Capital Area Master Naturalists 2010 FIELD NOTES Meeting No December Meeting but we will be back on January 26th, 2011 with long- time CAMN friend Mike Quinn 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. All meetings are open to the public so bring a friend! CAMN Board Meeting Join the Board of Directors for a spirited From the President discussion about CAMN business on January 6th, 2011. Contact any Board There is nothing in the New Testament seasons. Individuals come and go, even Member for more details and for the to suggest that Jesus was born at this time species come and go, yet the earth abides. location of the meeting. of year, but early Christians thought it As we prepare for our own holiday fitting to appropriate the date of the celebrations, I hope that Master Roman festival of Sol Invictus (the Naturalists can remain conscious of the Volunteer and Unconquered Sun) and the Germanic Yule. link between every human community and Both festivals were dated astronomically at the natural world that surrounds it. That Advanced Training the Winter Solstice, when the Northern applies to our families as well as our larger Opportunities Hemisphere sun reaches its furthest point social and political communities. We are all Visit the CAMN website at south and days are at their shortest before interlinked, which is as much the message www.camn.org and log in to the CAMN the sun begins its journey back towards of Christmas and Hanukkah as it was of Volunteer Calendar to start fulfilling those spring. Since Christmas is also about a new the ancient feasts of Yule and Sol Invictus. beginning, this seemed the right time of volunteer hours. year for it. Hanukkah, the Jewish festival As this year comes to an end, we can all of lights, is similarly dated near the Winter take a rest and look back at our Visit the CAMN yahoo Solstice on a lunar calendar. (In the same accomplishments. More importantly, we way, the date of Easter is linked to nature$ can look forward to a wonderful New Year group for On-line the first Sunday after the first full moon in which CAMN and its members networking after the Vernal Equinox.) continue their mission of service to all these natural and human communities in All these celebrations are a reminder of which we take part. Have a glorious how conscious our ancestors were of the holiday! interlocking circles of natural time: the daily round of the sun, the monthly cycle of Photo Credit: LBJWC. Ilex decidua, the moon, and the regular march of the !! Christine PowellPossumhaw, Possumhaw Holly, Deciduous Holly, Winterberry, Deciduous yaupon Aquifoliaceae (Holly Family) CAMN FIELD NOTES ! !! DECEMBER 2010! !! PAGE 1 From the Editor In This Issue We have had several recent articles recently on the From the President 1 evils of double-dipping. However, I realized this month that there is one form of double-dipping that the Master Didn’t they do well? 3 Naturalist organization not only permits, but actively encourages! Quite a few of the articles in this issue are Exciting New Project in Williamson County 4 reports on conferences, symposia, and other educational First Frost 5 events. The authors got Advanced Training hours by attending them, but then they got Volunteer hours by Field Trip $ UT Plant Resources Center 6 writing up a report on the event for the Field Notes. This is Native Bees and Their Importance as Pollinators 7 one way that CAMN can multiply the e&ects of its educational e&orts. The authors didn’t just benefit 2010 Service Austin Event at SCG 8 personally from their course, but were able to share their learning with all of our readers. Go and do likewise! Texas Plant Conservation Conference 10 As always, thanks to everyone who sends me items Fall Plant Survey at WilCo NW Park, every month. For you newcomers, please send your Liberty Hill 12 comments and contributions to Christine Powell at [email protected]. NPSOT Symposium 2010 15 Thanks you’all. BRIT, Its Needs, and How We Can Help 17 Native Orchids $ Do You Have Any? 17 Geology of South Central Texas 18 Seed Cleaning Dates for 2011 18 Every Heath Has a Home 19 Evergreen Sumac $ Rhus virens 20 Scat and Frass 21 Announcements From Around the State 25 O'cers and Committee Contacts 26 From the Webmaster As you have doubtless noticed, the issue of logging in to view the Members Area of the camn.org website, including the private calendar and the Weekly Readers, has not been entirely solved. We do have a temporary fix available, however. If you are a CAMN member and are unable to view these materials, please