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Edition 36 – Shaking The Trees – January 2023

Smiley Woodfin Native Prairie photo for Orstead TNC news release

Preservation of Remnant Smiley-Woodfin Prairie

Rick Travis, 2018 – The article tells the story of how the remnant Smiley-Woodfin Prairie will be preserved versus being eliminated by the construction of a solar power farm. The company, Orsted developing the solar farm and the Nature Conservancy recently reached an agreement that will preserve about 1000 acres of the prairie. 
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Sweat Bee Illustration by Katie McElroy

Native Bees of Texas Illustrations by Katie McElroy

Michelle Connally, 2018 – There was a bonus at the end of the January 2023 Chapter meeting, like icing on a cupcake. Everyone was handed a tri fold hand out of the Native Bees of Texas, Illustrated by Katie McElroy, this was her project instead of a presentation. Katie used her artistic skills to demonstrate what she learned about Native Bees. She did such a great job, I wanted to share her work with everyone not at the meeting as well as Texas native bee seekers in the future.
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Eastern Phoebe against a bald cypress by Brenda Clark at the Canyon Creek Wetlands

Canyon Creek Wetland and Wildscape

Julia Koch, 2020 NTMN – I have to give another shout out to one of your members that is volunteering at the Canyon Creek Wetland and Wildscape project in NW Richardson.  Brenda Clark is not only helping us to remove invasive species and is caring for hundreds of plants in her greenhouse that will be planted this spring at the site but she is an exceptional photographer.
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Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus) by Donna Cole

Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) and Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus)

Donne Cole, 2002 – Sharing the flora and fauna in her garden. – republished from Shaking of the Trees, First Edition.
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Frankford Prairie Hyacinths by Cynthia Alexander-Coday

Wild Hyacinths (Camassia scilloides) of Frankford Prairie

Cynthia Alexander-Coday – reprint from Shaking of the Trees Newsletter First Edition dated April 12, 2020. Down in Dallas, east of the tollway but still in Collin County, there is a historic church & cemetery that were part of the Frankford settlement in the mid-late 1800s.
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Screech owl photo by Clyde Camp

Clyde Camp’s Screech Owl (Megascops asio) Cam Footage

Clyde Camp, 2010 – reprint from Shaking of the Trees Newsletter First Edition dated April 12, 2020. Clyde Camp has a nest cam of his screech owl inhabitants
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Edition 35 – Shaking The Trees – December 2022

Texas Master Naturalists, Blackland Prairie Chapter

Rick Travis, 2018 – 2022 was an eventful year for the Blackland Prairie Master Naturalist Chapter! The Covid scourge FINALLY began to loosen its grip on us, and as the year progressed, we began transitioning back to in-person chapter meetings, classes, and volunteer activities. Online meetings helped keep us stitched together in 2020 and 2021, but (in my humble opinion) there’s no substitute for in-the-flesh gatherings.
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BPTMNs Attend TMN Annual Meeting in Houston Texas

Linda Nixon, 2018 – Just prior to the start of the TMN 2022 Annual Meeting (Meeting) in Houston Texas, we decided to ask attendees, both those in person and those online, to write about their experiences so we could share them with BPTMN members who did not attend this event.  We hope you will enjoy their musings and that what you read will inspire you to participate in a future Annual Meeting.
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LLELA’s Big Sit on November 5th, 2022

Scott Kiester, Elm Fork Chapter – November 5, 2022 6 AM: On one of the first really chilly mornings of the fall intrepid birders from across the Metroplex gathered in the predawn hours at LLELA. Why? To count the birds of course.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 1000 Hours – Sarah Densmore

Sarah Densmore, 2021 – I’m currently working on a Master in Science in Wildlife Science, and being a TMN (with so many volunteer hours in one year) was a key reason as to why I was accepted into the masters program.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 Hours – Charlise Hill-Larson

Charlise Hill-Larson, 2019 – My interests as a Master Naturalist includes birding, native landscapes and helping others to experience the wonder, beauty and healing power of the natural world. I spend the majority my volunteer time as a trail guide and a birder, though to be honest, serving as the Chapter VP is the volunteer work that has helped me to reach 500 hours.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Lisa Runyon

Lisa Runyon, 2015 – I’ve stayed involved in BPTMN because our chapter does two things well. First, our chapter excels in providing quality advanced training opportunities including the speakers at our monthly meetings. They have raised my awareness and inspired me in so many ways. Because of advanced training, I continue to grow as a naturalist. Secondly, our chapter does a great job of providing a wide variety of volunteer opportunities to choose from.
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Edition 34 – Shaking The Trees – October/ November 2022

Our Tribe’s Fortune 15,000 Hours – Karen Mitchell

Karen Mitchell, 2011 – I volunteer at Blackland Prairie Raptor Center and Outdoor Learning Center.  I love working with animals and both of these venues meet that goal.  I also volunteer as an Ombudsman for the State of Texas.  
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 Hours – Leah Justice

Leah Justice, 2021 – Most of my volunteer time is spent working in Animal Care at the Heard Museum.  I really love taking care of the animals and watching how excited all the visitors are when they interact with animals and nature.  The Animal Care team is a great group of people to work with. 
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 Hours – Sue Makuta

Susan Makuta, 2021 – I volunteer at a variety of places and activities: Blackland Prairie Raptor Center – Rehab; and events;  Heard Nature Preserve – Gardens, Butterfly House, trail guide and  Special events; Heritage Farmstead Native Garden; PISD Holifield Science Learning Center – Animal Room and  Field Trip Guide.  Within the chapter, I am on the Training Committee, Hospitality Committee and the Natureabilty Committee.  
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Barbara Dupont

Barbara Dupont, 2021 – Restoration at Erwin Park with the “guys” I volunteer mostly at various projects but mainly: Erwin Park in McKinney which is undergoing a prairie restoration and Heritage Farmstead in Plano where Master Naturalists maintain a native plant garden.
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A Summer Mystery

Leah Justice, 2021 – The sun was just setting, and I was going out for an evening walk in the neighborhood.  But wait, what was that unusual noise I heard emanating from the bushes?  It was a strange chirping, twittering sound. 
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JM Caldwell Park Pollinator Garden in Princeton

Dave Powell, 2007 – On our first workday three of us began the cleanup of the garden, most of which was removal of Western Ragweed. Kathy, Mary and Dave made good use of two hours and were rewarded by the butterflies that showed up which included two Monarch that began drinking nectar from the flower that we exposed.
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Edition 33 – Shaking The Trees – September 2022

Our Tribe’s Fortune 2,500 Hours – Terry Comingore

Terry Comingore, 2017 – “Though I still have so much to learn, it’s a joy to be in the nature experience and share that experience with my granddaughters.”
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 2,500 Hours – Linda Nixon

Linda Nixon, 2018 – “Later I would learn I was living in the Blackland Prairie ecological region of Texas that was once covered by millions acres of tallgrass prairie.  My soil was special!”
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 2,500 Hours – Rick Travis

Rick Travis, 2018 – “Livin’ the Dream, folks!” My wife and best friend Lisa and I joined the Blackland Prairie chapter training class in 2018. Since graduating we’ve been relatively active in the chapter, coordinating and/or participating in some special restoration projects, “doing our time” in various positions of responsibility within the chapter, and just having a blast immersing ourselves in nature with wonderful folks that share our love and passion for the natural world.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 1,000 Hours – Mittie McDonald

Mittie McDonald, 2013 – “She handed me a Master Naturalist application and told me I would not regret this decision. I haven’t!”
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Group of Volunteers from the Heard Plant Sale

Our Tribe’s Fortune 1,000 Hours – Deb Hartman

Deb Hartman, 2017 – “I now know not to kill the caterpillars that are eating my dill, fennel and Passion flower as someday they will reward me with turning into beautiful butterflies.“
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Lisa Striping

Lisa Striping, 2022 – “I am staying active with the Chapter because I enjoy meeting and sharing experiences with other BPTMN volunteers.”
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Shari Navarette

Shari Navarette, 2018 – “I love to spend time at Erwin Park (especially in the Spring, when the red tails are nesting) .”
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Coneflower at Clymer Meadow

Chapter Project Grant Application is currently open

Michelle Norris, 2021 – The Grant Committee is excited to announce the new Blackland Prairie Chapter Project Grant Application Information is currently open on the Chapter’s website and will remain open until the end of the month 9/30/2022
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1st Annual BPTMN Mothing Event: Moths, Bugs, and a Frog – O My!!!

Rick Travis, 2018 – On July 30, our chapter celebrated National Mothing Week with our first BPTMN Mothing Event at Connemara Meadow, and it was a real treat for all those that attended!
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Erwin Park

David Powell, 2007 – Even in August with no rain and heat our team is at Erwin Park on Monday mornings. Yes we do clear underbrush from the tree lines within the circle and cut trees out in the prairie and that is all a beneficial contribution to the beauty of the place. It has always been as important for those of who are working to spend time examining the natural growth in the prairie. We enjoy this time to share our knowledge and learn from each other as we wonder amongst the vegetation.
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Frisco Northwest Park Bioblitz

Rick Travis, 2018 – It was a very crispy BioBlitz as everything had gone to seed. About 30 participants added approximately 300 Northwest Park observations into iNaturalist. Around 35-40 additional species were added into the Northwest Park iNaturalist Project.
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Edition 32 – Shaking The Trees – Summer 2022 Edition

Our Tribe’s Fortune 2500 Hours – Lisa Travis

Lisa Travis, 2018 and 2022-2023 New Class Director – I retired from teaching in 2017, but still have a passion for learning and sharing what I’ve learned.
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BPTMN Class of 2020 Rick Park

Our Tribe’s Fortune 1000 Hours – Rick Park

Rick Park, 2020 – I was a member of the class of 2020. My introduction to the master naturalist program came from Bob Mione who I had been working with on restoration projects at the Connemara meadows.
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BPTMN Class of 2021 Nancy Riggs

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Nancy Riggs

Nancy Riggs, 2021 – I love being a TMN!! I love everything outdoors! I am into birds and volunteer on Tuesday at Hagerman for the Bird Census.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Rhonda Sanchez

Rhonda Sanchez,  2019 and 2021-2022 Outreach Director – My favorite volunteer activities are outreach for the Chapter, the Heard Museum and for LLELA. 
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My New Best Friend: Merlin Sound ID

Jean Suplick, 2018 and 2020-2021 New Class Director – Have you ever stepped outside on a fine morning, closed your eyes for a few moments, and taken in the soundscape? No doubt you will hear some human-generated sounds like tires on pavement, jets droning by overhead or maybe playing children. But wait. Hold on. Was that a bird you just heard?
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BPTMN STT 32 2022-05-28 Connemare Meadow Nature Preserve Photo By Connie Roschlau Ball

Honoring Frances Williams, Founder of Connemara

Bob Mione, 2012 – There have been lots and lots of great photos taken of the wildflowers at the Meadow.  I’ve never seen a better one than this, taken by Connie Roschlau Ball.  I call this plot the “Maureen” plot, named after a friend of mine’s wife, who really loved the wildflowers of TX.
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Erwin Park – Hawk’s Nest

Shari Navarette, 2018 and Chapter Photographer – In the early spring of 2021, while Covid kept most of us home, I spent a lot of time with my camera at the Heard Museum, at Hagerman NWR, and at Erwin Park.   One morning at Erwin, while the trees were still bare, I spotted a pair of hawks at a nest.  One was sitting on the nest, the other kept it’s mate company just off to the side.   I watched for a while. 
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Edition 31 – Shaking The Trees – May 5, 2022

Our Tribe’s Fortune 2500 Hours – Beverly Carpenter

Beverly Carpenter, 2013 – The Blackland Prairie Master Naturalist program seemed the perfect place for me to pursue my personal interest in life-long learning after my career in education. BPTMN was an opportunity to learn more about the environment around me and contribute through volunteering.
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Group of Volunteers from the Heard Plant Sale

2022 Heard Plant Sale

Deborah Canterbury, 2014 and Past President – More than 10,00 plants unloaded, cataloged, labeled and placed according to scientific name in 4 days for this years’ 36th Heard Plant Sale. It is one of the longest-running, largest, and best native plant sales in the state. BPTMN members play a big role in the pre-sale preparation and in helping customers choose the proper native plants for their gardens.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 2500 Hours – Karen Spalding-Wright 

Karen Spalding-Wright, 2017 – Most of my volunteer hours have accrued here at the BPRC. [My sister] had an interest in working with animals which led us to choosing to work at the BPRC.  Neither of us knew much about raptors when we started.
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Members at Outreach Booth

Frisco Eggsplorers Outreach Event was Eggcredible!

