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Table of Contents:

CPCTMN Program........1

November Graduation...2

Christmas Party………..2

Membership Minute......2

Seabourne Fest….……3

Chapter Outreach……..4

Great Egret Rescue..…5

TPWD e-Newsletter..…6

Alisa Kline Blog………..7

Plant of the Month….…8

VSP Highlights……….. 9

Our Own Backyard…..10

Book Corner………….12

Lighter Side…………..13

Tiger Prairie……….… 14

Please send chapter events and nature-

related articles, photos, and items of

interest to the chapter to Lynn by the 25th of

the month. Suggestions for the newsletter are also welcome. Thanks.

Lynn Trenta, Courier Editor

2

We are a group of trained volunteers who share our appreciation and

knowledge of nature with the community through outreach, education and

conservation/restoration projects

October 31st , 2019

Volume 7, Issue 10

Coastal Prairie Chapter Courier

Gary Clark “Connecting People with Nature” Summary by Lynn Trenta

He spoke to our group about all of the wonderful birds we can see at various times of the year, either when migrating, wintering, or residing in our area. He also emphasized the importance of getting out in nature and the joy nature can bring to people. The main purpose of his talk was to highlight the dramatic decrease in some bird species, especially the songbirds. The water birds are not suffering as much as the songbirds, whose habitats are being destroyed by new subdivisions and urbanization. Three billion North American birds have been lost in the last 50 years. One-third of our continent’s birds have had habitat loss. Hooded warblers, painted buntings, cardinals, and other species have decreased in numbers. Texas has lost 28 million birds and California has lost 39 million birds. He stated that Texas is a vital pathway for migrating birds and there have been losses in our area. Possible ways we can help stop this downward trend of bird loss were emphasized. Talking to school groups, as well as adults, about this alarming situation, and supporting groups such as Houston Audubon, Ducks Unlimited, the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and others by volunteering and donations are good ways to affect change. Increasing our visibility in the community and working with Texas Parks and Wildlife on their conservation and restoration projects is another way to improve habit areas for birds. Increasing our use of native plants and demanding the nurseries to carry native plants is needed to support our birds, as well as supporting research into native plants. Gary was a fun and enthusiastic speaker and relayed an important message to our group as well as providing methods to address the loss of birds and their habitat.

Photo by Lynn Trenta

Gary has been writing the weekly nature column for the Houston Chronicle since 1999 and has written 10 books including the recent “Book of Texas Birds”. He leads birding and photography tours throughout the world with his wife Kathy, He founded the Texas Rare Bird Alert and advises the Houston Audubon Society, the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and the Attwater ‘s Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge. He is also an honored professor and past Dean at Lone Star College.

Gary Clark gave us an enthusiastic talk about how important it is for people to experience nature in person. He began talking about all of the birds that migrate and those who are winter residents of our area. He spoke about all of the wonderful birds we have either coming through our area or who are permanent residents. He then talked about the seriousness of the loss of birds due mainly to loss of habitat.

Page 2 of 14 Coastal Prairie Courier November 7th is the Graduation Celebration

Coming up November 7th from 6pm to 8pm is that important event for our chapter! The Training Class 2019 Graduation Party will be held at the Rosenberg Civic Center Room E at 3825 TX 36. To sign up to contribute sides or desserts go to SignUp Genius under Members on the chapter website.

Congratulations, Class of 2019!

Membership Minute By Bert Stipelcovich, Membership Director

Congratulations to the following members who recently

achieved certifications and milestones:

2019 Recertification (42 members have recertified so far)

• Susie Doe

• Amber Leung • Donna Pisani

Initial Certification

• Pamala Trimble • Shannon Westveer

• Jo Willars • John Hodgson

250 Service Hours Milestone

• Sarah Marshall • Ella Stroup • Becky Waldo

Note that the 2019 recertification pin, the golden-cheeked warbler, is now available! We will advise when we receive the pins.

