Nature Along the El Camino Real
Blog of the El Camino Real Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists, Milam County, Texas
by Eric Neubauer
Johnsongrass round postscript: This morning there was a flock of LBBs (little brown birds) on top of it. I couldn’t entice a single bird to come to my feeder in a year. Go figure.
Late yesterday there was a shrike and a kestrel sitting on the wire above the round.
Also, the pulled-up Johnsongrass is a commodity. The trashman stopped by and asked if I wanted to throw the grass I had just pulled in the truck, but I said, “No, it goes down there,” pointing at the round.
by Donna Lewis
Last evening, I was outside just looking at the multitude of migrating shippers.
Those are the tiny butterflies that have many species here in Texas.
I heard the sound of something that is familiar from as long as I can remember… Sandhill Cranes!! I looked up and there was a “V” flock of 95 birds going South.
How exciting. If you have ever heard them, you will never forget the sound they make.
It is something that makes your heart warm. I always hope that every year as long as I live I will hear that call.
So, pay attention because there will be more to come.
This is why we are naturalists, to help these birds and all wildlife continue on.
(Photos and video from Sue Ann Kendall, taken in October 2022)
by Catherine Johnson
When? Every Saturday in November from 9-noon.
Where? Milam Wildscape Project – Bird and Bee Farm – 1369 County Road 334, Milano, Texas.
What? Nature Days
Come see blooming tall purple asters, red and pink Turk’s cap, white fragrant mist flower, Mexican bush sage, Mexican honeysuckle, forsythia sage, Gulf muhly, and more.
View this video for a sample of the thousands of pollinators. We will be giving away free native plants, goody bags for all, bee houses, plus refreshments.
Come tour the garden and share YOUR nature stories with us.
Our garden is never finished, beautiful, and always WILD.
by Donna Lewis
So here we are, summer has gone (except for the warm weather) and fall is trying to make its appearance. After a very dry summer, native plants can still be found in the garden. We do need some rain right now.
I am amazed that there is anything still putting out flowers at all.
The leaves are starting to fall. You will be tempted to rake it all up, so your garden looks neat. Don’t do it! Those leaves and pine needles are the blankets that Mother Nature puts on her children. She is saving plants for next spring and tons of butterfly larvae.
Remember neatness is in the eyes of the beholder.
Here are some things that I took photos of today (10-26-2022) in my garden here in Central Texas. You might be surprised at what I saw. There were many more, but I was not fast enough to catch them with my camera. I was still very happy that I got to see them.
So remember next spring when you plant for pollinators, these are the creatures you’re helping.
Remember who you are gardening for.
by Eric Neubauer
I’ve been chasing Pardosa wolf spiders from one corner of Texas to another all year. One species I hadn’t encountered was Pardosa littoralis, which I eventually learned was only found in brackish
marshland. I had wanted to check out the Texas coast for wolf spiders for sometime, and the TMN convention gave me an excellent excuse.
So, I drove to Houston via Surfside and Galveston. No one on iNat had encountered Pardosa littoralis south of New York, let alone Texas. They’d been observed in New Hampshire and Nova Scotia at the opposite end of their range. I happily found some in small areas at several locations without a muddy mishap.
I wonder when the last human paid them any attention? Someone must have once, because they were known to be in Texas. Bonus: I’m now comfortable identifying these in Texas, something I couldn’t do before, since I never saw one in person or even in a photo, only those in observations made 2,000 miles away.
Male (left) and female (right) images attached. Body length about 2/10ths of an inch, male (black) slightly smaller than female.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 