Millican Reserve: Market on the Green

On Sunday, September 21, TMN set up a table at Millican Reserve’s monthly farmers market. If you don’t know what it is, Millican Reserve is almost 3,000 acres of land just north of the small town of Millican.  The land is being maintained by the Millican Reserve Land Conservancy, a group dedicated to building a community that is nature oriented, interesting in wildlife conservation, the arts, and farming. 

Millican Reserve

Millican Reserve

For the Market, the table was jointly hosted by both member of Rio Brazos Audubon and TMN as most of the members actually belonged to both organizations!  Thanks to Betty Vermeire, Laura Biddle, Abby Ince, Mark McDermott and Rick Laughlin for hosting! The market ran from 10 am until 2 pm with a steady stream of people throughout the day.  Along with the usual handouts and brochures, TMN had the animal tracks matching board which was a big hit with the kids.  Thanks to Mike and Joyce Conner for creating it!  At the end of the day, 67 people stopped by the table (20 kids and 47 adults).  Not huge numbers of people for 4 hours BUT (!) I think the event tends to concentrate nature-oriented people so we get good, quality contact with the public.  

Betty and Laura at the TMN Booth.  Thanks to everyone who helped out throughout the day!

Millican reserve is a great place to visit!  If you’ve never been out, I encourage you to participate in an RBAS or TMN activity on the property!  Hint hint! I’m going to shamelessly plug the 2^nd Annual Fall Harvest and Pumpkinpalooza coming up in October.  From the Reserve’s website:

“Celebrating local farms, arts, recreation, and wildlife, this three day event will serve as a festive celebration of Millican Reserve’s continued growth in the Brazos Valley community and will include a host of activities for all ages, including a farmers’ market, music festival, an outdoor carnival, pumpkin chunkin’, and much more. We invite you to join us at Millican Reserve as we share our vision of building healthy community around nature.” 

And by pumpkin chuckin’ they really mean pumpkin chuckin’… with a trebuchet! 

Want To Help Out At Pumpkinpalooza?

TMN is looking for people (like you!) to help out with hosting a booth for Sunday, October, 26^th, from 10 am to about 4 pm.  If you are interested in helping out, please contact Joyce Conner or Sarah Laughlin.

  

Millican Reserve Information:

http://millicanreserve.org/what-we-do/


Posted and written by Sarah Laughlin

A Day at Cedar Hill Ranch

Cedar Hill Ranch Trail (Photo by Permission of Carol Fox Henrichs)

On Saturday, September 20, 2014, fifty-five (55) people (including one child) participated in nature activities at Cedar Hill Ranch, a 700+ acre tract of land in Gause, Milam County, TX. The ranch is operated under a wildlife management plan.

The participants were members of Rio Brazos Audubon, Texas Master Naturalist (most in the Brazos Valley Chapter and the El Camino Real Chapter), Brazos Valley Wildlife and Nature Photography Group, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and some of their friends and families.

The day began with misting rain and ended with hot, humid, and sunny temperatures.

One Group of Birders (Photo by Permission of Rick and Sarah Laughlin)

Around 8:30 am novice and expert birders broke into groups and walked three marked paths surveying birds and noting other items of nature that caught their interest.

Their totals were sent to eBird.org and show that 39 species were recorded for a total of 730 birds. Two new species were recorded for this site - one Great Egret and 27 Cattle Egrets (which are not native). The birds most seen were Northern Cardinals (179) and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (131). The following is the complete list.

September 20, 2014   
Cedar Hill Ranch (Milam Co.)   
Total Species    39
Number of Individuals    730
Number of Checklists    3
   
Species Name    Species Count
Double-crested Cormorant    2
Great Egret    1
Cattle Egret    27
Black Vulture    8
Turkey Vulture    30
Osprey    1
Red-shouldered Hawk    4
Inca Dove    2
White-winged Dove    1
Mourning Dove    7
Eastern Screech-Owl    1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    5
Red-bellied Woodpecker    20
Downy Woodpecker    13
Pileated Woodpecker    1
Crested Caracara    1
Olive-sided Flycatcher    2

Olive-sided Flycatcher (Photo by Permission of Rick and Sarah Laughlin)

Eastern Wood-Pewee    1

Eastern Wood-Pewee (Photo by Permission of Rick and Sarah Laughlin)

Acadian Flycatcher    1
Least Flycatcher        2
Eastern Phoebe        2
Great Crested Flycatcher    9
White-eyed Vireo    74
Blue Jay    3
American Crow    47
Purple Martin    2
Barn Swallow    3
Carolina Chickadee    45
Tufted Titmouse    28
Carolina Wren    51
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    131
Northern Mockingbird    4
Black-and-white Warbler    3
Black-throated Green Warbler    1
warbler sp.    2
Northern Cardinal    179
Brown-headed Cowbird    7
Orchard Oriole    2
Baltimore Oriole    7

For a list of all Cedar Hill Ranch bird high counts go to http://ebird.org/ebird/tx/hotspot/L1440449. (Please note that when Mike Conner is listed that is only because he entered the data and not necessarily because he was one of the birders.)

Also during the morning, people hiked woodland trails in search of interesting wildlife and plants.

