Laurie Sheppard

At least 615 bird species have been documented in Texas and more than half of those are migratory. Many of them migrate to or through Grayson and Collin Counties. This presentation will provide some insights into why birds migrate, what strategies they use, and when we might see them in our area. Each individual species’ migration story is different. Based on eBird data, we will explore examples of what that looks like for species seen every year at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge and other Grayson County sites. These same species can also be found at locations in and around Collin County.

Laurie Sheppard is a member of the Texas Master Naturalist Blackland Prairie Chapter (class of 2017) and is a long-time member of and volunteer with the Friends of Hagerman NWR. From the time she was a Girl Scout in her native Massachusetts, she has had a love for the natural world and the amazing creatures within it, especially birds and butterflies. She also enjoys research, writing, and photography, which she uses to share information about the refuge’s inhabitants with the general public by creating visitor handouts and articles for the Friends’ monthly publication, The Featherless Flyer.

Shaking of the Trees Post Shaking the Trees

A Mother’s Story

By Laurie Sheppard

Who hates spiders? I can hear you now. Statistically, more than 30% of you experience some level of fear when it comes to spiders, but for a few, that fear is a true phobia. For that reason, when I found a Green Lynx Spider tending an egg sac in the Butterfly Garden, I kept the location a secret until the new spiderlings dispersed. It was captivating to see the attentiveness of the mother while I watched and took pictures from a distance.

The Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans) is sometimes viewed as a beneficial spider. Their use as pest control warriors on soybean or peanut farms has been proposed in Florida. Without a doubt, this species’ members are effective and aggressive “ambush” predators of insects, including many that are larger than the spider itself. They have been observed feeding on many species of moths and larvae, including some of the most destructive crop pests. Unfortunately, they are also indiscriminate feeders and are just as likely to prey upon needed pollinators. At Hagerman, a keen observer may see them on or under the petals of a flower awaiting an unsuspecting honeybee, moth, or syrphid fly.

Green Lynx Spiders are bright green and often lurk camouflaged in the green foliage of a plant. They are slender and average a half inch in length for males to under an inch for females. The upper side of their abdomen is marked with chevron-like marks and their eight legs are long, light in color, and punctuated with black spots. As spiders go, they are attractive and eye-catching and are a favorite of some photographers.

I hope I haven’t lost you already, because I want to share my fascination in finding a spider securing her egg sac on a Frostweed plant in the back row of the Butterfly Garden. I was looking for butterflies to photograph (as I often do) and noticed a spider astride a dull brown ball. It took a small amount of research to discover this was a female Green Lynx Spider on her egg case. A female will construct one or more truffle-sized egg sacs in September and October, each with 25 to 600 bright orange eggs.

Over the next several days, I watched the spider move her egg case to a location under a broad flower head and secure it with silken threads to the plant’s stalks. For the next few weeks, she stayed close and kept a cautious eye on me as I maneuvered to take photos to document the incubation. Females vigorously guard their egg sacs and will attack anything that comes near. In fact, they even have the ability to spit venom as ultimate protection.

Female Green Lynx Spiders have a very unusual quality – they can change their body color to match their surroundings. The transformation takes several days. The color of both sexes often fades late in the season so whether the color on our spider mother was changed to match her location or is simply a natural fading late in the season is unknown.

It takes roughly two weeks for the eggs to hatch and another two weeks before the spiderlings emerge, so the mother spider had been tending the egg sac for a while before I saw it. Juvenile Green Lynx Spiders undergo eight instars before they reach full adulthood. Upon hatching, the first instar remains inside the egg sac until their first molt. The mother helps the young emerge by tearing open the egg case. As she did so, the exterior of the egg case was littered with tiny exoskeletons, looking like ghostly spiders. The young had orange abdomens bearing the characteristic chevrons and were fully functional spiders. They moved away from the egg sac, but many stayed together and under their mother’s watchful protection for a week or more as I watched their numbers gradually decrease. On their own, the young spiders will feed on whatever tiny insects they can find and will overwinter in a protected location.

Green Lynx Spiders live for only one year. The babies I saw are just starting out, but their mother was reaching the end of her life. I felt privileged to wish the new lives on their way and to see her tend her final brood. If I see a Green Lynx Spider at the refuge next spring, I will wonder if it is one from the Frostweed nursery.

