Some Houston Beauty- Mercer Arboretum .
I have been known to comment on Houston and its lack of interesting places in Houston.
It's certainly humid, flat, has its fair share of bill boards, power lines, Strip Malls, and Freeways, no hills or Mountains or clear blue coloured rivers and lakes.
However, there is much of beauty in the area and Mercer Arboretum is one of those places where there is a lot of beauty, tranquility and much of interest to see and enjoy.
(despite the clearing of some woodland just behind the Japanese Gardens, edge where yet another housing development is about to be built).
I have been known to comment on Houston and its lack of interesting places in Houston.
It's certainly humid, flat, has its fair share of bill boards, power lines, Strip Malls, and Freeways, no hills or Mountains or clear blue coloured rivers and lakes.
However, there is much of beauty in the area and Mercer Arboretum is one of those places where there is a lot of beauty, tranquility and much of interest to see and enjoy.
(despite the clearing of some woodland just behind the Japanese Gardens, edge where yet another housing development is about to be built).
posted by texbrit at
3:32 AM
4 Comments:
That's a great picture of a dragonfly. Do you know what it is? It must be some kind of Hawker (Aeshna .....). I don't know what they are known as over there.
By
Jeremy, at 10:10 AM, August 24, 2006
Well you certainly get me checking. I believe they refer to these as Odonata. This one fits the profile of the Sympetrum family but can not get any more specfic than that. They refer to these as MeadowHawks and this could even be the Saffron Winged MeadowHawk because as they get older they lose the saffron colouring from the tip and it almost fades. So I open the challenge to any US DragonFly experts who can identify it more accurately. That is what it is for now. There are so many different types and sizes here, all so incredibly interesting.
By
texbrit, at 2:59 PM, August 24, 2006
I found a page of Meadowhawk photos which may help:
http://www.pbase.com/jvhigbee/meadowhawks&page=all
I have been brushing up on my Odonata from our field guide. Odonata, meaning 'toothed jaw' are the order of insects to which dragonflies (Anisoptera) belong. The others suborders being Zygoptera (damselflies) and Anisozygoptera (very primitive and very rare). There are about 5300 species of them. Only 38 breed in the UK and Ireland. I would imagine there are hundreds of species over there, though many of them are restricted to specific habitats. They are fascinating insects.
Thanks for the birthday greetings.
By
Jeremy, at 4:25 AM, August 25, 2006
Over 400 species of Odonata in North America. and 5000 worldwide.
By
texbrit, at 5:41 AM, August 25, 2006
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