@dystopian If so, what a wonderful oasis in the dry hill country! I camped/backpacked at what was called lost maples on the map every summer when I lived in Austin. This was over 35 years ago now.

Great pix Janis... you have the best greens... Outstanding flowers S.P., beautiful!!

Green has always been my favorite color. The 64 color box had besides regular standard and spring, awesome forest, sea green. I had a 62 sea green Thunderbird for a while when I was 18, was how I learned to drive a boat.

Olive-Juniper Hairstreak on Antelope Horn, a milkweed Monarchs lay eggs on.

Green Lynx Spider - these are not web builders but hide on flowers like crab spiders.

Green Kingfisher - a small kingfisher - with a great unique in America shade of green.

Southern Dogface - a bit twisted as was hit roadkill. The black dot on forewing is the eye of the dogface, facing outward on each forewing. When they feed they hold their wings together so you only see it muted from below.

I have no idea what this plant is, was at one of my regular stops, Lost Maples SNA in south central Texas.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!

@Daenerys

Love the first photo. "I'll close my eyes and you will go away." Then it peaks to see if you have. You haven't so it turns its head and says, hmmph! Is he a lifer? I've only seen one owl my entire life.

I finally got something new! This adorable little northern saw-whet owl:

It was by the trail where I like to walk while my husband is in class; it had been reported there recently and Tuesday I was able to go look for it for myself. While looking for it I ran into a couple of people who run the Owl About Minnesota FB page, so that was cool. They ended up finding it first in the end. It took us a couple of hours; my husband got out of class and joined us and we were still looking. We were all about to leave when they found it and waved us over. It was another cloudy, garbage light day so I slightly enhanced the colors and lighting of the photos.

Now I just need to find a red eastern screech-owl, long-eared and short-eared owl. For this area anyway.

@Daenerys Hey D, GREAT Saw-whet pix! For folks that don't know these are mini-owls. At 8" and under 3 oz. might be the second smallest owl in N.Am. They will take boxes on big trees for
nesting (as on Sta. Cruz Isl. off Sta. Barbara in socal) They are named for a call they make that sounds like the set-and-first-whet when you saw. First the clunk of the saw hitting the lumber, then the clicking of the teeth as you slowly draw back your first whet. It sounds just like that. Usually though you hear the tooting series of about 1 single note per second.

I finally got something new! This adorable little northern saw-whet owl:

It was by the trail where I like to walk while my husband is in class; it had been reported there recently and Tuesday I was able to go look for it for myself. While looking for it I ran into a couple of people who run the Owl About Minnesota FB page, so that was cool. They ended up finding it first in the end. It took us a couple of hours; my husband got out of class and joined us and we were still looking. We were all about to leave when they found it and waved us over. It was another cloudy, garbage light day so I slightly enhanced the colors and lighting of the photos.

Now I just need to find a red eastern screech-owl, long-eared and short-eared owl. For this area anyway.