My trip to Conroe Texas

I know this is kind of long over due but I was just finishing up with my observations. Anyway on June 10-11 me and my family went down to Conroe and The Woodlands area for the weekend. My little brother thought up the trip because he wanted to enter in a video game tournament. It was not my idea of fun but at least I got to look around for insects and things at the Bear Branch Rec Center. I had a field day when we went there. I was just walking around at first when my brother went to get registered. I took a moment to look at the trees and the plants and take a moment to appreciate the fresh air and the nice breeze. Soon I was on my way to observe. I observed quite a few things on this trip; somethings I had just never seen before. My main thing is insects and there was no shortage of them. Their was a lot of skinks and things too. There was one Five Lined skink that was really funny he was spotted by my mom who spotted him slumped over a exposed tree root just sitting in the sun's light. We saw many different leaf and planthoppers and a few things like that which are always a pleasure to see. In the images on Google Earth it seemed such a small place with very little to offer but I was wrong and misjudged the land and saw there was plenty to offer in such a tiny place. It was kind of funny to walk around there some people were asking me if I lost something but I told them I was just looking for wildlife and that I am a naturalist. Some people didn't seem that interested but that was fine. I knew what I had to do and that was to observe things for iNaturalist. I went around the whole place leaving no stone unturned. The skinks were absolutely thick running around the leaf littler looking for stuff to eat. The Skinks in question really love damp wood piles and places with a lot of fallen plant matter and dead and downed woody material. I have never seen so many skinks in my life. I have seen a lot of Common Spotted Whiptails though. This was a good trip for all of us we all needed to get out and do stuff together. Me and my dad walked around for a little bit than me and my mother. We did a lot of nature watching while my brother played in his Super Smash Brothers Contest. We went all around the rec center looking at plant after plant and insect after insect. There were a lot of Orchard Orbweavers and things. My camera was not picking them up so I just moved on. I have had a lot of trouble photographing spiders on webs but I have been practicing and reading about new tactics but still without a clear surface behind it it is hard. This first part of the trip was very rewarding. My little brother only made it to the third round before loosing but I came back with a whole truck load of observations. I had quite the field day that day I saw quite a lot. One of my most memorable finds were the Red Banded Leaf Hopper which I have not seen since my childhood, then I saw the Gray Squirrel which I think is cuter than our Fox Squirrels. Then there was the Little Blue Dragonlet which as a budding Odonata hunter that was pretty sweet. Then there was the Five Lined Skinks. Then there was that fungus that looked like a sponge that was pretty cool. I just want to add that little wooded trail was awesome. I liked that a lot so much fungus and stuff. I also had fun looking at the Largus species. They were just set as thick as the skinks. It was a very good day but the next day would prove better for the riches. The next day we headed to the WG Jones State Forest there I heard theRed Cockedaded Woodpecker but didn't see it. It was mostly shadowed that day and I was pleagued with bad lighting but I was able to get some very good shots of other things but the birds were really hard to get. I saw my second Spinybackd Orbweaver which was very neat. Those are my new favorite spider. I like those they have quite the impressive body shape and are not like other spiders. This part of the trip brought me a Red Head woodpecker, several plants, and tons of bugs, I also saw my third nuthatch species. I got to see a Brown-Headed Nuthatch which is the third on my life list of America I only have one more to see which is the Pygmy Nuthatch. We wrapped it up and we headed back toward home but we did stop at the Sam Houston Visitor Center and found a few other things that were interesting. The big attraction there was the Horned Passalus beetle. That sucker was huge and quite impressive. I was so excited to see that dude. It was quite interesting and very neat. I don't always get see big beetles like that when I am in the DFW area. I had fun on that trip. I didn't see any moths except when I got home but the data I collected and the observations I made are there with me forever. They are new memories that I will treasure forever. I wonder what I will encounter next on my journey? I guess I will have to wait and see. This is Zachary Chapman signing off.

Publicado el junio 20, 2017 10:35 TARDE por galactic_bug_man