| Summary: | Bexar Tracks began with Vol. 4, no. 1 (January 1986). It continues Newsletter (Bexar Audubon Society). For the latest news and updates, see www.bexaraudubon.org. Bexar Audubon Society is a chapter of the National Audubon Society. Its primary goals are to promote species and habitat conservation and environmental education in the community. Bexar Tracks Volume XXVIII, No. 1 January—February 2012 February Program Protecting Our Riparian Areas with Peggy Darr Nature Preserve Officer at Medina River Natural Area Thursday, February 16, 6:30 PM at TriPoint (map on page 4) Check the website & our spring newsletter for a follow-up field trip to Medina River Natural Area in April Healthy Riparian Areas Mean More Water for Everyone! There is more to a river than flowing water. A riparian area is the dense band of vegetation hugging the sides of a river. It covers the entire floodplain and can extend for miles. Riparian areas provide important wildlife habitat and are an important wa-ter source for the ever growing human population. Unfortunately, riparian areas are often misunderstood and abused. People allow cattle to graze at the river’s edge, they mow the “weedy” plants surrounding a river, and they clear tress for a “better view.” All of these actions reduce a river’s capacity to retain water. The dense vegetation found in riparian areas acts like a sponge; when rivers flood, the plants slow the rushing water allowing more to soak into underground aquifers. During this time of se-vere drought, healthy, functioning riparian areas are more important than ever! Learn more about riparian areas and what makes them function properly from Peggy Darr, Nature Preserve Officer at the City of San Antonio’s Medina River Natural Area. Peggy Darr has a Master of Science Degree in Wildlife Biology from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Studies from the Univer-sity of Vermont (her home state). As an undergraduate stu-dent, she also studied wildlife ecology and conservation while abroad in Tanzania and Belize. She is currently the manager of the Medina River Natural Area, a 511 acre pre-serve owned by the City of San Antonio. Peggy is primarily an ornithologist and has done field research with a variety of bird species including spotted owls in Washington, piping plovers in Massachusetts, Attwater’s prairie chickens in Texas, and ducks in North Dakota. She has also given a variety of wildlife-related presentations including one on Texas shorebirds at the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival in Homer, Alaska. January Program ALERT!!!! Our January meeting will be a JOINT gathering of Bexar Audubon and San Antonio Audubon Societies! Meet-ing date is Thursday, January 5th, 7 PM at First Tee (915 E. Mulberry in Brackenridge Park). Our speaker will be Iliana Peña; see below for program details. Bexar Audubon will not meet the 3rd Thursday this month. February 16th we’ll be back at TriPoint with Peggy Darr speaking on “Protecting our Ri-parian Areas” . Important Bird Areas With Iliana Peña, Director of Conservation, Audubon Texas January 5, 7 PM at First Tee, 915 E. Mulberry The Important Bird Areas Pro-gram (IBA) is a global effort to identify and conserve areas that are vital to birds and other biodiver-sity. Bexar Audubon Society, in partnership with Texas Parks & Wildlife, the City of San Antonio Natural Areas, and private land-owners, has nominated several areas in northern Bexar County as Important Bird Areas. Iliana's pro-gram will focus on these efforts. Program Description: The Texas Hill Country is well known for its unique ecosystems supporting two federally endangered summer breeding residents; the Golden -cheeked Warbler (GCW) and Black-capped Vireo (BCV). The City of San Antonio has seen unprecedented growth in the last 15 years encroaching into critical GCW and BCV breeding habitat. For this reason, partners joined to-gether to nominate a 5,090 hectare site as an Important Bird Area. Come hear how partnership and shared effort helped make this happen and how volunteers will be needed to pro-vide stewardship. Iliana was the first Director of the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center in San Antonio. Today she manages the state Audubon Con-servation program which includes Coastal Stewardship of 13,000 acres, the Quail and Grassland Birds Program, and the Important Birds Area program. Iliana has a BS in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M, and her MS in Range and Wildlife Management. Iliana is an avid hiker who also enjoys paddling, fishing, reading and traveling to new places. Medina