Volume 20, Issue 6 Naturalist NewsJun 06, 2019 · Naturalist News from Texas Master Naturalist,...

Naturalist News from Texas Master Naturalist, Elm Fork 1

Volume 20, Issue 6 June 2019

Photo courtesy Denise Remfert

Texas thistle (Cirsium texanum) with eastern tiger swallowtail—see article p 8

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Naturalist News


Volume 20, Issue 6

May Meeting Recap 3

What’s Next 3

Message from VMS 4

Celebrating 20 Years 5

Meet a Master 7

Projects in the Community 8

Features 9

Prairie Alive with Color 14

Looking for a Good Book 14

Field Notes in Focus 15

Blue Bird Snack Time 16

NN Contributors This Month 17

Almost the Last Word 19

Who We Are 20

I N T H I S I S S U E

Special Points of Interest

20 Years and

Counting

Check out chimney

swift tower!

Count the butterflies

in this issue

Swallowtail—photo Mary Morrow

Naturalist News

June 2019


Photos from Denise Remfert

M a y M e e t i n g A w a r d s

Re-Certifications:

Toni Benjamin; Marilyn Blanton; Adelaide Bodnar; Sherrill Campbell; Bill Cole-

man; Michael Danner; Larry Duncan; Judi Elliott; Van Elliott; Jeanne Erickson;

Caroline Finley; John Goetz; Susan Hudiburg; Bob James; Robert McLaughlin;

Richard Merrill; Susan Pohlen; Dave Rowley; Joan Springer; Judy Thurmond;

Brenda Wellenreiter; Donna Wolfe; Kim Wootton

Initial Certification: Joyce Yarnall-Smith

250 Hr. Milestone: Jerry Betty; Denver Dramer

500 Hr. Milestone: Harriet Powell; Jonathan Reynolds; Brenda Wellenreiter; Francine Witte

1000 Hr. Milestone: Claire Kamego

2500 Hr. Milestone: Marilyn Blanton

4000 Hr. Milestone: Scott Kiester

W h a t ’ s N e x t ? From Fran Witte


V S M I N F O R M A T I O N

From Mary Moore


2 0 Y e a r s a n d C o u n t i n g ! From Mary Morrow


2 0 Y e a r s a n d C o u n t i n g !


Where are you from? Born at Keesler AFB, Biloxi Mississippi, but never stayed anywhere long enough to truly consider it “home” until moving to Texas in 2003. Marital status? Married (38th anniversary later this year). Kids, Grand kids: Two grown daughters, one four year old grandson that I hope to turn into a naturalist. Pets: Not at this time; sadly, we lost our two dachshunds about two weeks apart in the fall of 2016. Work history: Worked as a server at several restaurants in the late teen years, worked as a temporary employee at a number of establishments through a temp agency between full time jobs, five years active duty Air Force where I worked mostly in warehouses, and 15 years in the Air National Guard where I reported directly to the Wing Command-er and was in charge of overseeing the planning and deployment of the 178th Fighter Wing (jets, personnel, supporting equipment) to various locations in and out of the United States. Also worked for a short time as an independent con-tractor for Coach America helping to devise an evacuation and recovery plan, primarily for community relief following devastating hurricanes. Schooling: Challenging to fit in as we moved around and raised a family, but ultimately got my BS in Business, major-ing in Marketing at Wright State University in Ohio. Along the school trail I attended Louisiana State in Baton Rouge, Northeast Louisiana University, University of Nebraska, Moorhead State University in Minnesota, and also acquired courses and credits through the Community College of the Air Force while stationed overseas. How long a MN? What class year? I trained to become a Master Naturalist in the fall of 2007, so working on my 12th year. Favorite pastime: Exploring with Master Naturalist friends, and dancing with dance friends. Favorite food: Pasta, especially spaghetti. Favorite place to visit: I’m not sure I’ve found it yet, but Death Valley and Yellowstone are pretty darn awe-some. There are so many places I would still love to visit. Favorite animal: River Otter Favorite MN volunteer opportunity: Community outreach/presentations, when it’s a topic I’m comfortable with and I’ve got plenty of time to prepare! Share a funny story or antidote about being a MN: Hmm, I need to think about that one. Tell us something we'd be surprised to know about you: I used to be a pretty good shot, even qualified on the M16, have ridden in the back seat of an F16D, and most people find it humorous that my brothers’ names are Lou, Huey, Dewey and Donald.

