Observations by micahburke

This specimen was seen on an oak tree near the Visitor Center. The lichen appears to be pale-green grey and has been intruded on by a specime of the Candleflame lichen. The lichen has a foliose form and I believe that is the reason for it to be the Star Rosette Lichen. Ascocarps were found in the specimen.

This specimen was found crawling on a large bush and seemed to not like me taking pictures but allowed me to once I was far enough away. It had 7 black spots on its abdomen and bright red coloration on it's wings. Two white eyespots are on the the front of the head. It was very small, probably less than 1 inch. The specimen was found along the Onion Creek Trail in McKinney Falls State Park.

This specimen was found in a park-like woods near the Onion Creek Greenbelt. It was spotted in a clearing then ran behind a picnic table and then ran up a nearby tree. It had brown-grey coloration and a fluffy-tail. It was very fast and appeared to be gathering or collecting food. I wish I had taken better photos but the specimen was quite skiddish. I couldn't tell the size because it was too far away and moving fast.

This specimen was flying around with a partner and appeared to be mating, although I'm not sure. It has white wings with brown spots on the corners. It's cephalothorax was black and small compared to the wing. The specimen was found along the Onion Creek Greenbelt Trail and was seen flying around the brush near the trail edge. The specimen was maybe 1 inch wide although the other specimen and it's movement made an estimation shaky.

This specimen was found along the Onion Creek Greenbelt Trail in the low forest surrounding Onion Creek. The specimen was quite tall being over 10 feet tall. The flowers were made of compound leaves and had white petals with prominent black sexual organs (carpel and stamen). The fruit were round and were found in clusters. Non-sexual leaves appeared to be mostly simple leaves with netted venation.

The observed specimen was found near the banks of Onion Creek on a small cliff. It was found near a few other specimens of it's kin. This specimen has pink colored petals and had less prominent sexual organs (stamen and carpel) that were yellow colored. The flower was approximately 2 inches in diameter. The plant was also not very tall being maybe half a foot tall.

This specimen was found along the Onion Creek Greenbelt Trail. It was not seen pollinating nearby angiosperms however was seen with other members of it's taxa. It's cephalothorax is prominent while having uninteresting coloration. The specimen had primarily brown coloration with orange, black, and white highlights. It also had an eye-spot pattern on it's wings. It was't very large being maybe 1.5 inches wide.

This specimen and it's kin were found in large quantities in the highland forest near Onion Creek. This specimen had yellow petals and prominent orange-yellow stamens and carpel. It seems to be a medium-sized bush-like plant. I noticed no pollinators using these plants, that could be due to the time of day or time of year.

This specimen was found in a puddle in a limestone pocket near the Lower McKinney Falls. It's cells were arranged in a helical pattern. It appeared like a silky green seaweed when outside the microscope and under it appeared to be tubes of green helices. I don't know which species of Spirogyra this is, because of my limited knowledge on the subject.

This specimen was found in a tree branch over Onion Creek. It was fairly large with maybe a 3-4 foot wingspan and was most likely 3-4 feet in height. It was observed flying low, maybe to scan for fish. The specimen made no audible calls or sounds while I was observing it.

This specimen was spotted with two other specimens and were crossing Williamson Creek and were heading into Onion Creek. They were small and rounder with a 1 foot height, I could not observe a wingspan since they didn't ever fly. They seemed to have an aquatic diet as they would occasionally flick down and put their head in the water. Their brown, black, and white color pattern helps me believe that they are Killdeer.

The specimen was crawling along the dirt path and was an phased by me nearly stepping on it by accident. The body was small and less than .5 inches from anterior to posterior. It had many legs and was moving slowly.

This specimen was found pollinating a small crowpoison plant found along a deer path near the convergence of Onion and Williamson Creek. It was rather small, being nearly 1.5 inches in wingspan and having a very small thorax and head. It had a few others flying around pollinating as well.

This specimen has brown coloring on it's thorax and wings. It's very thin and has large wings. It moves through jumping and is quit loud. It's sounds remind me of crickets or grasshoppers so I am unsure as to the classification for this organism. I believe it to be a Green-Striped Grasshopper that is discolored due to their prevalence in the area.

This large specimen was found pollinating a Texas Paintbrush and was alone. It did later engage with another specimen in seemingly a violent manner. One set of wings were more rounded and the other set are more traditional-looking wings. It's rounded wings had two arcs of colored dots, one orange and one white. The specimen was quite large being 1.5-2 inches in wingspan and had a large body.

The specimen was found with lime green coloring and two large black dots on the anterior of the wings. It was rather small being slightly less than 1 inch in wingspan. The specimen has a black thorax and head and small nearly invisible antennae. It was very small and was being buffeted and blown around by the high winds. It was found along the karst and limestone outcrops near the Upper McKinney Falls.

This specimen was flying near the McKinney Homestead in McKinney Falls State Park. It was a orange and black patter with white dots along the anterior parts of the wings and have two distinct sections; a larger, brighter section, and a smaller, darker section. It wasn't found near any flowers but was most likely in search of pollinating some.

This specimen was found pollinating a small pink and red flower on a large bush. It had a large fuzzy body and wings. The body was maybe 1.5 inches from anterior to posterior and had a 2-inch wingspan. It has dark coloration and large antennae. The specimen was also flying around with a large amount of honey bees.

This specimen was found in a shallow part of Onion Creek above the Lower McKinney Falls. It was very docile and allowed my friend, a couple, and I to get rather close before sinking back into the creek. It had a slight red coloring but was mostly light or dark brown. It had six legs and two pincers, a cuticle, and was found within freshwater which makes me assume it to be a crayfish of some sort. Red Swamp makes the most sense because of it's prevalence around the area and the specimens physical characteristics.

The specimen was flying around an angiosperm bush with pink flowers along with many other specimens of the same taxa. It appears much like a honey bee, although the exact species I'm unsure. The specimen was relatively large for a bee (1 inch in length and 0.5 inches in width) and has yellow and black striped banding. It appeared to be in the process of pollination and was flying in and out of many flowers.