FIELD NOTES Meeting November 28Th, 2012
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Capital Area Master Naturalists 2012 FIELD NOTES Meeting November 28th, 2012. Skip Hobie, a photographer with National Geographic, will be treating us to an extraordinary trip around the world. “Skip’s Wild Life” or the “Adventures of a Wildlife Filmmaker” is going to be an incredible event, so come early and stay late! Regular Monthly Meetings are normally the last Wednesday of each month (except December when we do not meet) and are held at 6:30, at the Austin Nature and Science Center, Zilker Park Map to Austin Nature Center http://bit.ly/hJ2Pli. All meetings are open to the public so bring a friend! CAMN Board Meeting Join the Board of Directors for a spirited discussion about CAMN business at our next meeting on January 3rd, 2013. Contact any Board Member for more details and for the location of the meeting. Volunteer and Well Done Jan! Advanced Training For years now I have been trying to information by some of the top lecturers in Opportunities persuade CAMNers to attend the Texas the State. Next months Field Notes will have Visit the CAMN website at http:// Master Naturalists Annual State Conference more articles and personal reflections from camn.org/ and log in to the CAMN and this year we had a very good showing! members who attended. Volunteer Calendar to start fulfilling those Jan Roset won first prize in the painting The 2013 TMN Conference will be in volunteer hours. category and we should all be so proud of New Braunfels towards the end of October her! I know I am. Find out what Jan has to and I hope many of you will think about say about her painting and the conference on going. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. page 2. Visit the CAMN yahoo group The Conference is always a lot of fun and Christine Powell for On-line networking a great way to meet like-minded people from CAMN President, 2012-13 all over the State and get lots of incredible CAMN FIELD NOTES ! !! OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012! !! 1 In This Issue Sighting From the President 1 Winning the Prize 2 Congratulations 3 Splitting Hares 4 A Swift Night Out 5 Master Naturalists Join Whooper Watch 6 Bat Fest 2012 7 Goldenrod Bliss 9 A Toad in the Hole! 12 Horse Feathers 15 CAMN’rs at Work 16 Damianeta 17 Shapeshifting 18 Cut Your Carbon and Keep Your Cool 21 Episode 77: Colorado River Hawk Watch 23 Episode 78: Four Boats on the Water 24 CAP Officers and Committee Contacts 25 Attending the annual Texas Master Naturalist Conference near Navasota was a wonderful experience. Camp Allen was beautiful, well hidden in the piney woods. There were so many amazing people sharing great information. At Christine's request (our President), I brought a painting for the art show. I had already planned on bringing a print for the silent auction. Christine had not seen my art and I was a wee bit hesitant to submit a piece since I am an purely abstract oil painter. However, my fate was clinched when I noticed that a lecture was titled "It Ain't Easy Being Green" (on Texas Conservation Issues). The very same title of the print I was to submitting. Now I had to bring the original painting of the print. Needless to say my painting was the only abstract. There were several art categories (sewing, photography, sculpture and painting) that were to be judged by selected jurors and the TMN members at large On the last day of the conference winners of the art show were announced. My painting popped up on the slide show as 1st prize selected by the jurors but it was upside down (not too surprised) but another artist's name was announced. Which left me in a bit of confusion. At the end of the presentation, I inquired about the confusion. Yes, I did get the honor. One happy camper. But what really blew me away is that I finally told some of my newly found friends and they loved the painting and had voted for it. Awesome. By the way, this particular painting was exhibited at Austin City Hall in the mayor's office for a year, a nice honor. Every year about 100+ pieces of local artwork is selected for exhibition at city hall, a terrific program. "It Ain't Easy Being Green", Oil on Canvas by Jan Middleton Roset. If you'd like to see more of my art please visit my website at janroset.com. CAMN FIELD NOTES ! !! OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012! !! 