T e x a s M a s t e r N a t u r a l i s t – C r a d l e o f T e x a s C h a p t e r

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A MessageC from h athe pPresident t e r N e w s

March – “In like a lion, out like a lamb.” event designed for our As I thought of this centuries-old saying, I partner conservation CONTENTS wondered about its history. My research led organizations to pre- Page 1 me to a naturalist, John Ray (1627–1705), sent volunteer service President’s Message Page 2 who wrote, “March hack ham [hackande = projects that need volunteers from a dis- Upcoming General Meeting annoying] comes in like a lion, goes out like Page 3 a lamb.” This is published in the “Catalogue tance or virtually. If you were unable to Membership Data Report; of English Proverbs” in 1670. The phrase attend, you can review all the videos of the COT and Adopt-a-Loop “March came in like a lion” shows up in presentations on the State Master Naturalist Page 4 website. There is a wide variety of volunteer Ames Almanac in 1740. President’s Message, contd.; activities, and perhaps you might find Where Do Members Live? The Farmers’ Almanac states the proverb something that fits your interests, skills and Page 5 stems from ancient beliefs in balance, timeframe. In addition, you can get A Note From the Chapter meaning weather at the start of the month volunteer hours by reviewing the recorded Librarian was bad, like a roaring lion, but will end with presentations. Check it out at Page 6 Brazoria County History: Surfside good weather, gentle, like a lamb. A https://tinyurl.com/feb2021volunteerfair favorite theory (which fits the Almanac) is Mudflats and Salt Marshes (reprint 2020 Certification, Recertification and from December 2014 issue) that the proverb is based on astronomy and Milestone Pins Page 7 the positions of the constellations. At the All 2020 pins will be delivered/picked up March #TMNTuesdays beginning of the year, we have Leo the as soon as pins are received from the State Lion (eastern horizon); by the end of March, Office. The chart on page 4 lists City Czars it is Aries the Ram (western horizon). responsible for contacting recipients either Of course, the Almanac has many other for delivery or to set up a pickup point and https://facebook.com/TMN.COT March proverbs in its archives. Here are a time. Below is a 2020 milestone summary. couple that have lasted through the ages: Chapter News is published by Texas 2020 Hours # of Recipients Master Naturalist Cradle of Texas • So many mists in March you see, so Chapter. Contact us at: many frosts in May will be. 250 8 Texas A&M AgriLIFE • March comes in with adders’ heads and 500 7 Brazoria County Office goes out with peacocks’ tails. 21017 County Road 171 1000 4 Angleton, TX 77515-8903 Even though our horrible weather 979-864-1558 (Angleton) occurred toward the end of February, I am 2500 2 979-388-1558 (Brazosport) 4000 2 281-756-1558 (Alvin) hopeful that March will transition into a long 979-388-1566 (Fax) and warm spring. 5000 1 https://txmn.org/tmncot/ [email protected] Virtual Volunteer Fair 10,000 0 The Master Naturalist State Office hosted The Texas Master Naturalist program nd rd 15,000 1 is coordinated by Texas A&M the 2 Virtual Volunteer Fair, February 3 AgriLIFE Ext. Svce. and Texas Parks and 4th, to assist Master Naturalists with Continued on page 4 and Wildlife Dept. volunteer hours due to limited opportunities TMN programs serve all people Mickey Dufilho is the president of the Cradle of Texas without regard to socio-economic level, during the pandemic. This was an excellent Chapter. She can be reached at [email protected]. race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, . or national origin. Masthead photo by Charles Jesse REMINDERS Miller Jr.

