Volunteer Opportunities – Page 2 – Nature Along the El Camino Real

Fighting the Invaders in The Mini Wildscape

September 29, 2025September 29, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall1 Comment

By Carolyn Henderson

A small but intrepid group took on the fight of the non-native, invasive plants in the Wildscape – again. Chad Cryer, Alan Rudd, Liz Lewis, Phyllis Sheffield, Pamela Neeley and I implemented a new method to attempt to get rid of the seriously invasive persimmons and Tree of Heavens.

I would call it isolated poisoning. Chad clipped the multitude of pomegranate trees, many that had managed to reach at least 5 to 6 feet this season. Alan then put a tree poison only on the cut limbs. We cut them back in February. Alan had already done it to the Tree of Heavens that weren’t as numerous.

We put all the limbs in Alan’s pickup bed. The pile stood taller than the truck cab.

We also fought off the Tievine that had totally covered the Gulf Muhly grass among other things. We also removed the other invasives in the Wildscape. A good deal of what had been planted was there, but scraggly looking from being overshadowed by all of those. It knocked out a few completely.

We vowed to be back in two weeks to evaluate our efforts.

Seeds and more seeds

September 18, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

By Linda Burgess

This past Tuesday, the El Camino Real Master Naturalists and the Little River Basin Master Gardeners came together to contribute to a shared volunteer opportunity. We meet the third Tuesday of each month to package native and adapted wildflower seeds, herb and garden seeds, and some landscaping plant seeds…..all for the Free Seed Library located in the Cameron Public Library.

We are sharing stories, getting to know one another, and providing free seeds to the residents of Milam County. It’s become a great opportunity to learn and grow from each other’s expertise….. and there’s a wealth of knowledge in these two organizations!

Fight of the Invasives to Continue at City Wildscape

July 28, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall1 Comment

By Carolyn Henderson

On Saturday morning I took a side trip to the El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist City Wildscape to find a pleasant surprise in the overgrown mess. Queen butterflies had found the place. I counted about 20 that morning – all on the Gregg’s Mist. That is by far and away the Queens’ favorite nectar producer.

Not only had the Queens landed, American Bumblebees had also located nectar sources for themselves – mainly the Common Sunflower that planted itself in the city wildscape and reproduced many more this year.

I also saw Ligated Furrow Bees and Jagged Ambush Bugs. Those are pending identification verifications in iNaturalist. I also saw Oblique Longorn Bees – a second time for a new to me bee. They are very tiny and in near constant motion. All of these were on the Sunflowers.

Other things we planted were in bloom, but they are mostly overwhelmed by the terrible invasive “Tree of Heaven” and the Persimmons. Persimmons have taken over the right half of the wildscape (if you’re looking at it from the street) and the Tree of Heaven, an invasive from China, has the left side.

I met with the church directors Sunday morning, and they agreed to let us make a last ditch effort to eliminate both of those. Crape Myrtles also are spreading, which are not native to this area either. They have lots of pretty blooms, though. More Queens had arrived.

Alan Rudd has devised a plan to kill these invasives. We believe that we can do it without harming the Pecan tree in the wildscape, but there is no guarantee of that, so we needed approval from the All Saint’s Episcopal Church to do it. They were in agreement, since they also were dealing with the Tree of Heaven in most other parts of their landscape.

Liz Lewis is having the source of the Tree of Heaven, three trees nearby, removed, too. Otherwise, they’ll just come back. No one knows where the Persimmons came from, but we hope we can get them out, too.

Once that is done, the wildscape needs weeding. Good for volunteer hours, everyone.

Red Mountain Preparation Visit

June 17, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Michelle Lopez

Here are some pictures from our trip to Red Mountain, where we prepped for the Tonkawa Powwow and did some trash pickup. What a spot!

None of us had climbed the mountain before, but when we spotted some ribbons on trees, we figured that was our cue to start climbing.

Let’s just say it was more of a challenge than we bargained for, but we all reached the summit. The kicker? Those ribbons were actually indicating where a trail was supposed to go. Who knew?

Anyway, our detour led to some neat discoveries, like some clay handles that could’ve been part of ancient clay pots. I took some photos and left the artifacts in place for the ongoing archaeological dig.

This may be a fossilized gourd in a rock!

Being a Texas Master Naturalist is a real treat, and our crew is fantastic. Love it!

New Members Crush It!

May 26, 2025 Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Catherine Johnson

Ten volunteers braved the heat this Saturday. Tina, Bill and granddaughter Jordan worked several hours including transplanting Coral Honeysuckle to the Wild Wings Bird Sanctuary.

Kay worked on weeding and planting Texas Natives Skullcap and Frogfruit. We learned some facts about frogfruit, which was originally Fogfruit because it resembled fog on freshly mowed fields in the Middle Ages.