8 mile drive...

Thursday I noticed Indian Paint brushes on the sides of the road but didn't have the camera, yeah the wildflowers have arrived...So Friday morning I decided to take the camera out and go for a drive just to see what I could find...

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I hadn't even got in the truck yet when I noticed this beautiful white-tail buck near the drive-way...

A very nice start for a morning drive...

I drove down to a field, that Michael and I pass on the way to and from school, because we had been seeing Sand Hill Cranes in it...A lot of Cranes too! The field had just been tilled and the Cranes are enjoying themselves, just wish they'd been a bit closer to the rode.
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As I continued to drive I noticed this new Mother with her newborn calf. The calf was not to enthusiastic about the mud or water.
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I stayed to make sure the calf didn't get stuck in the mud and after Mom got a drink they were off...It's spring here and lots of new life. I love it!
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Babies everywhere...
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and more babies...
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And a goofy goat, they just have to eat everything in sight and reach!
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And I finally reached my other photo subject that I was looking for...

Wildflowers!

I was shocked when I saw the wildflowers Thursday morning...but while I was taking photos Friday morning I was thinking to myself...Hey idiot it is March and that's when the wildflowers bloom...lol

It's also snake breeding season but thank goodness I have not seen any as of yet!

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Indian Paint Brush...(just for my friend John :o)
I'm kind of partial to BlueBonnets but it will be a little bit before they start to bloom...
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Phlox...
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Okay now I have 5 wildflower books...this wildflower has several different names in each one, yikes...It is from the Bleeding heart family and is called Fumariaceae, Scrambled eggs, Golden smoke, Golden Corydalis and Southern Corydalis...sheesh wish they could decide on one name...I think I'll just leave it at Corydalis for now.

Corydalis and Phlox
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If you look closely you can see the seed pods on the Corydalis. They contain a black seed which the ants love.
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This is a disc flower and a member of the Coreopsis family...I love what looks like a beaded circle around the yellow center. Early Pioneers used to put dried Coreopsis blooms in their mattresses to repel fleas and bedbugs...I wonder if it works but then again I hope I never have to try it, not too fond of sleeping with creepy crawly critters.

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I miss named this one the other day...It is known as Crow Poison or False Garlic (I called it Poison crow-foot, sorry about that). It is not a close relative to Garlic or Onions, nor is it edible.

Crow poison

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This little bloom was about the size of an eraser on a pencil. Very, very tiny but it caught my eye while I was taking photos of the other flowers...
(and it's late and I'm tired and I am not looking it up right now, so lets just enjoy it's beauty)
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There are 30 species of Milkvetch found in Texas and this is one of them...Possibly a small flowered Milkvetch, another really tiny bloom. I do love my Macro lens :o)

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I am pretty sure these bushes/plants are what the locals call Dew Berries and these are the blooms. They look like a giant raspberry and if you beat the birds to the berries after they ripen they taste pretty sweet. This is actually not a wildflower but a bush and I do not have a bush/tree guide book for Texas. (I need to get one!)

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And what every good wildflower photographer needs to carry with them...a piece of cardboard to lay or sit upon, lol...I knew I planned on being on the ground so I carry my folded up cardboard boxes with me...Fred laughs because I save boxes but there is a reason for that, they come in handy for all types of situations! Especially when your sitting in the middle of a patch of prickly dew berries :o)
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This is my "Where's Waldo Photo"...Can you see what is in the photo? Can you see how many of that one species is in the photo? I love how they blend in with their surroundings, nothing like a morning siesta or snack!
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That was my morning drive...it was exactly 8 miles long. My intentions were to drive around the block and take photos but a fog bank came in and it wasn't a good idea to lay in the ditch taking photos or for parking on the side of the road...I'm just happy Spring has Sprung and the wildflowers are here. I am sure before Spring is over with I will bore you to death with wildflower photos!

Enjoy your weekend!