Rhonda Sanchez, 2019 & Outreach Director – We counted that we interacted with 250+ people by participating in this event. Enjoy the photos of our Outreach volunteers interacting with the community.
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Buckeye Flowers

Buckeye Pilgrimage

Greg Tonian, 2017 – The Trinity River Valley of North Texas drew us all here, Though we did not realize it. We may not know how or why, Perhaps it was for a glimpse of a Buckeye? John Neely Bryan built a cabin on a Trinity River bluff He founded Dallas in the 1840’s. Dreams were grand, but times were tough. When I drove out in ‘85, I asked myself, Where are all the trees?
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Anna 2022 Earth Day Event BPTMN Outreach Booth

Photos of the City of Anna Earth Day Event

Rhonda Sanchez, 2019 & Outreach Director – Here are photos from the 2022 City of Anna Earth Day Event.
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HELP WANTED – April 2022

HELP WANTED – April 2022
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Leah Justice

By Leah Justice, 2021 – As a newer member of the chapter, I volunteered for many different activities throughout the past year in order to broaden my knowledge.  I have worked in prairies at different times of the year, learned about tree surveying, and planted trees.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Paulette Planko

By Paulette Planko, 2021 – I’m a member of the 2021 class. I have been volunteering mostly at Erwin Park in McKinney, at the Heard Nature Preserve, and at Clymer Nature Preserve. I’ve enjoyed projects that include prairie restoration, native garden maintenance, butterfly pinning, and working with children at the Heard.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Tasha Patterson

Tasha Patterson, 2020 and 2021 Class Representative – I also do first Saturday trail guiding at Blackland Prairie Raptor Center. My favorite thing about being a part of the BPTMN is that every single person I have encountered is willing to share their knowledge and passion to help me grow in my pursuits.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Lorrie Mathers

Lorrie Mathers, 2021 – I’m a Texan by choice! I grew up in a small farming community in South-Western Ontario (Canada not California) spending much of my time outdoors, not sure if that was by choice or by circumstance.
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Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Andy Hudson

Andy Hudson, 2018 – I was in Class 2018. People can usually find me serving out at Erwin Park or the 2 newer green spaces at Gray Branch and McKinney Greens. I live in McKinney, so that keeps me enjoying the fellowship and lively personalities of our Blackland Prairie chapter.
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Edition 30 – Shaking The Trees – April 5, 2022

Our Tribe’s Fortune 2500 Hours – Tom Shackelford

Tom Shackelford, 2018 and Past President (2020-2021) I was born in Great Bend, Kansas and grew up farming and raising cattle along the Santa Fe Trail on land south of the Arkansas River, from Fort Larned to Dodge City. I did not realize it at the time but our home and the pasture lands where we grazed cattle were undeveloped, never used for agriculture beyond grazing and composed of western wheatgrass, blue grama, prairie three awn, little blue stem – native mixed prairie lands. This was my “Playground.”
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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Sarah Densmore

Sarah Densmore, 2021 My major volunteer areas are with the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center, where I am the Volunteer Coordinator, and with Texas Metro Wildlife Rehabilitation (I’ve submitted an application to be sub-permitted as a wildlife rehabilitator. I’m waiting to hear back from TPWD on whether or not I’m approved.), where I help rehab baby cottontails and juvenile opossums.   In regards to why I stay with the chapter, I’m not sure why I would leave.  I worked hard to get into the TMN program, I’m thrilled with all of the doors of opportunity that are available due to this certification,…

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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Susan Makuta

Susan Makuta, 2021 I am a member of the class of 2021. I volunteer at the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center. I am on the Monday rehab team caring for the birds of prey. I am with a great team and I have learned so much there. I have also assisted with some deconstruction work on the education enclosures. Additionally, I help with various activities with public events for BPRC. Susan Makuta, Class of 2021 I also volunteer at the Heard Nature Preserve. I have worked in the gardens with Amy, taken trail guide training with Dave Powell, assisted at various…

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‘Dem Bones Update

Deborah Canterbury, 2014 and Past President Master Naturalists in the Heard Fossil Lab recently laid out Colombian Mammoth bones that have been prepped just to see how they may go together. More exist and they are trying to decide how to best display.
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Brandon Belcher

Last of the Blackland, A Nature Conservancy video

Charlise Hill-Larson, 2019 and 2021-22 Vice President I was spending time with The Nature Conservancy online this am and came across this short film on the Clymer Meadow. If we haven’t shared it already, it’s certainly worth sharing.
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Members at Garden Show

Blackland Prairie Master Naturalists at the Collin County MG Garden Show

Rhonda Sanchez, 2019 Here are a few photos from the garden show. We tracked that we shared the TMN program and mission with more than 250 participants in the show over the two day event.
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Edition 29 – Shaking The Trees – March 7, 2022

500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Louise Frost

Louise Frost, 2010 I’m mostly a life-long Dallasite with gaps here and there. When I moved back here in 2010, I was looking for something to get involved with and the Heard came up. I’ve always been a nature lover, and loved taking my boys there as kids so I signed up and tried a few jobs. Trail Guide struck my interest and in addition to Dave Powell doing the training, there were a couple of other MNs in the group who encouraged me to join. I did and was so glad I did! I had so much fun with…

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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Duane Mortenson

Duane Mortenson, 2018 I grew up on a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin, so I spent my youth outside most every day.  It was a beautiful area for hiking, camping, canoeing and cross-country skiing in the winter.  For my career I decided to go into electrical engineering and I moved to Texas.  It was quit the change to swap endless days outside for an inside cubicle behind a computer, the hills and trees of Wisconsin for flat prairie land.  I did spend as much time outside as I could but it wasn’t the same. When I approached retirement, I started…

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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – John W. “Dub” Spencer

John W. “Dub” Spencer, 2017 I grew up in small central Texas town (Hamilton), working, playing, and loving the outdoors. After retirement I was searching for an activity or group that would allow me to spend time outdoors and and be involved with fun folks and the Texas Master Naturalist Program certainly provides both. I consider myself a nature generalist, I know a little about a lot of things, but not much about anything. As an example I know leaves are often green or brown, native plants are good, invasive plants are bad, birds often fly, etc.. Current chapter activities…

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Long Time, No Hear

Clyde Camp, 2011 Possibly a very frustrated male.  Or Female.  The same bird (I think) has been arriving around 11pm and sitting in the door trilling until around 3am.  Sometimes leaving and returning several times.  Sometimes taking a nap inside.  Sometimes trilling from inside.   And several times spending the day sleeping before taking off at dusk. sitting in the door trilling until around 3am.  Sometimes leaving and returning several times.  Sometimes taking a nap inside.  Sometimes trilling from inside.   And several times spending the day sleeping before taking off at dusk.
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Introduction to the Great Trinity Forest with Bill Holston

Charlise Hill-Larson, 2019 Please join our February Speaker, Bill Holston, on Sunday, March 27, for an introduction to the Trinity Forest. We will meet at 11am at the Pavilion at Bonton Farms. The address is 6915 Bexar St, Dallas, TX 75215. Bill will lead us on an easy and flat hike on the Ned and Genie Fritz Buckeye Trail. All total, we’ll traverse about 2.5 miles. Bonton Farms will also be open for lunch following our walk, if you’re interested. 
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Lynx in Urban yard landscape.

Great Wildlife Moment in Collin County

Susan Abernethy, 2018 I thought this may be worth putting on the website under great wildlife moment, Lynx rufus at my next door neighbor’s front yard on February 26, 2022.

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Edition 28 – Shaking The Trees – January 18, 2022

Thank you, Tom Shackelford

Rick Travis, 2018 – Current President (2022-2023) – Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Tom stepped up to serve as Chapter President in 2020. Within just a couple of months into his Chapter Presidency, the covid pandemic exploded, requiring quick action to develop a completely different approach, and set of rules, for members to engage within our chapter safely. This wasn’t easy. There was no script or step-by-step guide for our chapter dealing with this health crisis…there hadn’t been this serious a pandemic since the influenza epidemic in the early 1900’s.
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Polymorphism or Spring Treasure Hunt at Raptor Center

Lorelei Stierlen, 2014 – Both photos are of the beautiful Blackland Prairie native coreopsis tinctoria or plains coreopsis. A member of the Asteraceae (Aster) family, it is an annual forb, and the blooms are described as yellow surrounding a reddish centre – but the blooms of one of these plants is all red. How can that be?
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Clymer Meadow Projects in 2022

Tom Shackelford, 2018 – (2020-2021 President) – Clymer Meadow Projects:  Remnant Blackland Prairie restoration, preservation, maintenance, seed collection, plant/ wildlife & insect surveys.  This project includes Clymer Meadow, Park Hill Prairie, County Line Prairie, Matthew’s Prairie and other outlying remnant prairies.
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Bird Prints in the Snow

Mental Wanderings

Sally Evans, 2006 – Founder & Emeritus – A wide swath of trees and vines and junipers has grown up along the back by a creek.  The front part was mowed several times a summer but often the grasses grew knee high and swayed in the breezes.  That lot became the resting place or home for the wild life that moved up and down the creek.  Birds roosted or nested in the trees and shrubs.  In one far corner a cottonwood tree grew twice as high as the rest of the trees and became the site for hawks sunning or scanning…
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Shells to warm your hearts

Lauren Bendiksen, 2019 – I am excited that the Lightning Whelk is the Texas Master Naturalist Program 2022 Annual Re-Certification pin. I grew up in Dallas, and our family’s vacations to South Padre Island were definitely a jumping off point for my love of nature due to the excitement of searching for seashells. I became absolutely obsessed with seashells. My maternal grandparents also lived near the coast in Florida, so you can imagine my joy when we were able to visit them and go to the beach, allowing me additional options for collecting seashells. 
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Reflections on Sara Dykman’s Bicycling with Butterflies Book

Greg Tonian, 2017 – Ideas are like Fireflies, Brief flashes in the dark, blinking. Talk is cheap, Life’s opportunities fleeting. Dreams evaporate. Yet Sara put mettle to pedal, She set out on her quest, Before it was too late. Her goal was simple yet mad. It would require lots of planning, Lots of charts, Though she wanted to be spontaneous, A journey of this type, Had many moving parts. Courage and persistence she did not lack She simply bicycled with the Monarchs, From Mexico to Canada and back. 10,201 miles, 232 days, Travelling countless byways.
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Edition 27 – Shaking The Trees – December 13, 2021

Member Emeritus – Deborah Canterbury

Deborah Canterbury was awarded the title Member Emeritus at the December 14 meeting and gifted a beautiful stain glass dragonfly Tiffany style lamp. MEMBER EMERITUS.  On June 18th of this year President Tom received a note from a Chapter member asking him to consider the following.  In the past there have been members who were awarded the title of ‘Emeritus’ due to their diligence with the chapter.  I would like to recommend that the chapter bestow a pat on the back to several other members of this chapter that have helped to make it so very special and are still working…

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Honorary Membership – Bill Woodfin

Longtime friend and supporter of the Blackland Prairie Master Naturalist Chapter, Bill Woodfin received his Honorary Membership Badge at the December, 14th 2021 meeting for his volunteer efforts within our chapter and the community.
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Thank you, Mike Roome

At the end of 2021 Immediate Past President Mike Roome will be leaving the board. He served as President in 2018-2019 and as IPP through this year. During this time, he was severely ill, but as soon as he could he returned to his board duties. His leadership, positive outlook and grateful heart will be missed at the monthly board meetings.
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Plano Heritage Farmstead Light Festival

From Lu Anne Ray (BPTMN VH/AT Director): We all know that COVID has made it difficult for many of the places where we volunteer to continue to operate including The Plano Heritage Farmstead Museum. But hats off to the Farmstead Board and management as they continue to look for creative programs to help make ends meet and keep their doors open, including a new Lights on the Farm event. The Plano Heritage Farmstead Museum is partnering up with Professional Lighting Company First Choice Lights to create the Holiday event of the season. Lights on the Farm will run for 17 nights (Fri, Sat, Sun)…

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2021 Chapter Elections

At our November 9, 2021 chapter meeting Rick Travis was elected to serve as President for the next two years. At the same meeting Page Schreck was re-reelected to serve as Treasurer for the next two years. Page and Rick are both active Master Naturalists, Page is the incumbent Treasurer, serving since 2020. Rick served as Vice President in 2019-2020 and leads the Frisco Prairie Restoration projects. Please welcome these two invaluable members back to the BPTMN board.

