Master Naturalists – Page 8 – The Hermits' Rest

Work Hard. Get Rewarded.

It’s not often that your hard work gets tangibly rewarded. For my paying work, knowing I’ve done my best and that what I’ve done may help someone is enough. This week I’ve been quite satisfied to get a lot of that kind of work done.

Some hard work feels very unrewarding, but must be done. I’ve suffered through a lot of financial work this week, which may explain while I’m still having anxiety chest pains. But I’ve trimmed some expenses and added money to my 401K. That’s the direction where I want to go!

But tonight I did get a reward. Last week I attained 1,000 volunteer hours with Texas Master Naturalists, which was not easy while working full time and owning horses. My friend who also got the achievement took two fewer years than me! I’m proud of Eric, though. He does great work.

My reward was a gold dragonfly pin. I got bronze for 250 hours and silver for 500. It will be years before I get another one!

So many pins. The colored dragonfly is for initial certification. The enamel pins are for at least 40 volunteer hours and 8 training hours each year. The bottom pins we got for sticking with the program through COVID.

It was nice seeing a full house at tonight’s meeting, with three visitors, even. We enjoyed a great presentation on lichen, where I learned a LOT. I apparently knew very little about lichen. Did you know they are a symbiotic combo of a fungus and algae? And they have a fascinating structure. Now I want to buy a black light flashlight and go out and see which ones glow.

We are getting good rain again tonight. That’s so good for the ponds. It will probably knock those few autumnal orange leaves I found today down. It’s ok. I see birds better that way.

I’m Punting Again (and a salt lake)

What have you been putting off doing? Why?

Ha ha, I thought to myself when I saw this prompt. It’s perfect! I’ve been putting off sharing some cool stuff I learned and saw at the Master Naturalist Annual Meeting. And I have to put things off again after taking 12 hours to get home today. I’m zonked.

Don’t get me wrong! It was because I was having a wonderful time that we took so long! Oh, yes, my smile muscles were hurting.

Because nature is beautiful, says the Couch’s kingbird.

We skipped the end of the conference to go to one of the places I’d learned about in one of my sessions, La Sal Del Rey (the king’s salt). It’s near Edinburgh or San Manuel Linn, Texas.

It’s really an amazing sight, so please visit the link above to read more. We saw animal tracks galore around the lake, and dozens of new birds and mating dragonflies around the nearby freshwater lagoons. Paradise.

My first javelina or ringed peccary. These are native. He was not bothered by us.

Everything sparkles in the sun there from the salt crystals. Awe inspiring. Because of deep exhaustion I’m not going to show you and name all the plants and other wildlife. Here are a few plants and birds, along with scenery of the lake, thorn scrub, and mesquite/prickly pear forest.

Blurry, but my first vermillion flycatcher

I’m so glad I got to finally see South Texas. It’s so different and interesting!

More details later.

Learning, Ahh (Master Naturalist Meeting Part 2

I’m too tired to write much. It was the only full day of sessions for this year’s conference. I really like how the convention center in McAllen is laid out. It’s easy to find things. And it’s very pretty.

Weeds in the vacant lot across the street were also pretty. This is Alamo vine.

All my sessions were good, though I must say the one on flies was my favorite. Wow that lady liked flies. I learned so much!

I escaped to an empty lot for a while and managed to find some new plants, plus finally found the climbing milk vine that’s everywhere in bloom. It’s seed pods are also pretty.

Climbing milkweed (Funastrum cynanchoides)

I took a bunch more pictures of the tributes to Frida Kahlo that are in the hallways. They are fascinating. These got cropped, so click to see the whole images.

I’ve enjoyed hanging out with my friends and our Texas Parks and Wildlife friends, Sam and Mike. Great conversations! I even get to speak Spanish a lot!

Tomorrow will be extra fun. Eclipse day!

Master Naturalist 2023 Part 1

Ooh. Today was fun. It started out with a trip to the National Butterfly Center, which is beautiful and exciting. There were wonderful plantings of plants that attract pollinators as well as lots of unmanicured areas teeming with birds. I got LOTS of new birds on my life list! I really enjoyed the greater kiskadees.

