Blog of the El Camino Real Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists, Milam County, Texas
Author: Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall
The person behind The Hermits' Rest blog and many others. I'm a certified Texas Master Naturalist and love the nature of Milam County. I manage technical writers in Austin, help with Hearts Homes and Hands, a personal assistance service, in Cameron, and serve on three nonprofit boards. You may know me from La Leche League, knitting, iNaturalist, or Facebook. I'm interested in ALL of you!
I bet most of you have seen these really big toads around your house. They will probably be near a faucet or anywhere it’s wet. If you make any noise near them they, peak out at you. They are Gulf Coast Toads.
This one is a female, which can be figured out because she is really big. You can tell the Gulf Coast toad species because of the prominent cranial crests on her head, which you can see in Suna’s photo below.
Gulf Coast toad, photo by SA Kendall
These toads live from Mississippi in the east down through Mexico. They are common in our gardens, and eat lots of insects. They come out at night to party, so those of you who are out late might see them.
I took a photo of one of their babies last year, I think they are so cute. There were lots and lots of them. [Suna’s roommate in Austin reports there were hundreds of babies in their neighborhood last week; the toads are very common near their creek.]
Colorful blooms are bursting out all over at the Bird and Bee Farm Wildscape. Whatever your favorite color might be, it’s in there.
Passionflower
Shades of purple are particularly abundant. They range from the bright Mock Vervain purple to the pale bluish-lavender of Palmleaf Mists. There is a specimen of just about everything in between. I’ve included seven different flowers that are classified as “purple”. And all of them are native to Texas. They can grow in sand and blackland and most of them don’t need much rain.
Garden cosmos
If purple is not your shade, reds, oranges, yellows, and whites are also broadly represented. I encourage you to come and see all the colors. There are plenty of butterflies and bees to watch, too. They are particularly fond of most of these flowers.
Palmleaf mistflower
Mealy blue sage
Spiked speedwell
Slender vervain
Purple coneflower
Mock vervain
You can plot next year’s garden from here. And often times there are free samples to take home. Our chapter will be hosting Girl Scouts on July 17 in the morning, at the Wildscape. It’s a good time to go check out the place for yourself.
I am always looking around for nature. This past week I found a wildflower that I had never seen before on our property. I did not know what it was, just that it was new and very pretty.
The pretty new flower
So I called upon two of our own members who really know wildflowers, Suna, and Linda Jo. As I expected, one of them responded quickly with the answer.
The new residents in Donna’s garden
Linda Jo was first to ID this as a Basket Flower or the common name “American star thistle” Centaurea americana. [Suna recognized it, but couldn’t remember the name.]
The flower heads are 4-5 in. wide and are subtended by fringed bracts. The plant looks similar to the thistles but lacks their prickly characteristics… The name “basket flower” refers to the stiff, straw-colored bracts just beneath the flower head, which are divided at the tip into long, sharp teeth.
Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center Plant Database
I was happy to see a wildflower that I hope will love our place and have a family here.
A few days ago I heard one of my baby purple martins screaming. It was on the ground calling to its parents. It either fell out or was pushed out.
Martins are the largest and heaviest of all the swallows. So, while they are excellent at soaring, they are not good at going to the ground. The entire colony got into the rescue attempt. All the adults were flying over the baby trying to get him or her to fly.
How did I get here?
This is the reason I look at the babies as soon as I can. This way I know how old the first set of eggs were when laid. It takes 28 days for a baby to have enough feathers to take its first flight. I guessed that this baby was about 26 days old
So he was close but not quite there. He needed a few more days.
I could not just lower the gourd rack and pop him back in. Doing this when many of the other babies were the same age could cause many more of them to jump out. Then I would really have trouble.
This year five rat snakes attempted to climb the pole and have my Martins for lunch. So, I knew if he stayed on the ground too long, something would eat him.
The first night he was on the ground, I put out a five-gallon bucket with a towel over it and a rock inside. He immediately went to it for protection. The adults saw this and again flew around him. They did not attempt to feed him or give him water. This is tough love.
Improvised bird shelter material
The next morning I was out early, and he was still alive and looking at me. So, I left him alone.
Howdy, Donna
I watched over the next four hours, and he left the area around the gourd rack, flying about ten inches high and started out across our pasture. I knew that was dangerous, for sure.
So I put up an open bird feeder on a shepherd’s hook and set him on it. The adults saw this, and once again tried to encourage him to take that first leap. After four hours, he got his nerve up and jumped, flying low until he gained some altitude, and he was off to the sky.
The launching pad bird feeder
I was so happy!! This usually does not happen. But this day, all was well.
Right now there are many baby birds on the ground. So, be careful mowing for a few weeks until they are in the trees.
It turns out to be true that if you build it, they will come – at least where Mason Bees are concerned. Several members of El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalists worked to construct and place “houses” that were thought to attract Mason Bees. Catherine Johnson conceived the idea for the project to be placed at the Birds and Bees Wildscape, which was created and is maintained by volunteers from ECR TMN chapter. Ms. Johnson is getting her Girl Scout troop involved, too. Sam Jolly started making the houses from Eastern Red Cedar trees. Alan Rudd completed that phase, then he and Scott Berger placed them around the wildscape. The additional bee condos were made with Hickory, Black Jack Oak, and Post oak. Rudd gave several to members to place on their properties in an added project to see where they are best placed for future reference and what wood, if any, they may prefer. Approximately 8 of them were placed under a covered sitting area at the wildscape.
Alan and Scott Berger working to hang bee houses.
A bee!
Two that are in the exterior south-facing position are nearly totally occupied. A third there has about a fourth of it’s “condos” filled. The Mason bees were busy taking possession and laying eggs on the interior houses facing both north and south as I was taking photos.
I have one in a heavily shaded area facing south at my house. Even it has three places occupied by Mason bees so far. A spider also has taken up one “condo”. I’m assuming that we will know that the bee eggs have hatched when the dirt plugs are gone. If you took one home, let us know where you placed it, which wood was used, and if it has Mason Bee occupants. If you would like to get involved, there will be a project at the wildscape involving the Girl Scouts and the Mason Bee condos on July 17. Contact Catherine for additional information.
