This months' project

Background: the "Austin's Woods Conservation Plan" led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a mandate to preserve the bottomland hardwood forests south of Houston known as the Columbia Bottomlands which spans the Colorado, San Bernard, and Brazos River floodplains. It is a critical stopover and staging habitat for Nearctic-Neotropical migratory landbirds.

Despite temperatures at or above 100 degrees the field work is better than rotting away in an air conditioned office. I was asked to continue a project by the United States Geological Service which entailed correlating habitat change with an increase or decrease of migrating neotropical birds. Originally accomplished by crews I was left on my own to conduct this monitoring of 41 sites in the bottomland hardwood forests of my Complex. Each site has 30 variables to measure to include tree diameter, woody species height, snag diameter, canopy gap, plant species inventory, presence of an oxbow or bayou, canopy cover, size of woody debris, herbaceous cover and wet or dry litter. All within 3 meters along a 50m measuring tape. Laying out the tape is no walk in the park with more often than not a lot of bushwhacking, crawling, neck raked or head gouged by braches and briar. I learned my lesson after the first day to spray my feet and calves with bug repellent less I continue to scratch from chigger infestation. A yellow jacket stung the back of my arm but rarely swell up from the sting of this species of wasp.

American Elm (Ulmus americana)
50 ft+ tall















Buttresses help stabilize swallow-rooting trees











Box elder maple (Acer negundo), left, is similar in appearance to poison ivy (Toxicodendra radicans).

Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is in the grape family but the fruit is inedible for humans.

Grape vines (Vitis spp.) can live beyond 100 years.

Old growth grape vine with pencil for scale.

Green Brier (Smilax rotundifolia)

Carolina Moonseed (Cocculus carolinus) is a common understory vine. In this picture the vine is entwining so hard that the tree is starting to grow around it. Moonseed berries are red and eaten by birds but are toxic to humans.












Turks' Cap Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) is (Malvaviscus arboreus) maximizes blooming during the southern migration of hummingbirds









Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans) is also a favorite plant of hummingbirds

Sabal Palm (Sabal minor) is the most common plant encountered thus far.

Summer road trip 2011

Technically I can call it a vacation. Nearly 4 days of driving to see my buddies in Lubbock and Grand Junction and by the end of it I can say “Mission Accomplished”

No rest for the weary? I prefer no rest for the wicked. My timing was perfect for Lubbock with my services available to help Andrea et al tear down a porch and bust a concrete slab. Without the humidity my work capacity doubled and the use of a jackhammer was a first. I feel for Josh, having to live in this boring town but as least he's busy as a landscape laborer. Maybe next time we can get away to the mountains.

Two days of work followed by a 12 hour drive to Grand Junction CO. My dog Kahn stayed with Andrea and that was fine with him. If I wasn’t on such a tight schedule I would take time to enjoy the scenic drive on SH 50, up and over Monarch Pass to Montrose and then north to GJ. My specific destination was the residence of old college friends – Rob and Sue Graham. The agenda was hiking and everywhere is up. Rob was fresh off a 50 mile hiking weekend and was more than up to the task of hiking with me the next two days. He and a friend are on a quest to finish a route of several hundred miles one weekend at a time into the fall. I was fortunate to only hike 4 miles the first day and 7 miles the next in and around the Colorado National Monument. Monsoon rains raised the humidity to the annoyance level for Rob but this was nothing compared to the Gulf Coast. It must have been 40% - maybe. Nevertheless the hiking gave me Carte blanche to pig out at the local eateries. Rob and Sue are fitness trainers at Mesa State University. For me, Rob took the days off to play. In the next page of my life I’ll be free of the grip of Dungpileton and days like these will be the rule.

Upon my return to Lubbock I join the crew - Matt, Ron (Andrea's bother-in-law and technical adviser, and Josh - to continue work on the porch. By this time the broken slab was removed and next was the roof framework. All day and a break to see Captain America at the movies. Another day of help then on the road home.

Free Food!

