Nature Along the El Camino Real
Blog of the El Camino Real Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists, Milam County, Texas
By Linda Burgess
We had a great turnout yesterday afternoon for seed packaging at the Free Seed Library!
We now have some garden seeds and herbs in our seed library, as well as native and adapted seeds.
Come to the Cameron Public Library during operating hours and take advantage of Nature’s bounty
by Catherine Johnson
Kim and I ventured to the Wildscape during the recent tornado alert but only experienced high wind.
We planted Texas Betony and still to be planted include Texas Sedge, Pine Muhly, Skull Cap, Chocolate Daisy and Gregg’s Mist.
Many plants are thriving and starting to bloom. The Mexican Plum is especially robust. Many Belly Botany wildflowers are attracting pollinators.
In a recent video, Craig Hensley suggested leaving your garden a little messy; that is our Wildscape now, but what a beauty.
Go visit before it gets manicured, and bring your camera.
By Linda Burgess
(This was posted on Facebook yesterday)
It’s Earth Day! …. and a beautiful day to get outside and plant some wildflowers!
The El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalists and the Little River Basin Master Gardeners, with the help of the Cameron Public Library, have created a free Seed Library for the public.
We have lots of native wildflowers, adapted plants, and some herbs. We are always adding new varieties, so come by and get a few packets of free seeds. We can’t wait to see our community become even more beautiful …and it’s a huge benefit to our environment. You’ll also feel joy from being outside and watching your seeds grow!
We had our monthly seed packaging at the Library on Earth Day. With Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners combined, we had 21 volunteers! We’re grateful to them all.
by Sue Ann Kendall
We took a break from most of the projects at the bird sanctuary, but Gene has replaced the irrigation system, installed our benches, and kept the area mowed. The Reks and Ann Collins have been keeping the feeders loaded, and we’re happy to report hummingbirds are aware of this!
Yesterday we held a well-attended Wild Wings committee meeting and divided up projects and tasks among the attendees. We are always looking for more helpers, so feel free to contact Ann if you have ideas!
We now have a mailbox where we will store bird lists, brochures, and a guest book for visitors (which is being made by a bookbinder friend). It will be up soon, so look for it if you come by. We made a schedule for filling the feeders, so that more people will have the opportunity to help with that task, and most important, we tallied the birds we heard and saw at the sanctuary! Look for updated tallies in on our website in the next few days.
Most exciting for our visitors is that we have events scheduled! Here are some highlights:
We are also preparing visitor resources. I made one of the bird checklists we are going to have available, an alphabetical list of birds seen in Milam County. Some are common and some are rare. We will link to a PDF of it so you can see what birds you can find. Next will be a list arranged by bird type, which is preferred by experienced birders.
After that I’ll work on a color brochure of the most common birds seen in Milam County. Wish me luck; I’m not a graphic designer but I’m the designated “computer person.” We selected 23 birds to share and are excited about the project.
Other items in the works are bluebird houses and signage, so our potential visitors can find us! Until then, visit our main website for hours and directions. This is a great time of year to enjoy wildlife in the countryside.
by Catherine Johnson
The Wildscape is especially dry for this time of year. Good news is a lot of weeds have shriveled. The pictures include super tough Elbow Bush, Evergreen Sumac, Inland Sea Oats, Sideoats Grama, and the Bug Patrol. We started with 20 roots of native purple Tall Asters and now have thousands to give away. Contact me if you want any.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 