River Golden-cheeked Warbler Page 2 January-February 2012 Bexar Tracks From National Wildlife Federation Online Setting a Winter Table for Wildlife Rather than cutting down the native flowers in your garden, leave the seed heads and stalks standing until spring for birds to feast on 11-15-2011 // Janet Marinelli Many people think that once the last goldenrod has bloomed in fall, the wildflower spectacle is over for the year. However, the spent stalks and pods that are the rem-nants of summer’s blossoms have a stark, sculptural beauty—and even when the riot of floral color has settled into a winter palette of muted browns and grays, many plants continue to serve wildlife. Seed-eating birds such as juncos and goldfinches flock to the dried flower heads of asters, coneflowers and other native plants at a time when other food is scarce. Winter wildflower stalks also provide wildlife with places to seek refuge from storms and predators, and insects pass the winter in the dead stalks. That’s why gardeners should ignore the conventional horticultural wisdom and hold off on the ritual known as fall garden cleanup. Do not deadhead wildflowers growing on your property. Instead, leave spent flower stalks until spring so that birds can feast on the seeds and insects can complete their life cycles and emerge when the weather warms. If you’re fanatical about removing the stalks after the first frost, you’ll not only be depriving birds of a source of winter sustenance but also disposing of some of next year’s pollinators and other beneficial insects that fertilize native plants and food crops and help keep garden pests in check. A few of the native wildflowers with seeds that birds will gobble up in winter include coneflowers, sennas, and round-head bush clover, asters, black-eyed Susans and any late-blooming sunflowers. Read the full article at http:// www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/ Gardening/Archives/2012/Winter-Table-for-Wildlife.aspx From the San Antonio Water System’s Water Saver Newsletter Monday, December 5, 2011 Leave the Leaves and Leave Raking Behind By Mark A. Peterson By now, leaves are falling and we ponder whether to rake, mow or just ignore them. Although options vary, leaves do provide multiple benefits. Perhaps the path least traveled is the one to pursue. Leaves supply an almost endless supply of essential nutrients like nitrogen, potas-sium, magnesium and manganese. Moreover, they supply simple and complex carbon chains to the soil, which pro-vide food and energy to a variety of macro and micro or-ganisms. Without leaves, trees would soon run out of the building blocks to make their own food. This is not to say that leaves don't have some down-sides. For those enamored with large expanses of turf, a steady supply of leaves on top of the grass will be detri-mental. Live oak leaves decompose at a rate similar to the proverbial "molasses in January" and can quickly smother a lawn. Here are some options to maximize leaf benefits and minimize leaf detriments: Rake up repeatedly and dispose in the proper recepta-cle. This option benefits only those who require outdoor exercise. Rake up and dispose in a compost bin. Exercise, re-ducing landfill input, and creating organic fertilizer are the chief benefits. You may have to speed up decomposition with small amounts of fertilizer and moisture. Mow and mow often. Mow over the leaves and then mow again. You have all of the above benefits plus added nutrients for the tree and the lawn, and most importantly for some folks, reduced winter weed population. So keep the mower out of storage for just a bit longer. Sharpen the blades and mow, mow, mow those leaves. MARCH PROGRAM — Sharing Nature: An Educator’s Week at Hog Island Joint Program With San Antonio & Bexar Audubon Societies at First Tee! Put Thursday, March 1st, 2012 on your calendar for another joint meeting at First Tee! Michelle Eckman, Education Director at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center, will present on “Sharing Nature: An Educator’s Week at Hog Island Audu-bon Camp” in Maine. Both Audubon organizations assisted with funding for Michelle’s trip in July 2011. Michelle will share her gratitude and describe her experience from puffins to quaking bogs! The natural world of coastal Maine is re-markable and Michelle is eager to share it all. Join us as San Antonio Audubon and Bexar Audubon come together again to hear her presentation on Thursday, March 1st, at First Tee at 7 PM, 915 E. Mulberry in Brackenridge Park. Michelle hails from Massachusetts, and received her BS in Wildlife Biology from UMass