Sarah Laughlin (Photo by Permission of Rick Laughlin)

Rick Laughlin (Photo by Permission of Sarah Laughlin)

A three-toed box turtle, lizards, squirrels, butterflies, and other critters were reported as being seen. A few of the many sightings found by birders and others are shown below.

Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly (Photo by Permission of Sarah and Rick Laughlin)

Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies (Photo by Betty Vermeire)

Palafoxia (Photo by Betty Vermeire)

Eastern Fence Lizard (Photo by Permission of Sarah and Rick Laughlin)

Mushrooms were a hit this September with several great shots by participants.

Mushroom (Photo by Permission of Sarah and Rick Laughlin)

My all time favorite is this picture below taken by Milana Cypert.  

Mushroom (Photo by Permission of Milana Cypert)

Although this one by Carol Henrichs takes a high second place.

Mushroom (Photo by Permission of Carol Fox Henrichs)

For a sampling of 36 amazing photographs taken by the Photography Group go to http://www.meetup.com/BV-Nature-Photography-Group/photos/all_photos/?photoAlbumId=24628382.














Carol Henrichs also posted some of her pictures on the Brazos Valley Chapter Facebook page on September 20 at https://www.facebook.com/groups/361254733982438/.

Simultaneous with ranch activities, approximately one mile from the ranch, 14 trainees for the 2014 Texas Master Naturalist Program in the Brazos Valley Chapter climbed Sugarloaf Mountain. Along with the trainees were 11 guests including our hosts Kerri and Dave Cunningham (members of the Texas Master Naturalist program in the Brazos Valley and El Camino Real Chapters), and A&M esteemed professors Dr. Alston Thoms (expert in Anthropology), and Dr. Thomas Yancey (expert in Paleontology and Geology).

After birding, hiking, and/or climbing Sugarloaf Mountain, participants gathered at the ranch house for a potluck lunch. Billy Lambert and Tim Siegmund (with wife Kelsey and son August) from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department attended the event and were available to informally talk to attendees about wildlife management.

Nature Lovers (Photo by Permission of Katharine Cupps)

Thanks to everyone who provided refreshments for and helped with the event. In addition, special thanks to El Camino Real Chapter members Cindy Bolch and Donna Lewis who also helped with setup and cleanup.

At the end of the day it was discussed that we move the day of activities at Cedar Hill Ranch and the Sugarloaf Mountain field trip to October next year. This would give us the possibility of cooler and less wet weather.

Participants Discuss Next Year's Possible Cedar Hill Ranch and Sugarloaf Mountain Activities

Posted and written by Joyce Conner with help from Mike Conner. Thanks to everyone who sent pictures and helped with all data. Please send edits to joyce@conner.net for correction.

The Passenger Pigeon

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Have you ever seen a Passenger Pigeon? If you have, it was likely a picture of one, because the pigeon became extinct on September 1, 1914 – one hundred years ago this month!

At one time the Passenger Pigeon numbered in the billions in North America and their flocks covered the sky. See a simulation of what the sky might have looked like back when Europeans first came to North America at http://foldtheflock.org.

The Passenger Pigeon could fly as fast as sixty miles an hour as they migrated from Canada and what are now our northern states down into our southern states. They were so numerous that they provided many a tasty meal to settlers. By the early 20^th Century, as human population increased, the birds’ habitats diminished and their eggs and bodies were voraciously devoured.

Records show that on March 24, 1900, a boy in Ohio shot the last wild Passenger Pigeon. And on September 1, 1914, Martha, the last captive Passenger Pigeon died at the Cincinnati Zoo.

The Lost Bird Project, an arts-based environmental non-profit organization attempts to connect people more meaningfully with nature through art. That group initiated the "Fold the Flock" movement to increase sensitivity to the plight of endangered species. Participants are asked to fold origami birds to symbolically re-create a flock of Passenger Pigeons. As of September 2, 2014, 398,913 origami birds had been folded and reported to the website. (You can see who has been folding by going to the Participants page.)

On August 20, 2014, Texas Master Naturalists in the El Camino Real and the Brazos Valley chapters told the story of the Passenger Pigeon to children at the Apple Tree Preschool/Day Care Center in Cameron, TX, and invited them to be a part of the "Fold the Flock" movement. Twelve participants  colored and folded paper birds in memory of this extinct bird. 

 

Coloring Passenger Pigeon Origami Birds (Photo by Katherine Bedrich, El Camino Real Chapter)

Most of the Apple Tree School Participants Showing Their Flock (Photo by Katherine Bedrich)

Members of the Master Naturalist Program in the El Camino Real and the Brazos Valley Chapters will be asked to "Fold the Bird" at their respective September 2014 monthly meetings. 

On September 11, 2014, at the Brazos Valley Chapter meeting, Dr. Rick Laughlin will speak briefly about the Passenger Pigeon and why it is so important to record nature sightings. With his professional training in molecular and mico-biologies, he understands the importance of using data to understand complex biologic processes and events. His talk will concentrate on the use of the  eBird.org for recording bird sightings and behavior.

After the talk participants will have an opportunity to add origami "foldings" and be added to the growing flock of concerned humans. Instructions and paper will be supplied.

If you would like to add to the flock separately, go to foldtheflock.org for origami downloads and complete instructions.

Posted by Joyce Conner (joyce@conner.net).