Mom and I went birding and flower watching for lunch today. I love it when she comes with me. We birded through ranches near Italy, TX. The chalky limestone dirt roads puff billows of fine, white dust all over the car. We saw:
Indigo Bunting
Red-tailed Hawk
4 Turkey Vultures
4 Mourning Doves
White-eyed Vireo (more than likely)
About 10 Carolina Chickadees
3 American Crows
Scissor- tailed Flycatcher
3 Black Vultures
Mom is an amateur botanist who knows many of the Texas flowers by their common names and by their scientific names. It’s not very often that she sees a new flower to identify. Today we came across these lavender beauties in amongst the Tall Goldenrod and the Broom (I think). I used to be a reluctant participant to her flower watching, stopping all the time while she takes pictures, and listening to her talk about the differences between the leaves of an Engelmann’s Daisy and a Thelesperma. I’ve crossed over and now I love to learn the names and more. I’ll let you know when she tells me the name of this one.
The new flower is a Gregg’s tube-tongue, Hairy Tube-tongue, False Honeysuckle (Justicia pilosella) Acanthaceae (Acanthus Family). Fun. — Melinda
BlueRavenBirders 