The woods were very different and had all kinds of new trees and bushes for me to explore. I definitely fell in love with the woods, the wetlands, and the river.

I had only seen the Rio Grande in El Paso, where it’s not pretty. Here, it’s wide and lush and gives you an idea of what this part of south Texas used to be like.

Unfortunately you can’t forget what South Texas is like now. We came upon the news in action: progress on the border wall. It really hit all of us hard. Nature can’t pass through, either. Luckily the Center property will not have a wall through it.

Oh yeah. There were butterflies. And bees.

Ok, after many photos and much listening to new birds (green Jay, two kinds of kingfisher, golden-fronted woodpecker, Wilson’s warbler), we headed to lunch, after which the conference started.

Beautiful ofrenda in the conference center

All four sessions I attended were interesting. I learned about the geology of this region, burrowing owls, reforestation down here, and changing coastal marshes due to climate change. Quite a variety.

The dinner was nothing to write home about, but we had good conversations and had fun waiting for the hotel shuttle and enjoying the día de los muertos decorations.

When we got to the hotel there were more reminders of how weird things are in south Texas. We wondered why the cleaning staff was cleaning at night. Then a young man came out of the door to his room. He told us they clean the rooms for him and his colleagues at night because they sleep during the day. We looked at his Army fatigues and he said, “you can guess why I’m here.” He’s been on this job a year. Wow. Very nice guy, as were the others we met in the lobby.

I’m learning a lot.

Could I Have Had More Fun Today? Not Safely.

Whee. Did I have a good time today! Oh sure. It was time to go to the Texas Master Naturalist Annual Meeting. This year it’s in McAllen, Texas, way at the bottom of the state. I’ve never been here before, so it’s all new to me! But getting here was ALL the fun.

Rain lilies carpeted the roadside. None of us had ever seen so many.

I am very lucky that I was invited to go with the members of our chapter that I admire most, three natives of Milam County who know everything about the plants AND the people. I love listening to their stories.

We also found a new rain lily type. it’s not found in iNat.

I also love their sense of adventure. If the gals in the front seat saw an interesting plant or a roadkill, we stopped! Then we captured every possible image of the plants on the side of the road. It was so much fun! I found new-to-me plants.

This is a lance leaf blanket flower (*Gaillardia aestivalis*) which was new for me.

One highlight of the trip was the very nice bakery we visited in Schulenberg. I had a deer kolache and a pecan roll. We really enjoyed the story of a steer with three horns they had on the wall.

The next highlight came when we were investigating some plants south of Victoria. A car pulled up in front of ours and a woman jumped out and cried, “It’s Linda Jo Conn!” That’s right, one of our party can be recognized on the side of a road when going 75 mph. She has very white hair.

See, the hair is so lovely and easy to spot.

We had a great time identifying plants with the fellow Master Naturalists from the other car. They were really knowledgeable and nice. What a fun time!

The final highlight of the trip was, believe it or not, the rest area we stopped in. This was the most beautiful and interesting rest area I’ve ever seen. The architecture was sort of Spanish, but not overdone. It’s near Falfurrias on US 281.

The brickwork was fascinating, with patterns and rock accents.

The bathrooms had beautiful tile!

There were all kinds of birds there and many woodsy plants, because the whole place was in an oak grove. I had a blast on the little walking trail, where I found dozens of caterpillars and an ant bed. Whee!

Eventually we made our way to the edge of the US. There are lots of police and border patrol officers. There are lots of palm trees and a pretty tree with white flowers called anacahuita or Mexican olive (Cordia boissieri).

Two of our group went to a state park on the border to find moths. I’m not comfortable doing that. Plus I’m extra tired. So my other friend and I walked around a bit and I got a pair of shoes. I’d totally soaked mine traipsing around in ditches to photograph plants. They are drying now.

Tomorrow will also be fun!

Fulfilling Work

In what ways does hard work make you feel fulfilled?