I was dumpster diving for boxes when I came upon a few shopping carts of food thrown away by the Kroger Grocer. Being in a hurry I grabbed what I could but will be back soon.

What does this say about our society?
http://divethefilm.com/

Still here...

Waiting and waiting....

I was not too keen on a fire assignment in East Texas because I would be a dozer swamper. Nothing glamorous about it; walk alongside a bulldozer as it plows a line around a wildfire to prevent it from spreading. Ideally, I would prefer the tortuous firefighting of the mountain west, even west Texas but a job is a job. Because of recent rains the fire prospects are low but give it time because temperatures are hot and getting hotter. Today was a heat index of 105 degrees. I am working out of Kirbyville, TX at a Texas Forest Service office. Nestled among long leaf pines (Pinus palustris), the understory is maintained by prescribe burning as is evident by burnt and stunted yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) and wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera) as well as oaks (Quercus viginiana, Q. nigra, Q. falcata) and sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua). As a result the ground layer is dominated by royal fern (Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis )or a mix of forbs and grasses; the dominants of which are sharp blazing star (Liatris acidota) and big bluestem (Andropogon geradii).

Where the ground is not maintained the habitat returns to its pre-disturbance floral climax on the forested perimeters. I see a zebra swallowtail alighting on a blazingstar for nectar and attempt to move in further for a better photo op. It is a skittish beauty; moving away from my advances until I stop to wait for it to circle back to me. It gets no closer than ten feet. The black swallowtail is more accommodating.

Moving further down slope I encounter a wetland nearly void of water. Here the floral community changes to represent freshwater emergent and submergents. Some of which are familiar to those back home – spike rushes (Eleocharis spp.), centella (centella erecta), and my favorites, umbrella sedge (fuirena spp.), meadow beauty (Rhexia virginica), blue waterleaf (Hydrolea ovata) and water willow (Justicia lanceolata). I notice a significant present of Japanese climbing fern (Lygodium japonicum) on the ground. It has the capacity to creep up trees and when dry can act as a "ladder fuel" to draw fire up in the canopy. Moving along I encounter the water and seeing as how it is still present in this drought the flora changes also to reflect plants that can withstand permanent inundation. Here I notice the yellow surface flowers of bladderwort (Utricularia gibba) and pick it up to reveal the tiny submerged "trap door" nodules which capture microscopic invertebrates. I was hoping to see other carnivorous plants such as pitcher plants and butterworts but the soils here are not acidic enough. Water tolerant tupelo (Nyssa spp.) towered over mid-story buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) and titi (Cyrilla racemiflora). I may not have sighted the other carnivores but almost as special at my feet was a plant I’ve only seen after it senescence – yellow eye-grass. More than likely Xyris louisianica. My photo did not do it justice as only a few flowers were emerging. Xyris is the only genera of the family Xyridaceae represented in North America.

Safey Tips

Back to the field with gusto after recovery from my foot surgery. And with it the stratches, bugs, heat, humity, cuts, aches, pains and accidents. Here’s a couple of tips:

1. Spraying invasive plant species with a wand that is attached to a 50-gallon tank of herbicide on a UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle).

Don’t allow the hose to have too much slack that the vehicle rolls over the hose and pulls down on the wand and your hand while you are holding it until it crushes bloody grooves into it.

2. Using a post pounder to drive t-post into the ground.

When lifting up the post-pounder after you are finish with the t-post make sure the cast iron pounder is away from the body and not over your head where you might lose your grip and it falls on your head.

3. Keep your separation-anxiety-ridden dog well medicated. Otherwise it will attempt to jump a fence and misjudge landing on the row of spikes which could put a 5 inch gash in the underside of his hind quarters. Surgery is just as expensive as for humans.

