Tag: nature

The Elusive Texas Star in Milam County

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Sue Ann Kendall

The State Fungus of Texas is the Texas Star (or Devil’s Cigar) (Chorioactis geaster). It’s not spotted often, so wheneever you see it, it’s newsworthy. When it was spotted for a second time at Inks Lake State Park last December, it made the news all over Texas. This is just one of the articles. There’s also an article on them in this month’s Texas Coop Power magazine. So, when my neighbor Vicki sent me a photo and asked me if I’d ever seen anything like this before, my heart skipped a beat.

I knew exactly what it was!

I told her it was rare and exciting. She looked it up, and we both geeked out over it for a while. The next day I went over to her property to get a look (I’d also hoped to pet her minature horse, but she was in the next pasture.) The mushroom was in a field of post oak trees, which confused me.

However, when I got closer to the spot where the Texas Star was located, conveniently flagged by Vicki, I saw it was exactly where it should be. It was right next to the stump of a cedar elm tree (that’s basically all we have, the oaks and the elms). We’d recently had a lot of rain, so it was fruiting right when it was supposed to.

There it is!

As soon as I got my own photos, I uploaded the observation to iNaturalist, where it was quickly confirmed. It had already burst its spores out, so we missed the exciting hissing sound the Texas Star makes, but it was fun to feel its leathery “petals,” and see if it smelled funny (I couldn’t smell anything). I looked around but didn’t see any more on her property. I also looked at the dozens of cedar elm stumps in my woods, but no Texas Stars have turned up.

It pretty much looks the same from all angles.

As I looked at the information on iNat and Wikipedia about the fungus, I learned a lot. First of all, I’m pretty lucky to live where it grows. It’s only found here in the middle of Texas and a small place in Japan. That makes me wonder if they are really the same fungus, but I’m sure professionals have looked into that.

This iNat screenshot isn’t the whole Texas Star range, but it shows how few observations there are in this part of the world.

There were observations near Davilla and Buckholtz, but only the Davilla one was research grade, making my observation the second confirmed one in Milam County. And we are way to the east of its usual range. I was excited!

This map has most of Milam Couonty in it, and shows the three potential observations.

Keep on the lookout for these if you have decaying cedar elms (Ulmus crassifolia) and we have another nice rain (which I assume will happen soon). To learn more, read any of these articles:

Extra Help for Birds in Winter

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

So, we have some very cold weather upon us.

Some of you who are originally from the North may think it’s not cold. But those of us born in Central Texas think even barely freezing is terrible. I am one of those people.

I can hardly bear it to go below 50 degrees. I hate it. It makes me crazy to worry about our wildlife friends.

But, they are adapted more than we think.

The birds have a harder time finding food when it’s cold. That is because the insects they like are not moving around.

One way we can help during this time is to put out suet for them. You can make your own or purchase it. I found that making it is messy. So, I bought some. Now is the time to put it out.

It needs to go in suet holders and placed near feeders. You can make your own holders and make them suit your location. A suet holder can be as simple as a small cage made from hardware cloth.  Anything that a bird can cling to. Many species will come to a suet feeder. Even woodpeckers like them.

The suet provides needed energy to help the birds keep warm.

Right now, I am waiting for a new product to arrive that keeps hummingbird feeders from freezing. As soon as I receive it, I will put that info out for everyone.

So don’t forget our feathered friends…

“I cannot do all the good that the world needs, but the world needs all the good that I can do.

Jana Stanfield

Time to Think about the Purple Martins’ Return

Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall1 Comment

by Donna Lewis

Happy New Year.

Just as our weather starts to turn cold and windy, for Martin landlords it is time to get ready for the return of our beloved Martins.

Right now they are still in Brazil. Very soon they will feel the time-long urge to migrate back to their breeding grounds. That would be across the border into the US and Canada. From my experience, the birds will arrive in Milam County around February.

Times vary a little from year to year.

The first to arrive are called scouts. They tend to be the adult males looking for nesting areas that will best attract females. Last year’s birds will arrive later, up to four to eight weeks.

Right now is the time to get your houses ready. It is harder to assemble an Owl guard when the weather is cold and windy.  Putting your gourds or apartments up nowmakes sure you are ready as soon as they arrive. Do NOT open the cavities yet. You need to wait till you hear the bird’s arrival and open only a few cavities. This keeps unwanted birds (House Sparrows) from taking over. Block the entrances with foam or something you can easily take out. Duct tape is NOT a good option.

I have people ask me how I know I have a Martin? Their song is different from any other bird. Believe me, they will let you know they have come home.

So, I had help putting up my gourd rack, and all I will need to do is add the pine-needles in a few weeks.

I have both a Gourd house and an apartment house. I have noticed here at our site, the gourds are the most favored.

Also, it is best to add new housing, or make changes before the Martins arrive. They don’t like change.

So, happy Martin season.

Nature Goes about Her Business

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

I hope we are all using this forced time at our home’s to look at the beautiful things that nature provides for us. I hope you enjoy these photos of the life in my garden as I share this story.

Earth Day, April 22nd, is coming up.  But every day should be Earth Day.

Last evening I had a concert put on by the frogs in my small pond.

In the morning the doves, phoebes, cardinals and purple martins sang to me.

In my garden the bumble bees and Hummingbirds busied themselves with the business of breakfast, paying little attention to my presence.

The breeze started to move the grasses and wildflowers around in the pasture.

Nothing short of magnificent! 

Nature goes about her business no matter what is going on with humanity.

We can learn a lot from her.

Darwin Comes to Town: a Book for Us

Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall2 Comments

by Sue Ann Kendall

I just finished a book I really loved, and I think my fellow Master Naturalists will, too. The author talks about us in the book, even! Here’s what I wrote in my other blog about it, with a little more in it for our audience:

I think I just spotted Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution, by Menno Schilthuizen in the new nature books section on Amazon. I loved the cover and was really intrigued by the subject matter: how life evolves in the world’s urban enclaves.

Schilthuizen, a naturalist in the Netherlands and author of many articles in popular science publications, writes really clearly without “dumbing down” the science behind what he talks about. I think his reminder that evolution is not just something that goes on in the forests, oceans, and hidden jungles; it’s going on right under our noses.

I love the cover art.
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