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Black Caterpillar Hunter Beetle (Calosoma sayi)

6 August 2019
Avondale Park
Denton, Denton County, Texas

Observed this Black Caterpillar Hunter Beetle spend more than an hour's time eating another beetle, a large golden-brown May/June Beetle. Ants did not begin scavenging the remaining carcass of the May/June Beetle until this beetle was done having its meal. Had not previously observed one beetle eating another. The Black Caterpillar Hunter Beetle is large, over an inch in length. Its black sheen dorsally was symmetrically lined with pink/red spots. Our first time observing this beetle in the North Texas region.

See BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/node/view/1596339/bgimage

(Puget Sound Garter Snake?)

The story of this encounter is available on my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/CrazyAboutNature/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2942878802417181&tn=-UC-R

Caught a baby garter snake, under 6" in length, consuming a just-emerged Northern Pacific Tree Frog. The frog was not as wide as my small fingernail, and not as long as my trimmed thumbnail.

It was heart-wrenching for me to watch this... as a amphibian, and especially a frog lover, but it is nature.

Source: DSC01572x

Sorry for the low-quality pictures of the carcass. Was found in a field right next to the road. Likely roadkill. It looked like the body had been there for a while. I collected the skull, took it home and cleaned it. The last two pictures are of the cleaned skull.

Golden-cheeked Warbler
Setophaga chrysoparia
singing male
This is likely a 2nd year bird since it shows some olive coloration on back and some olive in crown.
Gainer Tract,
Balcones Canyonlands N.W.R.,
Williamson Co., Texas
20 April 2007

I managed just a few quick shots from the car as an Osprey flew by with a fish over the Pedernales River in Johnson City, Texas. This was the only shot of the 4 or 5 that was in decent focus. This fish has been identified as:
American Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum)
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4870751