Photo Essay
Habitats: Breaks & Canyons: Late Summer and Early Fall on the Stockton Plateau
Cathy Hoak owns property east of Iraan and spends almost every weekend there photographing the flora and fauna. She is a member of the 2009 class of the Llano Estacado chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists. Her careful observations are opening the eyes of many naturalists to the great diversity of the Stockton Plateau, a region that has been understudied.
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Eurasian doves just appeared in the area in 2008.
A lesser goldfinch drank from a small waterhole she has created.
It was nervous, and often stood erect to peer around.
An immature Bullock’s oriole pried at the seeds of a sunflower.
Sibling immature Bullock orioles spent quite a bit of time in the sunflower.
A hummingbird came to catch insects on the sunflower, too. Was this an immature broadtailed?
An immature cardinal screeched at the world.
Mourning doves came to the water, too.
Prickly pear fruit turns red in mid August.
September sunrises can be spectacular.
A young porcupine tried to hide from Ms. Hoak.
Tubetongue is a common groundcover in the area, and is a great groundcover for the Xeriscaped yard.
Devil’s bouquet would be a great Xeriscape plant, too, but it is very hard to propagate.
A small beetle fed on the saw-toothed daisy.
Roadrunners are common in the area.
Redberry juniper (J. asheii) is common in the region.
These oak leaves indicate it may be a hybrid or integrade between Vasey and Mohr Oak.
What is this shrub with black fruit? Sibley staff thinks it is a Condalia lycoides, but is not sure.
Blueberry juniper (J. pinchottii) is less common in the region.
An armadillo shell reveals the presence of the species, but it is usually only found down in the valley bottoms with better soil, not up on the rocky slopes where Ms. Hoak’s house is located.
The birdwing passionflower had unripened fruit in September.
Was this the hipbones of a deer or a sheep (which grazed on the property until a few years ago?)
Wolfberry will produce red fruit.
This female grasshopper rested high on a juniper – before or after laying eggs.
This appears to be a mountain patchnose snake, at the far eastern limit of its range. It is a lizard eater.
A half-eaten prickly pear fruit was covered with rain drops.
With all of the rain of 2009, algerita had new growth in September.
In November the turkeys visited the house. This one peered around its tail to see if another turkey was watching.
Several came to the yard.
And walked about looking for seeds and grasshoppers,
And preened...
And preened...
And preened.
The balsam apple ripened in early November...
And in closeup, it looks like it might be delicious, but it is not.
Western bluebirds returned, and with the berries common on the juniper, the winter of 2009-2010 might be a great bluebird year.
A false groundcherry continued to bloom late in the season.
A crevice spiny lizard caught its hand between the house and the molding.
Birdwatchers may see thousands of robins this winter!