Walking The Nest Box Trail

We walked our nest box trail today, as part of our wildlife management activities. We have eight boxes up now, with plans for more. We put them up in October last year and have been checking them semi-regularly since.

We're now in the nesting season and this is our first formal check. We keep a log of what we find and take photos as part of the record. In a random check a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that some of the boxes had nests in them, so we wanted to check every one.

Five of the boxes contained nests. I wonder why the birds decided not to use three of them, or at least not yet. Two of the unused ones are along our driveway, so I thought maybe there is too much human activity nearby for them to be attractive. One, though, is not near our daily activities.

This is nest box #1 which is near our house. The nest is made of ashe juniper needles, a few twigs and leaves, and some fur. The fur might be from our dogs.

Nest box #6 is near our neighbor's horse pasture and it has quite a bit of horse hair in it. It also has bits of cellophane and grass stems. The nest is lopsided and tilted. It looks like the opening is off to the side, in the lower right of this photo.

Nest box #7 is also near our neighbor's horse pasture, but it looks different than #6. The nest is round and level with the opening on top.

Nest box #8 which is near one of our wildlife water dishes had three eggs in it! The eggs are very small and a uniform light blue. I estimate they're about 1/2 inch long. The nest is made almost entirely of grass and is very neat, round, and well-made. We think they're bluebird eggs but I'm going to ask an expert for confirmation.

Nest Boxes - Moving In

I checked three of our blue bird nest boxes last week and they all showed signs of nest-building!

I happened to go by two of them as I was trucking water out to the wildlife water dishes and decided to check them. After seeing those two with nests in them, I checked on one by the house and it too contained a nest. I think the odds are that all of them have nests in them, but because of the rains we haven't had a chance to check them all.

The first one was right next to one of the wildlife water dishes on the eastern edge of our property. The nest is made of grass stems and fills about half of the box. You can see the cedar shavings, that were in the box at the start, at the bottom.

I couldn't see any eggs in the nest, but the view into the nest was difficult because it was filling so much of the box. I will take a mirror next time to be able to see inside. Eastern bluebirds make their nests from grasses, so this might be one.

The next box is further south on the same eastern fence line. This one is definitely made of different materials than the first one. It appears to contain grass, twigs, feathers, and fur. It also appears to be at an earlier stage of construction, but that's only a guess because it's smaller. It looks looser and more disorganized than the first one. My guess is this one is another bird species, but I don't know which.

It stopped raining today and the sun is shining. Maybe we'll make the nest box rounds and get a full inventory of the activity. Along with all the other signs of spring, the birds are building homes!

Light My Fire

Mary and I had the great opportunity to work at a prescribed burn today at Eagle Rock Ranch. The ranch is privately owned but is under a conservation easement and is part of the Texas Land Conservancy.

A prescribed burn, also known as a controlled burn, is a vital part of a land management plan, especially for prairie restoration. The prairie grasses evolved under conditions of regularly occurring natural wildfires. The grasses thrive after a burn and many of their woody or shrubby competitors are removed by the fire.

Prescribed burns are very weather-dependent. This one was originally scheduled for late February and then for yesterday, but was postponed either because of winds or because the fuel was too wet.

A group of about 15 Hays County gathered to help the ranch manager, Pokey Rehmet, with the burn. The field we were burning was surrounded by a dirt and grass road which provided a natural fire break. Our main job was to stand watch at the fire's edge and make sure the fire did not get past the break.

Preparing the water sprayers.

Pokey used a propane torch to set the fire.

The burn begins.

Here he is burning along the boundary road to form a back burn.

An up-close view of the propane torch.

We stood at the fire's edge and kept an eye on it. Some of us had water spray bottles, but most had rakes or shovels to help direct the fire.

Mary standing watch.

Once the main fire had passed, we then put out any hot spots so that once we left the area, the fire would not restart.

Putting out a hot spot.

In this shot, the fire is well-underway. You couldn't stand too near it for too long because of the heat. The wind shifted throughout the burn, so we had to place ourselves strategically to avoid the smoke. This was not always possible though.

The fire is well-underway.

We worked for about two and a half hours. The field burned pretty completely and there were no mishaps. All in all, a successful day!

Most of the field is burned.

Wild Things

Here's the latest best-of from our game camera.

First is a feral pig (Sus scrofa). While they are invasive and cause a lot of damage to the environment, I can't help but admire what a magnificent animal this one is. He's large and looks to be in excellent health with a thick winter coat. I guess, trying to see the bright side, it means our property is in good shape too, to supply him with enough nutrition to look the way he does. I'm still going to try to get rid of him!

Next is a gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). They're very elusive. The game camera has caught them before, but never as clearly. Usually, they're a blur as they run through the frame.

Finally, a skunk. It's a striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis). This one is very close to the camera and his head is out of frame.

