Month: October 2016

Outside my office window, I found this little guy just staring inside seemingly pondering what it was like to not be a lizard for a second. He wasn’t shy and even modeled for me for a few moments while I got the best shot. This type of lizard is known as a green anole or anolis carolinensis. Anole’s have the ability to change colors and the males have whats called a “dewlap” under their chin that can be expressed when they are courting or being territorial. They also have very fragile tails, which any Texas kid knows. It will easily fall off, which helps then escape quickly from predators. The tail will eventually grow back, although normally a little shorter than the original.

iNaturalist Link: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4292151

Yaupon Holly is a unique and well known plant in central Texas. It is a shrub that grows about 12-45ft tall. The female plant is easily identifiable with bright red berries. It is a unique plant because the leaves contain caffeine. Yaupon Holly is the only native plant in Texas that contains caffeine. Native Americans would dry and crush the leaves to make a tea to drink. They used the tea as part of rituals and would drink a lot of it and throw it up. However, the leaves do not cause vomiting. It was also commonly given to guests but not in large quantities. You might even see Yaupon Holly leaves sold in stores as a tea!

 

Yaupon Holly is an evergreen shrub so it is used in many landscapes as well as in restoration plots. It is very popular in the winter because of the dark green leaves and bright red berries. In order to have the red berries you need both male and female plants.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

references:

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ILVO

 

Up until a few hours ago I was not located within the scope of this project, but I was able to snag this ID of a Texas Live Oak on the St. Edward’s campus.

I’m not sure who pruned the tree at this insane angle, but some Native Americans used to bend young trees to mark trails, good campsites, or warn of danger ahead. Some trees also end up growing sideways like this after being partially uprooted by storms. Generally, if you can see the roots on the opposite side of the bend, it means that the tree was partially uprooted by a storm. In this case, the roots are not partially uprooted, so I would bet someone did this on purpose!

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.

The Prickly Peary is a cactus in the Genus Opuntia.  The first time I came across this cool succulent plant was interning on a game reserve in South Africa.  We conducted a number of conservation management practices on the reserve. One of my favorites was invasive species management. The prickly pear is an invasive species in South Africa along with other species such as Lantana.  We used a variety of methods to remove these invasive such as chemical and mechanical (physical) removal.  The prickly pear was a good candidate for chemical removal.  We used large syringes to inject a herbicide into the fleshy pads of the cactus and allow it to die down.

When I moved to Texas and observed the prickly pear, I had instant flashbacks to the good times I had in South Africa.  I see them all the time when I am mountain biking out in the hill country, and I think nature is getting revenge as I fell on one a few months ago!  The Prickly Pear cactus represents about a dozen species of the Opuntia genus (family Cactaceae) in North America. The fleshy pads I used to inject are modified branches or stems that serve several functions such as; water storage, photosynthesis, and flower production.  Members of the Opuntia genus are unique because of their clusters of fine, tiny, barbed spines called glochids.  Another cool thing is both the pads (known as nopalitos) and the fruits (known as tuna) of the Opuntia are edible and have some medicinal value.

The view from my back porch is very green, but there’s almost never a pop of color. This morning, while drinking my coffee, I noticed a bright yellow something peeking out from behind several bushes. What’s not to love about some Goldenrods (more specifically Solidago gigantea) giving some color to your natural back yard in Autumn! They are great pollinator plants, especially for bees, and although I’ve only seen this one around my apartment complex, I’ll be sure to look out for more considering the conditions surrounding my apartment are ideal for Solidago gigantea habitat.

You can view my iNaturalist observation here: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4311621

I saw this fellow hanging out on my fence this past January.  A small bird flew into my window and unfortunately killed itself.  This hawk decided to take advantage.  He flew in and landed on my fence as seen in the picture.  He waited a while to survey the here.  I assume he was being vigilant.  Then he finally hopped down to the ground, grabbed his prey, and flew off.  I’m not sure about the identification, but I think it is a broad-winged hawk, Buteo platypterus.  They are relatively short with broad wings.  The adults are dark brown with a white belly and horizontal barring on the chest.  They range from southern Canada to southern Brazil.  They mostly breed in the northern United States and migrate to South America in the winter.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

I found this milk snail, Otala lactea, while on a walk with Iggy, our chihuahua roommate. These snails are actually pretty easy to spot around our apartment complex, but I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of snail they were until I posted one on iNaturalist. With the help of an iNaturalist member and a picture of the front and underside of the snail, I was able to properly identify it. This snail is native to the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa areas but it can also be found in southern US in humid climates and in California it is considered a serious pest, as it displaces native snails.

Milk snails are terrestrial, air-breathing snails. They feed on fruit and plants and are active at night. Their shells vary in color but are usually light brown with dark brown spiraling lines and patterns of stripes and dots. You can distinguish it by a highly extended apertural rim. The lip of its aperture is dark brown, almost black colored.

Since these snails are invasive in the US, one article suggests harvesting these edible snails so chefs could try to incorporate them into their menus. This will help to promote the populations of native snails.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

Sources:

http://www.tsusinvasives.org/home/database/otala-lactea

http://www.molluscs.at/gastropoda/terrestrial.html?/gastropoda/terrestrial/otala.html

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a shrub that grows in the southeastern United States. The identifying features includes long green branches with green foliage, expect in the fall when the leaves turn yellow. The distinguishing feature is the bright, glossy purple berries that grow in clusters and can be seen in fall and winter.

This plant was used by several Native American tribes to treat ailments. The leaves and berries were boiled and used to treat fevers, stomachaches, dizziness, and colic. The crushed leaves can also act as a mosquito repellant, which is very useful for Austin this time of year!

The berries are a major food source for songbirds and small mammals. Deer will eat the leaves because of their high protein count. American beautyberry is a pioneer species making it a useful tool for forest rehabilitation. My iNaturalist post is here.

References:

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CAAM2

https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_caam2.pdf

 

Allamanda is a flowering plant that belongs to the dogbane family. They are native to America and are specifically abundant in Mexico and Argentina. They are easy to grow and are very heat tolerant with a long season bloom. Most are yellow, as shown in the picture, but some bloom a pink color. They attract butterflies and hummingbirds and are resistant to deer and rabbits.

my iNaturalist post can be found here.

I’m thankful that the city of Austin has many parks and opportunities to experience nature even inside the city limits. An example of this is a small park, called Central Park, that is nestled in the middle of the Hyde Park neighborhood. This park contains a pond that rests inside a trail system, and with all its  surrounding vegetation being native and well-maintained, the park provides a good example of a healthy wetland ecosystem in an urban area.  This weekend I was walking on the trail there with some friends, and I spotted this majestic creature standing along the bank of the pond.

It initially caught my eye because of how white its feathers were and how it stood to be about three feet tall. I was initially unsure of the bird’s identity, but after doing some googling and deciding whether or not if it was a herron or an egret, I identified the bird as a Great Egret, or Ardea alba. I was glad that a few community users on iNaturalist confirmed this ID as well, and my iNaturalist observation can be found here. 

Great Egrets are native to most wetlands in North America and as they migrate between late summer and early fall, I’m assuming this individual stopped at the pond during a long flight. More information about the Great Egret can be found here.

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