Parsley Invasion - Nature Picture Quiz

No, the parsley is not taking over but click on the picture and see what is taking over my parsley plant. I went out last night and my plant is almost all gone. I've got to get a few of these little caterpillars and put them in our bug home and watch them transform. I think there must have been around 10 or so of them eating up my parsley. If they were not going to turn out to be such a beautiful butterfly I would salvage my plant.

Can you guess at what they will become? Any guesses? Come on, take a guess.

Nature Picture Quiz

We had some nature time Sunday afternoon and came across some pretty neat butterflies. This is one of them. This is also the only picture I was able to get of it. I'll give you some hints. It has a long tail and it has some green iridescence on the body. Now if I tell you anymore, I'll tell you the name. hehehehe

Look and see if you can find it and leave me a comment with your guess. I'll be back on this post to update it and let you all know what it is.

Update: Ok, I'll tell....it's a Long-Tailed Skipper. Here is a link for a little more info on it. Thanks for playing.

Nature Picture Quiz

Ok yes, these are woodpeckers. But what kind? This should be a little easier to find out. HHHMMMMMM, I sure hope so. Gotta look it up myself.
These guys have found our pecan tree in the backyard. We could hear them knocking and knocking. We figured out what they were doing. No, they were not making a home. They were in search of food. One flew away with a pecan in its beak. How cool is that!

So come on girls, take a guess. I'll get the update on here on Friday. Jackie, this is for sure, not eeewwwww gross. *wink* hehehe

Update:I searched my ID books and the internet for the exact name of these guys and I say guys because they are. My search has lead me to Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Males have red on the head and neck while females only have red on the head. If you clicked on the pictures you can see them up close and you can see some yellow on their belly. So yes, the guess was correct. Good job, Carolyn.

Nature Picture Quiz

So let me tell you about this caterpillar. I had seen my lemon tree losing leaves. So I went outside to see what was on it and found not one but two of these ugly looking things.
Don't forget to click on the picture to see it up close. They look like bird poop, don't they?

I hope you all will take a guess at what these might be? As of this moment we have chrysalis'. I'll update the pictures later in the week so you can see. Come on take a guess. Look thru any Id books you might have or on the internet. I'll post an update on what this is next week. So look back on here to find out what it is. Who knows maybe I will have a butterfly by then.

Update: Ok, It's a Giant Swallowtail butterfly or at least it will be one.

Picture Quiz

I found this guy in the pool so he is still wet. Now I think I know what it is after all that investigating. Does this one go in the ooohhh pretty or ooohhh gross category?

It was pretty big. The wing span was about 4 inches.
So take a guess. What is this? This counts as your nature study time. Search identification guides and the internet to see if you can figure this out. I've gotta do a notebooking page on this one. When I do I will put it on my homemade homeschool goggle group. So be on the lookout.

Now as always leave your guess in the comments and next Friday I will post the answer on here and put up another picture quiz. Wait till you see next weeks quiz.
Update: From what I have found this is a Carolina Sphinx Moth.

Picture Quiz

Ok, here is an easy one. We saw this guy today. I think everyone should be able to figure this one out. There were so many of them flying around today. It was very nice to see them all in their natural environment. You have a week to post a comment with your guess. Come on....don't force me to call you CHICKENS! hehehe

I'll post the answer next Friday on this post along with a new picture quiz.

Update: A Monarch is the answer to this picture quiz. Thanks for those of you that commented.

Nature Picture Quiz

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I'm going to do this one with you all. I haven't looked it up yet but want to. I saw this on our nature hike at the Huntsville State Park. I wonder if I will find it? It is interesting. Who will help me look for this? hhhmmmmmm.... Come on girls, don't be party poopers. Leave me a comment with your guess.

Update: This is a female ebony jewelwing. Here is a site I found. How do I know it's a female? Well, they have that white spot while males don't. Well that was easy. Hope you find this interesting.

Nature Picture Quiz

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Ok, I know this one will be easy. At least I think it is. I think all the kids will be able to figure this one out at first glance. Leave a comment with your guess and be sure to come back on Friday for the answer and a little interesting tidbits on this amazing animal.

Next weeks picture quiz will be a little more challenging. I thought this would be a nice change and something the kiddos would enjoy.

By the way, do you see two animals or is it one? hhhmmmmm

UPDATE: Yes, yes it's a lion. Did you know that a male lion can reach a length of 9 ft. and weigh around 350-400 lbs? That is one massive animal. A lion can also give a short chase of up to 50mph. I guess we can't outrun them if we are being chased. What I found interesting is that a lion usually hunts at night but the most interesting thing I found is that they can spend a total of 20hrs per day sleeping. I guess I was thinking about this since it is almost 1am and I am tired and thinking of sleeping 20hrs myself. Thanks for those of you that participated. I'm going to bed now. Night, night. Oh by the way, there is a fly in the picture too. Great searching skills Meg!

