Category: Uncategorized

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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This mountain laurel, Sophora secundiflora, is in one of our plots at Wild Basin. We originally identified this plant using a dichotomous key of common woody species in Texas.  The dark waxy leaves may resemble leaves of a sumac but the stems are very different.  

The mountain laurel is slow growing and difficult to prorate, but once it matures it will produce pendulous purple flowers.

 

See INaturalist post here

I learned a few years ago about the importance of planting milkweed species for Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), especially in Texas. I have two on my apartment patio, and recently they have been home to several monarch larva, or caterpillars. Monarchs are dependent on milkweed plants, which larvae eat nearly exclusively.

The entire larval stage in monarchs lasts from nine to fourteen days under normal summer temperatures. This little guy pictured below will emerge as a beautifully colored, black-orange-and-white adult.

They migrate to overwintering grounds, either in central Mexico for eastern monarchs or in California for western monarchs. Here they spend the winter clustered in trees until weather and temperature conditions allow them to return to their breeding grounds. North American monarchs are the only butterflies that make such a massive journey—up to 3,000 miles.

Many scientists are concerned about the eastern population of monarchs, which summer east of the Rocky Mountains. This group is occurring in ever smaller numbers, and its survival may be threatened by a series of natural disasters in the Mexican wintering grounds, as well as by reduced acreage of milkweed plants in their summer home.

Find my iNaturalist post here.

Source: http://monarchlab.org/biology-and-research/biology-and-natural-history/breeding-life-cycle/life-cycle/#larva

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/monarch-butterfly/

While walking along the path to Hamilton pool, the American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is definitely one of the standout plants. The edible berries are bright purple and quite large, which makes for a nice contrast to the surrounding greenery. The American beautyberry is a fast growing native perennial shrub that can grow 5-8 feet tall. The leaves are oppositely arranged with wooly-like hairs on their underside. This shrub is distributed throughout the southeastern United States from Texas and Oklahoma all the way to Maryland. It is commonly found in woody areas with moist soils. It is considered a pioneer species and is characteristic of the mid-stages of succession.

In late spring to early summer, American beautyberry flowers of purple or pink appear in clusters on the stem and quickly become white/pink berries. In late summer to early fall, the berries deepen in color and reach full ripeness. They can be eaten raw, or can be used to make jelly and wine. Mosquito repellent properties have also been found in the leaves, making this plant the most versatile and beneficial of all my biodiversity observations. Next time I come across it, I will definitely grab some berries and attempt to make American beautyberry wine!

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

References

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

http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/09/beautyberry.html

 

Little bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium, is a native perennial bunchgrass that is found commonly in prairies. It is commonly found throughout the U.S. and Mexico. It grows up to 24 inches in height and each clump up to a foot in diameter. It has slender blue-green stems that turn reddish in the fall and cotton-tufted seeds that disperse in the winter. Bluestem provides food for birds and small mammals.

My iNaturalist post can be found here.

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