Nature Along the El Camino Real
Blog of the El Camino Real Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists, Milam County, Texas
by Kathy Lester
The El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist training class met at Walker Honey Farm, where owner Clint Walker discussed all the wonderful things about bees. Attendees were able to handle the hive frames, see the queen bees, and observe at least three different colors of pollen carried by the bees. They were dressed appropriately for visiting hives.
Bee handler Blake explained the manufacturing process.
Then they had some great “retail therapy” at the Walker Honey Farm store.
by Donna Lewis
Yes, it is winter here, crazy Texas winter.
But it is nice today and there are some really neat things out there. Just look for them.
I do have the little native bees out foraging. It’s hard to catch a photo of them since they are quick.
I have some neat-looking mushrooms and moss also. In the sun they are very pretty and nice to touch. Close your eyes as you gently touch and listen to Mother Earth.
Also, there are still too many fritillary chrysalis hanging everywhere, even on “Babe.”
So, before it gets down to sub-freezing weather again, go outside. Take your dogs with you and enjoy the weather.
By the way, if you happened to be outside late last night, the stars and dark blue sky can be wondrous. You can look up and imagine the millions of other beings looking up at us.
Our Texas song we have heard most of our lives, if we were born here, kept playing in my head.
Go ahead and sing it…
The stars at night are big and bright, boom boom boom, deep in the heart of Texas!!
Now get outside, like Linda Jo Conn tells us every week.
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 Dorothy Mayer
So, I saw the following story online today (see screenshots from Facebook below). Some time ago, I’d likely have blown it off as a pretty farfetched tale. But I couldn’t help but think about an incident I experienced at my house a couple of years ago.
This story brought to mind about me seeing a wasp nest on our RV bumper about sixty feet from our house. I was worried about somebody getting stung, so I told Hubs that we should probably do something about them. So, he takes his handy pliers and pulls it off the bumper, as nothing was on it at the time. Then, he laid it on a little table by our porch swing that was 60 feet away from and out of sight of the RV bumper it came off. After that, we pretty much forgot about it.
Later that evening I happened to look over there and saw about three or four wasps back on it lying on that little table far away from that bumper we pulled it from. I was amazed that they’d looked for it and found it in a totally different place than it was supposed to be.
So, do I think this bee story is farfetched? I think not.
I think insects have way more sense than we realize. After all, we don’t know what we don’t know.
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To learn more about insects and all the other nature in Milam County, consider signing up for our next class! Contact ElCaminoRealMasterNaturalist@gmail.com and we’ll get you in touch with our new class team.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 