June-July 2011
2011 Upcoming Events
June 11
2nd Texas Horned Lizard Survey at Roger Clark‘s Ranch
June 16
Big Country Chapter monthly meeting – ―Interpretive Trails‖ with
Ryan Hunter
June 18
Feed the staff and kids at the Bobwhite Brigade!
Contact: Russ Hayward (rhayward@sbcglobal.net)
The Prickly Pear
Our Purpose…
...to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial
management of natural resources and natural areas within our commu nity...
Contact Phil Watkins (phil.watkins44@gmail.com)
June 18-23
Texas Bobwhite Brigade at Centennial Lodge
July 16
3rd Texas Horned Lizard Survey at Roger Clark‘s Ranch
Phil Watkins (phil.watkins44@gmail.com)
July 21
Big Country Chapter monthly meeting – ―Using NestWatch‖ with
Cherrie-Lee Phillip
Certifications and awards for the 2nd quarter
August 1
Applications for the Fall Training Class due at the Extension Office
August 6
Texas Big Game Awards – volunteers needed to assist with registration and other chores.
Contact Russ Hayward (rhayward@sbcglobal.net)
August 13
4th Texas Horned Lizard Survey at Roger Clark‘s Ranch
Phil Watkins (phil.watkins44@gmail.com)
August 18
First session of the Fall Training Class All members are invited to
attend, greet, and meet the new interns. There will not be a business meeting.
August 20
Texas Bluebird Symposium in Glen Rose, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
September 10
Last Texas Horned Lizard Survey at Roger Clark‘s Ranch
Phil Watkins (phil.watkins44@gmail.com)
September 15
Big Country Chapter monthly meeting – program to be announced
October 20
Big Country Chapter monthly meeting – program to be announced
Certifications and awards for the 3rd quarter
October 21-23
Texas Master Naturalists State Conference at Mo Ranch
November 1
Graduation dinner for the 2011 Fall Interns!
November 17
Big Country Chapter monthly meeting – program to be announced
December 15
Big Country Chapter Christmas Party!
Certifications and awards for the 4th quarter
Support the Bobwhite Brigade
Dear Master Naturalist,
Every year the Big Country Chapter has made an effort to support the Texas Brigades by
showing up and assisting with feeding the kids and Instructors at the Rolling Plains Bobwhite Brigade.
The best day for providing assistance is on Saturday, June 18 -- we can always use help
around lunch and dinner time.
I cannot tell you how profound of an impact this camp has had hundreds of young adults
and everyone I have ever known to be associated with it; you really need to experience it
yourself even if only for a few hours.
The Brigade is scheduled for June 18-22 at The Centennial Lodge; directions are below.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me and I will try to answer any specific questions you may have.
(Russ Hayward, rhayward@sbcglobal.net).
Centennial Lodge is located in Valera TX, 2998 FM 503, Talpa, TX 76882
From Abilene: Take US 84
south to Coleman. At
Coleman, TX 206 joins in ;
follow TX 206 into Coleman. When TX 206 intersects TX 153 (there is a
traffic light) in Coleman,
take TX 153 west toward
Winters. Drive approximately 6 miles to FM 503.
Turn left and drive 4 miles.
Centennial Lodge will be
on right.
From Austin: Take US 71
through Llano and on into
Brady, TX. In Brady take
US 87 toward San Angelo.
Drive 4 miles and turn right
on US 283. Santa Anna, TX
(approximately 44 miles).
Turn left on US 84/US 67.
Stay on US 67 until you
reach Valera, TX. Turn right
on FM 503 and drive 3
miles. Centennial Lodge will
be on left.
(Submitted by Russ Hayward)
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T H E P R I C KL Y P E A R
Master Gardeners and Naturalists Sponsor Seminars
Seed Collecting and Plant Identification Seminar, May 6, 2011
The Big Country Master Gardeners and the Big Country Master Naturalists jointly sponsored a Seed Collecting and Plant Identification Seminar May 6. Michael Eason with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas gave the
training presentations and then led us on a field trip just south of Dyess Air Force Base. In a ―normal‖ year, Michael would
have taught us how to collect the seeds and the plants that produced them. With the extended drought, Flo Oxley at the Wildflower Center decided that no seeds should be collected as all seeds will be needed for next year‘s germination. On our field
trip, Michael did collect a couple ―common‖ plants (like prickly pear cactus and hackberry) and demonstrated how to take GPS
readings, fill out the data form, and press the plants in a plant press.
Fourteen people from both groups attended the training.
