Tag Archives: Harmonia axyridis

Bugging You From Texas, Part deux

I’ve been home on San Juan Island, WA for 4 days now and clearly I picked up a bug traveling home. Not exactly the sort of bug I wanted, but it was inevitable given the crowded airplane and traveling stress. My husband came down with the BUG first. Then it hopped over to a new host – ME.

So, I’ve spent the afternoon on the couch labeling and sorting photos from one of our nature walks in Texas. This was the first of two hikes we took at the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area Nature Preserve https://www.llela.org/about-llela/mission-and-vision. This area (approximately 2000 acres, I believe) has been conserved in conjunction with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the University of North Texas, the City of Lewisville, Lewisville ISD, the University of Texas in Arlington, and Texas A & M Agrilife Extension. It is a true jewel in the madness of the DFW metropolis where over 6.7 million people are displacing wildlife and native ecosystems are lost in the process. The BEST part of these hikes for me is the fact they do not allow dogs. NOT ANY! I am thrilled that the focus is on wildlife and habitat conservation and preservation instead of human recreation. I could actually be outdoors, enjoying nature AND viewing wildlife.

We’ve been to this preserve in prior trips to Texas. This year, we focused on hiking some trails we hadn’t been on before. Here is the gallery of some of the bugs I photographed, along with a few wonderful landscape scenes we viewed on the Redbud Trail – map here: https://www.llela.org/home/showdocument?id=9417

Please support environmental conservation wherever you are. This habitat may seem large at 2000 acres, but the former Blackland Prairie once covered 12 MILLION acres in the state of Texas. We need to set aside more if we are to weather the changes coming ahead.

Stay tuned for Bugging You From Texas, Part 3. I have more wonderful photos to share with you.

What’s Bugging Garry? (Gary is an Oak Tree in case you’re wondering)

So, this was not without a LOT of frustration on my end – due to lack of practice converting Powerpoint presentations to YouTube. The audio just wouldn’t sync. Finally…figured…it…out. 🤦‍♀️ Here’s my presentation from this past Sunday’s Garry Oak Symposium at the Grange. Feel free to watch and ask questions if you weren’t able to attend. For anyone interested, I’ve included references and literature at the end. Sorry in advance if there are some audio issues. They are minor and I just decided to go with it. 🙂 I’d like to add a special thanks to April Randall for her amazing artwork. She drew “Garry,” as in Garry the Oak Tree. Enjoy!

Garry Oak Symposium 2022, San Juan Island, WA