Nature Abstracts

The Hill Country Photography Club's critique theme this month was Nature Abstracts. I kept putting off doing the assignment because I'm not familiar with abstract techniques and felt it was forcing me outside my photographic comfort zone.

I've tried to accurately represent the scene in most of the nature photography I've done. The thought of intentionally turning it into an abstraction just made me uncomfortable. Finally, a couple of weekends ago, I decided I needed to get it done. The technique I was going to use was to set a slow shutter speed and allow the image to blur as I moved during the exposure. I went for a hike looking for suitable subjects.

The first one is a different view of one of our native shrubs, agarita (Mahonia trifoliolata). We've got them all over the property. I like this image because it reminds me of a star field or a fireworks burst. I'm not sure if one could tell it was an agarita just from the image, so perhaps that's abstract enough!

Agarita Starburst

I noticed some of the agaritas already have flower buds. The combination of rains and warm weather are tricking them into an early spring.

I took the second image right in our front yard. We have a several rose bushes in our home's landscape and they are all blooming.

Rose Impressions

I liked the results of the nature abstract assignment and think I'll do it again. One of the goals of my Master Naturalist work is to increase public awareness and appreciation of nature. I think producing nature abstracts might be one way to accomplish that.

Onion Creek Juniper Clearing

I got to spend almost four hours yesterday in the afternoon working at the Onion Creek Water Quality Protection Lands in Hays County. The day started a bit cold with lows in the thirties, but by 1 pm it had warmed up enough to be comfortable to work outside as long as your dressed warmly.

I was part of a team of about 15 Hays County Master Naturalists, led by Tom Watson, and we worked to clear Ashe Junipers at two different sites on the property.

The junipers are native, but they originally grew on rocky hillsides and ravines. They have spread beyond their original confines, due to overgrazing of grasslands and suppression of wildfires as our land became settled. They compete for water with grasses and other trees. The City of Austin is restoring the Water Quality Protection Lands to grasslands in order to enhance their ability to filter and recharge water in the aquifers. The junipers are also known locally as "cedars" and cause the dreaded allergy, "cedar fever". Cutting the tree down below any green needle will kill it. Typically, we cut it down at the ground.

Removing a small juniper

The first site we worked, along Onion Creek, had been cleared of large junipers by our chapter. We swept along the bank looking for any seedlings or "re-sprouts". Since the large junipers have been cleared, the berries have a chance to germinate and if not regularly cleared, in only a few years, the area will once again have a juniper problem. While very easy to nip with lopping shears, the seedlings can be hard to see.

It was nice to see Onion Creek had water in it, because it was dry the last time I saw it. The recent rains have helped, but are not enough. The water is also muddy indicating we're seeing erosion upstream.

A view upstream

And downstream

The second site we worked was adjacent to a stock tank and had not recently been cleared because the trees were larger and harder to take out with just our lopping shears.

It was a beautiful afternoon to spend working outdoors. As Tom summarized, "We laid down a lot of wood"  yesterday and I'm glad I was able to help!

Bunton Branch Restoration

Last October, Mary and I volunteered at one of our Chapter's projects, the Bunton Branch Restoration.

The project is located on 35 acres of City of Kyle parkland. The park property was acquired in 2008 when the developer of the Seton Hospital and retail stores surrounding it presented the City a concept plan. The Kyle Parks Committee and City Council accepted the parkland dedication shortly after that. Bunton Branch Creek was realigned due to the construction of the Dacy Lane bridge. The project involves restoring the land to its natural state and helping with the maintenance of the parkland.

The project’s main objectives are:

• Restore the portion of Bunton Branch Impacted by Construction
• Plant native vegetation
• Harvest saplings and other desirable vegetation from undisturbed areas of the creek and  replant in the area affected by construction
• Solicit donations from local nurseries for native trees and vegetation

• Help The City of Kyle to Maintain Parkland
• Trash removal
• Identify and remove invasive plant species
• Recruit help from experts on plant identification
• Begin erosion control plan
• Remove creek obstructions

• Help The City of Kyle with their vision for the Park
• Plan garden space and water system and help to build it
• Plan nature trail to an outdoor classroom and help with building it
• Tag, identify and map trees
• GPS trees, log tree type and create a map for future parkland planning

We joined project leader Kimberly Pankratz as well as fellow Master Naturalists Tom Watson, Linda Land, and Dick and Judy McBride. The group worked to identify, tag and record the GPS coordinates of trees, and trash pickup.

Examining an invasive Chinese Lantern.

It was nice to see a bit of water in the creek and several of us observed how different the soil and plants are east of I-35. The most common tree along the creek was the Bois D’Arc (Maclura pomifera) and many still had fruit on them. The Bois D’Arc are relatively rare in the rockier soils of western Hays County. Also common were cedar elms (Ulmus crassifolia). 

Kimberly also gave the group a tour and overview of the park and the work ahead.