M e e t a M a s t e r

Interview by Sue Yost Meet a Master: Susan Pohlen


P r o j e c t s i n a n d A r o u n d t h e C o m m u n i t y

Cross Timbers Trailhead--one month later in May

O n May 17 some of the original Cross Timbers Trailhead wildflower group met to see how the prairie at Cross Timbers Trailhead had changed in a month--President Adelaide, Barbara Beane, Mike and Diana Hatch, Denise

Remfert, Irene Hanson, and I.

Because of abundant rain, we could not get to the parking lot--the rain gauge showed over 4 feet of water! We parked and entered the prairie through the woods from the road, though, with careful maneuvering over greenbriar and under barbed wire, and then--Paradise!

In April the paintbrush was dominant, but May brought firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) everywhere you could see.

Some old friends were still there: cutleaf daisy, Texas daisy, prairie verbena, foxglove (penstamon cobaea), blueflax, yellow flax, winecup, prairie phlox, Texas vervain, Philadelphia fleabane, spiderwort (short flower stem Tharp's type), but now in bloom we saw: roughleaf dogweed (would this be a good shrub for a suburban yard?), scullcap, Barbara's button and an allium--leaves showed the difference, Texas thistle (darker pink, smaller bloom) and the paler wavyleaf thistle (larger, lighter-pink bloom), sensitive briar, basil beebalm, ratany, old plainsman, antelope horns milkweed, black-eyed Susans, Texas dandelion, Arkansas yucca, and more.

Irene showed us prairie tea, (Croton monanthogynus) which was used by the early settlers. We found and tested out Texas winter grass, whose little spears stick to the target. Mike remembered as a kid playing a battle game with them. Also we saw low, puffy, white rabbit tobacco.

Interesting that we didn't see any narrowleaf coneflower or horsemint or twisted leaf yucca in bloom, at least on the part of the trail we surveyed.

We left with the promise of many ready to open American basket-flowers, and also germander, chervil, gayfeather, and more I'm sure. Let's visit this prairie again on June 24, at 7:30 am to avoid some of the heat--and let's hope the parking lot is usable by then.

This is a good place to see pollintors like butterflies, too.

Article by Becky Bertoni—

photos by Denise Remfert &

Barbara Beane

Antelope horns milkweed (Asclepias asperula)

Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) with varigated frittillary



roughleaf dogwood (Cornus drum-mondii) with hackberry emperor

Texas thistle (Cirsium texanum) with eastern

tiger swallowtail

wavyleaf thistle (Cirsium undulatum)

sensitive briar (Mimosa roemerica)

basil beebalm (Monarda clinopodioides)

Photo credits: Antelope horns milkweed (Asclepias asperula) by B Beane Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella) with varigated frittillary by D Remfert Roughleaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii) with hackberry emperor by D Remfert Texas thistle (Cirsium texanum) with eastern tiger swallowtail by D Remfert Wavyleaf thistle (Cirsium undulatum) by B Beane Sensitive briar (Mimosa roemerica) by D Remfert Basil beebalm (Monarda clinopodioides) by B Beane



Theresa Mangum, who created the murals

for the city of Carrollton, recently decorated

the Chimney Swift Tower-2 at the Sandy

Jacobs Government Center in Carrollton.

Pretty awesome.

Photos from Fred Burrell; submitted

to NN by Van Elliott


F e a t u r e s

Texas Thistle and Painted Lady

T he Texas Thistle (Cirsium texanum) and the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) make a

great pair! The Texas Thistle is a native that grows to five feet or more. It blooms from

April to August. It's lovely rose-lavender flowers are

made up of all disc flowers. It's leaves are green on the

top side and white below. The leaves have spines at

the ends of their lobes. It's a large, prickly plant but it's

blooms are pretty. It's a favorite of beetles, bees and

butterflies. In fact, it's the preferred host plant for the

Painted Lady which is known as the Thistle Butterfly.

The Painted Lady is also called the Cosmopolitan or

Cosmopolite because it's thought to be the most widely

distributed butterfly in the world. The American Lady

and the West Coast Lady are very similar species.

They all belong to the family Nymphalidae or brush-

footed butterflies.

The Texas Thistle is too large and prickly for small gar-

dens but it's a

wonderful plant

for pollinators if

you have the

space in a natural area. I recently followed the progress

of a Painted Lady caterpillar on my Texas Thistle. The

spiny caterpillar forms a webbed shelter which look a bit

messy since it collects caterpillar frass. When a caterpillar

pupates, it forms a brownish chrysalis that is angled and

spiked.