Amherst. After years working as an avian field biologist, Michelle turned her research efforts to education. She received her MS in Biology from New Mexico State University where her thesis research focused on environmental education evaluation. Upon completing her MS, she was hired as the Education Manager at the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. Now the Director of Education, Mi-chelle is responsible for the school education programs, bi-annual docent training programs, and is a member of the Texas Sustainability Education Advisory Committee and three statewide steering committees of the Texas Children in Nature Network. Page 3 January-February 2012 Bexar Tracks Should Water Be a Commodity? The League of Women Voters has produced an excellent report on Texas water issues, Should Water Be a Com-modity? Look for this study linked on the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance web (aquiferalliance.org) under Resources, Library, Resources for Member Groups. Check out GEAA’s wonderful resources on their web: www.aquiferalliance.org. Excerpted from Hill Country Alliance online news hillcountryalliance.org Check links to these excerpted HCA articles at their web-site, hillcountryalliance.org, or check out mysa.com for arti-cles on the whooping crane and Texas drought. Drought leaving rivers, lakes with more bacteria Increased bacteria levels in rivers and streams due to decreased flow that typically dilutes runoff pollution is an expected yet overlooked toll of the drought, said Andrew Sansom, executive director of the River Systems Institute at Texas State University. Read the full Statesman.com article at http://www.statesman.com/news/local/drought-leaving- rivers-lakes-with-more-bacteria-2009431.html. It could take years for state's aquifers to fill A historic drought has depleted Texas aquifers to lows rarely seen since 1948, and it could take months—or even years—for the groundwater supplies to fully re-charge, scientists who study NASA satellite data said Wednesday. Read more from SA Express-News: http:// www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/It-could-t a k e - y e a r s - f o r - s t a t e - s - a q u i f e r s - t o - f i l l - 2336849.php#ixzz1fTT1VWVL Whooping cranes spark a water war The whooping crane, the majestic bird slowly making its way back from the brink of extinction, is returning to the Texas coast in record numbers, with as many as 300 ex-pected. This could be a hard winter for the endangered species, however, because a severe drought has left the marshes saltier than usual and without the abundance of plump blue crabs they like to eat. Texas water regulators, petrochemical plants and lawyers for the last wild flock of whooping cranes have faced off in court over who has first rights to dwindling water from a drought-starved river. The heart of the case is a river system stretching from near San Antonio to a marshy bay favored by both petro-chemical plants and waterfowl. Environmentalists sued water regulators on claims they let industrial facilities, farms and cities suck the river so dry that not enough fresh water reaches the coastline. Their suit seeks a court -ordered plan to rebalance upstream and downstream usage regardless of pre-existing water contracts. Several good links to keep up with this case and find out more, including http://www.bloom berg.com/news/2011-12-05/ texas-water-trial-pits-chemical-companies-cities-against-whooping- cranes.html and http://www.mysanantonio.com/ news/environment/article/Water-for-whooping-cranes- 2342852.php#ixzz1gGcTPwCd. Or go to mysa.com and enter “whooping crane”—stay informed! Texas Climate News November 3, 2011 | A magazine about climate & sustainability SNAPSHOTS OF THE DROUGHT It hasn’t been this dry in Texas since 1789 There was only one other year in almost five centuries when Texas’ summer drought was as severe as it was in 2011, federal climate experts have concluded. Instrumental weather records used to measure drought severity don’t go back much before the 20th century. (In Texas, they date to 1895.) And it appears no relief is in sight, the federal Climate Prediction Center said in its Winter Outlook for December through February: With La Niña in place Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and parts of surrounding states are unlikely to get enough rain to alleviate the ongoing drought. Texas, the epicenter of the drought, experienced its driest 12-month pe-riod on record from October 2010 through September 2011. Read the full story at http://www.texasclimatenews.org:80/ wp/?p=3355. Bastrop State Park Recovery Effort