INDIAN TRAILMARKER Nov./Dec. 2013 News, events & calendar of the Indian Trail Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists...Serving Ellis and Navarro Counties 701 S. I-35E, Suite 3, Waxahachie, TX 75165 | Office: 972-825-5175 | Visit our website at http://txmn.org/indiantrail From the Desk of the Calendar of Events, Projects & Meetings PRESIDENT NOVEMBER Eileen Berger, President ITMN - 8 Kachina Prairie Burn Community Meeting with Q & A, 7 P.M., Tabernacle Baptist Church, Ennis, TX The next two months will be - 9 Kachina Prairie Workday, 8:30 a.m. busy ones for Indian Trail Master - 14 Wolf Creek Workday Naturalist members, as we will be - 25 ITMN Meeting/How & Where to Report Bird Sightings - Tania Homayoun, Senior Conservation Biologist, Audubon Texas electing a new secretary and two vice presidents, welcoming new DECEMBER committee chairmen, planning for - 12 Wolf Creek Workday the next year, and enjoying each - 14 ITMN Christmas Party - Home of Rebecca Schumacher others company at our Christmas JANUARY party. We will also be continuing - 9 Wolf Creek Workday to plan for the next training class - 27 ITMN Meeting to begin in March 2014. Watch for (will be held in Waxahachie) email announcements for these and other activities, check your calendars, and come to any and all the events. See you there. INSIDE this issue 2 State meeting report 3-4 Project views 5 Natural profile: Nikki Miller 6 Beezlebub bee-eater 7 Kitty Smith NWF Certification 8-9 Monarchs 10 What Is A Black Vulture 11 What is Feeder Watch? 12-13 It takes a Village 14 Invasives West © Jim 15 Natural Reads (book review) 16 Whooping crane migration Meeting 4th Monday of each month at 6 p.m., program at 7 p.m. at the Red Oak municipal bldg. http://www.redoaktx.org/ Texas Master Naturalist 14th Annual Statewide Meeting October 25-27, 2013 T Bar M Conference Center New Braunfels, TX by Charlie Grindstaff, TMN With 7 field trips, 71 advanced training classes and and Wolf Creek could all use personalized field guides. 8 social events to choose from there was something for Then some of us went to the Bracken Bat Cave and it everyone. The Texas Master Naturalist website states, was like someone rang the dinner bell. The merlins, “…we hope the impact will be felt by our local red-tailed hawks, and Cooper’s hawk arrived and environments as we spread out over the State and go waited with us for the bats to emerge. Yes, they did back to work with new ideas and new projects in catch a few bats in flight. It was hard to know who to mind. Hopefully, we are refreshed, encouraged, and cheer for, the predator or the prey. When we cupped full of new ideas!” I can assure you that I came home our hands behind our ears, the swirling bats sounded tired, brain overloaded and full of feelings of just like rain. Then the cry went up, “Skunk!” and inadequacy. Thank goodness some rest took care of sure enough at the mouth of the cave a skunk with a the first, my notes helped sort out some of the chaos beautiful white flag tail was after grounded bats. We and I am sure anyone taking a class from Barron were told that during warmer evenings, snakes also Rector feels inadequate and that there is so much more wait at the mouth of the cave for any bat that comes we could be doing. within striking range. We left when it became too dark Ten members of ITMN attended this year’s to see and the bats were still swirling counterclockwise Meeting and from our conversations I believe each one out of the cave. had a good time and learned a lot. When asked about T Bar M Conference Center is a beautiful facility. favorite classes we were all over the board…Native The food was good. The weekend was full of Bee Diversity and Identification, The Digital Plant education, entertainment and fellowship. The awards Press, Conserving Biodiversity, Monarchs Milkweed ceremony and keynote speakers were inspiring. Yes, I and YOU, Save the Night, Watershed Workshop, and am refreshed, encouraged, and full of new ideas. Drought and Its Overarching Impact. They have not made a decision yet about the location This year’s meeting was attended by the largest of next year’s meeting but I hope I will see you there. gathering (over 400) of Master Naturalists ever. One being Molly Hollar the woman who envisioned a native plants garden in Arlington. Many of us visited the Molly Hollar Wildscape as part of the ITMN Wildscapes Tour on September 28. The WOW moments for me happened during the Digital Plant Press class…they taught us to scan plants to create our own field guide. No special equipment is required, just a