Photos of Flowers

On my computer, this pic is labeled Spiranthes vernalis (Spring Lady's Tresses), but I'm not at all sure that's correct. You can see in the blurred background additional flowers like this in the field. This was in Cherokee Co.

Another picture of the same flower.

Prickly Pear Cactus. I'm thinking about embarking on a harvesting program for these guys. They are totally edible if you get them young and get rid of the spines (most sources seem to recommend burning off the spines). The fruit is good as well.

Bush Morning Glory (I'm pretty sure). The tubers are edible and were used similar to potatoes by Native Americans.

Cottonwood Creek in Harper County

Beautiful little creek. Cottonwood Creek. There are only about 10 thousand Cottonwood Creeks in Kansas (Cottonwoods are common). This one is in Harper County, we were looking for Arkansas Darters.

Didn't actually find any Ark Darters, even though this stretch of stream seemed perfect for them, but we did find some beautiful Killifish. Also caught Red Shiners, Sand Shiners, Central Stonerollers, Green Sunfish, and Mosquitofish. All with a dip net and minimal effort (two guys working for about 30-45 minutes).

Neat wildlife outside the stream as well. This was the best shot I could get of the black damsleflies that were all over the place.

Then we found this horned catepillar running across the road. I just about wrecked the truck stopping for this guy.

And then there was the not-so-wildlife. This old tractor looked cool to me. I love the wooden blades.

Pictures

I think I'm going to start posting things here again, but primarily, those posts are going to be pictures. I'm just too busy to do much else.

Just a random flower.

I like pics that have structure in the background that isn't sharply defined. Neither the bridge nor the leaves are all that special individually, but I like them a lot in combination.

A lot of what I review at work is new housing developments. I tend to think of these things as simple designs cloned hundreds of times with slight variations in the paint. I've got to admit though, this design is definitely outside the box. Is this a smoker's getaway?