Capital Area Master Naturalists 2009 FIELD JOURNAL Meeting No Meeting in December due to Holiday Schedule. Regular Monthly Meetings Resume In January 2010. CAMN Board Meeting No Meeting In December 2009. Join the Board of Directors for a spirited discussion about CAMN business on January 7th, 2010. Contact any Board Member for details. Volunteer and Advanced Training Opportunities Visit the CAMN website at Opportunities for CAMN Photographers www.camn.org and log in to the CAMN Volunteer Calendar to start fulfilling those volunteer hours. CAP Several CAMNers were among the If you know of the perfect spot for an thirty-five people from the Williamson outing, let one of the Board Members The President and the Board County and Highland Lakes Native know and we will try and organize a would like to extend their Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) CAMN field trip. Clearly now is a warmest wishes to all Chapters who had a beautiful morning wonderful time to be out and about CAMNerʼs for an extremely tour of Selah, Bamberger Ranch and it would be great to get together happy, safe and nature filled Preserve, south of Johnson City, on and see somewhere new. Let’s get Veteran’s Day. together and share nature. holiday season. CAMN FIELD JOURNAL DECEMBER 2009 P A G E 1 Field Study: by Dale Rye Citizen Science Strikes Again! The Austin area, with all its colleges and The plant discovery has now been Want to get Involved? state agencies, probably has one of the published by Emeritus Professor of higher concentrations of professional Botany Billie L. Turner in Lunde"ia 12:5-7 We have many Citizen Scientist botanists in the country. Nevertheless, a (Dec. 2009), the journal of the Plant Typeprograms to enter you text can become involved local citizen naturalist recently Resources Center at U.T. Austin. It is in or you can “strike out” on your discovered a previously unidentified named Iva corbinii after its discoverer. own like Robert Corbin. species that has existed right under their The plant is a member of the Asteraceae noses, in the Colorado River just below (which includes asters and sunflowers) Texas Parks and Wildlife have Lady Bird Lake. Businessman Robert with predominantly axillary single numerous projects that MN can Corbin, owner of Nomadic Notions, is heads; genus Iva is kin to genus become involved in. For more an amateur in the best sense of the term Ambrosia, the ragweeds. Corbin’s plant is information go to their website or “amateur,” one who pursues a vocation apparently most closely related to I. look in past issues of the Field for love (Lat. amat) rather than money. axi"aris, the Poverty Sumpweed, but has Journal for more information. He has pursued his love of nature as a numerous differences including regular swimmer at Barton Springs and involucres composed of non-united Last month the Field Journal as a long-time board member of the bracts. Professor Turner says, “It’s included an article on conducting Save Our Springs Alliance. Last summer, mainly significant because it had never Bats and Bridges Surveys. This in a he was swimming and poking around in been found before and yet it was very new project and your help is the river bottoms below Longhorn Dam growing right here in front of numerous needed. The plan is to check out as when he first came upon the “new” botanists over the years that had never many bridges and coverts this winter species on an island in the Colorado. even discovered it or seen it. It is also a to see which may be suitable bat Corbin recently described the occasion very primitive member of the genus to habitat and to return next year and for KUT radio, “So I actually swam out which it belongs.” see if these areas are indeed being to the island, with my clothes on, Iva corbinii appears to be restricted to used. One use for the data taken will carrying my backpack that had some one small stretch of the Colorado River. be used to try to ensure the bats are gear in it above my head and got on to Professor Turner hopes that the species not disturbed if possible by road this island and started looking around. I will be officially listed as endangered. He construction and such when they are came upon this plant that looked rather says Corbin found “the rarest of the in residence. strange that I hadn’t seen before.” It was rare.” All this from a passionate amateur hardly obscure—the plants were up to who has again proved what an impact One of our own CAMNers and past six feet tall. citizen scientists can have! editor of the Field Journal even set up her own project. Kim Bacon set up Texas Bee Watchers and you can Austin, Home to Rarities! read about her work there. The site is full of information on native bees, As we all know we are so