Jim’s This & That is a personal communication, begun by avid naturalist Jim Varnum, which strives to fulfill Jim’s vision of connecting individuals interested in the natural world — primarily in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area — with each other and with resources to increase an appreciation of nature. If you have comments and questions about its content, or wish to receive – or not receive – Jim’s This & That
e-mails, please contact Dana Wilson nature_links@yahoo.com.
e-mails, please contact Dana Wilson nature_links@yahoo.com.
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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.
Never be afraid to try. Remember: amateurs built the Ark; professionals built the Titanic.
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YuckYuckYuck… Keep ‘em coming, Kip…
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.
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Orchids 2016 Update…and Beyond…
This 13th year of the Hexalectris orchid survey was a great success! In total, we found 515 orchids: 9 H. arizonicas; 160 H. nitidas; 18 H. spicatas; and 327 H. warnockiis. Thanks to the season-long intrepid orchid hunters – NT Master Naturalists Mike and Sue Jay, Tom Willard, Marcie Haley, Jim MacIntosh, Christine Wordlaw, and John Wilt, and the final-day additions Sam and Elizabeth Kiesnick, Dana Wilson and Elizabeth and Samantha. They are a great team. Thank you all!!!!!
The 2017 season will begin about the 4th week of May and will run through Friday, July 21st. I invite other Master Naturalists and interested nature-lovers to consider joining the team next summer. You won’t regret it!
Hexalectrically yours,
Stephanie Varnum
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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
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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.
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.
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Upcoming activities: Sept. 1-17, 2016. For more information, see https://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.
9.1.16
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6:30pm
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North Central Texas (Ft. Worth) NPSOT: Amy Martin and “Itchy Business” (poison ivy)
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9.2.16
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1 PM CST
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AgriLife Extension: “All Bugs Good and Bad 2016” Webinar Series – Snake Identification
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9.3.16
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9am-2pm
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Blackland Prairie Raptor Center – monthly 1st Saturday event.
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9.3.16
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7 am
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Connemara Bird Walk with Gailon Brehm and Rodney Thomas
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9.3.16
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7-9am
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JBSWC – Beginner/Intermediate Birding
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9.3.16
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7:45-9:45am
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LLELA migratory bird banding
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Registration required. ?s to lcole@cityoflewisville.com, or call 972.219.3550
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9.3.16
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10am-12pm
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LLELA monthly nature walk
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9.3.16
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9am-12pm
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BRIT Free First Saturday
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Brit.org
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9.5.16 –
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10-11am
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Heard Museum: Butterfly Survival Strategies
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9.6.16
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7-8:30pm
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NPSOT-Collin County – Annual members’ “Show and Tell” (garden successes)
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9.6.16
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7-8:30pm
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Preservation Soc. For Spring Creek Forest- monthly meeting – “Monarchs”
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N. Garland Branch Library
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9.6.16
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6:30 – 8pm
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NPAT Blackland Chapter – Speaker TBA as of 8.29.16
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9.6.16
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12-1pm
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BRIT Brown Bag series: Conservation Ranching and Land Stewardship
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Brit.org
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9.7.16
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9-11:30am
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LBJ National Grasslands (Decatur) birding excursion
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RSVP and get exact meeting location: startaglino@me.com; 940.210.9120
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9.7.16
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7-8:30pm
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NTMN monthly meeting – Gilbert Martinez (TRAC) – Common Amphibians of North Texas
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www.ntmn.org
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9.7.16
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7-8pm
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Arlington Conservation Council: Birding in Costa Rica & Arlington
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9.8.16
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6:50 pm (bird ID);
7:30pm meeting
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FWAS – Birding in Colombia
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www.fwas.org
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9.10.16
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8am
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Hagerman NWR – early morning birding
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9.10.16
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10am
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Hagerman NWR 2nd Sat Event – Fossils by Diane Brownlee.
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9.10.16
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8 am
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PTAS – Heard bird walk with Gailon Brehm & Rodney Thomas
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9.10.16
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9-11am
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Preservation Soc. For Spring Creek Forest work session. 1770 Holford Road (east side, circular parking lot), Garland.
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9.10.16
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7:30-10am
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LLELA bird walk (all ages and skill levels welcome)
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9.10.16
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7:30-9:30pm
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LLELA night hike
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Registration required. ?s to lcole@cityoflewisville.com, or call 972.219.3550
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9.10.16
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9am-12pm
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TRAC – 2nd Saturday workday
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9.10.16
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10am-12pm
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Dallas Co. Lepidopterist Society monthly meeting (location TBA as of 8.31.16)
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9.10.16
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8am-12pm
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FTLOTL – second Saturday spruce-up
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9.12.16
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7-8pm
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NPAT Ft. Worth and Blackland Prairie chapters: “Teeming with Wildlife” intro. & update
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9.12.16
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6:30pm
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NPSOT – Tyler Chapter: Prairies in Northeast Texas by Kay Jenkins
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TPWD Tyler Nature Center 11942 FM 848, Tyler, TX 75707
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9.13.16
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7-8pm
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BPTMN monthly meeting: Indian Marker Trees (Steve Houser), Heard Museum
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9.14.16
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10-11am
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Guided plant walk at Oak Point Nature Center (Plano)
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972-941-5414
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9.15.16
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10:30-11:30am
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EFCMC – spiders & plants
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9.15.16
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Audubon Dallas: Tracking Fire and Wolves Through the Canadian Rockies.
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http://www.audubondallas.org/activities/programs/
Note! New meeting location: Half Price Books —- 5803 Northwest Hwy, Dallas, TX 75231
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9.15.16
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9am-12pm
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TDG workday
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9.17.16
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9am
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ITMN wildflower walk, Mockingbird Nature Park, 1361 Onward Road (off Mockingbird Lane), Midlothian TX.
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9.17.16
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8-11am
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Cedar Ridge Preserve workday
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9.17.16
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10am-12pm
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Tree ID at Coppell Biodiversity Education Center
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9.17.16
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9am-12pm
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TDG workday
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9.17.16
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9:30-11am
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Hagerman NWR butterfly walk
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9.17.16
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10am
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Bunker’s Pond Trail Walk
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9.17.16
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9am-3pm
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TPWD – Aquatic WILD Workshop
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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
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