cheap scanner and your computer. They do this with kids in the Bobwhite Brigade program so I think we could do this. I am Don Hellstern, Carolyn Ross, Paul Grindstaff, Carolyn thinking Kachina Prairie, Mockingbird Nature Park Ogden, Pam Mundo, Cathey Collins,Joe Mundo, Charlie Grindstaff, Sara Cornett, Eileen Berger If you are passionate about nature and wild things and enjoy learning, why don’t you consider joining the Indian Trail Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists? Check out our website (http://txmn.org/indiantrail/ ) for meetings and information. We would love to have you. PROJECT VIEWS October 2, 11 volunteers at Kachina Prairie managed to clear 400-500’ of the eventual 800’ path from the city’s mowed path to Lake Clark. Thanks to Ennis Garden Club president, Anne Anderson for working with us on this project. ITMN members attended the Ennis Garden Club meeting for a presentation with Daniel Deitz of the Texas Land Conservancy. PROJECT VIEWS 51 attendees observed the moon on October 12 at Cherry Creek Nature Preserve in Red Oak. GETTING TO KNOW NIKKI MILLER, 2013 CLASS REPRESENTATIVE by Kathleen Mack Can you give us some general information about yourself? land. My husband’s grandparents ran a few horses on it for Things like: Where were you born? Were do you live now? 30 years. It’s been grown over for 25 years. I discovered the Family history — married, children, pets, etc.? Career info? TMN in a wild scape book when we began cleaning up our Hobbies? property. It was 4 years before I went to training. I was born in the middle of Big Cotton in West Texas and What made you decide to join? raised in the suburbs of Tampa, Fl. I’ve lived in north Texas I joined the Indian Trail chapter because their training since high school. I’ve been married for 17 years, this Decem- was in the spring and I had missed the training for North ber. Before parenthood I worked as a home health aide, a Texas last winter. sous chef, and caterer. Since parenthood, I’ve been a home- West Photos © Jim maker and home schooler. My husband and I sold our What activities are you involved in for ITMN? collection of Since I completed training this spring, my mother has poultry and been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. I'm currently traveled the minimally active in my chapter. Pacific Northwest. What would you like to achieve as an ITMN? We lived in a 25 I enjoy teaching, cooking, sewing, party planning, foot Airstream research, and animal care. I joined TMN program to learn with our son, 2 more about nature and I have discovered that I am equally cats, a dog, and a fascinated with learning about other people and how they rabbit. relate to nature. It’s a given that being a Master Naturalist How did you learn will increase my knowledge about nature. I really look about ITMN? forward to interacting with people who share my love of Our house sits on a nature limestone escarp- Anything else you would like to add? ment. We have 3 My husband and I enjoy traveling. acres of creek wash off bottom A note from Travis Hull thanking Aaron and the chapter for their support in attaining his Eagle Scout certification. Beelzebub Bee-eater Mallophora leschenaulti As we were walking back from the bird blind at Mockingbird Nature Park this morning (October 21, 2013), we noticed a large black shape hanging from some broom weed at the side of the trail. On closer inspection, we saw it was a giant robber fly in a state of torpor. The weather was cool and cloudy, with the temperature about 55° and the fly was barely moving so we were able to get a good look at it. It was a Beelzebub Bee-eater and one of the largest Asilids in the U.S. This one was an impressive two inches long. The species was first reported and collected in south Texas in 1917. It is thought that several species commonly found in Mexico and South America were blown northward during a tropical storm in August 1916 and have since established populations here in Texas. According to BugGuide.net its current range is Mexico and Texas. The adults lay a white egg mass, which is unusual for Asilids. This was documented near Austin in 2004. The eggs hatch into slender, legless larvae that develop through several stages in the soil before pupating. The life cycle usually requires more than one year to complete. All adult robber flies have piercing-sucking mouthparts. They perch on stems of low plants or other objects and attack prey in the air. They feed on bees, beetles, dragonflies, other flies, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, wasps, and other insects.