Updraft

Even though we're in a dry period right now there is quite a bit of moisture in the atmosphere. The problem is that it's not falling to the ground!

One of the characteristics of rain in this part of the country is that it's usually scattered and very localized. I might drive through a heavy rainstorm on the way home from work and yet the house got nothing. I reported 3.3 inches of rain at our house for May to our chapter's Rainfall Monitoring Project and a fellow Master Naturalist told me they only received 0.6 inches.

Another characteristic is that because of ground heating during the day, by late afternoon we see the most beautiful, and sometimes, threatening cloud formations. The ground heating causes strong updrafts and as the air's moisture rises and cools, it condenses to form clouds.

Here's a photo of a cloud that I captured in late April. It didn't come over our house - it was moving north if I remember correctly and was east of us.

It's an example of a cumulonimbus cloud formation. They are the largest cloud formations and can form alone or in clusters. They start at a low altitude, typically about 5,000 feet and soar up to 15,000 to 20,000 feet or more. This one has a red tinge along the bottom because of the low, setting sun.

I was disappointed when we didn't get any rain that day. In fact, we only got 0.1 inches in April and that was almost two weeks before this was taken. My attitude toward rain has definitely changed over the years. I used to think that rain ruined the day or weekend. Now I look forward to it and am happy when we get a good drenching. I'd rather see rain spread over several days than getting it all in one burst like we sometimes do, but I'm glad to get it in any form.

A Dry Spell

I've been tracking the rainfall at our house for the last 5 years. I started collecting the data during the Master Naturalist class I took in order to obtain state certification in the program. The data collection is part of our chapter's Rainfall Monitoring Project.

The project divides Hays County in 30 sections, each about six miles wide and seven miles high. Participants report their monthly rainfall and their data is averaged with others in their section and graphed monthly. The project has data back to March 2005. The data will allow us to determine the average rainfall across the county and to see if there are any geographical differences.

You can find the project's results at the link above.

The charts below are the data at our house. The data starts in May 2007 and goes through May 2011. You can see how variable the monthly rainfall is. The annual totals are:

2007 - 28.2 (incomplete)
2008 - 16.4
2009 - 36.7
2010 - 43.1

2011 - 6.9 (so far)

In general, 2007 was a wet year, followed by a dry 2008. 2009 was average and 2010 was wet again. So far 2011 has been dry. The summers tend to be dry, but in July 2007 we had a house record of 12.7 inches.

The data is interesting to me because of my interest in the local habitat. It also affects us directly since rainwater is our house's main water supply. Texas is almost entirely in drought right now. You can view the U.S. Drought Monitor's most recent data here.

I've heard it said that the local rainfall average is 33 inches per year, with most years below average! These graphs may give you an idea of what that means.

A Snake In The Grass

I spotted this grass snake in our driveway a couple of weeks ago. That's where I see most of the snakes on our property and I've commented before on how I think this is a case of selection bias. I see them on our driveway because that's where they stand out. They like to sun themselves on the warm road, and this was a warm, sunny day. I was driving home and drove right past it, expecting it to move off into the grass. I looked in the rear view mirror and it was still there, so I stopped the car, got out, and walked over to it. I only had my cell phone camera but managed to get a good shot of it.

It's official name is a rough green snake (Opheodrys aestivus) and it's also known as a green grass snake.

I was able to get quite close and in fact I reached out and grabbed it, right behind the head. I don't recommend you do this, but I was sure I knew this was not a poisonous snake. I wondered if it was sick since I was able to get so close and actually catch it.

I put it in a small animal cage and showed it to Mary. I kept it until the next day and then let it go in our yard. I wanted to take some more photographs of it with my DSLR camera, but decided it would be too difficult to have it look natural.

I managed to get a few shots of it in the grass before I lost sight of it. I don't think it was sick after all. Maybe it had just eaten and was sluggish from digesting its meal. They usually feed on spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, and caterpillars.

Fledgling Wrens

I'm happy to report that the wrens which made their nest in the bag of ground oyster shells in our garage have successfully fledged their brood! I checked the bag periodically and saw the chicks developing. They finally left the nest about 2 weeks ago. All five seemed to make it. You may find my earlier post here.

We were going to move the bag off the garage floor, fearing that Dixie, our Border Collie, would get the chicks. I consulted with our Hays County Master Naturalist bird experts and they advised against it. Apparently moving the nest more than a few inches can cause the parents to abandon it.