The pin for 2020 is the American Bumblebee

Our Chapter Christmas Party and Chapter Meeting will be on Sunday, December 8th at El Jarrito Mexican Restaurant, 21724 Highland Knolls Drive, Katy, TX 77450, with the social hour from 5 to 6pm and the dinner at 6pm. The menu will include fajitas ( beef and chicken) with fixings, chips, refried beans and rice. Cheese enchiladas will be provided as a vegetarian option All drinks are cash bar. Beer, wine and margaritas will be available. The meal is $21 per person. The room is big and we are looking forward to seeing everyone there. It is

always a fun party and you won’t want to miss out! Contact: Donna Pisani 281-725-4947

donnapisani25@gmail.com

Christmas Party is Sunday, December 8th

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Seabourne Nature Fest By Bert Stipelcovich, SNF Coordinator

We are just days away from Seabourne Nature Fest 2019! All major tasks have been completed and confirmed. We have a final meeting scheduled with the Rosenberg Police Department, Texas State Guard, and Parks and Recreation to ensure alignment. Jerry Trenta completed final updates to his SNF trifold, and we will have plenty of copies for our visitors. See what is in the trifold below:

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Coastal Prairie Chapter Outreach

Our chapter’s outreach members have been busy recently! On September14th, Katie Sallean, C.J. McDaniel, and Linda Lourim presented our bat exhibit at Cross Creek Ranch’s Nature and Wildlife Expo in Fulshear.

On Saturday , October 12, we presented our Bat Display at Riverstone Wildlife Expo, an annual event at the Club at Riverstone in Sugar Land.. The volunteers were Terri Hurley, Katie Sallean, Bert Stipelcovich and Jamie Fairchild. The estimated number of attendees was 700. They had live birds, snakes, alligators, other animals even a camel ride. Also, at Long Acres Ranch in Richmond, Cheryl Garcia, Debby Wendt, Terri Hurley presented our skins and skulls W.O.W. to Boy Scouts there at the Scout Expos. All total we presented to almost 100 cub scouts from Pack 106! They had a Trapper’s Rendezvous camp out at Long Acres Ranch. Thank you to everyone who helped out at our chapter outreach events!

C.J. McDaniel and Linda Lourim at Cross Creek Ranch’s Nature and Wildlife Expo in Fulshear.

Riverstone Wildlife Expo in Sugar Land

Cheryl Garcia and Debby Wendt at Long Acres Boy Scout Expo

Katie Sallean at the Riverstone Wildlife Expo in Sugar Land

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On Friday, October 4, a team of dedicated Master Naturalists assembled in the wetlands area at Seabourne to rescue an injured Great Egret. The team consisted of Jamie Fairchild, Bill Johnson, Garrett Engelhardt, Shannon Westveer, Jerry Trenta, and Bert Stipelcovich. After suiting up in waders and hip boots, four members encircled the injured bird, flushed it from cover, and quickly captured it without causing additional injury. After the team secured the egret in a large dog crate, Bert immediately transported the patient to the Wildlife Center of Texas for evaluation and treatment. Unfortunately, the injury was too severe, and the egret was euthanized. The director of the Center, Margaret Pickell, extended her thanks to the team and noted that the bird was no longer in pain. “A simple act of kindness and compassion towards a single

animal may not mean anything to all creatures but will mean

everything to one.” — Paul Oxton

The Great Egret Rescue By Bert Stipelcovich, Membership Director and

Photos by Shannon Westveer

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RAWA Can Help Us

Protect Our Bats

Below are 2 articles from the Texas Parks and Wildlife e-Newsletter. If you care about birds and your community does too, encourage your city to apply to be an official Bird City Texas. We've partnered with Audubon Texas to create this program that will help people protect birds and their habitats

where they live. The Bird City Texas certification program is accepting applications through Nov. 29, 2019.