Volunteers are needed at the Bastrop State Park to help restore the habitat of the Houston toad and to do erosion con-trol caused by the damage from the recent wildfires. Event dates are January 14 & 28 and February 12, 9 AM—3 PM. Volunteers should bring work gloves, lunch and water; wear close-toed shoes, long pants and long shirts. Volunteer space is limited! Contact Katie Rainey to see when your help could best be used, 512.237.2241 x 225 or 512.718.0211; Katie.raney@tpwd.state.tx.us. Keep Flying WILD! Audubon Adventures Award Recipients Bexar Audubon Society recently purchased eight sets of Audubon Adventures teacher resource packs to award to teachers who are making a serious ef-fort to educate their students about nature conservation and to get their students out-doors for some of their science educa-tion. We previously reported that Cynthia Vasquez was one of the teachers cho-sen; joining her is Jaynelle Reed, also a 5th grade teacher at Castroville Elementary in the Medina Valley ISD. Cynthia first invited Audubon/Flying WILD Bird Educators Tom and Patsy Inglet to present the “Bird Detective” program to her classes in the fall of 2009; Jaynelle wanted to include her classes in the effort, so the entire 5th grade learned how to identify birds using the scientific method and to use binocu-lars effectively for birding (one of Mrs. Reed’s classes is shown practicing with the binoculars). The following spring all the 5th grade students participated in a bird identification walk in which they spotted, identified, and reported the birds around the Castroville Elementary campus. Keep Flying Wild! Back to Nature First Saturday Nature Walks and Second Saturday Programs (Co-sponsored by City of San Antonio and Bexar Audubon Society) Reservations suggested; walks occasionally change. Donations suggested. More info: 210.372.9124 or 210.564.6400, or peggy.spring@sanantonio.gov. Nature Walk — Eisenhower Park: Jan. 7, 10 AM–Noon Tough Trees! — Eisenhower Park: Jan. 14, 10 AM–Noon Nature Walk — Friedrich Park: Feb. 4, 10 AM–Noon Birding 101 — Friedrich Park: Feb. 11, 10 AM–Noon Sponsored by San Antonio Natural Areas, www.sanaturalareas.org Page 4 January-February 2012 Bexar Tracks Check the Nature Calendar at bexaraudubon.org for more listings. Government Canyon State Natural Area Information/reservations for any GCSNA programs, 210.688.9055 x 291, reservations@friendsofgc.org. January & February programs include Guided Hike to Protected Habitat, Haiku Hikes, Winter Brrrds, and Explore the Canyon with knowledgeable guides to discuss the flora, fauna, natural and cultural history of this gem of a natural area. More info: www.friendsofgc.org Medina River Natural Area 210.207.3111, www.sanaturalareas.org Phil Hardberger Park Education Program information/reservations: 210.207.3111 or 210.207.3284. More info at www.sanaturalareas.org, www.philhardbergerpark.org or www.sanantonio.gov. San Antonio Audubon Society Programs San Antonio Audubon Society meets the first Thursday of each month; check www.saaudubon.org for more information on SAAS programs and outings. And don’t forget to join SAAS birders for the Second Saturday Beginners’ Walks starting at 8 AM; meet at the Judson Nature Trails next to the Alamo Heights swimming pool, on Viesca street. More infor-mation, call 210.342.2073. Everyone welcome! Mitchell Lake Audubon Center 10750 Pleasanton Rd., San Antonio TX 78221 210.628.1639, www.mitchelllakeaudubon.org Connecting People with Nature About Mitchell Lake Just south of downtown San Antonio, Mitchell Lake Audubon Center is located on a 1200-acre natural area. This unique and beautiful bird haven consists of the 600- acre Mitchell Lake, 215 acres of wetlands and ponds and 385 acres of upland habitat. Audubon Texas has partnered with the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) to showcase this wonderful natural area. Coming Soon at MLAC: Learning from Historic Texas Landscape Designs Saturday, Feb. 18, 10 AM—12 Noon Explore the idea of creating contemporary, conservation conscious landscapes guided by the lessons and suc-cesses of the past. After a brief survey of historic regional landscapes and styles, discussion will include heritage plants and their uses in landscape design, as well as in-vasive plants introduced by our ancestors. Indoor/outdoor class led by award-winning landscape designer Mike Pe-cen. Limited space, program fee, RSVP required. Check online for more upcoming programs! Audubon Flying WILD Young Birders Young Birders Club (YBC) is for children between the ages of 7—12 and meets monthly on Saturdays, 8-10 AM. Parents with children