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.
Bald Cypress trees, Taxodium distichum, are ornamental at Hamilton Pool. Their roots reach down into the creek waters and they stretch up to heights of about 120 feet. They are deciduous conifers that shed their leaves in early Fall; so early in fact it is the reason they were given the name “bald” cypress. Another interesting characteristic about this species and what they’re most known for is their “knees”. This is a term to describe the special type of roots they possess called pneumatophores, which means “air-bearing”. Because bald cypress trees are rooted into the water, the pneumatophores serve to transport air to drowned roots underground while also helping to stabilize the tree.
Bald Cypress trees are native throughout the southeastern United States. They are well-adapted to wet conditions along river banks and swamps, which has led them to be the state tree of Louisiana. Bald Cypresses are slow-growing, long-lived trees that frequently reach up to 600 years in age. They were valued for timber in the past, but their slow-growth characteristic has placed a higher priority on conserving them and their low numbers. It is also more difficult for loggers to harvest them within wetlands. These trees are very valuable in the wild. They soak up floodwaters, help prevent coastal erosion, trap pollutants and prevent them from spreading, and provide breeding grounds for many amphibians. Their high canopies are also popular for bird nests, most notably the bald eagle.
You can find my iNaturalist post here.
References
https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Plants/Bald-Cypress.aspx
Grass Spider
This spider was seen walking through a tall grassy area in Wild Basin close to Bee Creek. I would have walked right into this spider web if Eric hadn’t already. The disturbance caused the spider ball up, making the identification process a little more complicated. By the markings on the lower abdomen and the stripes on the legs lead to the the funnel web grass spider, Agelenopsis spp. There are 13 species of Agelenopsis occurring from Canada to Mexico, inhabiting areas with high grasses and shrubs for them to construct their webs.
See INaturalist post here
Reference:
http://www.spiders.us/species/agelenopsis-sppagele
This peculiar guy has been hanging around my apartment lately. First, I noticed him crawling around the ceiling outside my front door, and then (when I took this photo) he had found a nice resting place in the sun on the handicap sign where my car was parked!
I’ve always been fascinated by these creatures. The Praying Mantis, or Mantis religiosa, is commonly found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. They were first brought to America by shipment in the 1800’s, but now have become a loved insect across the states!
The link to my iNaturalist observation can be found here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4237789
I found this beetle in the middle of the parking lot after a soccer game. I have identified it as Calosoma spp, a species of ground beetle in the family Carabidae. I am not certain of the species, but my guess would be Calosoma macrum. This genus of large ground beetles are also known as caterpillar hunters or searchers. Both adult and larvae stages are very active predators and they are commonly found in agricultural and garden settings. These beetles can produce a foul-smelling odor from glands near the tip of their abdomens. Most beetles in this genus are all black but some have metallic coloring as well. They are the largest beetles in this family. They have large, distinct thoraxes, nearly the size of their abdomens and wider than their heads. Many of the beetles in this family are nocturnal but adults rarely fly.
My iNaturalist post can be found here.
Sources:
http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/mbcn/kyf304.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calosoma
There a quite a few agave plants that look similar to this one, but I believe this succulent is Agave salmiana ferox. I love the common name of this plant, the Green Goblet; It’s perfect for the start of October because it sounds “Halloween-y” to me and Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It grows to be about 4 feet tall by 4 feet wide and originated in Mexico. It is a very adaptable plant, doing well in both sun and shade. It is also heat and drought tolerant. It is becoming an increasingly popular plant to use in landscaping because of these factors. Its leaves are lined with large spines and flowers in early to mid summer, a yellow cup shaped flower that rises above the foliage. I actually first saw this plant at my grandma’s home in Mexico, she had a few in her courtyard. This has always been one of my favorite plants, and I’ve gone through quite a few of the miniature versions. Its supposed to be one of the easiest plants to keep alive, but for whatever reason, I can’t!
My iNaturalist post can be found here.
The Great Egret, Ardea alba, is symbol of successful conservation. The egret was hunted to near extinction for its snow-white plumage, which was popular in women’s fashion, in North America in the 19th century. After a century of legal protection, egret numbers have increased substantially and their future outlook is bright.
iNaturalist Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4256605
Reference
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/great-egret/
I wake up every morning to this beautiful Texas Ash (Fraxinus texensis) outside of my window. I live next to Walnut Creek in north Austin, and this tree is part of the riparian ecosystem near the creek.
The Texas Ash is a medium-sized tree with an oval crown. It’s range is from the Dallas area to Central Texas and west to the Edwards Plateau, on rocky limestone hillsides, bluffs, and ridges. You can identify it by it’s opposite and compound leaves that are 5″ to 8″ long, with 5 oval or round leaflets arranged pinnately. The leaf is dark green on top, much lighter below.
Although I did not identify any flowers at this time of year, male and female flowers are borne on separate trees. Female flowers are in loose clusters appearing with the new leaves, while male flowers appear as dark, purplish clusters near the end of the twigs, often before the leaves. It’s bark is gray, with brown or black blotches, furrowed, with the interlocking flattened ridges common to the ashes.
You can find my iNaturalist post here.
Source: http://texastreeid.tamu.edu/content/treedetails/?id=37
The other Saturday at the Vireo Preserve we had the opportunity to explore the largely successful recovery and management efforts happening on the preserve. Biologist Jim O’Donnell from the City of Austin walked us through his 20 years of work on the Vireo Preserve. He called our attention to several plant and animal species and explained their significance for the ecosystem and recovery efforts. One of the most interesting things I learned was the use of Turkey-tail, a fungus that grows out of logs and trees, to manage the invasive Japanese Privet (one we have heard a lot about from researchers at Wild Basin-Abby, Savannah, and Eric!). Jim O’Donnell explained how they cut down the privet chopping into two feet long chunks. They inoculate the stumps with Turkey-tail after it has dried and spread it around the preserve. The fungus grows out of the sides of the inoculated pieces of privet and then eventually decomposes the chunks. It is an innovative way to deal with the cut down privets and allows natural biological processes speed up the process of decomposition. Here is a picture of an inoculated privet piece:
The majority of the fungus is within the wood and only it’s tail sticks out, giving the Turkey-tail it’s name. It rarely harms a tree since it lives mostly to decompose dead woody material, providing essential nutrients to the soil. Along with the Turkey-tail’s important role in nutrient cycling it is linked to potential immune benefits in cancer patients. See here for a closer look at the study. My iNaturalist post is found here.
References:
http://www2.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/turkey_tail.htm
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trametes_versicolor.html
I remember seeing this bird for the first time when I moved to Texas, I thought it was a pretty bird. And I still do. But what I didn’t realize that how common they in Texas and that their range is from Mexico to some parts of Mid-West, all of southwest part of United States. The population is steadily increasing and growing the size of distribution to further north into Mid-West and some parts of western United States.
This bird will eat anything. Literally. Maybe not so literally. They will eat from fruits, vegetables, seeds to insects (slugs, worms, grasshoppers, beetles, moths, spiders, wasps, you name it) and some small mammals like mice and shrews. They also sometime eat bird eggs and nestlings. They eat lizards, snakes and fish as well.
Their foraging range is so broad, and that is probably why their population size is increasing over years. It had been suspected that this species had a part in causing extinction of Slender-billed Grackle in Mexico years ago.
My iNaturalist observation can be found here.