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2021 Greensource DFW Green Project Award – Alex Dubovsky

Our very own BPTMN Member Alex Dubovsky and his Trinity Coalition Water Trail Team were awarded the 2021 Green Project Award from Greensource DFW. What an honor for all this team’s commitment and hard work on the Trinity River Paddling Trail. Read more about the award at Greensource DFW link and scroll down to Green Project.
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Edition 26 – Shaking The Trees – November 2, 2021

2021 Greensource DFW Sustainable Leadership Award – Bob Mione

The Texas Master Naturalist Blackland Prairie Chapter is pleased to announce that chapter member Bob Mione (Class of 2012) has been selected to receive a 2021 Green Source DFW Sustainable Leadership Award. Congratulations Bob!  Bob will be receiving the Unsung Hero Award for his work as volunteer manager for the Connemara Meadow in Allen. Over the past decade, he’s been leading the restoration of the meadow’s Blackland prairie. He has also been very involved working to reintroduce Bobwhite quail to Collin County.  “There are few others who have given as much of their time, energy, and passion to restoring the Blackland Prairie in the DFW…

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Our Tribe’s Fortune 1000 – Loreli Stierlen

I found the BPTMN booth at the 2013 Learn 2 Live Green event where I was a volunteer for Live Green in Plano. So I started attending the BPTMN meetings, got to talking with members and decided that was the organization where I needed to be. I started volunteering at BPRC right off the bat as a trail guide, and I’ve been there ever since.
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2021 Annual Photo Contest Winner

Janice James, 2018 We are so pleased to report that BPTMN member Janice James won first place in the Texas Master Naturalist 2021 Annual Meeting Digitally Enhanced Photo Contest with her entry entitled “Old Soul.” The red-eared slider turtle was just sitting on a log by the boardwalk at the Heard.  I was there with some dear friends from out of town that were visiting – the photo was the last ‘hike’, and the last ‘visit’, that I had for months, as it was on March 10, 2020.  So it resonates for that reason too. 🙂 The app was called Deep…

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2021 Annual Conference

Tom Shackelford, 2018 – President 2021 Annual Conference Blackland Prairie Chapter Members photo by Tom Shackelford 2021 Annual Conference Dave Powell 5,000 Service Hours Recognition photo by Tom Shackelford

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Frisco Arborfest Event Tree Planting, Woodland Walk, and Prairie Buffalo Stomp Seed Toss, Oh My!

The Frisco Parks Department held an extraordinarily successful “Arborfest Tree Walk and Buffalo Stomp” nature event at Frisco Commons Park on Saturday, Oct. 30. Several Blackland Prairie Master Naturalists played significant roles in both the preparation for this event, and as participants in the event itself. The “Buffalo Stomp” portion of the event is a native plant seedball toss in the prairie restoration area at Frisco Commons. Well, to make seedballs, you need seed! Several BPTMN’s helped harvest native flora and grass seed form a large natural area in Frisco’s Northwest Community Park. Over several late summer and early fall…

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New Trails page

Michelle Connally, 2018 Over the past year, chapter members Jean Suplick and Duane Mortenson have shared some great information about local trails in the area. We also have some monthly VH available by helping the North Texas Chapter with the Trinity Buckeye Trail Project. We wanted to create a central location to peruse these Trails posts involving our fellow chapter members. Now you can find the BPTMN trails page at – https://txmn.org/bptmn/trails/ or from the Menu, click on Members, Trails. Do you know of a great trail for flora and/ or fauna viewing or peaceful walk. Please share your experience…

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Edition 25 – Shaking The Trees – October 3, 2021

Our Tribe’s Fortune 1000 – Lauren Bendiksen

Lauren Bendiksen, 2019 I am a born and bred Texan, having grown up in Dallas. I only moved away from the area for college at Texas A&M-College Station. I have always loved nature. As a child, I would swing in our backyard for what seemed like hours. I loved to climb our home’s trees. I loved exploring the local creek. I have always adored animals so loved looking for toads, butterflies, caterpillars, birds… anything could keep me engaged outdoors. My very favorite item from nature was (and and probably still is) seashells. Anytime we ventured to South Padre for family…

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Prosper Butterfly Garden

Citizen Science in your community? You Betcha!

Georgette Guernsey, 2004 I have explored the Prosper Butterfly Garden in Whitley Place subdivision once a week since March.  Below is a checklist of the plants I have identified during these visits.  All have been confirmed by either iNaturalist, botany monitors or “Shinner’s and Mahler’s Flora of North Central Texas” by Diggs, Lipscomb, Reed, O’Kennon.  The plants for the most part are described as growing in clay or calcareous soils that have been disturbed or overgrazed.
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Fall is here

Sally Evans, 2006; Founder & Emeritus Leaves are fluttering down; Butterflies are fluttering around; Hummingbirds are fluttering as they nectar. Lizards are sunning; Squirrels are running; Red lilies are stunning in the back garden sector. A full harvest moon Makes young lovers swoon ; We know fall’s tune but can’t see the director. The cooler fall weather Has released the air conditioner’s tether, And I can’t tell whether I should be mentor For a Cook out, A hike or bike out, Or a full-blown party with Halloween décor. Whatever I choose; whatever you pick, Be it a steak or a…

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Lavon Lake Trinity Trail

Duane Mortensen, 2018 Lavon Lake is the largest lake contained within Collin County.  The length of its shoreline stretches 121 miles, and the managed wildlife area surrounding the lake boasts 6400 acres.  Given the fact it is so close to millions of people, why is it so little used?  Given the number of undisturbed acres, I would argue that it is under-represented in iNaturalist data.  Part of the answer lies in the poor condition of the parks surrounding the lake.  Road access, restrooms and signage are regularly in disrepair.  If you ignore the disrepair on the edges of the park,…
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Heard Sanctuary Fall/ Winter Volunteer existing projects

Tom Shackelford, 2018; President The Heard Sanctuary is seeking volunteers to assist in the restoration and preservation of multiple sanctuary projects at the Heard.  This is an existing project that has been in place for some time and there is now a renewed effort to address opportunities.  This is available to any interested individual and is a great way for interested Master Naturalists to earn volunteer hours.  Specific projects follow below.
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Annual Sunflower

Sally Evans, 2006; Founder & Emeritus The annual sunflower plant (Helianthus annuus) was one of the most plentiful and versatile plants the Indians had available.  It was convertible into a dye, a liniment, a medicine, a coffee, and a delectable food.  By boiling the crushed seeds, an oil could be skimmed off and used for cooking or as a hair dressing, whatever the need at the time.  Nature provides many teas, but few coffees.  Delicious coffee was made by roasting and boiling the seeds as we roast and boil the coffee bean.  Black and purple dyes were also derived from the…
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Edition 24 – Shaking The Trees – September 1, 2021

Sun over BPRC Park

What is happening at Brockdale park?

Michelle Connally, 2014 Have you been out to the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center lately? Take a gander at the recent photos provided by Lorelei Stierlen and peruse the new opportunities all in one place! 2021-08 BPRC Pond View – LStierlen Events happening at the BPRC include: Thursday, September 9, 2021 – VH Opportunity The Blackland Prairie Raptor Center is hosting an iNaturalist bioblitz in Brockdale Park.  Observations made during this event will count for the Fall Socially Distant BioBlitz project.  Enjoy the morning in the beautiful park and help the BPTMN accumulate points toward becoming the DFW master naturalist chapter…

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Northwest Community Park

Rick Travis, 2018 Northwest Community Park in Frisco is largely undeveloped, with a DORBA biking trail system. It’s very rich in native grasses and flora, and has been a great source of native seed and plants for Frisco Parks prairie restoration efforts. We’ll spend September and part of October at NW park harvesting seed, which will be redistributed into the prairie restoration sites at Frisco Commons and Cottonwood Creek Parks.
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Rattle Snake Master plant

New plant at Wylie Prairie

Dave Powell, 2007 While I was gathering grass seed at Wylie on Thursday I came across a new plant for the area. Yes the grass seed is starting to get where it can be harvested even though it is a little early. It gets quite hot at Wylie with few trees so you have to limit your time. Eastern Gama Grass has dropped most of its seeds already but Sideoats Grama is starting to be ready even though some of it is still blooming. Oh yeah the new plant is Rattle Snake Master. 2021-08 Rattle Snake Master plant. Photo by…

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Cicada

August in Cicadia

Greg Tonian, 2017 The neighborhood is abuzz. A hot, sultry breeze, Envelops the trees. Brown, papier mache creatures climb out of the loam, Clinging to brick and branch with tiny hooks, Soon to cleave asunder, Extruding, winged phantasms. I find these abandoned climbing nymph husks, And the fanciful flying creatures that they set free Scattered on the concrete byways of Cicadia. “Sweet dreams and” Flying “machines in pieces on the ground” (James Taylor), I think to myself.
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Dodders at Clymer Meadow

Protecting Blackland Prairie Video with our very own!

Tom Shackelford, 2018 Please enjoy this wonderful video with our very own BPTMN members collecting seed to help preserve the Clymer Meadow.
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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Ernie Stokley, 2015

Deborah Canterbury, 2014 Curator’s Note: It is wonderful to know about the continuing individual involvements of our members that leads to milestone status. Now and then a member’s response says it all about what turns a Chapter into a tribe. Ernie Stokley’s musings sort of reflect the reasons why every person who stays with the chapter. The primary mission is to teach in order to arm every student with tools to go out and stamp out ignorance and become involved in their communities. Staying a chapter member is a choice. I like to think it is based on putting that…

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Edition 23 – Shaking The Trees – August 2, 2021

Kids in Nature

Introducing Kids to Nature from One Mother to Another

Daphne Lynch, 2019 Like many of you, I fell in love with nature as a child. I grew up in the rural mountains of Pennsylvania with acres of forest to explore at my feet. Fast forward to adulthood and I found myself starting a family in the DFW area. I now have two children of my own, two boys (a 3 year old and a 7 month old). It is a priority of mine to help them understand and appreciate the nature around them, but I have been struggling on how to accomplish this in the suburban setting. I…
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Check out the updated Outreach Topics!

