that the species named here may or may not fit the actual snake seen here. The genus is right on, but Nerodia includes a number of snakes.  They all live a semi-aquatic life, though, and all of them can be aggressive (an evolutionary piece of mimicry from living near poisonous cottonmouths?).  Fish, amphibians, and rodents are not safe around Nerodia.

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Colubridae
Subfamily:	Natricinae
Genus:	Nerodia

     For more information on snakes and reptiles of our area: http://www.austinreptileservice.net.

Exuvia of a dragonfly.

The exuvia is the remains of the insect's exoskeleton.

     For more information on dragonflies and damselflies, here's a nice site: http://odonatacentral.org.

Red-eared Turtle (Trachemys scripta)

      Notice the strong "keel" on the carapace of this young specimen.  As it ages, the ridge on its back will weaken out more.  This one was resting quietly on the edge of the very small stream emerging from stones about eighty feet south of the lower end of The Pond.  I saw no others nearby.

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Subclass:	Anapsida
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Trachemys
Species:	T. scripta

For scale.

Damselfly.

A drought-shrunken snake hole.

      (The video of the blotched water snake was taken from the boulder at the far end of The Pool above.)

Looking down stream of the pool.

Sumac shadow on limestone.

First ripened dewberry prior to being orally appreciated.

Honey bees on the non-Creek property.

These females appear to be fanning the entrance to the hive in an 
attempt to create a bit of respite from the heat and drought conditions.

We are feeding them sugar water because the nectar "flow" is

down now during our drought.

Guard-Daddy

     Below are a few weak illustrations of what we are seeing a couple places along the creek.  The bluegill will spawn from now until way through the summer. Before and after eggs have been placed in the creek bottom, the male will guard the nest diligently.  The nest featured here takes up about a square foot of cleaned gravel where the fish has removed all algae and the diatoms which make up most of the creamy white "scum" across the floor of the creek and the pool into which it flows.  These fish have chosen a spot right at the confluence of creek and pool, on the downstream side of a boulder.  The only other bluegill nest in the area likewise is situated on the downstream side of a boulder.
     The individual bluegill here is small, about five to six inches long, with aqua-blue lighting up where the sun shines on its fins and tail.  A faint reddish ring circles its eye.
     Most of the time, the male here is chasing away any other fish that swims close to the nest.  When it is not feeling threatened, it sometimes appears to stand up on its tail and flap it back and forth as if sweeping the nursery floor of silt.

The obscure view of a bluegill's nest, center of the photo.

Male Bluegill Guarding Its Nest

A short movie, featuring a nervous father protecting his childless nursery in the middle of a stream.

Up the hill from the Creek, we have had test holes dug where we hope to intall a septic tank and field.  This photo is meant to show the soft sandy loam down for about five feet where rounded river stones take over.

Still don't know what this fossil of leafy swirls might be. 

Within the Stonefiled near the Creek, hundreds of these sorts of rocks can be found.

More of the same riffle bugs.

The rear-end view of a honey bee feeding on water willow blossom.

Venus' Looking-glass (Triodanis perfoliata) 

The cricket frogs have taken on a greener color than when we saw them earlier in the season.

Dewberries almost ripe.

This is a difficult one, based solely on the photo.  It could be a Clippedwing Grasshopper (Metaleptea brevicornis) or a Cattail Toothpick Grasshopper (Leptysma marginicollis) or some other.  (Anybody have a suggestion?)  It was found in the short bushes near the west side of the Creek.

The Lion, the Screw, and the Green Dewberry

Off to climb Whitman's Rough (the boulder slope behind the home-site) in search of more signs of a mountain lion.  Two days ago while running a chain saw through the brush to make a traversing trail up to the top, I found a fallen juniper log with what appeared to have several dumps of cougar scat drying nicely.  And not far away from the log, what would typically provide suitable den space.

I really don't know if this is cougar scat or that of a coyote-dog prone to using a

balance beam for a toilet. But whose ever it is, they are sharing it with a raccoon.

  Usually cougar scat is the same size as a dog's or coyote's but possesses distinctly rounded ends and is divided into fairly clear segments, each about one inch in diameter.  The rounded ends were not quite so evident on these specimen.

(This is one special blog, that measures the scat for its dear reader.)

This den-like room among the boulders sits about forty feet north of the scat log.

Inside.

Spring green from the back porch of a mountain lion (of course).

All sorts of waiting places for a mountain lion up in the limestone boulders of 
Whitman's Rough.

If there's a cougar, this would be its trail across Whitman's Rough.

Project: replace all the loose screws on the Hog Shop roof.

So, we need to move into this Hog Shop at some date. But the details to take care of until that time appear endless.  And we have had plenty of help, so no complaints there.  I just drive over to our local and relatively small hardware store, tell the paunchy old man with the Boston accent or the skinny old man in the baggy shorts what my project is, and they take me by the hand and we go aisle to aisle finding the right size of PVC connectors or hex screws or Romex cable.  It's a much more rewarding experience than driving over to our huge store with the motto: "You Can Do It -- Fine, Then Do It."

