Members of the El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist chapter, led by Ann Collins, our resident avian expert, are banding together to work on our latest project, which is an area created for the benefit of our Milam County birds that will allow for visitors to safely see and enjoy them. Ann will announce its name at an upcoming event, so stay tuned!
With much appreciated assistance from agencies such as Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Gene Rek has been preparing the area that Ann selected for the station, which happens to be near the Wildscape we’ve created. Gene and his crew have built beautiful new fencing around the birding area, cleared brush and some trees to create open space, started a road that will lead to the area, with parking, too. Yaupon mulch will be used to protect new plants.
New fence and gate, and evidence of a removed tree.
There is already water running to the site as well, which will make the next stages of the project much easier.
Those future plans include planting many native plants that will provide food and shelter to birds and installing water features for both birds and people to enjoy. There will be different kinds of bird feeders in addition to natural sources of food like beauty berries, yaupon, pokeweed, and nuts. Benches will also be installed (and donations of benches with backs are welcome).
The pipe in the center will be made into a hanger for bird feeders
As of now, there are large logs created from trees that have been thinned outlining the main observation area and providing seating. I was there yesterday and observed a Downy Woodpecker busily hollowing out the remnants of a broken limb to create a house or somewhere to store food. I also watched dung beetles hard at work moving a ball of cow dung to wherever they wanted it to be. As this was happening, Carolina Chickadees were feeding in the oak trees and chirping merrily, as Painted Buntings, Carolina Wrens, and a Pileated Woodpecker contributed to the chorus.
Busy Downy WoodpackerIt’s head is in the holeWorking hardI was impressed by this neat poop deposit on this treeDung beetles at workMore beetle action
Birds seen or heard yesterday:
Barn Owl
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Cardinal
Purple Martin
Painted Bunting
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
It’s already a beautiful and pleasant place to relax and observe our amazing world. I plan to help out with the project by documenting it here on the blog and keeping a count of birds I and others observe as time goes on.
Future residents await their time to shine (AI image; doesn’t look like real woodpeckers)
You just never know what might pop up, do you? I’ve seen some strange things on my little slice of Heaven, right here in Milam County.
After a whole lot of rain, the oak leaves are coughing up quite a few interesting mushroom/fungus spores. I was cleaning one of my bird baths and spotted something in the tangle of yaupon, Japanese honeysuckle (no, I did not plant it!), mock orange, and who knows what else. It looked like a bunch of decaying celery to me. On closer inspection it looked more like the embryo of a space alien from a dark planet.
Of course, I couldn’t ignore it, just not in my nature. So, pushing and pulling the tangled limbs away, I crawled through the low tunnel with my trusty camera phone cocked and ready in case this little monster tried to attack. Fortunately, it didn’t. In actual fact, it was “rooted” to the ground. Had I known what it was I would have tried to dig it up.
Not nearly enough camera snaps and some pretty wet knees later, I edited my pictures and immediately posted them; only four are allowed on the iNaturalist phone app. In less than five minutes, a guy in Sweden identified it for me. I had entered it under the genus Blumenavia but @nSchwab took me a step further with Blumenavia rhacodes.
Not too much later, @masaki_hamaguchi from Hokkaido in Japan confirmed the identity for me. At 10:29 am Texas time, Masaki much have been burning the midnight oil like my friend LJC. I’m too lazy and really don’t care to figure out what time it was there. You techy types can figure it out if you want to. Thrilled to have my baby alien identified I quickly agreed with them.
More pictures of Blumy
Enough of the excitement of discovery. I proceded to dig deeper and found out that @loganwiedenfeld is at the top of the leaderboard as the top observer of “Blumy” with the massive number of three! Yes! 3! Three! The total observations on iNat is 37! Yes! Thirty-seven! This little old lady from south Milam, Texas has joined a pretty eite group with nothing more than a keen eye for spotting stuff! No months of observation, no collecting data, just plain dumb luck!