Hagerman ONLINE Shaking of the Trees Post

2020: Hagerman NWR Year in Review

By Laurie Sheppard

The year started out like any other, but 2020 had plenty of challenges in store. A variety of public-facing activities are conducted throughout the year at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, including Van or Tram Tours, guide bird walks, Second Saturday nature programs, a youth program called Refuge Rocks, an active photo club, and a nature journaling club. Each of those programs involve volunteers, and volunteers also provide manpower to maintain gardens, mow grass, staff school visits, conduct butterfly walks, monitor Bluebird nest boxes, and more. In January, all of the typical activities and programs were buzzing along and planning was underway for the spring and summer seasons at the refuge.

A new tram arrived in February and a contest was held to give it a name. The winner was “Wildlife Explorer”. Each volunteer driver was trained on the maintenance and operation of the tram; they all looked forward to weekend tours throughout the remainder of the year. The nest box monitoring team met to repair and refurbish nest boxes, 20 of which were “adopted” by supporters for the ninth year in a row. Over 1400 Eastern Bluebirds have fledged from the refuge’s monitored boxes since 2010. Butterfly Garden Docents met to prepare the schedule for garden walks and educational programs.

Snow Geese Taking Flight – Laurie Sheppard

March snuck in with heavy spring rains putting refuge roads under water, but that was not the only blow to refuge programs. Covid-19 was covering the country like rain over the plains. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) regional leadership made the decision to close refuge Visitors Centers throughout the Southwest and curtail all activities and volunteerism, at least temporarily. Hagerman’s staff were directed to work from home until further notice. However, public access to all areas of the refuge remained open.

The restrictions at the refuge coincided with other limitations on recreational activities and school closures in the area. As soon as the flood water receded in early April, the refuge experienced a large influx of visitors, estimated at 16,000 vehicles in less than a month. Without onsite staff to provide regular cleaning, the refuge locked the rest rooms and added commercial portable facilities. After a few unfortunate incidents, signs were added at each end of Wildlife Road reminding visitors to remain on the roads, and speed bumps were installed on paved sections.

In the months that followed, organized public gatherings continued to be prohibited but some volunteer activities resumed, albeit with some changes. For example, because nest box monitoring is done using government vehicles, it was allowed only for same household partners. Mowing resumed with masks and precautions in place. Other limited volunteer activities were allowed only where social distancing was possible.

In July, Second Saturday and Photo Club programs resumed using Zoom technology, and remote meetings are likely to continue at least through spring 2021. The Friends of Hagerman’s monthly newsletter continues to provide information and status updates, and the USFWS has a limited maintenance staff keeping things in good repair. Wheat was planted on schedule to feed the hungry geese, but after a wet spring, summer was unusually dry and seeds were slow to germinate.

Geese, ducks, and other winter birds have arrived nonetheless, and despite the latest surge of Coronavirus, it is still possible to social distance while enjoying the wildlife. At Hagerman, we volunteers look forward to a time when we can reopen the Visitors Center and resume our tram tour and Butterfly Garden Docent schedule to share our passion for the refuge with the community. Hopefully, we will be able to gather for social events and volunteer activities in 2021.

Butterflies Flora and Fauna General Members Plants Reptiles Shaking of the Trees Post Shaking the Trees Wildlife

Laurie Sheppard – You can take the naturalist out of Texas but…

A few photos and facts from New Hampshire… You can take the Master Naturalist out of Texas (temporarily) but they will still seek to learn about the natural world wherever they are.

White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis) butterfly: Have you seen a Red-spotted Purple butterfly? If so, you have seen this species. All Limenitis arthemis in the north have a bold white stripe crossing the forewing and hindwing, while in the south, the species has evolved to mimic the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail.

Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant that is native throughout the temperate northern hemisphere but favors the cooler climates of boreal forests and mountain peaks.

Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) is a small, semi-aquatic turtle that is globally endangered. Their favored habitat includes flooded forests, marshes, wet meadows, bogs, and woodland streams in the eastern United States and southeast Canada. They are most at risk during their frequent terrestrial wanderings when they are particularly vulnerable to predation or encounters with automobiles.

Moose (Alces alces) are the largest members of the New World deer sub-family and range throughout Canada and most of the northern tier of states in the U.S. Moose are solitary throughout most of their lives. They feed on vegetation such as pond grasses and young trees and shrubs and require habitat that offers protection from extremely hot or cold temperatures. This one is probably a two-year old calf that is recently on its own. Nevertheless, it was taller than my small SUV.

Laurie Sheppard

Laurie Sheppard | “Migrating Birds of Collin and Grayson County”

Tuesday, May 11, 7PM CST

A Mother’s Story

2020: Hagerman NWR Year in Review

Laurie Sheppard – You can take the naturalist out of Texas but…