Michael Eason will be returning to Abilene for a Plants of the Big Country field trip. Field trip details are being formulated. All
Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners will be invited to join in the field trip even if they did not attend the seminar.
Invasive Plants of Texas Seminar, May 7, 2011
The Big Country Master Gardeners and the Big Country Master Naturalists jointly sponsored an Invasive Plants of Texas Seminar May 7. Travis Gallo with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas gave the training presentations including how to register on the Texas Invasives website and enter data on one‘s finds. The ―good‖ thing about invasives
is that they are all around us, including in the city. After lunch, we went to the banks of Lytle Creek just southeast of Loop 322.
On the walk to the creek and along the bank, each of us was able to identify a different invasive plant. Our homework was to
go home, create an account at the TexasInvasives.org website, and enter our finds.
Around fourteen people from both groups attended this training; some new people and some returning people.
Travis has a contest for the Big Country where the first person to correctly identify and enter 75 invasives will win a Garmin ETrek handheld GPS. Good Hunting!
(Submitted by Judy Hetherington)
Page 3
T H E P R I C KL Y P E A R
Videotaping for TPWD Lone Star
Land Steward for Rob Hailey
April 28, some Big Country Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners were invited to assist with the videotaping of a session with Rob Hailey. The videotape was edited and shown at the May 25 award presentation ceremony. The Master
Naturalists participating (in addition to Rob Hailey, of course) were Russ and Carol Hayward, Roger Clark, Phil Watkins,
and Judy Hetherington. The Master Gardener participating (in addition to Rob Hailey) was Mary Perkins.
Before we arrived, Rob and Whitney Bishop, the TPWD videographer, spent the morning at various locations around the
ranch. The previous day, Rocky Vinson (Agrilife Extension agent) and Ricky Linex (NRCS Regional Biologist) had their
session with Rob and Whitney. Roger Clark drove the ladies in his truck and amused us with his control panel.
Roger explained that the ―Passenger Eject‖ button
was for Aggies that spent too much time talking
about how great Aggies are.
The videographer had Rob talk to us as he would in one of
his ―normal‖ teaching modes. Here he is pointing out skunk
bush.
(at left) Judy, Roger, and
Russ watch Whitney unload
her video equipment
(continued, next page)
(Submitted by Judy Hetherington. Photos by Carol Hayward and Roger Clark)
Page 4
T H E P R I C KL Y P E A R
Videotaping for TPWD Lone Star
Land Steward for Rob Hailey (Continued)
Page 5
T H E P R I C KL Y P E A R
Native Plant of the Month: Indian Blanket
Gaillardia pulchella (Member of the Asteraceae Family)
The Indian Blanket, or Firewheel, is very easy to grow and produces a great splash of color in your garden or in the wild. It begins blooming in the spring and continues up to the first frost if it is
watered. It is highly recommended as the first plant in your native
bed or meadow, particularly if you are trying to re-vegetate wornout land.
The Indian Blanket is an annual that is sown by seed in the fall,
but can also be transplanted in fall or winter. It grows in most soil
types (sand, loam, clay; acid or calcareous) as long as it is well
drained. The seed must be in contact with soil to germinate. It
grows statewide except in the driest areas and in forests. The
Indian Blanket is the state wildflower of Oklahoma.
The plant can be somewhat bushy, 1-2‘ tall if blessed by rain or water. All branches stem from the base of the plant.
Flower heads are 1½-2‖ across, one on each main stem, which may be 4-8‖ long. The color is predominantly red or
orange with a yellow scalloped edge although Indian blankets can occur in cream, peach, and white variations.
The plant grows to 1‘-2‘ tall and has oblanceolate leaves
(lance-shaped but broadest above the middle and tapering
toward the base) that are 1-3 ½ ― long. This picture shows
the seed head after the petals have fallen off but before
the seeds are ripe.
Gaillardias are ―blowers,‖ distributing their seeds with
the power of the wind. The seeds are attached to thin
filaments that catch the wind and are then carried away
from the mother plant. How far they are carried depends upon the strength of the wind.
(Submitted by Judy Hetherington
Photos by Judy Hetherington)
Page 6
T H E P R I C KL Y P E A R
Rodney’s Corner
Bird of the Month:
Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo
swainsoni)
A medium-sized hawk of western US, the Swainson‘s
Hawk can be found in open grasslands and savannahs.