The findings of an extensive study released in Sept. 2019 show that the overall bird population has gone down 29% since 1970 – nearly 3 billion birds. And a surprising amount of common, backyard bird species have been hard hit. Here are a few of the simple actions you can take to support birds in your area:

1. Make windows safer 2. Keep cats indoors 3. Avoid pesticides 4. Avoid single-use plastics

See All 7 Simple Actions

Texas Parks and Wildlife e-Newsletter Sent in by Carol Schwartz

We live in the battiest state in the U.S., home to 32 of the nation’s 47 bat species, and visitors from around the world flock here to do some bat-watching. Yet bats, like more than 1,300 other species of concern in Texas, need our help. Their karst cave habitats are threatened, some bat populations are in decline, and white-nose syndrome, a bat disease, was recently discovered here. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would provide new funding to help boost bat conservation, education and related eco-tourism. But it won’t pass unless people who care, people like you, take action. Help by contacting your U.S. Representatives to let them know you expect their support of RAWA. #RecoverWildlife

To subscribe to the Texas Parks and Wildlife e-Newsletter go to: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/TXPWD/subscriber/new?qsp=CODE_RED

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Other Nations: A Naturalist’s Blog about Buffalo Bayou Do over by Alisa Kline

Two years ago, I saw something I had never seen before. It was during our regular walking tour, so a bunch of other people got to watch it with me, but the only photograph I managed to get was of the footprints left behind.

What we saw was a wasp laboriously dragging an immobile caterpillar across the silt.

I have regretted ever since that I did not get a photo or video so I could share it on the blog. But last Saturday, I saw it again and this time, I had my camera. The only hitch is that I didn’t see it in the Park. I was in north Texas for the Texas master naturalist state conference. So, I’m calling a do-over.

In the video, https://buffalobayou.org/bbpwordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Wasp-dragging-grasshopper.mp4?_=1 , notice how huge the grasshopper is in comparison to the wasp, and then, realize that what to us are small pebbles are, to the wasp, significant hurdles. She is doing is the equivalent of dragging a refrigerator over an obstacle course. And she makes it look effortless. In the slow-motion part, notice how she maneuvers the grasshopper in-between the larger pebbles.

Since the wasp I saw in the Park was dragging a caterpillar (an armyworm, as I recall) it was likely a different species. The wasp I saw in Ladonia was in the genus Prionyx. I know this because she was dragging a grasshopper.

Solitary wasps are amazingly specialized in what they feed their offspring. In this way, a lot of wasps can live right next to one another without having to fight over resources. One wasp feeds her young caterpillars, another spider; Prionyx prey upon grasshoppers.

Wasps that live in hives (which are what most people think of when they think of wasps) have very different lives from solitary wasps. At some point, I will write about colonial wasps, but this post is about solitary wasps.

These (See below) are the tracks made by the wasp dragging a caterpillar I saw in our Park.

Adult solitary wasps live on nectar and occasionally a bite or two of a critter. They don’t need a ton of food because they don’t live that long. They have only one job: reproduce. To continue reading more of this article go to: https://buffalobayou.org/blog/do-over/

“[Animals] are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.”

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This month’s featured plant is Maximilian Sunflower. The scientific name is Helianthus maximiliani. It is in the aster family and is presently on display in the Seabourne Prairie and Native Plant Garden with its wonderful yellow blooms and towering stature. This perennial plant, which blooms mainly in the fall, grows to about 6 feet, but can be a little taller than this. It attracts many kinds of wildlife, including birds, and bees. Butterflies also are attracted to its nectar. Although a bit large for a typical landscape, it is a wonderful prairie or pocket prairie plant. It was named for the naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied, Germany, who led an expedition into the American West in the 1830s.

Plant of the Month By Lynn and Jerry Trenta

Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani)

Photo by Sandy Smith

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SERVE SUGAR LAND’S” POLLINATION STATIONS AT MEMORIAL PARK

Date: November 9, 2019 from 8:30 am to 12 noon Location: Memorial Park Contact: Volunteer Office at 281-275-2329 The City of Sugar Land needs help with planting shrubs, flowers and milkweed to create pollination stations in Memorial Park – 15300 University Blvd., Sugar Land. A large area will be planted and our help would be appreciated! Please plan to check in at 8:15 am at the Pavilion near the lake at Memorial Park, 15300 University Blvd., Sugar Land. Wear closed-toed shoes or boots, gloves, long pants and comfortable clothes as you are volunteering a outside and will get dirty. They will have water for all volunteers. Please be aware of wildlife in the park and the possible presence of poison ivy. Please plan to volunteer for the entire shift. The City of Sugar Land requires all volunteers to fill out an application and go through a background check. You may not just show up to help. The application can be filled out here: https://volunteer.sugarlandtx.gov/pages/app:NEWOVER18 [VSP hours to be recorded in VMS under the category “Sugar Land, City of”]

