I was out in mid-April this year and photographed this perfect example of Erodium texanum also known as the Texas Stork’s Bill. If you know geraniums, you will notice how similar the the leaves of Texas Stork’s Bill are to them. In fact, both Stork’s Bills that occur in Texas are in the Geranium family (Geraniaceae). Read more about the Texas Stork’s Bill here, here, and here.

Here are some other examples of Texas Stork’s Bill that I photographed several years ago. Notice the large purple flowers and the geranium-like leaves.

In all of these photos of Texas Stork’s Bill, you have a few individuals in proximity to one another and all of these produced flowers in March and April.

This image shows the Red Stem Stork’s Bill, Erodium cicutarium, a cousin of Texas Stork’s Bill from Eurasia. Here you can see the lobes cut into the palmately compound leaves and the multi-flowered umbel. Notice in the background there are many, many other individuals of this species covering the ground in view.

Both species of stork’s bill get their name from the way their seed pods grow to resemble the head and long beak of a stork. Notice here, along the stems you can see how strongly hairy these plants are when compared to the almost invisible fuzziness of Texas Stork’s Bill and geraniums.

This image was taken on the 20th of February, you can see a tiny Red Stem Stork’s Bill in flower. (the knife blade is 1 inch wide at the edge of the picture) This species was introduced in the US in the seventeen hundreds, most likely because it is edible (Webb, Robert H.; Steiger, John W.; Newman, Evelyn B. 1988. The response of vegetation to disturbance in Death Valley National Monument, California. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1793. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. 69 p.)(USGS). It reproduces prolifically and has become a competitor to cool season farm crops. It has invaded all 50 of the United States and all of Canada. Remarkable plant.

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These two photographs of whitetail deer crossing the Trinity River show how much land can change in two years of dry times. The scene in the first photograph was taken in 2011 the second in 2013 during late October and mid-November respectively. During this relatively short span of time, the river became marshland and was invaded by plants that could tolerate intermittent inundation by water. Fort Worth was experiencing an eight year long drought during this time.

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The Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans, formerly known as Chrysemys scripta elegans belongs to the family Emydidae which contains the water turtles and land dwelling box turtles found in North and South America. These turtles have dome-shaped shells and all have some degree of webbing between their toes. The group contains strict carnivores and strict herbivores, as well as, omnivores.

The red-eared turtle was at one time the most commonly sold turtle in the pet trade. As a result, they have become introduced into areas not in their traditional range and in some cases have become an invasive species. They are in the top 100 most invasive species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

When they are young, these turtles are distinguished  by the cherry red patch on the sides of their head near the ear, and by the yellow stripes on the head, legs, and shells. The red patch can vary in size during the life of individual turtles and can even disappear due to increasing production of melanin in the skin. Older turtles can become so dark that the yellow marks on their heads, legs, and shells are obscured making identification difficult.

These turtles can live twenty to thirty years and can grow shell lengths up to and beyond 16 inches. They enjoy fresh-water environments including lakes, swamps, streams, and slow-moving rivers. They are often seen sunbathing on rocks or fallen logs where they can quickly slide into the water to escape danger. They are ominivorus but feed mainly on aquatic plants.

Sometimes, you find them perched in places that make you wonder how they got there.

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