One morning, I noticed that the chrysalis was almost

transparent. I could see the butterfly's wing colors show-

ing through it. I knew the butterfly must be close to

emerging but I didn't realize how close. I wandered on

and when I came back 30 minutes later, there was the

butterfly. It was clinging to the chrysalis where it stayed

while it's wings filled out and dried. Then it took flight!

Photos & article from

Marilyn Blanton


F e a t u r e s

Texas Thistle and Painted Lady cont’d


“Why you should always plant dill in your garden....Black Swallowtail butter-

flies on the way”. I plant it every year and they’re always there. — Don Fikes

F e a t u r e s

Swallowtail —photo courtesy

Mary Morrow


P r a i r i e A l i v e w i t h C o l o r

Interpreting Our Heritage. Freeman Tilden The book was written for interpretive programs for the National Park Service. Betty Zajac

L o o k i n g f o r a G o o d b o o k ?

Cover copied from Amazon.com

From Dorothy Thetford

Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa )

(Monarda fistulosa); small yellow flower

with rust colored center is Plains coreopsis

(Coreopsis tinctoria); larger yellow flowers

with smaller brown center is Black-eyed

Susan (Rudbeckia hirta); remaining lilac

colored flowers are Purple horsemint

(Monarda citriodora).

Giant coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima)

Purple horsemint (Monarda citri-odora) with a few Black-eyed Su-

san plants in upper left corner.


Field Notes in Focus

Passionflower (Passiflora affinis) from

the gallery of Dorothy Thetford


“I found my snack on Blue Bird Hill”

From Sharon Miggans


Thank You to Our Contributors

Editor wanda Odum

class 2005 Mary Morrow class

2014

Judi Elliott class 2009

Dorothy Thetford class

2001

Marilyn Blanton class

1999

Betty Zajac class 2003

Denise Remfert

class2015

Don Fikes class 2013

Sue Yost class 2017 Van Elliott class 2013

Fran Witte class 2017

Sharon Miggans class

2017 supplied the

“bluebirds snack time”

photos


T h a n k y o u C o n t r i b u t o r s

This editor is among the “muchly lucky” to have all of you who contribute to and read each edition.


A l m o s t t h e L a s t W o r d

The last little wren to leave the nest—photo from Dorothy Thetford

I don’t want to grow up but here I am alone

Not a bug to eat nor a wing to hide under

Guess there’s nothing for it except to bemoan

Or be brave and spread my wings— I wonder ….


WE’RE ON THE WEB

WWW.TXMN.ORG/ELMFORK

Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension Service

OFFICERS OF THE BOARD:

PRESIDENT—Adelaide Bodnar

VICE-PRESIDENT/PROJECTS—Robert McLaughlin

SECRETARY—Kathryn Wells

TREASURER—Brenda Wellenreiter

MEMBER-at-LARGE—Harriet Powell

CLASS REPRESENTATIVES—Tim Trosper, Jody Springer

Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension

Joseph A. Carroll Building

401 W. Hickory Street

Denton, TX 76201—9026

940-349-2883

Our mission . . .”to develop a corps of well-informed volun-

teers who provide education, outreach, and service dedicat-

ed to the beneficial management of natural resources and

natural areas within our community”

Our vision . . .”in our community, Elm Fork Chapter of

the Texas Master Naturalist program will be recognized

as a primary source of information, education and

service to support natural resources and natural areas

today and in the future.”

Board Meetings

The Board meets each second Thursday of the month at 9:30

a.m. The Board last met June 13, 2019. Next monthly Board

meeting is July 11, 2019

Monthly Board meetings are open to members.

ADVISORS:

Janet Laminack, Extension Agent

TPWD—Ricardo Torres

Regular Monthly Chapter Meetings

9:30 a.m. preceded by a social time at 9:00 a.m. on the

third Thursday of each month. Chapter meetings are

open to the public. Next meeting will be June 20, 2019

at Elections Bldg, 701 Kimberly Dr. Denton TX 76201

Next Meeting is Open House—June 20, 2019

Doors open at 9:30 followed by greeting of guests and

social time until 10:30. Short business meeting fol-

lowed by program and then lunch. Meeting at Elec-

tions Bldg, 701 Kimberly Dr. Denton TX 76201

Green jay—w odum

Volume 20, Issue 6 Naturalist NewsJun 06, 2019 · Naturalist News from Texas Master Naturalist,...

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Transcript of Volume 20, Issue 6 Naturalist NewsJun 06, 2019 · Naturalist News from Texas Master Naturalist,...