contact Dale Rye at [email protected]. I can provide you with a substitute password that will let you get into the Members Area. CAMN FIELD NOTES ! !! DECEMBER 2010! !! PAGE 2 Field Awards: Christine Powell Didn’t They Do Well? Several of our number are regular volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and on the evening of November 4th, 2010 they were acknowledged at the LBJWC awards ceremony. Stuart Bailey, Dale Rye and Jeri Porter (pictured right) were just a few of those present. At our November monthly meeting, we were treated to a wonderful presentation by Kevin Thuesen from Water Quality Protection Lands on a cave he found recently when he was patrolling City of Austin properties. Many of us know Kevin from our training or when we volunteer with him for the City of Austin Wildlands. It was an excellent and very fun talk and just goes to show just what you might find when you are volunteering. At last we have our very own CAMN T-shirts and our thanks go especially to Cheryl Goveia (left with her winning design) and Sandie Mayfield (right with her winning design). Thanks also to all who helped get them organized and made, in particular Linda Nowlin and Stuart Bailey. If you would like one, we will be selling them again at our Annual Awards Meeting on Sunday, February 6th, 2011. Mark those calendars. CAMN FIELD NOTES ! !! DECEMBER 2010! !! PAGE 3 Field Special!: Christine Powell Exciting New Project in Williamson County We have been invited to help in an exciting new project in Williamson County$really it’s not that far from Austin and it will count for Volunteer hours and Advanced training! First, let me give you a little background. The Williamson County Conservation Foundation (WCCF) was established in December 2002 to provide for conservation of endangered species in Williamson County while helping to promote responsible development. Williamson County has for several years been one of the fastest growing counties in the country. Rapid growth necessitates a regional approach to balancing development needs with the needs for conservation. With this in mind the WCCF has established several important cave preserves. Two preserves form natural areas within Williamson County’s Southwest Regional Park. A third preserve, Twin Springs, near Lake Georgetown, provides a habitat for the Golden- cheeked Warbler and the Georgetown Salamander, as well as two endangered cave species. Two preserves in the southern part of the county provide a karst habitat. A newly acquired preserve in northern Clearly, some help is needed with the trails! Williamson County has endangered cave species and potential to become an endangered bird habitat. Wo r k D a y — Jan 8th, 2011 Leave No Trace Train-the-Trainer Class Come and celebrate the New Year in a new preserve! Thursday, December 16, 2010, 7:00 ( 9:00 PM Be one of the first groups to see this new area and help Williamson County Jester Annex, finish the last quarter of mile of trails. A very special Harrell Conference Room work day has been set up just for us so lets make this a 1801 East Old Settlers Blvd, Round Rock CAMN day out! Tools will be provided and don’t Leave No Trace (LNT, www.lnt.org) Trainers will worry if you are like me and mean will but are not able receive two hours of introductory training in the to do as much as you would like as there is always things for all work skills, underlying ethics, and seven principles of levels and skills. Just come and join in the fun! Let me know if you can LNT. LNT Trainers will be “deputized” to issue come and I will let you have full details just as soon as they have been LNT passes on behalf of Williamson County finalized. Lets start the New year as we mean to go on$out in the (WilCo) and the Williamson County Conservation open having fun! Contact Christine Powell. Foundation (WCCF, http://www.wilco.org/ CountyDepartments/ConservationFund/tabid/518/ Default.aspx) for Twin Springs Preserve and other WilCo preserves not normally open to the public. In the future, those wishing to join a CAMN or NPSOT field trip to a normally-closed WilCo preserve must complete one hour of LNT training, and receive their LNT pass, prior to the field trip. Dates for NPSOT-led LNT training classes are still to be determined. Contact Kathy McCormack (VEFL21 at yahoo dot com, 512-698-9880) to register for this LNT Train- the-Trainer class (20 people maximum). The "Sneak Peekers:" Linda Goff, Sue Wiseman, Gary Boyd, and Kathy McCormack at the newest Williamson County Preserve, Twin Springs Will You Help? Preserve.