Author: lbelyeu

Bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon, is a very common grass in the United States.  This grass is used for athletics and recreational areas because it is fast growing and tough.  It grows best in the sun and poorly in the shade.  It is highly resistant to drought or flooding making it preferable in many locations.  It is considered weedy or invasive because it outcompetes other species.  Other attributes of Bermudagrass are low water use rate, dense sod formation, tolerance of a wide range of soil pH ranges, good tolerance to salty water and conditions, good traffic tolerance, relative ease of establishment, and grows on hard soil surface and shallow soils.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

As we draw closer to the end of semester, each week seems to get longer and longer.  My research group and I have been spending a couple a days each week at the Wild Basin.  As I was walking up to the building at the Wild Basin, I caught a quick glimpse of some Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, off to the side of the main path and took a quick snap shot.  It’s hard to see it in this photo because it is in the background, but it isn’t too hard to find out there.  It is a woody vine, and many animals such as squirrels and deer feed on the leaves and stems. It does need to be maintained because it grows rapidly and can block the sunlight from other trees and plants. It can be found in the southern, midwestern, and eastern United States

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

This little critter down below is a Mediterranean House Gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus, and I see them often at night outside on my porch or on walks with my dog.  They like to eat insects near buildings with lights.  They are nocturnal and have spread all along the southern United States.   They are clearly native to southern Europe and northern Africa.  The first one spotted in the United States was in Key West, Florida in 1915.  It’s unclear how they made it over here, but it is assumed to have been a stowaway on a ship.  Some facts are that they are pretty small (4-5 inches).  They also have sticky toe pads and no eyelids.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

Earlier this week, my research group and I assisted the Wild Basin in carrying out a white-tailed deer driving survey.  On our last stretch, we came across two beautiful bucks.  It’s pretty interesting how there are so many in the middle of town. The Wild basin is part of a preserve that is right in the middle of an urbanized area.  The driving survey was conducted in the neighborhoods adjacent to the Wild Basin.  White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, are native to North and South America.  They have a broad range because they are generalists.  They get their name because the underside of their body and tail are white.  When I was young I learned that male deer or bucks shed there antlers every year after breeding season.  I thought this was pretty cool, and I still do.  The picture below was taken from the road in a truck.  The buck was no further than ten yards away.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

Growing up I was involved in landscaping.  My dad loved plants and trees.  He had a bit of a passion.  He knew every plant and tree in our yard by its common and scientific name.  He got me to plant two live oaks fairly close together when I was very young.  My dad loved plants and trees so much that he would give certain locations nick names.  For instance, he named a flower bed after my brother and called it Jesse’s island.  Those two live oaks I planted were named Lexington’s aisle.  A bit silly to some but growing up it probably influenced me to love the outdoors even more.  Live oaks, Quercus fusiformis, are prevalent in Austin Texas.  This species is slightly different from the ones I planted, which were southern live oaks, Quercus virginiana.  They have slightly larger acorns that are more pointed than the southern live oaks.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

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.

Walking to class everyday in the afternoon at St. Edwards, my buddy and I see numerous black birds near the parking garage.  Some of these are known as the Great-Tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus.  They are commonly seen in suburban areas foraging for insects in lawns.  The males have black iridescent and purple feathers with bright yellow eyes.  They are known for their loud vocalizations, which sometimes categorizes them as a pest species.

You can find my iNaturalist post here.

I was able to identify this tree easily because I grew up planting and maintaining crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica).  They can range from 3 feet to 30 feet tall and are native to areas of southern China, southeast Asia, and Japan.  Most crape myrtles you see in the United States are hybrids of some sort that is why there is such a range of heights.  This one is on St. Edwards University’s campus and is a mid-sized crape myrtle, which range between 10-15 feet tall.  You might also know this as lilac of the south.  In the United States, their popularity comes from their long bloom periods making them great trees for landscaping.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

I have a small piece of yard that is fenced in at my apartment complex.  It has been sodded with the beautiful St. Augustine grass known as Stenotaphrum secundatum.  It is a warm season grass that is popular to use for lawns, and it occurs in the tropics as well as the southern eastern United States, Texas, and Mexico.  St. Augustine can grow in a wide range of soil types.  It does not have a high level of drought tolerance, but it is moderately shade tolerant.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

The Texas spiny lizard is the most common lizard in the Austin area. I was walking my dog and on my way back to my apartment I found this critter relaxing right outside my door.  They are grey with white and black blotches. Their common name comes from their spiny scales in which they sometimes get mistaken for horned lizards. The difference between these two are that the spiny lizard is arboreal where their color acts as good camouflage with tree bark. Their diet consists of insects like most lizards.

My iNaturalist post can be found here