New-green lighting up the ridge beyond the creek.

One of the first blackberry blossoms from the plants we set next to the orchard.

A shaded little thing growing next to the front gate.  Looks like a geranium or one among the Mallow family (Malvacae).  Perhaps a Rock Rose.  It's a name worth owning, anyhow.

And over near the pond and among the stones, the wild dewberries have dropped their white blossoms and have begun to grow small green berries, ripe for the picking in another month and a half or so.

Harlin's capture of a drought-stricken dewberry fruit (above) and flower (below) alongside the trail leading up the west side of The Pond. 

Last weekend we enjoyed a Saturday with the Hansons and Millers eating more than we had a right to under the Live Oak. And on Sunday, the Little Lady and I donned our dorky snorkel gear and swam with the perch, black bass, and carp among diatomaceous scum and otherwise clear, cold Creek waters.

Here is a start to a plant list of species identified so far, thanks to the work of Harlin.  He and I would both agree that we are seeing more than what's listed here, but those additions will have to wait for another day.  And hopefully, mundane tasks involving hex screws and burn piles will have their end, and I will be able to spend much of  the remainder of my small days filling out Harlin's list with endless descriptions and anecdotes.

Genus	species	English	Family
Juniperus	ashei	Ashe Juniper	Cupressaceae
Pellaea	ovata	Zigzag cliffbrake	Polypodiaceae
Juglans		Walnut	Juglandaceae
Quercus		Live Oak	Fagaceae
Siphonoglossa	pilosella	Tube Tongue	Acanthaceae
Rhus	toxicodendron	Poison Ivy	Anacardiaceae
Calyptocarpus	vialis	Lawn flower	Asteraceae
Amblyolepis		Huisache Daisy	Asteraceae
Chaptala		Silver Puff	Asteraceae
Sonchus		Sow Thistle	Asteraceae
Hymenoxys	scaposa	Bitterweed	Asteraceae
Xanthium	strumarium	Cocklebur	Asteraceae
Berberis	trifoliata	Agarita	Berberidacaea
Onosmodium	bejariense	Flase Gromwell	Boraginaceae
Opuntia		Pickly Pear	Cactaceae
Opuniea		Pencil Cactus	Cactaceae
Tradescantia	gigantea	Giant Spiderwort	Commelinaceae
Convolvulus		Bindweed	Convolvulaceae
Capsella	bursa-pastoris	Sheperd's Purse	Cruciferae
Cucurbita	foetidissima	Stinking Gourd	Cucurbitaceae
Croton		Bush Croton	Euphorbiaceae
Tragia		Noseburn	Euphorbiaceae
Sophora	secundiflora	Texas Mountain Laurel	Fabiaceae
Melilotus		Clover	Fabiaceae
Lupinus		Bluebonnet	Fabaceae
Sesbania	drummondii	Rattlebush	Fabaceae
Prosopis	glandulosa	Mesquite	Fabaceae
Phaecelia	congesta	Blue Curls	Hydrophllaceae
Cisyrinchium	ensigerum	Blue-eyed Grass	Iridaceae
Salvia	farinacea	Mealy sage	Lamiaceae
Lamium	amplexicaule	Henbit	Lamiaceae
Smilax	bona-nox	Greenbriar	Liliaceae
Alium		Wild Garlic	Liliaceae
Nothoscordium	bivalve	Crow Poison	Liliaceae
Wissadula	holosericea	Velvetleaf Mallow	Malvaceae
Colubrina (?)	texensis	Hog Plum	Rhamnaceae
Plantanus	occidentalis	American Sycamore	Plantanaceae
Phlox		Phlox	Polemoniaceae
Oxalis		Wood Sorrel	Oxalidaceae
Oenothera	laciniata	Cutleaf Evening Primrose	Onagraceae
Ungnadia	speciosa	Mexican Buckeye	Sapindaceae
Mimulus	glabrata	Monkey Flower	Scrophulaceae
Veronica	anagallis-aquatica	Water Speedwell	Scrophulaceae
Celtis	laevigata	Hackberry	Ulmaceae
Ulmus		Elm	Ulmaceae
Verbena		Vervain	Verbenaceae
Cissus	incisa	Cow Itch	Vitaceae

The following four photographs come compliments of Harlin.  Indebtedness knows no depths.

Shepherd's Purse

 Tradescantia-gigantica

Bindweed

Smilax

The universe may be large.  There may even be other universes.  But the endlessness of an unwalked, unexplored, unseen universe will never be as vast to me as a few acres of spring-born creek, stonefield, meadow, limestone  boulder-fall, and juniper thicket.  The thought of rounding a bend in the trail and facing a mountain lion excites me to the marrow, but it would satisfy me no more than a trembling last-year's sweetbrier leaf, tenuous in the early April wind.