I’m not going to answer a prompt every day this month, but at the end of today, I knew the answer to this one.

Hard work that leads to growth is fulfilling to me. Work for work’s sake, well, it’s a chance to practice mindfulness at best. I can mentally go to my happy place while doing drudge work.

The work I’ve been doing the past few years with horses has been hard, really hard. It’s pushed me out of my comfort zone both mentally and physically. Horses are beautiful and smell good, but they are weird and unpredictable (even for people who know them well).

I was just chatting with a fellow student of Tarrin’s tonight, and we were commiserating about our setbacks this summer and how hard it is to regain confidence when you feel like you can’t trust your horse. We both know we will have to work hard on it, but we pointed out how many obstacles we each have overcome so far. That helps, reminders from others!

As for other kinds of hard work, like actual work and volunteer work, of course it helps if I learn and grow from it. I am fulfilled if my efforts are appreciated or help others. That’s why I like teaching people. You can see that the students have new skills or knowledge that will enrich them. Teaching knitting really exemplifies this. You give someone a lifelong hobby!

Then they can make giant year-long blankets.

My Master Naturalist work is often hard, but wow is it fulfilling to know so much about my surroundings and it’s great to be able to help others ID plants and birds or understand more about the local ecosystem.

For example, I know these rocks, which look like potatoes to me, are what’s in the soil here.

As for today, I took a long walk in the woods, got to enjoy Apache’s previous rider, Kayla, visit with him, and rode Drew around the pasture with only a little need for reassurance. (Backsliding was having trouble bridling after it went well for a few times in a row.)

Enjoy sites from the woods.

Three Jobs I’d Love

List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

Oh good, here’s a question that I don’t have to be as careful answering as yesterday’s (thanks for the positive feedback). I know the things I’d love to do if it weren’t for that pesky needing an income thing.

Knitting Teacher. I truly loved the years I spent teaching people to knit at a yarn shop. I’ve been teaching knitting and crocheting informally most of my life, but I really got a system going there toward the end. It’s so rewarding to taking someone from being sure they’re unable to learn something straight to competency. And once you can knit, you’ve always got something to do!

Nature Interpreter. This is a real job. You share with people about the nature around them, help them learn to see things they might not have noticed, and show them the unique qualities of the place where they are. You can do it as a volunteer in some parks, but Milam County lacks State Parks. Maybe the Ranchería Grande site folks are working on that’s in this county will need interpretation.

I could show folks that they aren’t just walking through a field of weeds, but that the asters are alive with tiny fuzzy bee flies.

Backup Singer. I love(d) to sing. I like being in front, but it’s especially fun to do harmonies behind a singer. I miss performing. I miss the teamwork and cooperation of being in a band, vocal group, or chorus. And sometimes backup singers get to travel! I love staying in hotels, too!

This is the group my friend Sharon is in, the Studebakers. They take turns singing lead and harmonies.

Given a fourth choice I’d be a field worker in biology. I’d get to both be outside and explore nature AND write scientific papers! I actually do know how to do that.

Branded? Not Me

What brands do you associate with?

I’m not a millennial or whatever age group feels the need to associate with a brand or become a brand. It’s just not something I think about. Ever.

I guess, tongue in cheek, I could say I associate myself to Color Street (see, I linked to it). It’s the stuff I use for my silly little fingernails that make me happy. Since I’m constantly being asked how I do the looks, I do tend to evangelize. And I’m probably helping Rebecca the consultant actually make money in an MLM scheme (or as proponents call it, a home business, ha ha).

Yeah, there are less expensive options that feel a bit rubbery, but I enjoy the fun of buying these and sharing ideas and manicures with others. It’s fairly harmless and supports a US business. I represent Color Street (unofficially) because it’s fun.

That’s what they look like in the package.

The only other “brand” I associate with is the Texas Master Naturalist program. I’m proud to have a TMN license plate and wear my shirts around. It’s a privilege to share what I’ve learned with others, too. This organization does so much for our state parks and research.