2 Field Arrival: Christine Powell Congratulations! It is with great joy CAMN and the Class of 2012 welcomes a new and very small member. I cannot begin to tell you what an incredible asset Jennie Hoelscher is to us all. While very pregnant Jennie proved to be a wonderful sport who turned up in the heat of the summer to help Dale, Heike, and me build an insect motel as an outreach project. Jennie has a wonderful sense of humor and took all our ribbing during the 2012 classes with the good nature it was intended. Jennie is even arranging one of the 2013 classes - what a gal! Congratulations, Jennie, and thank you for all you do… and a fabulous hello to Rory! Babies Abound this Summer Say hello to CAMN's newest junior naturalist, Rory, who arrived this summer after attending all of the spring CAMN classes (in utero) with me. A week after welcoming our sweet boy, we also welcomed these two white winged dove chicks, who nested on our front porch and launched their first flights from the rain gutter as Rory and I looked on in awe. -Jennie Hoelscher Austin Butterfly Forum Club Meeting: Monday November 26, 2012. Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 2220 Barton Springs Rd. 7:00 p.m. Free. Member's Show and Tell. Club members have 5-10 minutes to show photos or to tell about memorable butterfly (and other insect) encounters from the year. This is always one of the best meetings of the year. We have a laptop and projector, so just bring your flash drive. This is always one of the best meetings of the year. We have a laptop and projector, so just bring your flash drive. The coordinator is Dan Hardy, [email protected]. Everyone is welcome. Come join us! Upcoming events: No regular meeting in December. Our next regular meeting will be Monday, January 28, 2013. For details on these events and upcoming meetings and field trips, see http://www.austinbutterflies.org/Calendar. CAMN FIELD NOTES ! !! OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2012! !! 3 Field Prep: by Jim and Lynne Weber Splitting Hares Colloquially known as ‘bunnies’, rabbits and hares are small mammals that can be found in a variety of habitats, including meadows, woodlands, grasslands, deserts, and even wetlands. But did you know that there are true differences between rabbits and hares? Rabbits are clearly distinguished from hares in that rabbits typically have young that are born blind and hairless (altricial) and hares have young that are born with hair and able to see (precocial). Since young hares are well camouflaged and mobile Swamp Rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) within minutes of being born, the mother does not protect them and is with them only long enough to nurse. Rabbits, the water, this rabbit’s dense fur helps to waterproof its skin, other than cottontails, live underground in burrows, but and unlike other rabbits it will cross streams and rivers on its cottontails, like hares, live in simple grass nests above the own. Also unlike other rabbits, its young have fur at birth but ground called ‘forms.’ Unlike rabbits, hares usually do not live in their eyes and ears are closed. groups (although a group of hares is called a ‘drove’) and they Eastern Cottontails are the most common rabbit in the are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears and black eastern three-fourths of Texas and are moderately large with markings on their fur. Hares are also called jackrabbits, as they rusty-brown fur, relatively short ears, and large hind feet. These are very quick and can run up to speeds of 45 miles per hour! cottontails commonly frequent brush-dotted pastures and are They have jointed or kinetic skulls, which are unique among active largely in the twilight hours and at night, when they mammals. This joint permits relative motion between the venture out to meadows or lawns to forage. They often live at anterior and posterior part of the skull’s braincase, helping to the edges of town and feed in gardens and flower beds, and are absorb the G-force created as the hare strikes its powerful hind common along country roads lined with dense vegetation. legs with impact against the ground. Eastern Cottontails are prolific breeders, and can have as many In our area of Texas you can find the Swamp Rabbit as four or five litters throughout the year. (Sylvilagus aquaticus), the Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus The Black-tailed Jackrabbit, also known as the Desert Hare, floridanus), and the Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus calfornicus). reaches a length of about two feet and weighs from three to six Living in the eastern third of our state and one of the largest pounds. Its distinctive long ears and powerful rear legs cottontails in its range, the Swamp Rabbit inhabits poorly distinguish it as a hare. With dorsal fur that is dark buff drained river bottoms and marshes. Its upper parts are grayish- peppered with black and an underside of creamy white, its black brown heavily lined with black with a white underside and markings are found on the tips of its ears and the top of its short cinnamon-colored front legs and tops of hind feet.