Category: Uncategorized

I was walking home a few days ago when I saw a flash of green from a flock of birds flying overhead. The birds came to rest under a tree in my complex, so I went to investigate. There among the grackles were a flock of Monk Parakeets. Monk Parakeets are native to South America, but established wild populations in the U.S. in the 1960s, likely due to their popularity in the pet trade. They can be found as far north as Chicago and New York. It is believed that they can survive northern winters because of their large, multifamily stick nests. Each nest contains an average of 20 nest chambers, but some can house more than 200 nests.

More information on Monk Parakeets can be found on All About Birds.

iNaturalist Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4404621

Yesterday, I went swimming in Barton Springs and saw what I believe to be a squash bee. This was exciting to me after all the recent buzz about the extinction of the all the pollinators. Bees are extremely important to the ecosystem and can even be said to be responsible for one out of every three bites of food we take. This is because most of the crops grown for their fruits require pollination by insects and bees are by far the biggest and main pollinators. They make such great pollinators because they have hairs all over their body’s that attract the pollen grain and allows them to collect and transfer it easily. In addition, they typically focus on one type of flower at a time.

Source: http://nativeplants.msu.edu/pollination

iNaturalist Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4391631

The chinquapin oak or Quercus muehlenbergii is very prominent in the forest area surrounding my apartment. It is named because of the resemblance of the leaves to the Allegheny chinquapin (Castanea pumila), a relative of American chestnut (C. dentata). Chinquapin oak occurs in northeast Texas to central Texas and south to the Guadalupe River. It has an interesting history; Early pioneers used its straight wood to make thousands of miles of fences in the states of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. They were also used to fuel steamships and as railroad ties for the new railroads that crisscrossed the Midwest.

The chinquapin oak flowers between April and May and produces acorns which ripen between September and October. Both male and female flowers occur on the same tree and they are pollinated by the wind. Like others oaks, this tree supports a wide variety of wildlife, making it an important habitat in its own right. The acorns are a preferred food for wild turkeys, grouse, white-tailed deer, black bears, chipmunks, squirrels and hogs. Cattle will eat the leaves.

You can find my iNaturalist post here.

References

https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=875

http://texastreeid.tamu.edu/content/TreeDetails/?id=101

My apartment complex’s landscaping includes this grass, but I can’t identify it. Can you? This grass is found planted alongside cactus and succulents, in a mulched bed alongside a building. I suspect it is relatively drought tolerant, but it may also function as the plant that removes the excess moisture from the soil that the cactus and succulents don’t need. It’s also hard to tell if the brown patches on this grass are normal or a sign of sickness (disease, too much water, not enough water, etc).  Is it native or non-native to the Central Texas region?Knowing these facts for certain would make identifying this grass much easier, but for now it will be known as the unidentified grass.

iNaturalist Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4376670

Insect identification has always been difficult for me.  Walking back from class I saw this guy (girl – I should just say male/female) hanging out close to the parking garage, and I think it’s a Katydid.

In Costa Rica we were able to see some amazing insects and see their special traits, but usually there was a field guide around to help ID.  The Katydid is named for its song that is usually made by the rubbing of its wings. The song is described to go “Katy-did, She-did”. The fore-wings are convex and oval, crossed by ‘veins’ that closely resemble the veins of leaves.  With its leaf green and brown coloration it has great camouflage and is usually disguised in the leaves.  I’m not sure which species of katydid this one is exactly, but it is in the family of long horned grasshoppers.  The katydid primarily inhibits crowns of deciduous trees in forests, parks, or yard – so keep your eyes peeled!

I found this guy over the weekend in Canyon Lake at a wedding I was attending. They were everywhere. I think it was an infestation of some kind, but it has been very difficult trying to identify this little guy. If anyone has any insight into what this worm/caterpillar might be, let me know! I’m very curious.

my iNaturalist post can be found here.

While doing research this past weekend out at Wild Basin, I spotted this large turtle swimming in Bee Creek. My group’s research assistant, Stephanie, and I discussed what kind of turtle it could be, and because of its size and tail, we agreed that this was a Common Snapping Turtle, or Chelydra serpentina.

Common Snapping Turtles are common throughout the U.S. and North America, and more on the Common Snapping Turtle can be found here. I was initially surprised to come across this turtle because I didn’t realize Texas had snapping turtles, and besides deer, this is the largest animal I’ve seen at Wild Basin so far. I made sure not to get too close!

My iNaturalist observation 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.

This furry caterpillar was (and still is) chilling on the wall next to my apartment door. I thought it was cute until I read about this caterpillar.

I believe it is Puss caterpillar – it is called puss because it is furry like a kitty. Cute name but this caterpillar is one of most venomous caterpillar in the U.S. so try avoid touching the furry part because that is where venomous spines are hidden. It have been said that the sting is worse than a bee sting, the sting is intense to the point that the sting can hurt person’s bones or last up to 12 hours.

This caterpillar can be found from New Jersey to Florida and southwest to Texas, there are five species of flannel moths and I think this is southern flannel moth, the most common species.

my iNaturalist observation can be found here.

 

This green heron (Butorides virescens) was spotted along Lady Bird Lake. Unlike other herons, the green heron has short legs and is stocky. Because of their short legs, they are known to stay at the water’s edge and hunt for fish and amphibians. In comparison to other herons, the green heron will wade less, staying on vegetation or solid ground. They are sometimes known to use certain materials to lure their fish prey. This species resides primarily in North and Central America.

 

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.

Sources: http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5020-Butorides-virescens; https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green_Heron/id