Nature Along the El Camino Real
Blog of the El Camino Real Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists, Milam County, Texas
by Catherine Johnson
Both parents are still alive and feeding several babies.
It was so hot yesterday that the parents moved the babies out to get cooler air and moved them back into the nest at night.
I have added a cover to keep sun off their nest and remove it at night so nothing jumps on it to crash the nest down. I will start putting out water dishes surrounding my yard for when they fledge.
by Catherine Johnson
I washed a pet bed and put it out to dry on a ladder. Wrens built a nest under it. The sun hits it directly part of the day. I have a fan and mister to cool them and debris underneath for protection.
The babies hatched and both parents are now feeding them.
by Catherine Johnson
Now is a good time to visit the Wildscape garden at Bird and Bee Farm. Many native plants and grasses are in bloom. The mason bee houses are filled, and bobwhite quail were spotted on the grounds for the first time (see below).
Events will be held later in the year, including Nature Days in October. Saturday mornings
are a nice time to visit and share Master Naturalist info with others or do much needed watering.
Hours will be for Community Outreach- indirect, or Nature Improvement in Public Areas.
by Donna Lewis
I wanted to show you what milkweed is growing on our property here in Central Texas. The biggest issue is that some of these plants came up very late in the year and by now, all the monarchs have already left the area. That is not too good.
Hopefully, this does not start becoming normal. The plants are reacting to the climate, but the monarchs are reacting to their instincts. The plants and the butterflies need to be ready at the same time.
The first photo is Asclepias asperula or Spider Milkweed. This plant was awarded by a grant to our chapter. Our member Cathy Johnson applied for the grant. It was a lot of paperwork.
I started with twenty-four small plants. I put them in several areas around our pastures.
This is the only one that has returned this year. The rest did not come up.
Photo #2 is the seed pod on the plant, which is about to let loose its seeds.
Photo #3 shows the same plant in our back pasture.
Photo#4 This is another area where we had the plants return for two years, but not this year. There were gophers under the plant. I guess they were hungry.
Photo#5 This shows Zizotes Milkweed on our gravel drive where they just came up on their own. Volunteers for sure. There are three plants near our backdoor.
#6 This is another Zizotes in the pasture that just showed up.
#7 Another Zizotes in a different part of the pasture.
#8 Tropical Milkweed in my garden. This needed to be bigger before now. Tropical milkweed is from Mexico.
You’re too late, milkweed plants. The last monarch I saw here on our property was on 5-17-2022. You can see where the monarchs are by viewing Journey North, monarchs’ migration. It is a great site.
We will have to pay attention and see what happens to both the milkweed and the monarchs over the next few years.
Still, we need to keep on planting the native milkweed to try to help out.
by Catherine Johnson
One of our dogs, Dottie cornered this rattlesnake and kept barking until we came to check. She kept it from entering the backyard and shed.
Who wants to confirm the ID on this guy?