Just 37!
There’s not much information about Blumenavia online. Wikipedia simply says it’s “a genus of fungi in the family of Phallaceae.” The genus contains three species in South America and Africa. iNaturalist has a map locating sightings along the Gulf Coast of North America. A. Moller apparently named it in 1895.
Please don’t tell her I said so, because then she will know I’m on to her plot, but I think Linda Jo Conn is trying to kill me… (If I’m murdered, Linda jo didn’t do it – there are plenty of other suspects!)
LJ and I recently embarked on a three-day marathon trip to my beloved East Texas – Big Thicket National Preserve. First on the agenda was the forty-two (42!) American alligators sunning themselves in the shallows of Shoulders Pond. You drive around this circle of a canal and note what you see.
Gators!
Second most exciting was the huge number of White Ibis spending the winter there. It could have easily been 50-60 or more. There were lots of coots, great egrets, great blues, little blues, snowy egrets, reddish egrets, gulls, and red-winged blackbirds.
After the drive, which took over two hours, we walked one of the trails. Even so far south not much was blooming. There were quite a few plums and maybe some pear trees, the invasive kind! Perhaps a few weeks later everything will be in bloom and there will be more birds. Put it on your bucket list!
An hour drive later we arrived at our luxury hotel in Kountze, my old home town, a real bargain at $66 a night! They had the cleanest towels I’ve ever seen! Not a joke. Really nice folks run the place, and it has a free breakfast and good maid service.
After a good night’s rest and supper at the local Dairy Queen, we drove north to the Geraldine Watson Preserve. My heart lives there. In my next life I will come back a Geraldine wannabe! They had done a recent burn trying to get rid of the invasive sphagnum moss and whatever is encroaching on the fantastic boardwalk. Everything here is maintained by the association of dedicated volunteers.
There were remnants of pitcher plants, and I got a really good picture of the remains of creatures left after the plant had dined on them. Cool!
Pitcher plants
There was lots of other interesting stuff – more to come – such as orchids, mushrooms, wildflowers, and birds. Do NOT fail to spend a morning there if you are in the area.
Geraldine wrote two books before she died. One is somewhat technical, about the geology of the area. One is about her adventures living in the area. It’s the best one in my humble opinion.
Next, we went on a drive on the Gore Store Road (try saying that fast three times!). Sadly, they are harvesting pines for lumber there – quite a few scary trucks loaded to the gills with long, tall, used-to-be-majestic trees. It was scary to drive behind them. A man who lives in the area tried to make a citizens’ arrest on us for trespassing on a vacant lot. Luckily, LJ talked him out of it. But we had to sacrifice a half hour charming him and convincing him we only wanted pictures. In the end, he even let us take a few shots on his property. There was very little worth reporting on the Gore Store Road – we never did find the store.
Lunch was at the barbeque place in Warren. It’s the best place to eat in the area and run by a very nice family. Friendly folks.
Off to the Sundew Trail. If you didn’t know, sundews are another carnivorous plant in the thicket. Again, not much was blooming. There is a great boardwalk and they have installed ten information stations that talk to you about what you are seeing. The best sighting was a brown green anole. You hardly ever see them colored.
Supper was an orange – too tired to eat.
Next day was Village Creek Park in Lumberton. There are very pretty cabins to rent. Homeward bound!
I went to sleep at 6:00 pm, was awake a few hours in the night, then slept until 7:00 am! I still think she’s after me. What do you think?
Does anybody besides me have a mushroom bucket list? I don’t need to see a “Death Angel” (might be Angel of Death or one that glows in black light, although that would be really interesting. No, my bucket list is only one deep, a bird’s nest fungi. I’ve seen pictures but figured I’d have to go to eastern Canada or the jungles of Belize to see one.