• Pay your 2021 dues if you have not done so already. Texas Master Naturalist Program Cradle of Texas Chapter • Consider donating a book to the COT library! Chapter News – March 2021 T e x a s M a s t e r N a t u r a l i s t – C r a d l e o f T e x a s — C h a p t e r N e w s

Texas Master Naturalist Program—Cradle of Texas Chapter General Meeting and Advanced Training Wednesday, March 10, 2021, 9 AM Via email meeting invite to Texas AgriLIFE Extension Service’s Microsoft Teams Meeting license

9:00 AM – 9:10 AM Welcome and Meeting Participation Notes

Nature Notes 9:10 AM – 9:30 AM Speaker: Bob Whitmarsh Topic: “Side Oats Grama” 9:30 AM – 10:15 AM Advanced Training Speaker: Melanie Hollenshead, COT member Topic: “Basic Spider Biology” [Hours for Advanced Training (AT) TBD at close of meeting] 10:15 AM – 11:00 AM General Membership Meeting [Hours for Volunteer Time (VT) TBD at close of meeting]

Melanie Hollenshead is a retired In 1940, Gertsch and Muliak Chemical Engineer from the Hoechst published the first list of spiders Celanese Corporation. She in Texas. They described 17 specialized in long-term employee new species in nine families and health and safety. Melanie has provided distributions in select always loved creatures of all families. kinds. She was for a decade a Texas Bea Vogel published a “Bibliography of Texas Spiders” Permitted Wildlife Rehabilitator in 1970 based on literature specializing in bats, opossums, records. Her list included 582 squirrels and other small species but underestimated the mammals. Currently, she is happily diversity of Texas spiders. studying spiders and leading the David Allen Dean’s 2016 Citizen’s Science project, “A “Catalogue of Texas Spiders” Melanie Hollenshead Comprehensive Survey of the lists 1,084 species in 311 genera Spiders of Brazoria County, Texas.” from 53 families and is based on Melanie has been a TMN-COT Vogel’s 1970 work. member since 2019. Many taxonomic revisions A Student Guide for Melanie’s have since been published. Hopefully, COT members can presentation has been posted to the contribute via Hollenshead’s “A COT website at Comprehensive Survey of the Student Notes for Spider Presentation Spiders of Brazoria County.” Source: https://tinyurl.com/spiders-NCBI NOTES: • Stay tuned for information and instructions via email in order to “attend” the March virtual General Meeting. • Missing meetings because of trouble logging in? We miss you too! Contact John O’Connell at [email protected].

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MEMBERSHIP DATA REPORT by Dave Brandes, Data Manager

Congratulations to those achieving recertification and milestones as of February 28, 2021:

2020 Recertifications Impact Data YTD—28 February 2021 John Boettiger Vicki Kirby 169 Adults 43 Youth 212 Total Dave Brandes Lisa Myers Melanie Hollenshead Debbie Nance Larry Kirby Larry Peterson Hours Totals YTD—28 February 2021 2,168 Hours VT 534 Hours AT 1000 VT Hours Milestone Chip Sweet

COT TO PARTICIPATE IN TPWD’S ADOPT-A-LOOP

Adopt-a-Loop is an ongoing project of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Great Texas Wildlife Trails (GTWT). The GTWT consists of nine trails in five regions of Texas, and the nine trails consist of 124 trail loops with 920 viewing sites. Brazoria County has 26 sites on 5 loops: Bluewater Loop; Brazoria Loop; Clear Lake Loop; Coastal Plains Loop; and San Bernard Loop. The Bluewater Loop, Coastal Plains Loop, and the San Bernard Loop are all completely within Brazoria County. The Clear Lake Loop has sites that are within the boundaries of the Galveston/Bay Area and the Gulf Coast Chapters. The Brazoria Loop has sites that are within the boundaries of the Ft. Bend Chapter. There are three ways that chapter members can participate in Adopt-a-Loop: (1) Using the computer and phone, chapter members can verify that the information on the website is correct. This can be done for some of the sites. (2) Most of the sites will require in-person site visits. We are asked to make sure signs are still posted and that the site itself is still usable. We are also asked to report any other details we may observe while at the site. (3) There is a citizen science element to Adopt-a-Loop. The coordinator, Joshua Lee, would like us to make seasonal surveys of each site four times a year using iNaturalist and eBird to submit observations about wildlife at each site. For that purpose, there is now an iNaturalist Adopt-a-Loop Project where observations can be submitted. Joshua Lee ([email protected]) will provide a window sign from TPWD for each volunteer. It is expected that each site visit will take from 20-30 minutes to several hours (large state parks). Additional information: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/gtwt-adopt-a-loop If you would be interested in volunteering for one or more sites, please contact Debbie Nance at [email protected] or 281-898-8540.