Nature Picture Quiz

Well as you can see I've missed this week's nature picture quiz. I could not get to an internet wi-fi area. This morning I got up early in the morning to get to our favorite place here in Kansas. It's a Panera's. If you have never seen or been to one you are missing something. They have wonderful breads and hubby's favorite coffee place next to Horton's in Canada.

Anyway, I should be back to my normal computer time by late Monday.

Nature Picture Quiz

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This lizard was hanging out on our window off the school room. What a distraction! Of course we had to stop what we were doing and watch this and take out the camera. So what do you think it is? I'm not totally sure myself but will give this one a try.


Please leave a comment with your guess and I will try to answer this by Friday.

UPDATE: Yes, I think it's a Texas Spiny Lizard. I did have to search and search for this one. I ask the kids what they think it could be called and ask them what I should search for. This way I get them involved. Way to go, Denise on your guess!

Nature Picture Quiz

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This is a tree. It has some fruit growing on it. This will be the first year that it will give us more than a handful of these fruits. Can you guess what it is? Remember to look at the leaves and fruit for clues. Look through your tree info books or online and share what you find with your children.

Please leave a comment with your guess and on Friday I'll give the answer. Check back then on this post for the update.

UPDATE: Thanks for playing along. This one I think was a little harder. This tree is a Loquat Tree. It starts with little fuzzy buds that flower into a beautiful white flower. Then you have this green fruit that turns to a orangy-yellow fruit when ripe. They are small but tasty. Oh and I thought this was an interesting fact I found on Wikipedia. It said that eaten in quantity, loquats have a noticeable but gentle sedative effect, with effects lasting up to 24 hours. I'll have to remember this when I am not sleepy. There are many trees around town that their fruits are already mature. Mine are still green. Can't wait till we can pick ours to eat them.

Nature Picture Quiz

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It's Wednesday again and time for another Nature Picture Quiz. These are all over our area. I don't see any leaves. All I see is those yellow flowers. I think it's not only spring time again but allergy season is beginning.

Ok so what do you think this tree is? This is the first time I put up a picture of a tree. Can you figure out what it is? Go ahead and look it up with the kids. Try to figure it out and post a comment with your guess. On Friday I will give you the answer or will you all guess this one too. You all are getting real good at this quiz thing.

UPDATE: Well, where are you all with all the guesses? You all usually give me the right answer. So today I will tell you what it is. This tree is mostly in Texas. It's called a Huisache pronounced wee' satch. Huisache comes from the language of the Nahuatl Indians, a group of Mexican and Central American tribes. The yellow blooms are very fragrant and used to make perfumes and dried and put in sachets to give clothes the perfumed smell. The blooming of this tree signals that spring has arrived and so has allergy season.

Nature Picture Quiz

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What is this Texas Wildflower? These are all down the roads as you are driving from one city to another. Wildflowers are starting to come out and soon our roads will be full of different varieties. You can be sure that I will be posting on this Nature Picture Quiz more Texas wildflowers as I come upon them in our travels.

As always, please, leave a comment with your guess as to what this might be. To some it is an easy guess and to others you will have to search you wildflower guides. I've already given you a few hints. It's a wildflower and it is all up and down the roads in Texas. So leave your guess and don't forget to look back on Friday for the answers. I know usually you all have made the right guess and it's great to see that.

See you all on Friday.

UPDATE: Yes, it's Pink Evening Primrose aka Buttercup. If you get your nose too close to the yellow pollen it will end up on your nose. Our wildflowers are starting to bloom along the roads so soon I will be taking a driving field trip to take pictures and will share. I can't wait to see them all the wildflowers.

Nature Picture Quiz

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If you are wondering what this Nature Picture Quiz is all about, well, it's just that. A picture on nature things and you guess as to what it is. You leave a comment with your guess and on Friday I will post the answer. This is a wonderful way to incorporate nature studies into your day. You will be learning about different things and adding to yours and your children's knowledge. So play along.

On our field trip to Corpus Christi we were by the water and saw these guys. What are they?

Click on the pictures to enlarge if you want to see them closer. Look these guys up in field guides or online. Learn about them. Learn what they eat, where they migrate to, how many eggs they have, and perhaps learn one unique thing about them. Take out a nature journal and have the kids draw them. What about writing something about them. If the children are smaller they can copy a sentence you write for them or they can just write a one or two word description about them.