The Swainson's Hawk has one of the longest migration
routes of any hawk — from Canada to Argentina — and
they congregate in the thousands. It feeds on rodents during the breeding season; however other times it feeds on
insects such as grasshoppers and dragonflies. This
March I was plowing one of my fields and the Swainson's
Hawks started showing up — I counted at least 20. The
same thing happened a couple of years ago; both the light
and dark morphs were present.
Butterfly of the Month Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
The Common Buckeye is a resident of the southern US and along the coasts
of North Carolina and northern California. Host plants include members of
the snapdragon, plantain and acanthus families. They are common visitors to
Melissa's butterfly garden.
Word of the Month
Alula (Latin — diminutive of ala or wing). The first digit or ―thumb‖ of a bird‘s wing.
(Submitted by Rodney Sturdivant)
Page 7
T H E P R I C KL Y P E A R
Storm Damage and Its Cumulative Effects
Since it's spring time and the area that I live in has been subject to some particularly vicious spring storms,
the effects of these storms on trees have been both on my mind and easy to observe.
As I have studied and learned more about trees, I have come to realize that storm damage to trees is more of
a cumulative effect than people normally realize. Of course if a tree is blown over, or missing a large chunk of
its canopy, that is certainly obvious damage, and in the case of the plants that are still standing but with big
pieces gone, something that will have an immediate effect on the plant. While a large branch missing is certainly going to change the life of a tree, I would class that as immediate damage, and not cumulative.
A late freeze that catches a tree after it has bloomed and/or leafed out will cause a tree to use stored reserves to try and repair the harm done to it by cold weather. If a tree is reasonably healthy, the appearance
may be that it just refoliates, goes on with life, and other than a little burn back, no real harm done. In fact, the
reserves that allow a tree to do that may have taken months or years to accumulate, and now those reserves
are going to need to be replaced. This is going to cause stress in the plant. Since most things that pick on
trees affect stressed trees much more easily than happy vigorous ones, that simple late freeze may be the
start of a cycle of stress and decline that could last for years, or even possibly result in the death of the tree.
By the way, one of the stress factors on trees is very often other trees. There is no such thing as a "good natured" tree that won't take advantage of a neighbor's weakness. If one tree is growing a little less vigorously, I
assure you the other trees are going to try to get over it and "take" the newly available sunlight.
When a large hail storm passes through a wooded area, the leaves that get knocked off the trees and are lying on the ground are pretty easy to spot, and it doesn't take a Ph.D. to figure out that the sudden loss of foliage is a stress factor. What isn't nearly as easy to see is the damage that was probably done to the cambium
on the smaller branches. This cambial damage is much more serious to a tree than the loss of a small percentage of foliage. On top of that, for the tree to get past that damage, it is going to have to grow over and
around the dead cambium. That process could take years, and if another large hail storm strikes during that
process, it's kind of back to square one.
A very interesting effect of the relationship between trees and weather is in the maturity levels of forests. As
most of the people reading this will be aware, forests have a youth, "middle age," and mature form. Left to its
own devices a forest will eventually mature to the point where one type of tree or a particular mix of trees will
make up almost all of the forest. There are a lot of factors that influence what species of trees ultimately rule a
particular forest, but I would suggest that the ability to withstand whatever kinds of severe weather a certain
area is prone to would be one of the largest, if not the largest, factors in which species are the ultimate winners and losers.
(Submitted by Bruce Keitler)
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T H E P R I C KL Y P E A R
First “Horny Toad” Hunt of the Year
Our first hunt of the year was Saturday, May 14 at
Roger Clark‘s Ranch just outside Stamford, Texas. If
you remember, we had a cold front move through the
Big Country Area the night before and the high that day
was supposed to be only 79 degrees.
Three of us made the hunt. I met Sarah at the zoo
parking lot. After she threw her stuff in my pickup, we
drove to Roger‘s office in Stamford, where he had hot
coffee and a bathroom break for us coffee drinkers.
Shortly after our pit stop we followed Roger out to one
of his family ranches. As all of you know, Roger is big
in quail, so he has set up a three-mile transect across
his ranch, which means all we had to do was follow the
road along the transect and watch his GPS for Red Ant
Bed locations which he had already stored in the GPS.
As we worked our way along the transect, it was obvious that, because of the cold temperature and early
season, the horned lizards were not out for us to admire. We worked until noon and found many perfect habitats and ant beds, but no lizards.
Roger‘s Diner and Relief Station
So, at noon, Roger suggested that we drive up the road to the stock tank to eat our lunch. As we approached the area we
could see that Roger had brought his nice travel trailer out to the ranch so that we would have a place to eat and make
needed pit stops. I told Roger that toad hunting will never the same.