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Continued from Page 1

City Czars for Distribution of 2020 Certification/Recertification and Milestone Pins CITY CZAR # OF 2020 CITIES IN BRAZORIA COUNTY RECERTIFICATIONS Factoid: Aspirin was John Boettiger 15 Part of Lake Jackson and others first derived from Oron Atkins 12 Part of Lake Jackson Bob Whitmarsh 12 Part of Lake Jackson willow bark during the Daveyon Edwards 3 Angleton time of Hippocrates, Kathy Pittman 11 Alvin and Rosharon when individuals Mickey Dufilho 7 Brazoria, West Columbia & Sweeny chewed the bark to Mary Schwartz 4 plus 1 Freeport, Clute & Initial Certification reduce fever and Larry Peterson 2 Manvel inflammation. Don Sabathier 1 Pearland 67 plus 1 Congratulations to everyone!

WHERE DO COT MEMBERS LIVE? By John Boettiger and Dave Brandes

Photo by Ann McLain

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A NOTE FROM THE CHAPTER LIBRARIAN By Debbie Nance

I’ve also researched what books about nature are good works to have in a nature library: 80 Best Books for Nature Lovers; Popular Nature Books on Goodreads; 69 Best Nature Books of All Time. I have visited the library of the Galveston/ Bay Area chapter. I will model our library after theirs. Our Agri-Life adviser, John O’Connell, has generously agreed to once again provide us with a convenient place to shelve the library. I plan to inventory the current collection after I receive my second vaccination in two weeks. I will be creating a simple system to check out and return books. I also plan to label all the books so that it will be apparent that the books are part of the library. I would love to obtain more books (and possibly other forms of media) for our library. Perhaps you have nature books in good condition that you no longer want. These could be nature guides or narrative nonfiction. All would be welcomed into our library. Perhaps you would be willing to buy a new book or two for our library. These would also be welcomed into our library. As a school librarian, I had a very successful program in which books were donated to the library in memory of staff members and the family of staff who passed away. The COT chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists has A book is a lovely way to remember those who have a library. Right now, the entire collection consists of a few passed on. I would be happy to restart this tradition COT small boxes of books. I have volunteered to reorganize had in the past. the library. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Or, even better, I’ve researched the libraries of other TMN chapters: books you want to donate? Email me at Books Read by the Galveston/Bay Area Heritage Book [email protected] or text at 281-898-8540. Study Group; Good Water Chapter Library; East Texas Chapter Library; Gulf Coast Chapter Library.

CALLING ALL PRESENTERS! By Kristine Rivers

Calling all presenters! Osher Lifelong Learning Workshops are usually 1-2 hours in length, and Institute (OLLI) in Angleton is again seeking instructors sessions are scheduled mid-day on weekdays. This for summer classes and workshops. OLLI presents summer, presentations will be virtual via Zoom, allowing higher education opportunities for adults 55 years of OLLI members in both Angleton and Galveston to age and older, and our chapter has been partnering participate. You are welcome to share an existing with them to offer presentations on various topics presentation or to create a new one, and since this is for related to the environment and protecting our natural the summer, you have a few months to prepare! You resources within Brazoria County. Prior subjects can earn VT both for working on the presentation and presented by our chapter members include birding, conducting the workshop. geology, Brazoria County history, micro-shelling, and If you have an idea for a topic, please reach out and more. let me know and I will coordinate with OLLI to get you This is a unique opportunity to earn Volunteer Time on the schedule: [email protected]. (VT) while sharing your passion with others!

