Lisa Travis, Class of 2018 – When I first heard about the program, I was mainly interested in the education part, and didn’t know too much about the volunteering aspect. We attended an open house with the NTMN chapter, and I thought several of the volunteering projects sounded interesting. We started attending meetings at the Blackland Prairie Chapter, and it seemed like they were a great group of people who were doing something to make a difference, and I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of.
STT 45
Our Tribe’s Fortune – Gold: 1000 Hours – Leah Justice
Leah Justice, Class of 2021 – “Being outside is my happy place. One day, I came across a conversation on social media about quails in Connemara where someone mentioned Texas Master Naturalists.”
Monarchs Needs Your Help! Monarch Monitoring Research Opportunity
Laurie Sheppard, Class of 2017 – like Hagerman is an important part of the research shaping scientists’ understanding of how monarchs interact with their environment and how the population and its habitat changes over time.
Apricity is a hiemal word!
Balaji Devarajan, Class of 2022 – weather for an entire week between Jan 21st and 27th. After a long wait, there was light at the end of the week. That Sunday Jan 28th was literally a SUN-day as the sun shone bright on a clear sky. That’s also when I came across a new word “apricity”.
Friend or Foe?
Leah Justice and Rich Jaynes – An interesting grass shows up in the winter and in drought conditions. Right now you can find it in our parks or neighborhoods. “The common name rescue grass refers to the ability of the grass to provide forage after harsh droughts or severe winters.” (Source: Wikipedia). Still curious about this green winter grass, I asked NTMN member Rich Jaynes his take on it and here is what he had to say:
Community Engagement – Sustainability
Marla Layne, Class of 2023 and 2024 Community Engagement Director – BPTMN Bryan Beck educated an engaged group of eight-year-old students on environmental issues on January 20, 2024 at the M.T.O. Shahmaghsoudi Dallas First Junior and Teens Sustainability Seminar.
When Is It Safe to Dream About Fall?
John Garbutt, Class of 2019 – When is it safe to dream of autumn’s cooler days and colors? Is it perhaps today (early August), a day when Texans rejoiced, for the consecutive streak of twenty-one days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit was broken with an official high temperature of 99 degrees? Or was yesterday the day, when two southbound migrants, a Yellow Warbler and an Empidonax flycatcher, flittered about the foliage running along the creek as I sat and rested after a morning run?
Bald eagle spotted in Plano
Submitted by Leah Justice, Class of 2021 – Sue Makuta, Class of 2021 saw Daniel Miranda, Class of 2023 on the news talking about the Eagle spotted at Oak Point Park. Here is the clip we can share! Exciting!
Food Instincts of the Orange-crowned Warbler
Balaji Devarajan, Class of 2022 – A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker made a few cuts on the Willow tree to consume the tree sap. It was perched at the same spot for more than two hours. At some point it had enough sap and decided to move on; and almost immediately an Orange-crowned Warbler came out of nowhere to the holes made by the Sapsucker.