incredibly the latest research and what you can lucky to live here in Austin and do to help Kims research or how to environs. But did you know that many help bees in your own back garden. of our members regularly work at Kim has also established a discussion monitoring and protecting rare and group at endangered species? [email protected]. For example, on one area of Waller None of these activities take your Creek volunteers have worked in the fancy? Well, Bill Carr of the Nature past to protect two populations of Conservancy (and a good friend of Physostegia corre"ii or Correll's false CAMN) can always use people to dragonhead. At Bright Leave Preserve help locate rare species of plants and they are fighting to save a population of and monitor their growth and Streptanthus bracteatus or Bracted twist- survival rate. Contact Bill through flower and you could help! These the Nature Conservancy at oppurtunities are just a small part of [email protected] what CAMN does. LBJWC CAMN FIELD JOURNAL DECEMBER 2009 P A G E 2 Field Prep: by Jim and Lynne Weber A River of Raptors One of the most dramatic natural the next thermal to help move them routine, and single flights of over events occurs every fall when changing along their way. From these elevated 100,000 hawks or more have been weather patterns mark the migration of perspectives, hawks generally navigate recorded. Occasionally, a strong cold hawks (also called raptors, or birds of by large geographic features or front will ground several thousand prey) from their summer nesting and landmarks, such as coastlines, hawks for the day and result in an breeding grounds to their wintering waterways, and mountain ranges. overnight roost. Weather in the grounds in South America. While The most common species of hawk that northern and eastern United States is northward migration in the spring migrate over our area start with the one of the biggest factors in months is more sporadic and allows Mississippi kite, continue with the determining the timing of these hawks to spread out over a larger Broad-winged hawk, and end with migratory flights. geographic area, fall migration is the Swainson’s hawk. Dark gray above and With the large number of hawks taking more spectacular of the two, with pale gray below with a red eye, long part in this annual event and the vast millions of hawks observed overhead in pointed wings, and a dark flared tail, the geographic areas that they cover, it was concentrated groups within a period of Mississippi kite hunts primarily insects, late into the 19th century before only a few months. eats on the wing, and nests in loose migration was beginning to be Scientists believe that hawks use a colonies in woodlands and swamps in understood. With large populations of myriad of tools to find their way along the southeast and south central United hawks shifting from breeding to migratory routes. First and foremost, States. Brown-gray above with white wintering habitat, migration is a they orient themselves by using a sun underwings bordered in black, and a seasonal and predicable event that can compass, or knowing where the sun broad tail with black and white bands, be enjoyed year after year! should be at any given time of day. the Broad-winged hawk breeds in the Send your nature-related questions to Some also use a polarization pattern of eastern woodlands of the United States [email protected] and we’ll do light for orientation, and are able to and southern Canada. The largest of the our best to answer them find the portion of the sky where light three, the Swainson’s hawk light morph is uni-directional and utilize it to is the color form that is most likely seen estimate the sun’s position. Lastly, most in our area. In flight, their long, narrow hawks bring into play a magnetic pointed wings exhibit a dark trailing compass, which allows them to orient edge and light leading edge, a dark chest themselves to the Earth’s magnetic field. bib, and light face and lower belly. In order to get airborne and use these These hawks hunt chiefly small internal orientation systems, hawks find mammals and insects in the grassland thermals, or large columns of warm air, areas of the western United States and and ride these rising air currents in a Canada. spiral, high into the sky. From this Large groups of hawks flying overhead vantage point, they glide slowly down in are called kettles. During fall migration, the intended direction, and search for single kettles of 10,000 hawks are Kettle of hawks Time for Bald Eagles! Do you want to see Bald Eagles this winter — up close and personal? Well, they are back and can be seen daily at the extremely convenient viewing spot about 130 yards off State Highway 29 about eight miles east of Llano.