Just have fun and learn having fun. Don't forget to leave a guess and look back on here for the update.

UPDATE: Laughing Gulls it is. If you click on the bottom picture you will see a juvenile which is more brownish. They do sound like they are laughing. Pretty cool birds. Stay tuned to next weeks picture quiz. I wonder what it will be?

Nature Picture Quiz

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What can this be? Can you name it? I am still unsure of it. I know there are a lot of these that look almost the same but with few differences. Take a look and see if you can figure this out.

Post a comment with your guess and maybe together we can figure the exact name of this beauty. Don't forget to look back here on Friday for the update.

Don't forget to involve the kiddos. Give them a look. Have them look through the websites with you. Share ideas on what it may be. Look at the eyes. Look at the spots. Maybe have the kids draw a picture of it. Then you also can go out looking for butterflies. If you find some take some pictures and share them on your blog. Don't forget to let me know and I will go take a look at your butterflies. This is a wonderful way to learn a little about this beautiful creature. A very easy and natural way of learning. Have fun with this quiz!

Don't forget to enlarge the pictures to take a closer look.

UPDATE: Ok, I've looked and looked in different guides and online to identify this one. It is a hairstreak. You all know that. There are so many different hairstreaks though. Some differences are just the markings and some may be the color of the eyes. It is sort of like looking at those books that have two pictures of the same thing and you have to look at what is different in them. Well, some differences are obvious at first glance and some you really have to look at. Here is another picture that shows another clue. I think this is a Dusky-blue groundstreak. What do you think?

Nature Picture Quiz

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Since our internet is out AGAIN, I decided to post this since I am at our new Burger King that has free wireless. Yes, I came out in the middle of the night to post this and check my emails.

So what is your guess on what this might be? It might be a little easy or is it? Leave me a comment with your guess. I'll post an update on this post with the answer by Friday even if I have to come back here to Burger King.

UPDATE: You girls are sooooo smart. Yes, this is an armadillo. I actually saw this one at the zoo. If you click and enlarge this picture you can see that it has hair on its back.

Nature Picture Quiz

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This is a picture I took at the aquarium in Corpus Christi and thought I would have you guess at what this might be. We thought this was a neat spider since we saw Steve Irwin talk about it on one of his shows. Is that a good hint?

Have your children try to figure this out. You can enter one or two guesses. This is just for fun. You don't have to know exactly what this is to guess. Just have fun with it and enter what you think it might be.

Be sure to check back on here for an update on what this is.

Just a side note....my internet is not working but am hoping it will get fixed tomorrow. Having to go to the library for internet is no fun especially after a long school day.

UPDATE: This is a bird eating spider from Australia. It's in the tarantula family. These are the oldest of the spider types and generally possess a large, heavy set body with large fangs. They are venomous to varying degrees and include some of the most toxic species in Australia including the Sydney Funnel-web spider. Looks ugly doesn't it? EEWWWWW is right.

Nature Picture Quiz

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I know I showed this picture before a few weeks ago but no one ever said anything about it. So now it's on a picture quiz. What do you think it is? Take a guess and leave your guess in a comment. I will give the answer by this weekend, so be sure to check back to find out.

I think this may be harder to figure out. At least it took me a long while and lots of surfing to find what this was. Don't forget to involve the kids. Make it a game. Something fun for Wednesdays.

Well, have fun searching for the answer. Don't forget to leave a comment with your guess.

UPDATE: Yes, you're right it's a White Tipped Black Moth. It took me a long time to find this one as it did you. Watch again next week for another picture quiz.

Nature Picture Quiz

Here it is....I have seen this bird outside several times. He is wonderful looking. Look at his mask. Kind of reminds me of Zorro. Please take a guess if you want to play the game and leave it in a comment. Make it a family project to figure out what this bird is. Perhaps challenge your children to figure out what it is. Hand them ID books and see what they come up with. Remind them about the mask being all black. Look at the colors, eyes, and beak. Guide them but also give them a chance to figure it out. It's fun and addicting.

As always come back this weekend and see the update on this blog for the answer. Have fun figuring this out.

UPDATE: Yes, it's a Loggerhead Shrike. You can go here to learn more. Thanks for playing along.

Nature Picture Quiz

This is the second bird I took while visiting my friend in California and while visiting Yosemite. Some of you will have to look it up and that is the whole purpose of this. I know I had to do it. So take your guess and leave a comment. Come back here to see the answer.

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Update: Yes, again!! You girls are so on top of things. This is a Black headed Grosbeak.