Surprises along the edge of the road

On my way back from Boca Chica Beach, I was startled to see a large patch of Indian blankets, just at the edge of the road. Thinking they have become exceedingly rare, I thought I should take advantage of the photo opportunity. I whipped the car off the road, unleashed my seatbelt and bounded out of the car and over to the patch of wildflowers. I heard shouting — I took my first shot — and only shot! Space X security personnel were yelling at me; two security cars were heading my way. I jumped back in my car. After a couple of bumps, I was off the verge, back onto the road and speeding away, which is when I noticed chunks of metal in the distant field — obviously debris from the latest wreckage. I kept one eye on the road ahead and the other on the rearview mirror. The security cars turned back; they did not follow.

Back home, in the safety of the road at the edge of the neighboring farm field, I was excited to see something blue peeking out from under a row of false ragweed (Parthenium hysterophorus). The flowers were of ivy-leaved morning-glory (Ipomoea hederacea) Native to Central America, ivy-leaved morning-glory has naturalized in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions throughout the globe and is found in 46 states in the United States. It is an annual twining vine. It can climb fences, neighboring plants and other supports but is commonly found creeping along the ground and under other vegetation. The habitat includes abandoned fields, along roadsides and railroad tracks and quite commonly along the edges of cultivated fields near the roadside, which is where I found my observation.

This was a which-way-do-I-look-first event because directly across from the blue flowers, right at the edge of the road, was a large splash of white flowers, low to the ground. After taking multiple shots of the morning glories, I crossed the road and photographed the white flowers, which turned out to be the rare, white-blooming form of Pinkladies, (Oenothera speciosa) At first, in the sun-glare on the face of the phone, using the iNaturalist app, I thought I had come upon silky evolvulus, (Evolvulus sericeus), but three identifiers corrected that observation.

What was really exciting was the discovery of something new to me: Lonestar Four O’Clock (Mirabilis austrotexana).

Leaving the beach and park and heading toward the center of South Padre Island, I swung by Sheepshead Street. As soon as I approached the north side entrance, a gentleman whispered and motioned for me to come quickly. We both quietly sidled over to the fence, placed our heavy cameras on the top rail and captured photos of a vibrantly colored Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) What right-time-right-place luck for me — I finally have a good photograph of the Summer Tanager.

Closer to home — in my own back yard, as a matter of fact — I was thrilled to observe a two-foot tall Eastern black nightshade (Solanum emulans), — which brings my yard species of nightshade to three. I also have Texas nightshade (Solamum triquetru) and silverleaf nightshade (Solamum elaeagnifolium) — good quail food, if only the quail would return.

One last exciting find was during the hours of darkness. I set up a moth sheet with black lights. One of the more significant night visitors was the Theodore carpenterworm moth (Givira theodori), a pretty white, black and gray moth that I had not seen before.

This was the fourth year that I have participated in the City Nature Challenge, and it is always a fun way to spend time and see what new there is to discover.

The City Nature Challenge is run by the Community Science teams at the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Check out the results of the Lower Rio Grande Valley participation at the link below.