Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.  – Henry Van Dyke

And another spin on this idea, with thanks to Jim McIntosh:
Never be afraid to try. Remember: amateurs built the Ark; professionals built the Titanic.

Jokes about unemployed people are not funny. They just don’t work.

What do you call the soft tissue between a shark’s teeth? The slow swimmer.

If alcohol influences short-term memory, what does alcohol do?

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Thanks to all the contributors who have shared the following terrific links and resources! Do you have a favorite book, movie, website, field guide, app, or other nature-related news or resource you’d like to share? Write a brief description and send it to nature_links@yahoo.com – we’ll help spread the word.

Fireflies – worth a second look. Thanks to Mike Quinn & Ben Pfeiffer for this link to identification pics of common fireflies:      http://texasento.net/TXLampyridae.html

Book Review: North Central Texas Wildflowers: Field Guide by Mary Curry
With thanks to Kathy Saucier; abridged from her book review in the August Native Plant Society newsletter.

We in North Texas have had the Shinners & Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas, published by BRIT, but it is a heavy volume. Now we finally have a field guide we can carry with us, with color photos and identifying features highlighted.

Mary Curry worked with Shirley Lusk, the [NPSOT] Charles Leonard Weddle Award winner, who has been studying plants in the field and working with BRIT for a very long time. Shirley knows where the plants are, what makes them what they are and she knows private land owners in multiple counties which helped Mary learn, photograph and produce a guide such as this. This book also preserves the vast knowledge that Shirley has passed along to every person that has ever hiked with her.  Thank you Mary!

The layout of each page in the book includes bloom time in months of the year highlighted at the top, common name and scientific name, annual, perennial or if non-native. Each has 3 – 5 photos showing whole plant, flower, leaves, hairs or whatever feature is helpful for identification. Then at the bottom, in bullet form, a list of features about the plant, like growth form, features, soil or habitat type, and so forth. Mary learned photography techniques and equipment use in her journey to capture the almost 340 species she has put in this book. And she didn’t just take pretty pictures. She also focused on parts of the plants that are important to know for proper identification between one species and another. Each species also has a reference to a page number from Shinners & Mahler’s Flora.

For so long, we have needed a guide for North Central Texas and the vast species we have up here. Now we have a guide specific for our area, and well worth the investment. It can be obtained through Amazon.

Upcoming activities: Sept. 1-17, 2016. For more information, see http://public.ntmn.org/calendar or websites and other contact information as listed. Are you part of a group that offers environmental education & outreach to the public? Please use this e-mail – nature_links@yahoo.com – to submit upcoming activities for inclusion in Jim’s This & That.

Acronyms used herein:
BPTMN = Blackland Prairie (Chapter) Texas Master Naturalist (Collin Co.)
BRIT = Botanical Research Institute of Texas
CRP = Cedar Ridge Preserve
CTMN = Cross Timbers Master Naturalists (Tarrant County)
DCAC = Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center
FTLOTL = For the Love of the Lake (White Rock Lake)
FWAS = Ft. Worth Audubon Society
Hagerman NWR = National Wildlife Refuge
ITMN = Indian Trails Master Naturalists (Ellis Co.)
JBSWC = John Bunker Sands Wetland Center
LLELA = Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area
MM = monthly meeting
NPSOT = Native Plant Society of Texas
NTC =  North Texas Chapter (Also NTMN) of Texas Master Naturalists
PS-SCF = Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest
RUN = Richardson Urban Naturalist
TDG = Texas Discovery Gardens
TMN = (Texas) Master Naturalist
TRAC = Trinity River Audubon Center