After lunch we went back to the catch pens area because that was such a perfect habitat, and, behold, there was lizard scat.
You have never seen three grown adults so excited over ‗‘horny toad poop.‘‘ We measured it, documented GPS readings and
took pictures as our success for the day. We also searched the area again but did not find the elusive toad that made the deposit.
At about 2:30 p.m. we decided to give up the hunt. So Roger, being the great host he is, led us out to a paved road, which
was a short cut home.
After the ride to Abilene, I dropped Sarah at her Jeep. And as I rolled up in my driveway my cell phone rang — it was Roger
laughing. Roger had gone back to the ranch and hooked into the travel trailer. And as he raised the steps up into the travel
position, there sat the only horny toad we would have seen for the day. We had left with all the measuring equipment; therefore our lizard will live on the run until next month‘s toad hunt.
Measuring horned lizard scat
Red Ant Bed
(Submitted by Phil Watkins. Photos by Sarah Krieschnick)
Page 9
T H E P R I C KL Y P E A R
Workday at Rob Hailey’s after the Fire
On Sunday afternoon, April 17, at 3 p.m., I called Rob Hailey from the Dallas Fort Worth Airport as I knew there had been fires
in his area and I wanted to make sure he was okay. Our friends south of Robert Lee had over 95% of their ranch burned
in the Wildcat Fire. Rob said he was fine and there were no fires in his area. Thirty minutes later some idiot set a fire on
the roadside in front of the Hailey Ranch. ―Only‖ 100 acres burned but that included the crucial half acre that contained
the house his grandfather built, the barn, and other outbuildings and equipment. Almost immediately Rob started receiving calls and offers of help. Robert Pritz took over the job to coordinate the Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists
who wanted to help. Rob decided April 30 was the best date for the effort. On that day, over 35 people with tools and
equipment showed up. Rob was overwhelmed with this show of support. Rob supplied face masks, water, soft drinks,
and lunch for all the workers. It was hard work, particularly with all the ash around, but everyone seemed glad they had
come to help Rob.
Rob will be building a new house and outbuildings, but they will be farther away from the road.
Master Naturalists that came to help included Joy and Scott Harsh, Roger Clark, Rodney Sturdivant, Jean Dotson, and
Brian and Judy Hetherington. The Master Gardeners were there too.
Follow this link to see the article in the Abilene-Reporter News (HELPING HANDS: Neighbors and friends gather to
clean up after Big Country fire http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/may/06/helping-hands/)
(Submitted by Judy Hetherington. Photos by Roger Clark)
Hailey Ranch Cleanup (continued from previous page)
Earth Day at the Zoo
The Abilene Zoo celebrated Earth Day on April 16th with many people of all ages joining in the fun. They
came early and continued to arrive steadily all day. The Master Naturalist booth was set up at a prime spot
just inside the entrance of the zoo, by Joy Harsh (zoo curator--who made the arrangements for this event),
Scott Harsh, and Sarah Kieschnick. Our Master Naturalist tri-fold poster drew a lot of attention. Shannon
Roysden, Scott Harsh, and Carol Danko had fun helping the ―children of all ages‖ make colorful toad abodes
and critter condos out of terracotta pots. Each child was told how he or she could help to provide shelter and
perhaps a ―home‖ for insects and toads in their gardens. The presence of the ―bugs‖ and toads in their gardens would also help in breaking up the soil and even provide some fertilizer as well. 102 children and 55
adults, totaling 157 visitors stopped by our booth. We also had 7 adults sign up as prospective interns for our
Fall Master Naturalist class who were encouraged to take home the free literature provided. This event was a
huge success and we hope to repeat it next year!
(Submitted by Carol Danko)
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T H E P R I C KL Y P E A R
The Prickly Pear is produced every two
months by
Big Country Chapter —
Texas Master Naturalist
Taylor County Extension Office
1982 Lytle Way
Abilene, TX 79602
To make comments or to suggest content for
future issues, please contact Mary Burrows by
email at mary.burrows@dishmail.net
Are you interested in a field trip to the Big Bend area?
Michael Eason with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has offered to go with us on a field trip to the Big Bend area to
identify plants and enjoy the scenery. Michael works closely with the Nature Conservancy and believes that they will let us
stay in their bunkhouses.
The field trip would be 3-5 days long due to the distance to get there.
If you are interested, please let Judy Hetherington (heth76933@gmail.com) know when you‘d prefer to go and how many people would go with you.
(Submitted by Judy Hetherington)