April 14, 2026 – 1:15-2:15pm; overcast, humid, temperature in the mid-70s
It was just an hour, but there was so much to see and hear during that hour. Everything that grows has made the best use of the rain we have received, and flowers are adding dots and splashes of color. One was the look-but-keep-your-distance pure white blooms of Texas bull nettle. Others offer themselves for a close look at trailside, like the patch of hairy vetchling, a kind of pea that is described as a non-native species (another name is Austrian winter pea, per iNaturalist). Just a little dot of purple, but worth bending down for a close look.
So is Texas vervain with its slender stems and delicate flowers of a slightly different purple or lavender. The bit of natural history shown at iNaturalist says that it is a flower of woodland borders, and that is certainly true here.
A pair of mourning doves was resting on a branch near the bluff with feathers all puffed out. I wondered if they might be the pair I saw nearby, not that long ago (see the journal entry for March 14).
There were more small things to see, tiny landscapes that are present if we take the time to notice, and better still, get down on all fours for a close look. Around the bluff there are tiny communities of these little flowers, easily overlooked among the oaks and little bluestem. The white ones were, according to iNaturalist, Arkansas leastdaisy. It is said to be native to Texas and nearby states, including northeastern Mexico. I don’t know the tiny yellow flower among them in the photo.
As I walked over to the boulders, I opened the Merlin app. I had been hearing northern cardinals and at one point mourning doves, possibly the pair I had photographed. I wanted to see what else I was missing, either through untrained ears or fading hearing acuity. Merlin recognized the cardinals, of course, and added Bewick’s wren, Carolina wren, American robin, and blue jay.
And butterflies were out, too, including a pair of common buckeyes with those beautiful purple eyespots and orange bars on the forewings. They are said to like open, sunny areas and are found in southern Canada, most of the U.S., and south to some places in northern South America.
Another small flower that I love is daisy fleabane, and they’re definitely blooming. All those tiny ray florets around the central yellow disc really pull at my attention for some reason, like “real” flowers aren’t supposed to have so many narrow white “petals.” Anyway, this plant knows much better than I do what real flowers are supposed to be like. And yes, evidently people once believed that they would rid your house of fleas!
Last month I noticed all the lovely white flowers (looking so much like wild roses) on the southern dewberry and imagined the clusters of berries that would ripen and offer a little sweetness to birds and other wildlife. Just a little incentive to carry the seeds somewhere and deposit them in a place where a new vine could grow. And today I saw some of the fruit!
There was a lot to see in an hour, including the Engelmann daisies I saw, mostly around the parking lot (but they’ll show up in various places within the preserve). Those notched leaves look so much like ferns, and the flowers are beautiful. Each season brings new wonders, and for me they never get old.
Lovely flower photos! Looks like spring!