RESTART THE MONTHLY NATURE HIKES AT SEABOURNE CREEK PARK Date: TBD Location: Seabourne Creek Nature Park Contact: Terri Hurley at terri@coastalprairie.org It’s been a while since we offered our monthly master naturalist-led nature hikes at Seabourne. We have gotten several requests recently to get these started. Let’s get them going again! The chapter is looking for someone to coordinate this project. There are many chapter members who could help with leading the actual tours. [VSP hours to be recorded in VMS under the category “SCNP-Outreach Interpretive Info”]

ONGOING PROJECT of the MONTH: Project FeederWatch Project FeederWatch turns your joy of feeding birds into citizen science. FeederWatch is a winter-long (November-April) survey of birds that visit feeders at backyards, nature centers, community areas, and other locales in North America. Participants periodically count the birds they see at their feeders and send their counts to Project FeederWatch. Your bird counts help you keep track of what is happening in your own backyard and help scientists track long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. With FeederWatch, your observations become part of something bigger! This winter’s event runs from November 9 through April 3, 2020. For more information, check out the project’s website at: https://feederwatch.org/ [VSP Hours to be recorded in VMS under the category iNaturalist, eBird and Other Citizen Science”.]

VOLUNTEER SERVICE PROJECTS HIGHLIGHTS

By Terri Hurley, Volunteer Service Project Director

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In Our Own Backyards and Other Places

Chapter Outreach at the Fort Bend Photography Club Ribbon Snakes Photo and Text by Diane Eismont

These are baby ribbon snakes, probably Gulf Coast Ribbon Snakes. Three baby snakes appeared in a small pond aside of our barn this summer. Ribbon snakes are live bearing snakes with recorded broods from 5 to 33! They rely on water for protection and are nearly as aquatic as water snakes. Texas has four variations of ribbon snakes and they can interbreed. They do not usually bite people unless provoked, preferring to flee. What you see on the leaves of one of the Pickerel Weed plants, ( which is, incidentally, a great native water plant with purple blossoms,) is dry fish food for the pond's "mosquito fish" (Zambusia) that live in the pond and which I highly recommend to keep mosquitos under control if you have any water features. (I got mine when the Brazos flooded & left them in the 50-gallon cattle water tanks, but they are sold in some aquarium stores.) I'm not sure if the snakes go after the fish food or the minnows, but they appear when the fish are fed. Ribbon snakes are said to eat insects, crustaceans & small vertebrates. Last week I was at the pond and heard what I thought might be a bird calling in distress close by - it turned out to be a very large frog with part of its hind foot in the mouth of a mature, brilliantly striped ribbon snake, which quickly dropped its hold on the frog's foot and left when I appeared. The frog also left quickly. This week, we found a baby ribbon snake in the house, in a bathroom, of course (for the water). I scooped it up in a large plastic bowl, covered the top with cardboard and returned it to the pond, where, hopefully, it will stay.

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Common Green Darner Photo and info by John Donaho

The Common Green Darner is found in all 50 states, Canada, South America and Europe. They migrate with the seasons from the northern parts of their range to the southern US, Mexico and the Caribbean in the fall. Nature photography requires a lot of observation, anticipation and luck. After watching for a while, I noticed that this guy would hover or at least fly slower over one space. Luckily I was able to be focused and ready when he entered the frame.

