Tandy Hills Natural Area, Part II

Click here for Part I.

My visit to the Tandy Hills Natural Area this past Saturday was a real treat. I'm still getting used to the idea of getting my outdoors fix in small pockets like this. Living in Colorado for 17 years will spoil a person that way. But I'm also getting more appreciative of the beauty to be found in these places.

The most prevalent wildflower in bloom was greenthread.  It's a good thing we had a master naturalist with us, because I never would have expected the plant would be named for its threadlike foliage and not its bright yellow flowers.  Then again, I suppose there a lot of plants with bright yellow flowers.

I spent a fair amount of time with one particular patch of greenthread that was getting some terrific late afternoon light, as well as callers like this bee.

For most of the time here I'd been focused on isolating individual flowers from their backgrounds.  The greenthread gave me a chance to try something different, and play with composition and depth of field to emphasize their abundance.

Bees weren't the only insects that were attracted to the blossoms.  In a relatively short span, I also saw this fly ...

... and even a ladybug.

The ladybug didn't stay for very long.  I'm tempted to say that I actually prefer the scene without it.  The blossoms -- both opened and unopened -- command more attention this way.

This sort of field seems made just for whiling away a warm evening.

Many plants had gobs of what looked like spit on them.  Turns out they're frothed-up plant sap which provide cover for froghopper nymphs, lending them the name spittlebug.  Master naturalist FTW!

As the sun set, a ridge provided a perfect view of the Fort Worth skyline to the west.

A young couple out enjoying the evening graciously allowed me to include them in some shots, which I think provides some nice context.  Probably would have been even nicer if the dude had his arm around her, but I didn't feel comfortable asking them to pose -- especially not knowing what their actual relationship is. :)

Yet another nice photo outing!