What is your naturalist passion, what can you talk about for 20 minutes straight? We want to know! We have quite a few talented Master Naturalists whose interests align with our Outreach Program. Rhonda Sanchez our Outreach Director recently updated our list of topics to include Fish of the Blackland Prairie, Bobwhite Quail Restoration and Cosmology. Find out what other topics are available by clicking HERE or from the Top Menu, Click About Us, then Click Outreach. If you are interested in spreading your joy of nature with others, contact Rhonda at outreach@bptmn.org.

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Author praises our Blackland Prairie Chapter Contribution.

Amy Martin, NTMN I want to share with the Blackland Prairie chapter my gratitude of the “loan” of several naturalists for Wild Dallas-Fort Worth: Explore the Amazing Nature of North Texas
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Chapter Meetings now available online!

Chapter Meetings now available online though our Vimeo account. This link is also available in the Upper Right Hand Corner of our bptmn.org site. If you missed any of our recent chapter meeting presentations, you can now view recordings online!
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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Cindy Napper, 2017

Deborah Canterbury, 2014 Congratulations to Cindy Napper on her 500 hour pin. Cindy Napper, 2017 I graduated with the 2017 class and became a Naturalist because I saw how much fun Paul was having. There’s a whole chapter I could write on how he was revitalized before my eyes while going thru training and afterwards, and it was just so inspiring to see him be excited about something!  I wanted some of that… I was invited to be on the Ed. Comm. by Greg Hayden in 2018; I told him I didn’t feel that I could offer anything but he…

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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Michelle Connally, 2018

Deborah Canterbury, 2014 Congratulations to Michelle Connally on her 500 hour pin. Michelle Connally, 2018 Came across the Texas Master Naturalists training program on my quest to learn all things about growing food in North Texas.  Each year as a Master Naturalist I learn more about the beautiful clay soil, our local flora, specifically edible natives. The wide variety of programs offered to our members continue to expand my gardening and cooking experiences. In addition to my volunteer time at BPTMN, I tend to a donation garden 15-20 hours per week.  My 500 VH hours were accumulated by accepting the…

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Edition 22 – Shaking The Trees – July 2, 2021

Blackland Prairie TMN Graduation 2021

Summary by Jean Suplick, 2018 Meet the Class of 2021! These new members of the Blackland Prairie Chapter blazed a new path through our basic training program and are eager to get out there and engage in our volunteer activities. Be sure to introduce yourself to them the next chance you get. Class of 2021 initial certifications: Heather Fell, Sarah Densmore, Karen Driks, Lorrie Mathers, Sue Kacines, Nancy Riggs, Sue Makuta. Class of 2021 double certifications: Heather Fell, Sarah Densmore, Karen Driks

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Photos by Charlise Hill-Larson, 2019

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Literally Shaking the Trees at Raptor Center

Leah Justice, 2021 Downing Cedars all in a day’s work on Raptor Center prairie property. Photos from the tree cutting today, Lorelei up in the tree.
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Brown Wasp Mantid

Brown Wasp Mantidfly (Climaciella brunnea) or is it?

Janice James, As I was emptying the plant pot trays this morning I veered around a brown wasp clinging to one rim. It looked intimidating. Then I looked again. It looked …really odd.
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Screenshot of Video

Ode to Virus

Michelle Connally, 2018 Starting in April 2020, the Shaking of the Trees newsletter provided myself and others a connection to our fellow chapter members in a time of isolation. Hooked from Edition 1 including posts about Cynthia’s Frankford Prairie Wild Hyacinths, Donna Cole’s brown snake, Clyde’s owls, a link to Carol’s World Blog, Susan’s Homemade mask request, Sally’s poem “Seeing ’round the bend, Laura’s Heard update, Tasha’s wildlife management approval, Ed’s covid tips and Beverly’s lovely azaleas, man I could not wait for Canter’s Edition 2 and here we are today on Edition 22. Over the spring of 2021, Sally…

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The Call of The Chattahoochee

Greg Tonian, 2017 The Chattahoochee flows from Blue Ridge Mountain To Apalachicola Delta, Past Helen and Suburban Atlanta. These two places I visited, The possibilities to explore, unlimited. All was swell in Roswell. Mostly Merry in Marietta. Dallas Georgia family, also near, Was mostly in the clear. But like the river, Clouded by ocassional rain, Like the area roads, Never without curves and dips, Ups and downs.
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What we have seen

Dave Powell, 2007 My three spiny Fence Lizards are here as is my Anole however I have noticed the insect population is down. I attributed it to the freeze which might have killed a lot of insect larva that was getting close to maturity, the rain does not seem to cause the same thing. Maybe someone else can give definitive answer.
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Expansion of the Great Texas Wildlife Trail

Jean Suplick, 2018 Our Blackland Prairie Chapter adopted the Lake Lavon and Tawakoni loops which include places many will be familiar with: Connemara Meadow Nature Preserve, the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary, Arbor Hills Nature Preserve, Clymer Meadow, and Lake Lavon Trinity Trail.
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McKinney Greens 500 Milkweed plants

Greg Smith, 2017 The Magnificent Seven from the National Charity League planted 500 milkweed plants in a relatively short time.
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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Logan Plunkett, 2017 and Debbie Doyle, 2017

Debbie Doyle, 2017 My classmates might remember me as the broken legged lady that could barely do squat! (Literally!) I am still indebted to my friend and classmate Greg Tonian, who drove me to classes and meetings for months when I couldn’t drive. Despite my slow start, I now feel like an essential team member at the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center, particularly during the Covid lockdown when BPRC operated with only a skeleton crew of volunteers.
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Edition 21 – Shaking The Trees – June 10, 2021

Clyde’s Screech Owl box – Wildlife VRBO

Clyde Camp, 2011 Clyde has had little luck with the residents of his screech owl box making it through birth and fledging. You will laugh out loud at the attached videos titled Tree Rat Homemaking and Noon Scratch and Snooze. Turn the volume up. https://youtu.be/-voQ-yLg10w https://youtu.be/bFAC4pMCQzQ Find out more about Clyde’s Screech Owls at his website. http://www.crcamp.com

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2021 Re-certification Pin – Side Oats Grama

Deborah Canterbury, 2014 This year’s pin is the Side-Oats Grama, the state grass. So, here is your did-ja-know re: side-oats gramma. 2021-05-22 Tom Shackelford and Jennie SawyerChapter Pin drive-by eventPhoto by Deborah Canterbury2021 Texas Master Naturalists Recertification Pin Side Oats GramaPhoto by Deborah Canterbury First, local information. Dave Powell says that side-oats grama is on the three locations at which he volunteers/manages. “We seeded Wylie, it was already at Erwin Park in McKinney. All of the prairies at the Heard are at some stage of restoration however, it could have been on the edge of the pastures.” Bob Mione said…

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Tom’s Backyard

Tom Shackelford, 2018 – President We spend time in our back yard almost every day and sometimes I am quick enough to snap a shot with my phone.  Two years ago I took out about 1/4 of the grass and am attempting to get native grass and wildflowers to grow instead.  It is slowly starting to change and it seems that nature has started to assist with the remodel.  There is a definitely a more robust and diverse population than a few years ago. It appears that a new family has taken up residence in the vacant house in our…

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Musings from Paul

Paul Napper, 2016 – Project Manager for Allen Senior Center Native Plant Garden Generic Photo of Allen Senior Recreation Center Photo By https://www.ntmwd.com/ Paul brought up an interesting observation at the Allen Senior Center Native Plant Garden. He has noticed that since the freeze and rains seeds that had not sprouted in six years are coming up and that some trees and other plants are growing like crazy. He has also observed different habits in birds and fauna. Share your thoughts and observations with us for the next issue. Let’s have some good old citizen science reports…and of course, photos.

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man helping man sunset

Yes, We Can!

Deborah Canterbury, 2014 Over the past several months we have always posted a “if you need anything, let us know.” We have a few opportunities to help our tribe members. For various reasons, a few native gardens and yards are in need of some TLC. The homeowners would love to share the joy and explain their concepts. So, we need several volunteers willing to go chat, pull, plant and learn from these fellow members by helping them spiff up their property and sharing the joy of their gardens. If you would like to become a member of the native brigade…

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Aint Afraid of No Weed Whackers

Deborah Canterbury, 2014 The Heritage Farmstead native plot has had an interesting and inspiring past. Starting as a project by Master Naturalists and guided along as a Junior Naturalist project at a nearby school in Plano, it has tripled in size over the past decade as has the volunteer list. As reported several weeks ago, the caregivers thought that is was going to be a disaster recovery after an over-zealous property crew weed whacked everything down to the ground. The students who studied at the plot experimented with “buffalo stomping” with success and selective pruning seemed to make things thrive…

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Edition 20 – Shaking The Trees – May 10, 2021

2021-05 Heard Paleo Lab Green River Fish Fossil - Canterbury

Green River Fish to Feed the Imagination

By Deborah Canterbury, 2014 The Heard Paleo Lab prepared 16 Green River Fish fossils to accompany the latest addition to the Heard Museum, a high quality plesiosaurus. The fish, donated by chapter member Jim Dulian, represent six species of fish from 50 million years ago. Photos are of Mittie McDonald and Patti Tuck as they add finishing touches to a few of the fossils and photos of the fossils as well. The lab team under the watchful eyes of Pat and Margie Kline not only prepped the fossils but also constructed the display cases. Other team members are Karleen Hoffmann,…

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2021-05 Raptor Center Black Willow Update - Zartler

Raptor Center – Black Willow doing well

By Dirk Zartler, 2007 Looks like the Black Willow cuttings planted in the shoreline at the Raptor center are doing well. A recent check indicates about 80-90% are alive, rooting, and budding or leafing out…some are even flowering. Black Willow photo by Dirk Zartler Black WIllow photo by Dirk Zartler Original Shoring up the Raptor Center Shoreline Post by Dirk Zartler

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Milk vetch Astragalus crassicarpus

Clymer Beauty

By Tom Shackelford, 2018 Visiting and working at the Clymer Meadow is a siren song for Master Naturalists in this area of Texas. Enjoy the beauty in the photos (Click on each photo for new window of the larger image) Follow this link to learn about this Nature Conservancy land. remnant prairie, “Fleabane in foreground” Photo by Tom Shackelford Ground Plum / Milk vetch – Astragalus crassicarpus Photo by Tom Shckelford Purple paintbrush – Castille purpurea Photo by Tom Shackelford Yellow Wild Indigo – Baptisia sphaerocarpa Photo by Tom Shackelford

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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Laurie Sheppard

By Laurie Sheppard, 2017 Our Tribe’s Fortune – 500 Hour Pin Recipient (Hard in good times but “Wow” in a pandemic!) I do most of my volunteering at Hagerman NWR. I began volunteering there in 2009, shortly after I discovered the magic of the refuge. Every day is different and there’s always something new to discover. The Friends of Hagerman gave me an avenue to explore, identify, and report my discoveries. I did this through writing an occasional blog post, creating a handout, or simply posting photos of things I had seen along with a little description of my research.…

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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Matt DeLozier

By Matt DeLozier, 2013 (Alamo Area Chapter – San Antonio) Our Tribe’s Fortune – 500 Hour Pin Recipient (Hard in good times but “Wow” in a pandemic!) Most of my service comes from working with Texas Parks and Wildlife, which is how I was introduced to the program in the first place. If any park reaches out for assistance (no matter how far away) I will usually find a way to help – teach a class, work on trails, pull invasive species, etc. I even designed and installed a geocaching course at a state park that had received some grant…

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500 Hours Silver Pin

Our Tribe’s Fortune 500 – Rick Park

By Rick Park, 2020 Our Tribe’s Fortune – 500 Hour Pin Recipient (Hard in good times but “Wow” in a pandemic!) I volunteer at both Connemara and the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center. Both afford me the opportunity to be outside and keep busy even with COVID. These locations allowed me to volunteer while keeping a safe distance from other volunteers. Both locations provide projects which are physical and mentality enriching. It is satisfying knowing I am getting a good physical workout, learning about prairies/grasses and forbs while contributing to the restoration of our original fauna.

