linking to Good Fences
The moody skies of the late afternoon threatens our sunny day. In hopes of some much needed rainfall, mother nature doesn't hear our calls! Tho, with the darkened clouds, heavy with moisture and thunder heard in the far reaches of the county and beyond...the roiling clouds do nothing for us! In no time, those mischief blankets of promises of moisture all too soon disappear and the heat is on!! Last month, with everything so pretty and green for the first of Spring I was hoping against hope that we may have a normal season. Doesn't look so now. Everything, once again as for the past 4-5 years, is drying up to a golden yellow and the earth is cracking with the lack of rain!! Still, it is mighty pretty...those clouds!linking to: Skywatch Friday
On another day, as we walked along listening to the bird calls and trying to identify them by sound only, one buzzed just near my ear!! I thought, by the whirring sound it may have been a small hummingbird. I searched and searched the thin tree branches nearby to no avail. No hummingbird. But!!! What caught my attention is the likes of something I've never seen before. And I was positive this is the little 'buzzer' that was so near my ear. It was really an odd one to say the least. I stood and watched it for some time as it made its way up the branch, and then did a 180 and crawled DOWN the branch. The more I watched it, the more focused I became on it and then, I noticed the big "EYES". I crept up through the wildflowers, closer, closer, and was able to set the camera on macro and did a quick click on the shutter button! Truly, this was some alien creature from Mars! It had to be...
...I guess Texas is a suburb of Mars then? Oh well, I was close!! In all actuality it is a member of the Click Beetle family. If truth be told, this species is the Eyed Click Beetle. The fake eyes on its pronotum [the dorsal plate, or the foremost area of the body's thorax] is the defining ID marking. And the behavior of being on its back and rolling out to full length, making a clicking sound...hence, the click beetles their name.
linking to: Camera Critters - Saturday Critters
Moving to another area, leaving the beetle to its ways, I spotted this pretty scene. No, the photo is NOT upside down. It's the reflection of a young palm tree in the brook that meanders through the park...
linking to: Weekly Top Shot - Weekend Reflections