I’m just not fond of branding myself and am not inclined to become an influencer and promote things. That seems so fake and vain. Besides, I’m old, which Facebook must not know with all their labeling me as a rising creator. I think creator means person who shares a lot of stuff.

In other news, I was working with Apache and walked him way over by the woods. While he was noshing away on some healthy grass, I spotted a raccoon in the stream!

Yeah, today I wouldn’t have blogged. But I committed to answering the prompt for all of September. Only three more days!

It was nice enough outside to do a Zoom meeting by the pool.

My Favorite Word or Words

What’s your favorite word?

Oh, I don’t know, I’m too tired from a long day of hard listening. I did a change management training in the morning, then listened to a presentation on wolf spiders at the Master Naturalist meeting. My friend Eric’s enthusiasm for spiders is contagious.

I know my favorite word to say. I like the way the word “leather” feels when you say it. All the consonants can be drawn out, the “th” tickles your lips, and the vowel is soothing. (There’s just one vowel in this word in American English, thanks to how we pronounce “r”.)

You can now thank me for not going deep into phonology or phonetics or some other linguistic stuff that I once would have wanted to explain to you with respect to the sounds of leather.

Blondie has decided that this box is her equivalent of a leather sofa. She laid her egg in it.

As for words whose meaning I like the most…I honestly thing I once blogged that my favorite word was “friend,” but I can’t search my blog on the phone. I’m not going downstairs to visit my computer, but if I find the post, I’ll add it.

I just love it when people call each other “friend,” like one of my coworkers does. I just get all gooey inside if someone calls me their friend. And my heart feels warm when I think about my little circle of friends. Yes. I like that word.

Mmm. Rain

Lately I also like the word “rain” a lot. It’s rained a bit more than a half inch, and all soaked in. Hoping for more tomorrow, nice and slow and steady.

May it rain as slowly and steadily as an egret flies.

Bird Report: Cliff and Cuckoo Edition

It’s been an interesting couple of days, bird-wise. We don’t tend to get many new or unusual birds this time of year, since no one’s migrating and we just have our summer residents. But yesterday, I realized we had new guests.

I thought the birds on our electric wire were the grackles who’ve been hanging out here the past few weeks. Earlier, they definitely were grackles. But these birds were shaped more like the barn swallows who nest at the house.

I thought maybe since the babies hatched, the swallows were gathering in new places. I do still see them, just not as many. However, the Merlin Bird ID app I’m so fond of these days clued me in yesterday morning. It heard cliff swallows. Huh!

I went in and got my binoculars, and once I got a closer look, I could confirm that we now have two different swallows flying around. Cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) are more brown than barn swallows, have a distinct rust-colored patch on their rumps, and their tails are more squared off. They have whiter breast feathers, too. Otherwise, they are similar to barn swallows. They’re found all over the US and nest on cliffs (duh) and under bridges.

Unlike barn swallows, who build separate mud nests for each family, cliff swallows have huge communal nests, also made of mud. They are more social than barn swallows, so if you see large groups flying or hanging out on wires, these are probably what you’re seeing. I noticed a cool thing—the birds always face away from the sun. In the mornings I always see them facing west, and in the evenings, it’s east, at least on our north-south wire.

I’ve been enjoying watching them feed over our front pond. The barn swallows seem to have claimed the back pond for their territory.

The back pond is also the favorite hangout of our yellow-billed cuckoos. I’ve mentioned before that I only realized we had them when Merlin Bird ID heard their sounds. You may have heard them, too. Go to this page and click the “listen” button. Sounds like the jungle!

Lately, many of my Master Naturalist friends are seeing them for the first time. I was getting jealous, since I’d only seen them way in the distance. My friend Donna even wrote a blog mentioning it.

Yesterday, I was reading something from my friend Carolyn Henderson about how she had just seen one, and feeling a jealous twinge, when right above my head was the unmistakable cacophony of a cuckoo, and sure enough, one was right above me, flying low. I guess it was saying, “Fine, here I am already!”

I guess this is the year of the cuckoo and painted bunting, thanks to the sound ID app. Even Lee knows when he hears them now.