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Cicada

15 Baffling Cicada Facts

Article Submission by Tony Manasseri, 2007 Photo Submitted by Deborah Canterbury The year of the cicada has received lots of hype in the radio media. People rescheduling outdoor weddings, sharing recipes, relating experiences. Author of the article Olivia Young. Check out this article titled “15 Baffling Cicada Facts” published at Treehugger.com

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Heard Plant Sale 2021 Prep

By Deborah Canterbury with Photos by Shari Navarette In the era BPL (Before Pandemic Lockdown) we had a member, Shari Navarette, volunteer to be the chapter photographer. That job was shelved after the March meeting – which was her first official assignment. She was at the Heard sale setup last week and is back in business. While the number of plants was down for the 2021 Heard Plant Sale, the quality of offerings was top-notch with some not-always-seen items. Then came the storm threat on Friday. Fortunately it held off, the members-only line stretched through the parking lot to the…

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Dove Chicks in Nest

Doves nest location choices

By Clyde Camp, 2011 and Beverly Carpenter, 2013 Doves are not good nest builders as is apparent from photos from Clyde Camp and Beverly Carpenter. Beverly’s example is in a hanging plant. Dove Nest photo by Beverly Carpenter Clyde found a nest on the hose hanger on side of his house. Dove Nest on Hose photo by Clyde Camp Dove Chicks photo by Clyde Camp

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Jim’s Crowned Night Herons Update

Remember the Golden crowned night herons that have nested in Jim Dulian’s yard? (See Below for article and photos) They came back, hung around a bit, decided they did not like the tree trimming and left. Haven’t been seen again.

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An Acquaintance

By Sally Evans, Member Emeritus and Class of 2000. A cotton tailed rabbit in my garden dwells, lifting its nose to smell the smellsAnd lifting its ears to hear the sounds.It has eaten the pansies one by one; I’m not sure what other eating it has doneAs it makes its nightly rounds.It seems to have lost its rabbitly fear of the dog and two people who are living hereFor it often just stands its ground.Daily I do a garden ‘walk-about’ seeing which plants should be pulled outOr what new ones can be found,And the rabbit sits and watches me, letting…

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Edition 19 – Shaking The Trees – April 12, 2021

Winter Ducks at Russell Creek Park

By John Garbutt, 2014 To some, winter and Uri are now four letter words never to be spoken again as we enter spring.  As a birder, the harbinger of spring, Barn Swallows, have been here since the first of March and are flying past my window. The trees outside are leafing out. This however is about the ducks who visit us in winter. I always look forward to the annual arrival of wintering ducks. A favorite place to observe and photograph them is Russell Creek Park in Plano. I discovered it a couple of winters ago when using eBird to…

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After Weeding at Prairie Farmstead

Native Plant Garden at Plano Heritage Farmstead

By Bryan Beck, 2017 The native plant garden at the Plano Heritage Farmstead Museum has been through a lot in the past month or so.  First, came the boot-deep snows and the bone-chilling cold.  Next was the eighty-degree temperatures that we had at the end of February.  Then hail and even fog reared their ugly heads.  And, most recently we have seen the pre-April showers and wind that we are accustomed to getting around here.  But none of these plagues could stunt the emergence of our wonderful prairie natives at the Farmstead! Before weeding at Prairie Farmstead photo by Bryan…

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Quail Chick in Hand

Quail Quest 2021

By Bob Mione, 2012 The past three years, Kristin and Mark Payne have incubated and brooded BW quail chicks for us at Connemara. When the BW’s were old enough, normally about 6 to 8 weeks old, they would bring them to the Meadow where they were held in our big “acclimation” pen until they were released at the Meadow, Raptor Center, Bill and Fran Woodfin’s farm or within the City of Plano.  Bob White Quail chick photo by Leah Beck This year, the Payne’s did not have enough room to brood out the BW’s, so I reached out to the…

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Gorman Falls Waterfall

Bend in the River

By Greg Tonian, 2016 We came together at the river bend, To witness flowing milky blue green water, Laden with Llano Estacado dust, pulsing its lode toward the Matagorda Bay. Meeting half way between the angry clouds that enveloped us this morning and the vast, star-filled skies that would expand above us later that evening, We laced up our hiking boots for an exploration of time and space. I had squeezed between semis and sheets of rain in the dark leaving Dallas, While you evaded slowdowns in Austin only to arrive here a few minutes behind me. Somewhere past Lampasas,…

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Prescribed Burn by Firemen - Stierlen

Feeling the Burn: Controlled burn at BPRC

by Lorelei Stierlen, 2014 Our team, Dick Zartler, Rick Park, Steve Their and I had spent weeks preparing the fire breaks and cutting the cedars, applying all the lessons learned from the 2020 burn. We had implemented creative solutions to the problem of a lack of fuel on the ground in certain areas to ensure a complete burn on the entire west side. There were many pounds of seed standing by in my garage. Everything was inspected and approved by January. We were ready. Then it snowed, followed by what seemed to be never ending rain – and that did…

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Volunteers for Heard Plant Sale Needed

By Carol Clark, Laura Ragen, Fran & Bill Woodfin et al 2010, 2014, 2007 Photo courtesy of Heard Museum Plant Sale Best Testimonial ever: “A lot of what I have learned about native plants came from attending the sales at the Heard yearly.”– Carol Clark The oldest (two decades), largest and most consistent native plant sale in North Texas is up and running again this year at the Heard Museum. Beside this brief history of the Heard Native Plant Sale there are a few things to know. Despite the weather, growers were not drastically affected by the deep freeze and…

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Edition 18 – Shaking The Trees – March 1, 2021

Screech Owls

Curious George Settles in for the Day

By Clyde Camp, 2011 Curious George arrives at about 20 seconds into the video link and settles in for the day. He’s verbally accosted by a couple of jays and a squirrel about midway through the video. George is the male of the last breeding season (spring, 2020) – a grey-phase Eastern Screech Owl. His mate then was a red-phase female named Hunter. Their breeding attempt was unsuccessful with two clutches of eggs, neither of which hatched. They are both visiting the box off and on again and probably staking their claim on it in late fall 2020. https://youtu.be/HOEaihBhFfg You…

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Texas Alliance Logo

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Update

Written By Richard Heilbrun, TPWD Richard Heilbrun, who is well known by TMN’s and is Program Leader at Texas Parks & Wildlife Department,has been actively involved with The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. We recently asked him about its progress since not much comes out of D.C. nowadays that is not related to COVID. The Wildlife Act made substantial progress in 2020. The standalone bill, HR 3742, passed out of committee with bipartisan support. The text of that bill, slightly altered, was inserted into HR 2, which passed the US House on July 20 and was sent it to the US…

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Red buds blooming

What a Difference a Week Makes

By Sally Evans, Founder and Emeritus THEN: By the time anyone reads this epistle the Backyard Bird Count will be over, the Great Winter Storm will be over, Valentine’s Day will be over, and we will be working on the pandemic to be over!  It has been a difficult time for people on so many areas of their lives with survival being uppermost.  Actually the GBBC came at a good time because many folks could not do anything else except peep out the draped windows at the birds coming in to find what food they could.  Bird feeders came to…

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Frisco Natural Area Restoration Opportunities

By Rick Travis, 2018 Hurray!!! Blackland Prairie Texas Master Naturalist Chapter and the Frisco Parks and Recreation Department have reached an agreement that allows our chapter members to provide VH eligible restoration and maintenance efforts within the natural areas located in various Frisco parks, such as Frisco Commons, Cottonwood Creek, Northwest Community parks, and the Stewart Creek Wetlands Preserve.   The Stewart Creek Wetlands Preserve Both weekend and weekday work sessions in the Frisco park natural areas will begin mid-March and can be found on the BPTMN calendar. Initial work will focus on the prairie restoration site at Frisco Commons…

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Squirrels in Snow

Chip and Dale Still Entertain

By Deborah Canterbury, 2014 As I have nothing better to do than stare out my window into the back yard, I have been highly entertained by the two squirrels who frequent my bird feeders and scoff at my futile attempts to deter them. So I did some fact finding to assure me that I am smarter than a squirrel and that I still know how to read and research. Fact #1: They Were Brought into U.S. Parks Intentionally Squirrels can be pests around your property, but did you know that they were introduced to American nature parks intentionally?After the Industrial…

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people on shoreline

Shoring up the Shoreline at Raptor Center

By Dick Zartler, 2007 During the first week in March a group of Blackland Prairie Master Naturalists, led by Rick Travis and Lorelei Stierlen and joined by Lisa Travis, Susan Abernethy and Dick Zartler, planted over 300 cuttings to help stabilize the BPRC’s eastern shoreline on Lavon lake. The eastern shoreline, on the open lake, steep and consisting of unconsolidated clays, has been eroded over almost 70 years by a combination of “wave wash” from passing boats and periodic changes in water levels. The cuttings were about 18” to 24” long and consisted of black willows and buttonbushes, both water-loving…

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Edition 17 – Shaking The Trees – February 1, 2021

Bill Holified and students

The Legacy of Bill Holifield 1931 – 2021

by Sally Evans, 2006 Dr. Bill Holifield was the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum for the…
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Heard Happenings

By Laura Ragan It’s been quite a while since we’ve all been able to fellowship in…
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Carnage in Collin County

By Duane Mortensen In early fall I could often find another robber fly [Promachus hinei]. One…
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A January Visit to Lake Tawakoni State Park

By Jean Suplick Sometimes you’ve just got to break out of COVID confinement and have a…
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Green Lynx Spider and Eggs

A Mother’s Story

By Laurie Sheppard Female Green Lynx Spiders have a very unusual quality – they can change…
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The Last Cougar

By Greg Tonian On a December morning, soon before your demise, I journeyed to the Grasslands…
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Edition 16 – Shaking The Trees – January 11, 2021

The Continuing Chronicles of the Commons Cooper’s

By: John Garbutt Watching the five Cooper’s Hawks fledge in mid-June under their mother’s watchful…

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Northern Shoveler

Bethany Lakes Park Birding

By: Jim Dulian Here is a list of all the water birds we have seen…

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Thousands of Trees and City Challenges, Oh My!

By: Deborah Canterbury Dave Powell is constantly widening our net of experience and consulting. 2021…

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Heard Trail Topping

By: Deborah Canterbury It was a joint effort between the Heard animal team, the Celina…

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BPRC 2020 Prairie Restoration Projects

By: Lorelei Stierlin and Dick Zartler In 2020 the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center (BPRC) achieved…

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Connemara Meadow Nature Preserve Year in Review

By: Robert Mione, Meadow Master Northern Bobwhite Quail – Photo by – Serena Duan In…

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Heard Paleo Lab adds new display

By: Patti Tuck 2020 has at least one bright moment!  A new fossil was added…

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BPRC Give a Hoot Gala Summary

By: Erich Neupert Here is some information about our Give A Hoot Gala we had…

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2021-01 Hagerman Geese by Laurie Sheppard

2020: Hagerman NWR Year in Review

By Laurie Sheppard The year started out like any other, but 2020 had plenty of…

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Edition 15 – Shaking The Trees – December 1, 2020

Clyde Camp – Hunter, the Red Morph Screech Owl, returns [again].

11/19/2020 No Comments

Hunter, the Red Morph Screech Owl, returns [again]. Since the beginnning of October, I’ve powered…

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Al Baume – Beck’s Prairie @ Connemara Meadow

11/18/2020 No Comments
We rescue Little Bluestem here and transplant it in the Connemara Meadow. Beck’s is a…
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Tom Shackelford – Clymer Meadow

11/17/2020 No Comments

While certifying as a Master Naturalist in 2018 a field trip was offered to Clymer…

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BPTMN members volunteer at BRIT

Deborah Canterbury – Susan Smith We Will Miss You

11/16/2020 No Comments
We hate to announce that Susan Smith is moving to be closer to family. Still…
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Deborah Canterbury – Congratulations new Board Members!