under 7 are welcome to bring them and stay with them apart from the birding group; only children 7+ are allowed to go on the bird walks since having too many people disturbs the birds. We meet at a variety of parks/ venues throughout the San Antonio area (to give the kids a chance to see a bigger variety of habitats and birds). We do not charge a fee, but some of the parks/venues do, and each family is responsible for those charges. New mem-bers are asked to attend the next training on Feb. 11. Kids will learn Basic Birding and binocular skills (we have binoculars to loan), and this will also help you determine whether the kids are truly interested in pursuing birding as members of the club. Basic Birding: Feb. 11, 10 AM—Noon Friedrich Wilderness Park. Donations accepted $3/person, $5/family. Feb. 18, 8—10 AM, Cibolo Nature Center YBC Meeting & Great Backyard Bird Count. We will do our part in Cornell University’s annual Great Backyard Bird Count off the back porch of the nature center, then explore as many of the other habitats (Woodland, Prairie, Marsh, and Creek) as time allows. All sightings will be sent to the GBBC. March 17, 8—10 AM, Warbler Woods Bird Sanctuary YBC Meeting. Spring Migration. February BAS Program at TriPoint, 3233 N. St. Mary’s St. TriPoint N. St. Mary’s St. Page 5 January-February 2012 Bexar Tracks Earth Share of Texas raises money for environmental and conservation or-ganizations through workplace giving. If your employer participates in such programs, please ask them to add Earth Share to your giving options. By des-ignating the Audubon Foundation of Texas (AFT), Bexar Audubon Society can benefit. BAS receives credit for our support and receives funding annually form AFT. For more information, call, email or log on: 800.GREENTX, ESTX@earthshare-texas.org, or www.earthshare-texas.org. Bexar Audubon Society Contacts President: Greg Pasztor, —210.824.1235, gpasztor@ix.netcom.com Vice President: Anita Anderson—210.533.8726; ajandrsn@sbcglobal.net Treasurer: Caryl Swann—210.653.2860; c.swann@att.net Secretary: Susan Hughes—210.532.2032; susan@wordwright.com At-Large: Anne Parrish—parrishes@att.net At-Large: Jessica Leslie—jleslie01@hotmail.com Webmaster: Greg Pasztor—210.824.1235, gpasztor@ix.netcom.com Programs/Outings: Patty Pasztor—210.824.1235; pasztor@ix.netcom.com Education Chairperson: Mary Kennedy—mbkenned@sbcglobal.net Editor: Michele Wood—210.492.4684, editor@bexaraudubon.org Grasses of South Central Texas with Floyd Waller, Ph.D., grass taxonomist This 4 part workshop is taught by Dr. Floyd Waller, PhD in Grass Systems, Texas A&M. Learn the parts and functions of grasses in our ecosystems and the technical terms necessary for using the I.D. Man-ual. Learn basic structure and morphology of grass plants & how to I.D. grasses found in our area. Four Fridays: March 23 & 30 and April 13 & 20. Classes fill up quickly! 210.732.9927, upcsa@upcsa.org. Cibolo Nature Center 140 City Park Dr., Boerne. Information: www.cibolo.org/calendar 830.249.4616 or nature@cibolo.org Lots of great programs & events for the whole family at CNC. Be part of the Winter Prairie Bird Survey or the Great Back Yard Bird Count in Janu-ary and February at CNC! Call/email for information or reservations, Ben@cibolo.org. CNC offers a full calendar of programs during the winter months, cov-ering these topics and much more: Heron Rookery Monitoring, Volunteer Service Workday, Wildlife Tax Valuation Workshop, Kid's Club, Vegetable Garden-ing & Seed Planting, Bird Box Monitor Training, At-tracting Birds: Creating Bird Habitats, Harvesting Rainwater & Solar Energy. Check out the CNC at www.cibolo.org. Get out there and enjoy nature! Invasive Plants Training Workshop Saturday, Feb. 25, 8:45 AM — 4:30 PM at CNC The Texas Invaders Program and Cibolo Nature Center are sponsoring a Citizen Scientist invasive plants training session. Training includes classroom instruction on identification of invasive species and field experience to include plant identification, re-porting, and recording findings in the Txinvasives.org database. At the completion of this session partici-pants will be certified as Texas Invaders Citizen Sci-entists. Ongoing I.D. and eradication opportunities will be available in Bexar County and the Hill Coun-try region. Advanced registration required. Details/ more information, contact Lonnie Shockley at lonni-eshockley@ satx.rr.com. Bexar Audubon on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Audubon- Education-San-Antonio/153862271318580 From The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Cornell Lab eNews, October 2011 Video: How Nature