Well, wouldn’t you know it! I’m wandering around in my wildflower meadow, in my nightgown and robe, in the cool damp morning. I’m doing a bit of “belly botany” getting a picture of the very first winecup of the season. I’ve been keeping a sharp eye out for them. I knew they were coming and wanted to add them to my growing list f flowering plants to satisfy the sweet lady at the appraisal office. I do pollinators, critters, and plants for my wildlife exemption, and I’ll do just about anything to make the folks at the Appraisal District happy. Someday I’ll have to show the Master Naturalists my scrapbooks and journals.
Anyway, I see what I think is a small mushroom cap. But it isn’t! It’s a tiny cup about the size of my little fingernail. Inside the cup is a bunch of little charcoal gray “eggs.” Wow! Is this a fairy’s bird nest? Maybe a lost leprechaun’s? I would have jumped straight up in surprise, delight, and amazement, but at my age I can’t manage that sort of thing anymore!
Ta da!
As I gazed in awe, I realized there were bunches of them all over the place. I dug one out of the ground with a toothpick-sized stick and reverently laid it in my palm. Gosh! Don’t you love your camera phone? There was a kind of bulb or knot at the base of the cup. I tried carefully knocking off the damp soil from the tangle of roots. That wasn’t working out very well, so I took my precious treasure into my potting shed and started washing it. Let me remind you, this thing is the size of my little fingernail – tiny!
I feel like I just discovered Cleopatra’s tomb – really! The detail on this little bit of magic is simply unbelievable.
Side view
The world we live in is filled with wonderful, magical, delightful structures if we only take the time and get down on our hands and knees and look.
Part that was underground.
Don’t forget to take your phone camera!
I looked them up online, of course, and they are used in Chinese medicine. There are lots of benefits: anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial. Treatment for tuberculosis, asthma, skin problems, stomach troubles. It’s even used against aging.
Tiny!
There was a lot of information on how to get rid of them. I can’t even begin to know why. They are very tiny! So much hidden wonder and magic. For a mere $630.00 you can purchase them for home use. 4.8 stars! You can even buy bird’s nest mushroom tea.
On Thursday, June 8, members of the El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist had a fabulous time celebrating fifteen years as a chapter. We stuck with it, survived some hard times, dealt with a pandemic, and have emerged strong and active in Milam County. All members and friends, past and present, should give themselves a pat on the back!
Here we are applauding the original members who joined us as we celebrated.
Our hospitality committee outdid themselves in creating a beautiful setting for a combined educational meeting and celebration. We started with a festive potluck mean, followed by a special selection of desserts. The cake was chocolate with cherry filling. and it was covered with flowers, butterflies, and other natural delights. There were also cupcakes that looked like beautiful flowers.
Cake and cupcakesCupcakesPaul Unger, our first chapter president, cuts the cake.Jan Unger helped with the cake cutting
We were honored that Paul and Jan Unger joined us from Fredericksburg, where they are currently living, to help us remember our origins. Paul was the first president of the chapter. He was one of the entertaining and extra educational speakers who told those of us who have joined the program more recently learn how we got to have such a thriving organization.
The Ungers are joined by Mike Mitchell and Ann Collins, the masterminds of our chapter.
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the speakers at the celebration. I learned so much (not all of it having anything to do with Master Naturalists, but that’s because there was so much good-natured ribbing going on). The evening started out with our current president and vice president, Carolyn Henderson and Liz Lewis, welcoming us all and sharing insights into today’s chapter.
These two had fun!
Then Phyllis Shuffield, a member of the first class, who was the president of the chapter when I joined, came up to introduce our founders. Since Phyllis is one of the best story-tellers I know, I really enjoyed finding out how she met Mike Mitchell stalking her property. Spoiler: he was the Game Warden and was looking for poachers. But she got him to turn quite red by the time she was finished. She then welcomed Ann Collins to the stage.