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BRAZORIA COUNTY HISTORY: SURFSIDE MUD FLATS AND SALT MARSHES By Peggy and Pete Romfh; reprinted from December 2014 Chapter News From a satellite view, the mud flats along Bluewater Highway east of Surfside are nestled between the Intracoastal Waterway, Drum and Christmas Bays, and the Gulf of Mexico. From an on-the-ground view, what first appears as a flat wasteland of stunted plants, mud, and tidal pools explodes into a sea of color in fall and provides a smorgasbord for visiting bird and animal species. We enjoy photographing along the mud flats throughout the year, and there is always something new to see. Mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides near bays and estuaries. High tides and storms, as well as overspray, provide a salt concentration in the soil that allows only halophiles (salt-loving) species to flourish.

Drum Summer Wings on the Mud Flats, July 2013 Bay

Gulf of Mexico

Mud flats near Kayak Launch Site, The common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) lands on the Bluewater Highway East of Surfside. dry mud while the reddish egret (Egretta rufescens) does his fishing dance at the edge of Drum Bay.

Fall Colors, Texas Style November 2014

Top Row: Turtleweed (Batis maritima), Saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), Lavender Thrift (Limonium carolinianum). Bottom Row: Annual Seepweed (Seablight, Suaeda linearis), Creeping Glasswort (Salicornia depressa), and Eastern Pygmy Blue (Brephidium pseudofea). At right: Annual Glasswort (Salicornia bigelovii). Note that larva from the Pygmy Blue butterflies consume glasswort, saltbush and other salt-tolerant plants that grow along the coast. M a r c h 2021 – P a g e 6 T e x a s M a s t e r N a t u r a l i s t – C r a d l e o f T e x a s — C h a p t e r N e w s

Click here to register for the March #TMNTuesday

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Cradle of Texas Chapter Board President Mickey Dufilho, Brazoria Vice President/Programs Kathy Pittman, Rosharon Secretary Lisa Myers, Lake Jackson Treasurer Donald Sabathier, Pearland State Representative Connie Stolte, Palacios Immediate Past President Bill Ahlstrom, Angleton New Class Director Mary Schwartz, Clute Membership Director John Boettiger, Lake Jackson Advanced Training Director Bob Whitmarsh, Lake Jackson Volunteer Service Director Oron Atkins, Lake Jackson Outreach Director Ruby Lewis, Angleton Chapter Host Rose Wagner, Sweeny Communications Director Larry Peterson, Manvel Class of 2020 Representative Daveyon Edwards, Angleton

Non-voting positions: Speakers Bureau Coordinator Kristine Rivers Data Manager Dave Brandes

Chapter Advisors John O’Connell, AgriLIFE Extension Service Paul Cason, Sea Center Texas

Newsletter Editor Lisa Myers, Lake Jackson Newsletter Contributors Mickey Dufilho, Dave Brandes, John Boettiger, Debbie Nance, P&P Romfh, Kristine Rivers

Website https://txmn.org/tmncot/ Facebook http://facebook.com/TMN-COT Twitter https://twitter.com/tmncot E-mail Listserv http://tinyurl.com/TMN-COT-Mail

Master Naturalist Email Lists TMN-COT Chapter list • Instructions https://txmn.org/tmncot/organization/email-lists/ • Send messages to [email protected] • Message Archive http://tinyurl.com/TMN-COT-Mail • All messages are sent immediately.

State Master Naturalist list • Instructions http://txmn.org/staying-connected/sign-up-for-tmn-listserv/ • Subscribe [email protected] • All messages are held for moderation by the TMN State Coordinator.

Chapter News is published monthly on Monday before the General Meeting by the Texas Master Naturalist Cradle of Texas Chapter. Submissions are welcome; submission deadline is 5:00 PM on Thursday before the General Meeting. Send submissions by email to Chapter News Editor at [email protected]. Submissions may be edited for clarity and spacing.

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