11/15/2020 No Comments

Congratulations and thanks to our new board members. Laura Ragan, Vice President (21-22) – class…

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Leadership in Action

11/14/2020 No Comments

As 2020 comes to a close, we reflect on the memories of our time this…

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Edition 14 – Shaking The Trees – November 1, 2020

NPSOT Logo

Deborah Canterbury – TMN Educators in Action

10/23/2020 1 Comment

Two of our tribe are serving in leadership roles with Native Plant Society. Congratulations to…

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Linda Nixon – Congratulations to the Trinity Coalition!

10/23/2020 No Comments

Photo by Teresa Patterson The Trinity River Paddling Trail was one of the 30 trails…

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Jim Dulian – Crowning the Heron

10/22/2020 No Comments

INTRO On Jun. 18, 2019, I found a rather large light blue egg shell in…

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David Powell – Wylie Portrait

10/21/2020 No Comments

We have new signage in Wylie! The Eastern Gama Grass is blooming. A Great Golden…

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Greg Tonian – Time Passages

10/20/2020 No Comments

Time Passages, reflections on a solo hike on the Eagle Rock Loop, Ouachita National Forest,…

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Sally Evans – What Izzit?

10/16/2020 No Comments

I found this recently in my yard. iNat was stumped. I call it Plantus Drivewae….

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Edition 13 – Shaking The Trees – October 15, 2020

Deborah Canterbury – What ‘Cha Doin’?

10/06/2020 No Comments

Since the first year of the Blackland Prairie Chapter our tribe members have taken on…

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Mary Pearl Meuth – Check your Tech for the 2020 Annual Meeting!

10/05/2020 No Comments

Check your Tech for the 2020 Annual Meeting! It’s almost time for our TMN Annual…

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Lisa Travis – Fall Socially Distant BioBlitz for DFW Master Naturalist Chapters

10/04/2020 No Comments

September 6–12, 2020  The first DFW Fall Socially Distant BioBlitz was a huge success! During…

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Bob Mione & Lorelei Stierlen – New Meaning to When I am calling you

10/03/2020 No Comments

Currently, about 70 quail have been relocated to the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center and can…

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Janice James – To Stretch is Good

10/02/2020 No Comments

This may be a stretch, but for those interested in the outdoors, there are often…

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Mississippi Kite

John Garbutt – Mississippi Kites

10/01/2020 No Comments

After the birding doldrums of August, I longed for a change in the wind and…

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Edition 12 – Shaking The Trees – October 1, 2020

Dick Zartler & Lorelei Stierlen – Raptor Center Land Restoration

09/15/2020 No Comments
They gave an overview of the needs for trail guides and of the exciting restoration…
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Sally Evans – Sharing the Biodiverse Backyard

09/14/2020 No Comments
This week is a big biodiversity search in our DFW area but I have been…
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Lu Anne Ray & Bob Mione – Talking quail

09/13/2020 No Comments
Lu Anne: I heard this sweet guy singing this morning and found him in our…
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Deborah Canterbury – Ant Talk

09/12/2020 No Comments
PBS has a quick Gross Science edition just about Ant speak.
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Linda Nixon – September Membership Report

09/09/2020 No Comments

Membership Totals:    ·  167-active members  |  28-in-training  |  312-inactive/interested members  Total Re-Certifications:  60New Re-Certifications:  ·  Brendan Blackwell, Tony…

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Linda Nixon – Open Board Positions

09/08/2020 No Comments

Candidates for Board Positions The BPTMN Officer Nomination Committee is currently seeking members interested in…

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Edition 11 – Shaking The Trees – September 1, 2020

Lisa Travis – Fall Socially Distant BioBlitz – DFW Urban Ecosystem

09/01/2020 No Comments
Are you ready for the DFW Fall BioBlitz? Here’s what you need to know to…
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Beverly Carpenter – Favorite Finds in my yard this summer.

08/20/2020 No Comments
Favorite Finds in my yard this summer
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LuAnne Ray – Neighborhood Snake Rescue

08/19/2020 No Comments
One evening last week about 8 pm my neighbor texted me about a snake half…
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Terry Comingore – Will they rebuild in the remains next year?

08/18/2020 1 Comment
Remember these great photos of a heron nest at Maxwell Creek?
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Laurie Sheppard – You can take the naturalist out of Texas but…

08/16/2020 No Comments
A few photos and facts from New Hampshire… You can take the Master Naturalist out…
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Bryan Beck – Master Naturalist Making a Difference

08/16/2020 No Comments
I took this job at the Texas Trees Foundation to start a program to teach…
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Edition 10 – Shaking The Trees – August 15, 2020

Jean Suplick – Presenting the Class of 2020

08/15/2020 No Comments
Group shots were off the agenda, so here’s my twist Presenting the Class of 2020!…
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John Garbutt – Cooper’s Hawk

08/10/2020 No Comments

A couple of winters previous, I discovered a large nest at one of the local…

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Paul Napper – Vertebrae found near the battery.

08/06/2020 No Comments
It was something I’d never seen and it still had a little hide and…
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Deborah Canterbury – Dedication Behind the Curtain

08/04/2020 No Comments
See those two faces in the back of this class photo? The ones with arrows…
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Dick Zartler – BPRC Turkey Vultures

08/02/2020 No Comments
While inspecting the status of the BPRC’s recently burned meadows (doing very well, thank you),…
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Cicada Killing Wasp

Nancy Taylor – Wasps Love Cicadas to Death

08/02/2020 No Comments
When I first saw her noticeable behavior pattern, I went quickly to get my camera….
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Edition 09 – Shaking The Trees – August 1, 2020

Sally Evans – Remembering North Texas Naturalist Jim Dunlap

07/22/2020 No Comments
Folks have been writing about some of their experiences in the field and on their…
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Lauri Diamond – Randie and Marvin – a Tale of Two Monarchs

07/21/2020 No Comments
I have really enjoyed learning about the monarchs and other butterflies and moths and this…
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Valerie Dalton’s Favorite Opera Hits

07/21/2020 No Comments
3.5-minute video. ShakeUp Music recomposed The Magic Flute Papageno/Papagena Duet into a colourful Mozart bird…
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Just Another Day in the Life of Tribe Member Joyce

07/18/2020 No Comments
Just for grins. Today started out as pretty normal, but it’s 2020, so nothing is…
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And now a word from our sponsor:

07/17/2020 No Comments
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is urging Texans to take extreme precaution when receiving unsolicited…
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Mike Merchant – Insects in the City blog

07/16/2020 No Comments
I am a stalker of AgriLife guru Mike Merchant. He posted this link and thoroughly…
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[heading style=”default” size=”20″ align=”center” margin=”30″ id=”Edition 08 – Shaking The Trees – July 15, 2020″]Edition 08 – Shaking The Trees – July 15, 2020[/heading]

Clyde Camp – Screech Owls 2020 – Two Failed Nest Attempts

07/08/2020 No Comments
Last year about this same time (late June), I wrote an article entitled Screech Owls…
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Sally’s Secret Garden

07/06/2020 No Comments
Experience the Sounds of Katydids and Rio Grande Chirping Frogs as Sally Evans does in…
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Interested in Frog Calls

07/05/2020 No Comments

Interested in frog calls? Here is just one of the many videos available from the…

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Prairie Farmstead

07/04/2020 No Comments
The Heritage Farmstead prairie plot is ablaze with colors, variety and pollinators. We were able…
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Susan Smith – Summer Project

07/03/2020 No Comments
Here’s my latest project. I got the idea from the North Texas Gardner’s Facebook…
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Jean Suplick – Discover the Birds in Your Yard and Garden

07/01/2020 No Comments
With us all hunkered down at home, there has been a worldwide spike in eBird.org…
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[heading style=”default” size=”20″ align=”center” margin=”30″ id=”Edition 07 – Shaking The Trees – July 1, 2020″]Edition 07 – Shaking The Trees – July 1, 2020[/heading]

Laurie Sheppard: On the road again.

06/16/2020 No Comments
Happy Summer Solstice, everyone – Laurie
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Baume’s Connemara Videos

06/17/2020 No Comments
There is an old song; How High is the Water Mama?
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Blackland Prairie Rapter Center Update

06/18/2020 No Comments
As of June 18 Raptor Center rehab has treated 275 birds.
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Water Droplets on a Web

06/19/2020 No Comments
Dub Spencer’s joyful spider web photos on their daily “trudge”.
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Janice James: The Mysterious Ways of a COVID Composter.

06/20/2020 No Comments
My composters, here in Texas, have been primarily full of a type of fly called…
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TMN Annual Conference Update

06/21/2020 No Comments
As a result of the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Texas Master Naturalist…
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[heading style=”default” size=”20″ align=”center” margin=”30″ id=”Edition 06 – Shaking The Trees – June 15, 2020″]Edition 06 – Shaking The Trees – June 15, 2020[/heading]

After 6 editions you no longer count them. You just say “Here’s the latest edition!”.

I know many of you are doing something other than staring into the television abyss and going to the grocery store at 6 a.m. Share, please.  

And as always, the BPTMN tribe is here for you.   Send to canterbury.deborah@gmail.com or to outreach@bptmn.org.

Bird Watching with Shaking the Trees Title

Covid 19 – Sally Evans

It has been over two months since Covid 19 put our whole nation in quarantine.

Travel was prohibited; stores were closed: all sorts of rules were quickly imposed.

Stay home we were told in words convincing; and if you go out, practice social distancing.

Only those workers deemed necessary would be the ones with the workload to carry.

Grocery store shelves emptied from folks panic buying; toilet paper became an object of vying!

Schools were closed as were restaurants and bars; no sports, no concerts, no movies, no need for cars.

Don’t visit the elderly – no social get-togethers: the one positive, there was some good weather.

But the parks and the beaches, they were closed too; was it permissible to go to the ‘loo’?

Our politicians spoke, “Be of good cheer!  The end of this virus is almost here.”

But it wasn’t; it isn’t; people are dying.  With all the rules most are complying,

But those without food, those without work, their daily funding they cannot shirk.

There has been one positive blessing in that our pollution is definitely lessening.

There is so much to say about this disease and if one watches television that is all one sees.

Politicians and medics, authorities and plain folk – they all have a view on how we should act and what we should do.

Should we ‘open up’ and go outside or should we stay home and try to hide?

The disease is still here and taking a toll.  We can’t find the tools to keep it under control.

Within ourselves we must decide which way to go, by which rules to abide.

Our lives are short by history’s timetable and I want to do that which I am able.

I want to work with my fellow-man but I also want to work with nature’s plan.

I will bend my knee in thought and prayer and wait for guidance from somewhere. 

In the meantime as I kneel, the pain in my back I can feel.

If you come by please help me rise.  Age and thought must compromise.

Bird Watching with Shaking the Trees Title


Jim Dulian’s Family of
Yellow Crowned Night Heron

I finally got a decent picture of the babies!. 

Heron Family

I have seen no more than 3 of the babies at one time, but there were 4 eggs.  Hmmm.  Anyway, I saw one of the parents passing (almost typed “handing”) a stick to one of the chicks, so the training goes on.  And here’s the whole family. 

Bird Watching with Shaking the Trees Title

Paul Napper’s hanging in the trees, not shaking.

I built my daughter a screech owl box for her Birthday.

It is pretty standard in size with a three inch opening.

Used a ten inch wide board. Most plans have the top of the box swing open for maintenance.

Built this box with  a front swing open style which I think is easier to clean.

Now we just need to hang it.

