Honors 2360.01 Spring 2017

This is a baby Ptelea trifoliata, or common hoptree. I noticed this plant because its large, vibrant green leaves while walking through Wild Basin. These leaves will turn dark green in the summer, and then yellow in the fall. It will grow to be 26 ft tall and 13 feet wide. Although I did not see any on this tree, typically in April common hoptrees have small, greenish white flowers in clusters on their leaves. The nickname “common hoptree” is allegedly from when the bitter bark  was used as a substitute for hops when brewing beer. The bark has also been used for miscellaneous home remedies. This plant is both useful and cute!

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5540110

Found this cute plant near a creek in Wild Basin. Adiantum capillus-veneris, or the Black Maidenhair Fern, is a native to the southern half of the United States. However, this plant is apparently so popular that is has become a common household plant in the United States! I wonder how this plant developed its nickname, Black Maidenhair Fern. It has similar nicknames such as Southern Maidenhair Fern and Venus Hair Fern. Was their a maiden that named this fern? If so, why did it name it after their hair? The world is a confusing place, but it is also a beautiful place.

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5540111

I love the color red. As I was walking through Wild Basin, this plant first stuck out to me because of its color. Part of the reason I like the color red is because my friend who has Synesthesia (a condition where the sense of sight, hearing, and taste blend together) perceives my name and aurora in the color red. Cedar Sage, or Salvia roemeriana, is not only red, but also is a seasonal plant to the spring and summer and is scalloped!

http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5540112

Before I started using iNaturalist, I was only aware of Grackles because they can’t really be avoided. Grackles, it seems, have no sense of personal space and go to great lengths to get some food (I can relate to the latter). However, I didn’t know much about the species so when one almost hopped on my table at lunch, I took a picture and uploaded it to iNaturalist. I added the identity “grackles” to my photo. Two other users narrowed my observation to Great-Tailed Grackle. When I read about the appearance and behavior of the Great-Tailed Grackle I knew it was the correct identity. Great-Tailed Grackles are black or brown in color, often travel in groups and are usually seen scavenging for food in urban areas. During my reading I also found out that Grackles are a “sex-biased” population with more females than males.

 

Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5922487

Source: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great-tailed_Grackle/lifehistory

I saw these birds huddled outside of campus as I was waiting for the light at Congress and Woodward. They looked like Pigeons but I wasn’t totally sure so I took a picture and uploaded it to iNaturalist. I uploaded the picture under the classification “Pigeons and Doves.” Soon, two users narrowed my identification to Rock Pigeon. I did some research on Rock Pigeons and found that they are city dwellers normally found in large groups on the ground scavenging for food. This was a perfect description of the birds I saw so I agreed with the id. During my research I also learned that Rock Pigeons were introduced to North America from Europe in the 1600s. To continue with our class theme of science-y band names: Rock Pigeon is an amazing band name!

Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5922470

Source: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rock_Pigeon/id

When we were first introduced to iNaturalist the first species that came to my mind was the House Sparrow. Although at the time I didn’t know the species as anything other than “the cute tiny birds outside of Jo’s,” I was excited to find out more about them using iNaturalist. Fittingly, I spotted one outside of Jo’s. I took a photo and uploaded it to iNaturalist, where two users confirmed the House Sparrow identity. After doing some research on House Sparrows, I found out that, despite their cute appearance, they are freeloaders. They take advantage of structures built by humans or other birds (sometimes even pushing other species out of their nests) and scavenge for leftovers, which explains their constant presence outside of Jo’s. 

Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5922457

Source: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Sparrow/id

I observed this tree on campus near Sorrin hall. Although the tree was beautiful, tall, and offered lovely shade, I was mostly curious about the identity because I noticed it had these long green seeds that I had seen before. During the Texas Spring, I find these long green seeds all over my car, dog, yard, and, somehow, my house. I was curious to determine the culprit of this annual mess, so I took a picture of the leaves and uploaded it to iNaturalist. I thought, because of the shape of the leaves that this tree was in the oak family. After I uploaded the picture of the leaves with the broad “oak” identification, someone commented and narrowed the id to Bur Oak. After some research, I found our that Bur Oaks do have the long stringy seeds that get all over my lawn in the months of March, April, and May.

Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5922337

Source: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=quma2

Over Easter break I took a short trip down to Galveston. While I was on and around the beach I noticed lots of different wildlife than what I normally see in Austin. One species I saw a lot of were these seagulls. They are like the Grackles of the coast. They were all over the beach and seawall restaurants trying to get a bite of people’s food. I snapped a picture of one on our first day. When I tried to upload the photo to iNaturalist, there wasn’t an id available for seagull. So, I uploaded without an id and asked the iNaturalist community what they thought. I quickly got two ids for Laughing Gull. I looked up the Laughing Gull to see if I agreed with the identity. I found out that Laughing Gulls are year-long residents of the Gulf of Mexico and that they are often found in large numbers in beaches, docks, and parking lots.

Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5922326

Source: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Laughing_Gull/id

The last observation I made during out class outing with Dr. Belaire was undoubtably my favorite. As we were fishing up our walk, we heard some birds across the street from us. Although they were pretty far away I used the binoculars to get a good look. Next, Dr. Belaire guided me though the Merlin app, which asks a series of questions to help users identify bird species. After we went through the questions about size, color, and location the app told us we were probably looking at a Cedar Waxwing. I really enjoyed using the Merlin app and the binoculars to figure out what kind of bird we were looking at. I also enjoyed looking and listening closely to see something on campus that I had never noticed before. Although I am confident in my identification of the Cedar Waxwings, because Dr. Belaire helped me and I used the Merlin app, I was unable to get a good photograph so I didn’t get a very good response on my observation.

Observation : http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5434042

The second observation I made during our campus outing with Dr. Belaire was this tree, also near JBWS. The blooms sort of reminded me of cherry blossoms but I wasn’t sure so I decided to take a close-up photo of the flowers to see what the iNaturalist community thought. I quickly received two id’s for Mexican Buckeye. After doing some research I agreed with these two users. The Mexican Buckeye is native to Texas, blooms during the month of March, when I made this observation, and is an 8-12 foot tree, which fit the description of the tree I saw outside of JBWS. I also found out that Mexican Buckeye flowers are fragrant but their seeds are poisonous!

Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5433937

Source: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=unsp