We did keep the garage door cracked open to try to keep Dixie out and yet allow the parent wrens to come and go and that seemed to work. In the end we decided to just observe and see what happened. It was a pretty dumb place to build a nest and if Dixie hadn't gotten them, some other predator may have. We have plenty of snakes, raccoons, and foxes on the property. The male wren builds several nests in an area and then the female chooses which one to use. This seems like a lot of wasted effort, but apparently it confuses predators as to which nest has the eggs. When the nest was empty, I removed it from the bag and threw it in the yard. Last year, the wrens used the nest again for a second brood and I didn't want that to happen.

It turns out there was another wren nest on the opposite side of our garage, in an empty flower pot. I discovered them a few days after finding the one in the bag. Mary asked if we could have our garage declared a wildlife refuge and get a tax break, but I don't think the laws work that way.

The other nest looks like they all fledged successfully too. That now makes 4 broods that have fledged from our garage in two years.

7th Annual Naturescapes Photography Contest and Exhibition

The 7th Annual Naturescapes Photography Contest and Exhibition is underway.

The contest started accepting entries on May 1st and the entry deadline is July 11th.

The Awards reception will be held at the San Marcos Activity Center on September 10 and the Exhibition will run through November 4th.

This year the Hays County Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist is joining the Hill Country Photography Club as cosponsor of the contest. The contest and exhibition provide an excellent vehicle for the Hays County Master Naturalist organization to advance a key part of it's mission: to educate and increase public awareness of the importance of preserving and maintaining our natural areas.

We've added two new awards this year. The first one, sponsored by the HCPC, is for the Best photo entered in the Youth Category. Photographers 18 years or younger at the entry deadline are eligible. The second one, sponsored by the HCMN, is for the Best photo of a Natural Habitat.

This year's contest juror is Amanda Smith, owner and director of the A Smith Gallery in Johnson City. I'm thrilled she agreed to judge the contest and am looking forward to working with her.

Monarch Butterflies!

The Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) emerged from their chrysalises on Thurday this week. I didn't get to see them do it and that's somewhat disappointing, but maybe I'll be lucky next time. It's nonetheless a thrill to look in the aquarium and see them fluttering about when there was no visible activity before.

I thought the transformation would take about 2 weeks but it seems to have happened a little faster at 12 days. The rate is temperature-dependent so maybe it was warmer and it went faster than the 2 weeks the references state.

The empty and no longer colorful chrysalis.

I was normally checking them when I got home in the afternoon, but I was out of town on Wednesday, so I didn't get a chance. When I got home Thursday, they were already out. Their wings were fully extended and they looked ready to fly. We didn't put a cover on the aquarium since we weren't trying to keep them. We just wanted to observe their transformations.

Both butterflies emerged! A 100% success rate!

When Mary got home a few hours later, they were gone.

My friend, Mike Cseri, says they'll return next year, so we have something to look forward to.

A Shot of Wild Turkey

Mary spotted this Wild Turkey from our kitchen window yesterday afternoon. It's a Rio Grande Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia) and I think it's a female.

She called to me and told me what it was. I grabbed my camera and headed to the kitchen. My first shot was from inside through the window and it wasn't very good. I don't have a long telephoto lens - the longest I have is a 24mm - 70mm zoom, so I had to get closer.

I walked outside and fortunately her car was in the carport so I could hide behind it and get some more shots. They still weren't very good so I had to walk closer to it. When it saw me it started walking away and I only got one more shot. It was actually inside our  fence and when I got much closer, I could hear it flap its wings and get away. I didn't see it flying because it was behind some trees.

We've been hearing them gobbling fairly close to the house, mainly in the evenings. Last week as I was on our road, one crossed in front of the car and calmly kept walking.

They're very wary and we've occasionally been rewarded with glimpses of them, but never one so close to the house. I know they can fly because once, while on a hike with Dixie, our Border Collie, we came across a flock of them and Dixie took off after them. They took to the air and landed in some nearby oaks.

Their ideal habitat is an open woodland or savanna which describes our property fairly well. They are omnivores and will consume acorns and berries as well as lizards, snakes, and frogs.

Interestingly, the Aztecs domesticated the southern Mexican subspecies. The Spanish took this domesticated bird back to Europe and later it became a farmyard animal in France and Britain. By 1620, it was so common that the Pilgrims brought some with them, unaware that there were close relatives in the forests of Massachusetts.