Bird Watching with Shaking the Trees Title

A bee magnet and part of my pollinator project – Dub

Foreground, Standing Cypress from last years Heard plant sale. In lower right corner also had several seedlings this spring. Purple plant lower left is Calamint, from Plants of the Southwest in Santa Fe.

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Terry Comingore’s Maxwell Creek Heron Nest

Herons Nest

And for all you who query about quail.

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[heading style=”default” size=”20″ align=”center” margin=”30″ id=”Edition 05 – Shaking The Trees – June 1, 2020″]Edition 05 – Shaking The Trees – June 1, 2020[/heading]

The edition V of Shaking the Trees!

Edition 5 and folks are still interested in the goings-on in the tribe. All y’all join in!

Please remember that we are here to help get through this worst of the invasive species. Just let us know if you need help in any way.
 
Send to canterbury.deborah@gmail.com or to outreach@bptmn.org. Slight editing will protect your privacy.

The Latest Buzz

The people in this chapter are both amazing and generous. I have enjoyed all the online AT with useful and pertinent information. The iNaturalist help has also been welcome. Susan Smith made my day by sending my Bumble Bee re-certification pin along with a handwritten personal note. What more can I say? Here is a Southern Plains Bumble Bee that Carol Clark identified for me last month.

Laurie Sheppard
Southern Plains Bumblebee

Bird Watching with Shaking the Trees Title

Ovenbird – Greg Tonian 5/16/2020

The sound was obvious and sickening. A bird had just flown into the arched picture window over the front door as my wife and I were working at our separate office spaces one recent May morning during the pandemic. Laurie was at the dining room table and close by and she opened the door and, as anticipated, cried out in dismay. As feared, a small bird lay still, on its side, on the front stoop.

I knelt down and picked it up, gently cradling its warm body in my left hand and cupped my right hand over it.

It was a warbler-sized bird with a distinct look: a greenish tan back, two rusty crown stripes and a speckled white breast. I held him close to my chest and went inside and grabbed my “Sibley” (bird guide). As I had guessed, it was an Ovenbird, indeed a woodland warbler. It was as if the artist had held the same creature in his own hand and had painted it with his other.

The bird’s heart was beating strongly and it was gasping for breath as if it had gotten the wind knocked out of all its air sacs. But its neck was not bent and its eyes seemed clear and it almost seemed as if it wanted to flit away, but just was too stunned to do so as a result of its unexpected impact with the unseen plate of glass. I held it close to my chest and kissed its soft feathers.

Nearby, at the base of a tree, I found a small niche in a clump of grass. I carefully placed it there, so that if it did recover, perhaps it could fly off and continue its rudely interrupted journey from whence it came to either a familiar place or an unknown destination. I hoped for the best, that the spot would be empty, but feared that I would find it still and lifeless upon my return.

I went upstairs to my loft office and worked for few minutes, obviously distracted with worry. I checked the spot about 5 minutes later and the bird was still there, but seemed alert and showing signs of recovery.

I went back inside. After another anxious few minutes, I ventured out the front door, hopeful. The grassy nest was empty! The bird was nowhere to be found.

Two creatures met one fine morning in May. They shared a moment of crisis. Comfort was offered and there was a brief connection. May you live a full life little Ovenbird. You enriched mine.

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Dulian's Grass Quiz Title Graphic
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #1 Answer
  Bromus japonicus and others
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #2 Answer
  Mimosa sp.
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #3 Answer
  Engelmannia peristenia (and also Greenthread)
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #4 Answer
  Asclepias asperula
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #5 Answer
  Calylophus berlandiera
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #6 Answer
  Phlox pilosa
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #7 Answer
  Penstemon cobaea
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #8 Answer
  Thelesperma filifolium
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #9 Answer
  Salvia farinacea
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #1 Answer
  Prairie Indian Plantain
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #3 Answer
  Sunflower
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #4 Answer
  Antlerhorn milkweed
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #1 Answer
  Side oats grama (guessing)
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #2 Answer
  Thistle-like bloom but not thistle
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #3 Answer
  Sunflower
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #4 Answer
  Antelope horn milkweed
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #5 Answer
  Cutleaf daisy(Englemans)? (Can’t tell for sure)
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #7 Answer
  Cobaea Beardtongue
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #8 Answer
  Coneflower
Grasses and Forbs – Photo #9 Answer
  Mealy sage
Provide your name for TMN street cred in next STT edition.
  Peter Williams

Bird Watching with Shaking the Trees Title

First Look at Jim’s chicks

One of them was busy Sunday morning gathering sticks in the back yard.  I assume they were repairing damage to the nest from the storms Saturday.  And today was the first time I have seen the chicks.  The picture shows the wrong end of one of the chicks sitting next to one of the parents, and I believe that you can see the top of the head of another chick sticking up from behind a branch, just to the left of the first one.

Once a collector always a collector

In the late 1960’s, the Girl Scouts had a “Collectors” badge. What a happy circumstance for me. Whatever I collected is lost to history, but fifty years later, nature still speaks to me of its wonder and mystery. And I still have the drive to collect and acquire. These small bits, the leavings of living organisms, have stories we can’t really know. I hope my little collection will start many conversations with friends, neighbors and the just plain curious. – Jean

Think Skinks touts Terry

Found these broadheaded skinks near the creek at the Wylie Prairie Thursday. The male, the smaller skink, was very skitterish so had to be very patient to get its picture.

Update from Rick Travis on Wetlands Preserve
As you recall, in late 2018 the chapter, in partnership with the Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility (LAERF) and the City of Frisco, conducted a major “rescue” harvest of approximately 600 milkweeds from land slated to be graded for the building of a new fire station.  The milkweeds were tended to at LAERF over the winter, and were re-planted by LAERF and BPTMN chapter members into the Stewart Creek Wetlands Preserve, which had a scant population of milkweeds. We’ve been revisiting the milkweed plantings this spring, and have found about 20%-30% of the milkweeds survived the re-planting and are thriving. Most have fully flowered this spring, and it was obvious many plants flowered and produced offspring, as there are milkweeds in the vicinity of these plantings, that weren’t observed 2 years ago. Bottom line is the initiative to harvest these milkweeds from the endangered field and move them to a protected area that was in need of milkweed to add to its biodiversity, has proven successful! We’ve established a good seed crop of Green Milkweed in both the Stewart Creek and Hackberry Creek arms of the preserve. Thanks to all that participated in the harvest and planting of these milkweeds. It was hard sweaty work, but well worth it.The pollinators (and especially the Monarchs) are very appreciative! Here are a couple of photos of the established milkweed in the wetlands preserve.

Bird Watching with Shaking the Trees Title

[heading style=”default” size=”20″ align=”center” margin=”30″ id=”Edition 04 – Shaking The Trees – May 15, 2020″]Edition 04 – Shaking The Trees – May 15, 2020[/heading]

The edition IV of Shaking the Trees!

Several of our tribe submitted photos and anecdotes.

We will help you out as needed and send up special prayers for special needs.
Many have said they will pick up, deliver, or help any way they can.

Feel free to join in by sending us a wave and general info, links that we all just can’t live without, or how we may be of service.

The tribe has your back. Send to canterbury.deborah@gmail.com or to outreach@bptmn.org. Slight editing will protect your privacy.

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Terry Comingore – Proud Grandpa of Heron Chicks pics
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Jim Dulian – Herons are thriving in his back yard.
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Greg Hayden – Now a New Mexico Naturalist
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Robins and Dark-Eyed Juncos, which we enjoyed in profusion seem to have moved on … the House Finch still graces us with his/her presence though, I believe in fewer numbers … I see the Lesser Goldfinch, the Yellow-Rumped Warbler, the Spotted Towhee more often and the White-Crowned Sparrow is now the dominant species at our feeder … the two species of Dove (Mourning & Eurasian Collared) visit the feeder and splash in the fountain too … the Black-Chinned Hummingbirds bathe each morning in our fountain and then make their way to the HB feeder … Ah, the Wonder of it!
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Clyde Camp Wildlife Blog – 5/10/2020
Nothing much going on but I’ve gotten behind in posts and video upgrades. The last one was May 1 and it’s visible in the post from the 6th.
There seem to be fewer feedings by George this time around and Hunter seems to be taking longer breaks throughout the night, maybe feeding outside the box.
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[column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]Video #1 – 5/1/20 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4JdW-aS_Ss
Hunter departs for her first nightly potty break at 6 minutes and less than a minute later George arrives briefly to check out the situation. He beats a full retreat less than a minute later in time for Hunter to return at 7:45. This was the first time that we’d seen all three eggs. [youtube url=”.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4JdW-aS_Ss&fbclid=IwAR0HgEvoer_hAXCZirlL54fjt_2YGGDg7oYTTKKg7g-BN37dIZL-msMVQW4″ width=”600″ height=”400″ responsive=”yes” autoplay=”no” mute=”yes” title=”Clyde Camp’s YouTube”][/column]
[column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]Video #2 – 5/2/20 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osd-BC_d9E0
A short video was taken during the day with some vocalizations we’d not heard before.
I’ll get the 8 or so 8-hour videos taken over the last week or so processed and uploaded this coming week.[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osd-BC_d9E0&fbclid=IwAR3iYXSDxmbpNHk2I0micBKjlPdhk_NEggt38m-kMrSJTuJD4W6OWd4ZanE” width=”600″ height=”400″ responsive=”yes” autoplay=”no” mute=”yes” title=”Clyde Camp’s YouTube”]
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All of the videos from this 2nd batch of eggs, including these two, are in the playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNXPc51nqtRa5qKjZD9Kxkg2tm7SawQw&fbclid=IwAR0Wgu2NclqIktqmSylO8DW9uVBNB4howG_wdq5iwcknxGHwipv6O-RVlFI
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[heading style=”default” size=”20″ align=”center” margin=”30″ id=”Edition 03 – Shaking The Trees – April 1, 2020″]Edition 03 – Shaking The Trees – May 1, 2020[/heading]

Edition III of Shaking the Trees!

Several of our tribe submitted photos and anecdotes.

We will help you out as needed and send up special prayers for special needs. Many have said they will pick up, deliver, or help any way they can.

Feel free to join in by sending us a wave and general info, links that we all just can’t live without, or how we may be of service.

The tribe has your back. Send to canterbury.deborah@gmail.com or to outreach@bptmn.org. Slight editing will protect your privacy.

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Laurie Sheppard – Rare skipper at Hagerman NWR

Last week I found a Dotted Roadside-skipper at Hagerman NWR. Although it is reportedly increasing its range, this species is normally found in southwest Texas and parts of New Mexico and Arizona. This sighting is the first time the butterfly has been identified in Grayson County.
It’s nice that my naturalist friends are posting plants and other things – birds and butterflies have to be my contribution, but I’m learning from all of you! Here is photo of a very vain osprey and the skipper.
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Dave Powell – Walking and healing his wing.

I am walking at the Heard on Tuesday and Thursday at 1:30 usually about 2 hours. Some photos of what I am seeing included. I thought I knew these pretty well but having to use iNat to correctly identify.
I do know Eastern Gamagrass, Wild Blue Indigo, Foxglove.
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[quote style=”default”]Clyde Camp – Owl Blog Surprise coming through in the clutch
Owl Blog 2 – 4/23-27

I may have spoken too soon. It looks like we may be starting over. After three days of seeing neither of them, Hunter popped into the box last night at about 10 pm and sat in the entrance for half an hour barking and trilling before leaving. Hunter blasted in 10-15 minutes later, checked the box out, called twice and left. Both were gone the rest of the night.

But she was in the box at 9 am this morning and slept there throughout the day until 6:30 pm tonight at which point she was -all- over the box for 45 minutes, rooting around in the mulch, pecking at the walls, whining, exhibiting nesting behavior and clearing a space down to the floor just like in late February before she started laying the first clutch.
Then she sat in the entrance for over an hour, whinnying every now and occasionally trilling before flying off at 8:15. Then we heard trilling, first far away then closer and George crashed into the box a few minutes later looked around and left.