Phyllis, just getting warmed upAnn, preparing to share our origin story
I wish we’d recorded Ann’s talk. Hmm, as I look at the photo above, I see she did write it all down. Maybe she’ll send me her notes and I can write them up. I’ve done it before! Ann’s story of how she became a naturalist reminded me of the protagonist of Where the Crawdads Sing. Ann ran wild and free down by an East Texas creek, educated by her own curiosity and some great mentors. She lived in the Center of Civilization (Cameron) after her girlhood, and just kept learning as she raised her children and moved around Texas. She served as a docent at so many interesting places…and learned from so many great teachers…no wonder she knows pretty much every bird and plant she encounters.
And Ann is STILL excited about nature, every day!
She’s one persistent human, too. The path to getting our chapter started had many stops and starts, including a stint as a Master Gardener (even though she is NOT actually a gardener), and taking a Master Naturalist class in College Station that was full of PhDs who intimidated her until she figured out they were just people, too. Putting Ann together with Mike, our other co-founder, created a dynamic duo who would stop at nothing to get Milam County its own chapter.
Mike explaining some of the chapter treasures he brought along.
And yes, Mike Mitchell spoke next. He was our first chapter advisor and is proud to point out he is a friend of our chapter, not a member. For some reason, tracking his hours doesn’t appeal to him. But he has a Friend pin! What Mike did do was spend his off-work time and money getting the chapter documents together, creating a curriculum for the first training class, and publicizing El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist. He still has his first outlines, the first class schedule, and many more amazing artifacts from starting our chapter.
They guys who supported and approved the new chapter.The long and winding process to get the first class graduatedThe rest of the folks who worked hard to create our chapterFirst class field tripFirst officersCelebrating the first class at Apache Pass
Mike also acknowledged Don Travis, our webmaster and record keeper.
Listening to Mike made me truly appreciate the effort those dedicated naturalists had to undertake to get us up and running as well as the pioneer spirit of those first class members. It’s impressive that so many of them are still with us and continuing to actively contribute to the chapter.
We honored those who have passed on, such as Katherine Bedrich, and learned where some of the others now are. I was grateful for the chance to acknowledge those who couldn’t join us
I’m very grateful that Mike’s still our friend, still speaking to dozens of new Master Naturalist classes each year, and planning to present at the next Annual Meeting. He’s a lot of fun to hang out with, as I’ve learned from past meetings.
The work of our chapter does continue, so we took a short time to have a regular meeting. Of course, we honored the latest members to obtain their yearly recertification. Patricia Coombs attained both her initial certification as a new member and her additional yearly certification!
Congratulations on receiving your 2023 pins! Patricia Coombs, Carolyn Henderson (who presented the pins), Janice Johnson, and Debra Sorensen.
After our meeting, I took pictures of the members of each of our past training classes who were at the gathering. That was a lot of fun, and it was so good to see the legacy of our chapter as it continues. Click on any picture to enlarge it.
2008: Paul Unger, Don Travis, Mike Mitchell, Ann Collins, Phyllis Shuffield, and Sandra Dworaczyk2009: Pamela Neeley, Janice Johnson, Lolly Lewis, Cindy Travis, Dorothy Mayer, Kim Summers2010: Donna Lewis and Jackie Thornton2012: Sherry Colley, John Pruett, Linda Jo Conn, Jan Unger2016: Scott Berger and Lisa Milewski2018: Sue Ann Kendall, Catherine Johnson, Liz Lewis2020: Marian Buegeler, Connie Anderle, Alan Rudd, Eric Neubauer, Carolyn Henderson, Debra Sorensen2022: Gene Rek, Cindy Rek, Michelle Lopez, and Linda Burgess2023: Ellen Luckey, Neil Wettstein, Patricia Coombs
Interested in learning all about the nature in Texas? Let us know and we’ll contact you about our next training class. Visitors are always welcome at our monthly meetings, and you can become a Friend of El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist if you attend more than two meetings and intend to take the next class. Join us!
Nature Along the El Camino Real 