Nature Observations – Page 60 – Nature Along the El Camino Real

Update on My Purple Martins

July 20, 2021 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

I could hear the joy of singing this morning inside our house. Outside they were really loud and proud.

The new Purple Martin young are learning to fly, and take care of themselves. In August, they will fly to Brazil, where they will stay till next February. Right now they are learning how to catch insects in the air and drink on the fly.

Watching them put on the brakes as they near the gourd rack is very amusing. Sometimes they have to circle several times till they can stop.

Going fast is their thing; slowing down takes practice. I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to fly above the trees for hours.

I shall miss them when they leave. I wonder if they sing in another language when they are in Brazil?

Hot Outside and the Butterflies Love It

July 16, 2021 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

I was only able to catch two species because the rest were too fast for me.

The first is a Sulphur ( yellow) butterfly. It’s either a Cloudless Sulphur or a large Orange Sulphur. Pretty hard to tell. For sure it like’s my zinnias.

The next beauty is one of my favorites, it’s a Tiger Swallowtail, the yellow version. Notice it’s on a zinnia also.

So…I wonder what would be a great nectar plant to put in your gardens? ZINNIAS. They are so easy to grow and everyone likes them. How easy is that?

Happy trails to you, until we meet again. Roy would have loved this.

Araneae, Odonata, and Anura at Apache Pass

July 13, 2021 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Linda Jo Conn

Eric Neubauer and I joined forces Wednesday, July 7, to investigate the diversity of wildlife at the Apache Pass Event Center on the San Gabriel River, a unique location on the El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail and a stop on the Brazos Loop of the Great Texas Wildlife Trail promoted by Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The mowed, fertilized and herbicided open areas of the privately owned location did not hold a lot of appeal for exploration, especially since the Bermuda grass was dripping wet from morning dew. The peripheral areas along trees and fence lines were the more interesting locations for plants and listening to bird songs.

A gravel bar beside the flowing river was the high point of the visit. It was teeming with spiders, damselflies and small frogs. A naturalist’s paradise!

Eric with the “spider scoop” (a white plastic storage container)

Eric brought his awesomely simple spider scoop which made the photography and inspection of spiders a snap as well as his advanced (compared to my point-shoot-and hope) camera and his vast knowledge of spider identification. As usual, the adventure was a learning experience for me.

The number of colorful damselflies we observed was incredible, as well as the many tiny frogs and toads Eric was also able to spot and point out. I am certainly looking forward to another visit when the river is flowing at a slower rate. If you decide to drive over that way yourself, be sure to visit the gravel bar along the river. And visit iNaturalist.org for the day’s observations by eanuebauer and connlindajo.

Fledging in Progress

July 6, 2021 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall1 Comment

by Donna Lewis

These are my ladies in waiting.

For those of you who don’t know what “fledging” means, its when the baby bird takes its first flight.

In purple martins this happens at or after it is 28 days old. So it is good to know when the very first eggs are laid so you know when this will happen.

If you lower a house down to clean it or look at the nests, young who are close to this age can become scared and jump out. Not a good thing! I have had this happen to me, a long time ago before I was experienced with these birds.

This resulted in a frantic chase by me to catch them all, put them in a container, then replace them in the nest quickly. After that I had to close up the entrance hole with a bandana. Then I tied a long string to the cloth, and raised the house back up. After several minutes, I slowly pulled the bandana out. Luckily the babies stayed in their house.

Right now you can see the mothers and babies who are flying sit on the house and talk to the babies still inside the gourds. They try to urge them to come out and join the rest. They will circle all day and chatter until every young martin has made it up to the skies.

It’s a wonderful and magnificent sound! You won’t forget it.

I’m Watching You

July 1, 2021July 4, 2021 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall1 Comment

by Donna Lewis

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.

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.]

Something Else to Read

For more on fun with these toads, see Suna’s blog post about how a toad shot out of a water pipe and confused her dog.