Hunter was back in the nestbox this morning. I was gone from about 9 am to 1:30 pm and she was still there when I got home. Kathi said she let out a long loud trill once, maybe twice during that time. Until then, she was quiet until just after 8 pm when she started preening. At 8:15 she stretched for the entrance hole, hopped up, and was off for the nightly hunt. And behind her, as she left was … an EGG!

Clutch two is underway!!
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John Garbutt – Woodpecker wonders

Really enjoying these since we all can’t get together. I’ve been out birding and doing some iNat observations. A couple of note: I’ve been monitoring a Downy woodpecker nest cavity and Cooper’s Hawk nest since late March. Both in Frisco.

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    • March 27th for the downy excavating.
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    • April 11th for one sticking its head out.
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    • Cooper Hawk photos from April 7th.
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I’m thinking the downy eggs should have hatched last week. If not, this week for sure. I need to go check and listen for any noise in the snag.
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Dick Zartler – Fire on the prairie is success

Thought I would share photos of before and five weeks after the burn at the Raptor Center. (Cannot wait to see more results)

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Deborah Canterbury – Insect “didja-knows” taken away from wandering through bug blogs

Pandemics happen to insects, especially ants. Ants are extremely social creatures. Viruses that spread socially love ants, and they can quickly wipe out portions of a colony as the ants have no ability to prevent the spread of viruses & diseases.
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Paul Napper – East Texas Live

Late April provided an opportunity to make a trip to East Texas to retrieve two deer stands and a camera that were in the woods for months. I hunt game trails and keep three cameras going all season.
Today I’m sharing a few pictures from the over 2000 pictures taken on this one camera. And. By the way, Paul did not meet the deer in person. “Enjoy”.

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Terry Comingore – Blue Heron update

I finally caught a feeding period. You could easily tell the dominant nestling but the feeding parent made sure to share the food. Great fun to watch them try to grab food from each other.

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Mikel Salsgiver: Once a Teacher…

I really enjoyed the second edition – only now able to lift my head out of my fog to look around.
I have been teaching freshman biology from home.
Which has a lot of ‘shaking the trees’ in itself!
My students and I are in the midst of our Plant unit, however!

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  • One assignment was to submit a favorite plant – but somehow I got a lot of pictures of student’s dogs and cats instead. hmmm
  • My workstation is placed so I can enjoy all the green outside along with all the critters – birds, snakes, toads and insects in the lot.
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Beverly Carpenter – It’s baby season!

I just thought I would share this information in case you are interested in checking out the Rehab and specifically the NICU. If you aren’t familiar with where to get this information I included the directions which may not be necessary.

Go to bpraptorcenter.org
Click on the heading Raptor Rescue Questions then go to Rescue
Next click on RaptorMed
That will bring up a list of all the patients in Rehab
Left-hand column is patient # which is what you Click to see all info.
Here are some suggested patients to look at that will show you the variety of bird babies we currently have.
We use abbreviations to identify species.
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  • BLVU= Black Vulture
  • EASO. = Eastern Screech Owl
  • GHOW = Great Horned Owl
  • RTHA= Red Tail Hawk
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Click on # 20-0053 GHOW click on each photo to see the progression of growth
( to get back to patient list just click on arrow in top left corner of screen )
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  • # 20-0065 GHOW
  • # 20-0067-71 EASO ( 5 BABIES came in at same time)
  • # 20-0084 GHOW
  • # 20-0087 BLVU
  • # 20-0101 RTHA
  • # 20-0102 EASO
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Other interesting things to note is the additional 20 EASO’s and 4 GHOW’s which all arrived on Monday. Erich was super busy just do the in-take for these not to mention the feeding for the entire Rehab population.
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[heading style=”default” size=”20″ align=”center” margin=”30″ id=”Edition 02 – Shaking The Trees – April 19, 2020″]Edition 02 – Shaking The Trees – April 19, 2020[/heading]

Edition ll of Shaking the Trees!

Several of our tribe submitted photos and anecdotes. Request by bobcat rescue in Terrell included.

We will help you out as needed and send up special prayers for special needs. Many have said they will pick up, deliver or help any way they can.

Feel free to join in by sending us a wave and general info, links that we all just can’t live without, or how we may be of service.

The tribe has your back. Send to canterbury.deborah@gmail.com or to outreach@bptmn.org. Slight editing will protect your privacy.

Diamondback Water Snake with Turtles at the Heard by Lu Anne Ray

[row][quote style=”default”]Rick Travis: Shaking the ground too

Lisa and I have been doing A LOT of walking/hiking and “iNaturalisting” (I don’t think that’s really a word).

Photos for your pleasure.[/quote][/row] [row]
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Terry Comingore: Keeping an eye on big blue nest

The Blue Heron left her nest last Thursday. Sure she’s exhausted after hunting all Monday (from street level and from 60X). Sunday I saw her feeding the nestlings but didn’t have the scope.

The nests (there are 2 but one is hard to view) are in the wetlands where Maxwell Creek crosses Woodbridge Parkway.[/quote][/column][/row] [row][column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][quote style=”default”]

Jean Suplick: Bewick’s Wren family counselors

Michael and I are all kinds of nervous over watching our nesting Bewick’s Wrens.

It’s amazing how those little creatures know just what to do. Our pair, affectionately called Lady and Sir, laid one egg per night for seven nights, starting about March 18th. After the seventh egg was laid, incubation began.

It’s been non-stop feeding for Lady and Sir. So exhausting to watch! Every few minutes a new insect arrives. Sir is funny. He won’t go into the nest. He just clutches to the opening and stretches in to feed the chicks. Lady, on the other hand, shoots right through that opening and like she owns the place. And of course, she does!

They were about 1.5 g at hatch and will fledge at about 10.5. We expect them to fledge Friday, April 24. I don’t know if my nerves can take it. Thank the stars that we have lots of native biodiversity, at least in our yard.

In the photo for the eggs, you can see blue plastic on the right.  Bewick’s Wrens, according to Cornell, are documented lining their nests with snakeskin or cellophane.  We watched Lady, on her first day of incubation, retrieve dove feathers from a couple Cooper’s hawk kills in the yard.[/quote][/column]
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Tom Shackelford: Nature Story in Popular Mechanics

I would never have thought there would be a story about soil. [/quote][/column] [column size=”3/4″ center=”no” class=””]

Despite being hard to place, there is a clear source for that unmistakable springtime smell: geosmin, an organic compound commonly found in soil. Scientists in the U.K. and Sweden discovered the smell has passed the test of time due to a symbiotic relationship between the soil bacteria Streptomyces and six-legged creatures known as springtails.

Geosmin, is the soil-based compound responsible for those hard-to-describe olfactory sensations. Our noses are so finely attuned to the organic compound, in fact, that we can detect it better than sharks can recognize blood. Want to know more? [/column][/row] [row][column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][/column]
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Nancy Taylor wanted to keep her seasonal greetings board going so attached are photos of her yard natives.

American Beautyberry (Left)
Texas Mountain Laurel (Below).[/quote]

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Jim Dulian: Night heron update
I haven’t seen any activity since Friday now.
There is one barely visible from the ground gray mass on top of the nest that may or may not be a bird sitting very still, but if that’s what it is, it hasn’t moved in three days.
I took a picture of the droppings under the nest this morning so that I can see if more are showing up the next few days.
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[column size=”2/3″ center=”no” class=””]Wylie Field of Bluebonnets by Elly Tittle[custom_gallery source=”media: 8156″ limit=”1″ link=”image” target=”blank” width=”600″ height=”400″ title=”hover”][/column][/row] [row][column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]Fairy Flowers on Bluesteam Trail at the Heard by Lu Anne Ray[/column]
[column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]Turtles at the Heard by Lu Anne Ray[/column][/row] [heading style=”default” size=”20″ align=”center” margin=”30″ id=”Edition 01 – Shaking The Trees – April 12, 2020″]Edition 01 – Shaking The Trees – April 12, 2020[/heading]

Welcome to Shaking the Trees – COVID-19 Member Outreach!

We will help you out as needed and send up special prayers for special needs.
Many have said they will pick up, deliver or help any way they can.
Feel free to join in by sending us a wave and general info, links, or how we may be of service.
The tribe has your back.
Send to canterbury.deborah@gmail.com or to outreach@bptmn.org.
Slight editing will protect your privacy.

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Butterflies in Azaleas by Beverly Carpenter
[row][column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][quote style=”default”]Jim: Night heron central
Day 15 from first sighting and they are still working on the nest. I thought that they were finished a couple of times, but I saw them still at it early this morning. I guess they do most of it at night, being like, you know, NIGHT herons and all. Right now there is one sitting near the nest pruning him-or-herself. The other one is probably on the nest, but it’s less porous than it was, so I can’t be sure. Got to hand it to them, though, they are working from home!
[/quote][/column] [column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][row][column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][quote style=”default”]Laura and the Heard:
Speaking of having been a little overwhelmed, the Heard (outdoors only) is still open. People can get admission or membership online and announce themselves at the door to minimize contact. There are SO many scientists working fast-paced on ideas and innovations. It’s really encouraging to see people stepping up and being creative and turning to their energies to the benefit of all.
[/quote][/column][/row] [row][column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][quote style=”default”]Tasha is celebrating:
I wanted to let you know we got our wildlife management approval today and I’m so excited. It’s quite a relief and now we will be putting our rabbit habitats – ie, pallets with brush over them.
It really does seem too good to be true.
Hope all is well with you.
I’m really missing classes right now.
[/quote][/column] [column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][quote style=”default”]Ed’s take:
Well, I tried the leaves (for TP) and it turned out they were poison ivy so I’m itching to get back to my tribe where I might pay more attention to the botany sessions next time around.
(he and his spouse) so far we have found each other to be rather compatible while in solitary confinement and it is amazing how much we get caught up with the fascinating endless list of chores long ignored.
I’m trying to find my copy of Albert Camus “The Plague” to see if any of this really makes sense.
As the ancient Chinese curse goes “May you live in interesting times.”
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[row][column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””] [box title=”*** Homemade Cloth Masks Request ***” style=”bubbles” box_color=”#e11111″ title_color=”#fcf8f8″ radius=”13″]Susan: Keeping watch
I’m making face masks if anyone needs one. Homemade and not nearly as protective as an N95 but better than nothing.
Other than that, I’m weeding the garden and observing all the little critters living in it: a baby rabbit (trying to shoo him out because of the dog), a toad, lots of baby and adult anole lizards, bees in my bee houses. The June bugs are coming out in droves and kept flying into my hair while walking the dog last night under the full Pink moon.
(If you would like a mask let me know and I will give you Susan’s email.)
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Link to Carol Clarks Blog

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Edition 1 – Shaking The Trees – April 12, 2020

[In Progress – republishing in new format to resolve plugin removal]

Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus) by Donna Cole

Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) and Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus)

Donne Cole, 2002 – Sharing the flora and fauna in her garden. – republished from Shaking of the Trees, First Edition.
Read More
Frankford Prairie Hyacinths by Cynthia Alexander-Coday

Wild Hyacinths (Camassia scilloides) of Frankford Prairie

Cynthia Alexander-Coday – reprint from Shaking of the Trees Newsletter First Edition dated April 12, 2020. Down in Dallas, east of the tollway but still in Collin County, there is a historic church & cemetery that were part of the Frankford settlement in the mid-late 1800s.
Read More
Screech owl photo by Clyde Camp

Clyde Camp’s Screech Owl (Megascops asio) Cam Footage

Clyde Camp, 2010 – reprint from Shaking of the Trees Newsletter First Edition dated April 12, 2020. Clyde Camp has a nest cam of his screech owl inhabitants
Read More
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