Works: Birds of Louisiana's Barrier Islands Each year, birds from across the continent con-verge on Louisiana's barrier islands. Birds from the high arctic, western prairies, boreal forest, and coastal Alaska join Louisiana's resident birds in a feast fit for birds of all shapes and sizes. From birds that herd fish to those that probe deep into the mud with sensitive bills, see the diversity of birds and fascinating foraging strategies that reveal the under-lying richness of these unique habitats. Check out this video on You Tube—the link is too long to print here, so just input “Louisiana barrier islands, Cornell Lab,” and you’ll have a good selec-tion of beautiful, informative Cornell Lab videos worth watching! From texasbutterflyranch.wordpress.com SA River Walk Boasts Vibrant “Butterfly City” Along Museum Reach Posted on December 9, 2011by Monika Maeckle Like butterflies? Want to know how to attract more of them? Check out Monika Maeckle’s blog at texasbutterflyranch.wordpress.com, with such articles as these recent posts: San Antonio River Walk Boasts Vibrant “Butterfly City” Along Mu-seum Reach as Butterfly Wildscape Matures A Year in the Life of A Butterfly Garden: From Turf to a Butterfly Host and Nectar Garden, with Edible Landscape In Between Monarch Butterflies Arrive in Michoacan, Mexico, Just in Time for Thanksgiving www.bexaraudubon.org For the latest information on environmental events and happenings throughout the San Anto-nio community and surrounding areas, check out www.bexaraudubon.org. Non-Profit Organization US Postage Paid San Antonio TX Permit #167 Bexar Audubon Society PO Box 6084 San Antonio TX 78209-0084 Bexar Tracks Bexar Tracks is the official newsletter of the Bexar Audubon Society, a Chapter of the National Audu-bon Society. The Chapter’s primary goals are to promote species and habitat conservation and environmental education in the community. Your membership includes National Audubon and Bexar Audubon and subscriptions to both Audubon and Bexar Tracks. Jan-Feb 2012 Membership and Support for Your Environmental Voice in Our Community Bexar Audubon welcomes new members to join Audubon through the chapter. This brings 100 percent of the first year’s dues directly back to support local work. The same applies to gift memberships placed through the chapter. Your additional tax deductible donation is greatly appreciated. Bexar Audubon receives only a few thousand dollars each year from National Audubon Society as dues share. The rest we must raise ourselves. Your help is needed, and your donations will be put to good use right here in South Central Texas to provide environ-mental news and education to the community, including the newsletter, programs, San Antonio Environmental Network Issues Forum, Sec-ond Saturday programs, and other activities you may or may not hear about. Individual introductory memberships are $20; seniors and stu-dents join for $15. Please provide the following information for each personal subscription or gift: Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Mailing Address with Zip Code: _______________________________________________________________________ Phone w/Area Code: _________________________________ e-mail ________________________________________ Do you wish to opt out of other mailings by Audubon or those with whom it shares lists? ____ yes ____ no Make checks payable to “Bexar Audubon Society” and mail to the address at the top of this page. Enclosed: $__________ for subscription(s) $_________ additional donation NOTE: Renewals should be sent directly to National Audubon Society. NOTE: If you change address or cancel membership, you do NOT need to contact Bexar Audubon but MUST contact National Audubon (and we will automatically get that change when we download labels). Save time and energy by mailing your change of address information to National Audubon Soci-ety Membership Data Center, PO Box 52529, Boulder CO 80322-2529; phoning 800.274.4201; or e-mailing CHADD@audubon.org. Wingspan: Have you signed up for Audubon's Wingspan newsletter yet? Get more Audubon news from across the country through this new national e-newsletter. Audubon Wingspan offers the latest insights into our conservation work and new ways you can make a difference. Wingspan is delivered to your e-mailbox monthly and features beauti-ful photographs, news about our conservation initiatives, special enhancements to Audu-bon magazine coverage, and new opportunities for helping birds and their habitats. Find out more at www.audubon.org. Photo courtesy of Greg Dimijian
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