The Yard - April 2011

It’s that time between spring and summer with temps hovering around 80 degrees and low humidity for this area – 35%. The winter/spring plants (spiderworts, Mexican buckeye and hairy phacellia) have seeded out and summer plants are flowering. A senior fella down the block told me that several women on the block are mad about my yard. This leaves me perplexed considering they are surrounded by sterile St. Augustine grass with a compliment of non-native crape myrtle and Chinese tallow trees. Granted the view from the road may leave one wondering if my yard is an overgrown lot but a look interior would allay that notion. I have defined paths with borders and a semblance of order. My favorite skullcap – Scutellaria ovata is blooming and has expanded over the years. Never weedy and always beautiful I wish it was the dominant plant in my back yard.

This area of the coast, much like the rest of Texas, is in an extended “draught” but my natives are holding their own. Not to say some may wither under the oppressive summer sun but by in large they will be thriving without water when the rest of the block is expending thousands of gallons of water to keep their lawns green. Scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea) will do fine if it remains in the shade as will the beauty berry. My Texas Wild Olive (Cordia boissieri) is in full flower mode and loving the lack of rain. Not a true olive, it is in the Borage Family and is a denizen of the Texas border with Mexico. Plants in the Borage Family include Forget-me-not and Comfrey.

I have 4 Texas persimmons (Diospyros texana) and 2 common persimmons (diospyros virginiana). The Texas persimmons flowered in March and are now producing fruit. For the first time one of the common persimmons is flowering. I believe persimmons self-pollinate. All the fruits are edible. The red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) flowered in February and the fruit will mature all summer into November. The leaves will drop by July. Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) is a hummingbird magnet at points in the front yard.

The sedum I found those years ago in the hills of San Antonio is cascading over the rock walls. It took a few years to identify it because it’s not listed as occurring in the U.S. I found out what it was when I looked over a list of plants of Mexico – Sedum diffusum. Therefore it’s a new record in the U.S. and I need to get this published.

As I look out my bedroom window I see birds relishing the overflow of the filling of the bird feeder – grackle, cardinal, bluejay, mourning dove and English sparrow. On occasion a hawk will perch in the trees but I don’t know what species it is. No doubt this area is like a bird buffet to it. The nest box I put in the tree was on the verge of habitation by a non-native starling until I lessened the diameter of the entrance. I’m not sure if a Carolina wren or chickadee took advantage of this. Due to the lack of rain I must refill the water containers every 3 days.

A brief vacation

For 12 years or more I’ve made the drive up to Lubbock to see Joshua Carpenter during his spring break. A journey made more imperative due to his absorption in video games. In the past we would hit the road to New Mexico to dig for minerals, sled down sand hills and hike in snow at 11,000 feet. Time was not on my side as I only had 4 days available to see him. Good enough to disconnect him from the Xbox. This week he was in the doghouse as usual with his mom Andrea so it took a certain amount of cajoling to get her to agree to take him overnight to Raton where we were to meet up with Rob Graham whom I’ve known for 31 years; having met at the Univ. of Texas in 1979.

The drive consumed 6 hours, leaving a couple of hours to find a suitable hiking site. This was a bust, even after crossing over the mountains to Colorado. It seemed every bit of land was off limits. In the end we resigned ourselves to exploring a parcel of open woodland behind a hotel only to retreat when coming upon a transient camp. Rob arrived later at the Best Western with the news that Sugarite State Park was outside the city; the only direction we didn’t take. While Josh was enthralled with the boob tube Rob and I ventured out for a spot of beer only to find one bar open on this St. Patrick's Day. A noisy atmosphere with a band and a couple of beers. This is the hotspot of Raton. Seems like there's nothing else to do here except drink your life away.

In the morning we ventured out to make the most with what little time we had. At the visitor center we were greeted and given hiking advice by the park’s law enforcement officer; a female that paused between instructions to spit a wad of saliva into her dip bottle. Whatever works!

With ice still on the fringes of the lake this area at 5000ft was still in the throes winter dormancy. Josh brought his unicycle and was as adept on the snowy, icy trail as he was on asphalt. My 10 year old Catahoula/boxer mix felt like a puppy again; bounding in the snow and sniffing throughout the dead grass for traces of rodents. An hour later we parted way as Rob returned to his home in Grand Junction.

Joshua's dyed his hair red in deference to his cousin Tristan who is a hemophiliac.