In Our Own Backyards and Other Places (Continued

Chapter Outreach at the Fort Bend Photography Club

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Book Corner

Few of us have any conception of the enormous timescales in our planet’s long history, and this narrow perspective underlies many of the environmental problems we are creating for ourselves. The passage of nine days, which is how long a drop of water typically stays in Earth’s atmosphere, is something we can easily grasp. But spans of hundreds of years—the time a molecule of carbon dioxide resides in the atmosphere—approach the limits of our comprehension. Our everyday lives are shaped by processes that vastly predate us, and our habits will in turn have consequences that will outlast us by generations. Timefulness reveals how knowing the rhythms of Earth’s deep past and conceiving of time as a geologist does can give us the perspective we need for a more sustainable future.

Marcia Bjornerud shows how geologists chart the planet’s past, explaining how we can determine the pace of solid Earth processes such as mountain building and erosion and comparing them with the more unstable rhythms of the oceans and atmosphere. These overlapping rates of change in the Earth system—some fast, some slow—demand a poly-temporal worldview, one that Bjornerud calls “timefulness.” She explains why timefulness is vital in the Anthropocene, this human epoch of accelerating planetary change, and proposes sensible solutions for building a more time-literate society.

This compelling book presents a new way of thinking about our place in time, enabling us to make decisions on multigenerational timescales. The lifespan of Earth may seem unfathomable compared to the brevity of human existence, but this view of time denies our deep roots in Earth’s history—and

the magnitude of our effects on the planet.

Marcia Bjornerud on Grandmothers of Geoscience

Awards and Recognition

• Finalist for the 2019 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science & Technology

• Winner of the 2019 PROSE Award in Popular Science & Popular Mathematics,

Association of American Publishers

• Longlisted for the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing Award,

PEN American Center

• One of EcoLit Books' Best Environmental Books of 2018

• Shortlisted for the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, Phi Beta Kappa Society

Timefulness By Marcia Bjornerud

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The Lighter Side Thanks to John Donaho (Facebook)

Thanks to Julie Gentry (Facebook)

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2018 Officers

President Jerry Trenta Vice President Debby Wendt Secretary Pauline Zinn Treasurer Jamie Fairchild

2019 Committee Directors

• Past-President Amber Leung

• Programs Debby Wendt

• Communication--Lynn Trenta

• Publicity Margo Johnson

• Volunteer Service Projects Terri Hurley

• Advanced Training Ramona Ridge

• Membership Bert Stipelcovich

• New Class Carol Hawkins

• New Class Representative David Goff

• State Representative Andrea Morgenstern

• Seabourne—Jerry Trenta

CPTMN 2019 Board Members

We’re on the Web!

See us at:

http://txmn.org/coastal

COASTAL PRAIRIE CHAPTER OF THE TEXAS MASTER NATURALISTS

1402 Band Rd Extension Office

Rosenberg, TX 77471—8678 Phone: 281-633-7033

Check out our Chapter Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/cpctmn/

To post photos and information, email Ramona Ridge or Erik Wolf

Tiger Prairie tribute to Katy Heritage By Karen Zurawski

Our Chapter Facebook Page is at

TXMN Coastal Prairie Chapter Facebook

To post photos and information, email John Donaho

Also, share our chapter Facebook entries with your friends on your Facebook Page

____________________________________________

We also have Facebook Page that

allows chapter members to post items. You can join by going to the website below and clicking on “Join”. The administrator will allow you access. This is for chapter members only. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1882734648662315/?ref=bookmarks

Tiger Prairie at Katy High School is a lesson in progress.

Started last fall, the approximately one acre at FM 1463 and Highway Boulevard represents an effort by teachers and students to incorporate hands-on experiences to complement textbook studies of environmental science.

In the process, the project that replaces turf grass with native prairie plants has picked up community support, promoted discussion and holds the promise of future impacts.

Andie Gunn, a Katy High School junior and Botany Club member, is quick to answer a question raised on a website by a resident concerned that the project will worsen the flooding risk.

“It actually will reduce flooding,” said Gunn. She explained prairie plants have deep roots that improve soil infiltration compared with Bermuda grass. The soil becomes more porous as the nutrient content improves, she added.

For more on this story (which includes mention of Mark Morgenstern and Jim Willis) go to https://texanbynature.org/press/tiger-prairie-tribute-to-katy-heritage/