Jackie Black, 2018 – “I love being a Master Naturalist and am looking forward to retirement when I can be even more involved!”
News
Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Michelle Norris
Michelle Norris, 2021 – “I really enjoy getting out in nature and exploring our beautiful prairie landscape.”
Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Vicki Sanders
Vicki Sanders, 2022 -“I just can’t believe I waited so long to get involved with TMN.” I’m very excited to have reached this milestone! Attached is a photo of me volunteering at the Heard Museum with Emory the Rat Snake.
Our Tribe’s Fortune 250 Hours – Anita Bigbee
Anita Bigbee, 2021 – I’m grateful that our chapter offers an opportunity like Connemara Meadow, where you can get your hands dirty and work toward restoring a small piece of our Blackland Prairie.
Hummingbird vs. Hummingbird Moth
Balaji Devarajan, 2022 – This doesn’t happen everyday! So here I am sharing my firsthand witness of this rare interaction between a Hummingbird and the Hummingbird Moth (White-lined Sphinx Moth). I was birding at the Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve with my camera to take pictures of the Dickcissel. While I got one shot of the Dickcissel, the photo highlights from that day were the Copperhead snake, Gulf Fritillary butterfly, and the Hummingbird Moth. This small post narrates the few minutes faceoff between a Hummingbird and a Hummingbird Moth.
Plano Parks and Recreation Summer Mothing Event – June 17, 2023
Leah Justice, 2021 – Plano Parks and Recreation and the Blackland Prairie Texas Master Naturalist Chapter partnered up for a Summer Mothing Event with Sam Kieschnick on Saturday, June 17th It was precisely the kind of night you would hope for to attract the moths, hot and humid! Despite the sweltering heat, a large crowd of about 120-130 people assembled.
Hagerman for butterflies? – June 10, 2023
Sam Crowe, 2022 – On June 10, I took a trip up to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge to see if there were any shorebirds still hanging around or maybe some already heading back south. I once saw a beautiful, breeding-plumaged American Golden Plover heading back south from their nesting range in the far north. No luck with the birds but the button bushes were blooming and the butterflies were taking advantage of the opportunity. I saw maybe 10 different species on one bush.
A Small Snail Story
Leah Justice, 2021 – As I started to clean a food dish from the decomposer tank at the Heard Museum, I noticed a very teeny tiny snail clinging to a piece of food. Is there such a thing as a baby snail? Not being familiar with the life cycle of snails, a bit of research was necessary to answer this simple question. It was soon apparent how large and diverse this class of creatures is!
Birding the Seasonal Shift – May 12, 2023
John W. Garbutt, 2019 – I have always disliked the end of the year and the subsequent arrival of spring. I like fall and winter. Time seems to slow down from October through December until the last week of the year. Then the next few months seem to go quickly. Perhaps this is some deeper psychological problem for those born on January 1st, which could only be understood after a call to Dr. Crane.
Birding has slowly, secretly, made me long for the change in seasons.
Our Tribe’s Fortune 1,000 Hours – George Sims
George Sims, 2006 – “I retired as city clerk of a small town in northeastern Louisiana in 2006, then moved to twenty acres in the Missouri Ozarks, where I became a Missouri Master Naturalist.”