BioBlitz at Indian Creek Ranch - May 6-8, 2022

Starting this journal post to engage in discussions to organize a BioBlitz at Indian Creek Ranch (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/indian-creek-ranch-biodiversity) and copying some of the information from the previous journal post as well as adding new content.

Indian Creek Ranch (a 10,000 acre unexplored (except a little bit by me) area). It is privately owned, so not open to the public, located about 1/2 an hour SW of Rocksprings, TX. Lat/long is: 29.84797, -100.33126. I have found many poorly documented species here, starting with the infamous Anemone edwardsiana. Others include: Carlowrightia linearifolia (which is way out of documented range) and Muhlenbergia spiciformis (for which it seems I've submitted the first and only oberservation in iNat; go figure). The terrain is varied from steep ravines to large patches of grassland.

I have checked with the landowners and there are open to having a group explore the ranch and document what they found. Edwards County in general is overlooked. Observations would not need to be obscured. The landowners are actually interested in what is at the ranch, which is why a place and project (see above for link) has been created for the ranch. Those who come would need to sign a liability waiver (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aAvSxxuTRtxZ4wmxFcckVKan7kpUcE9L/view?usp=sharing).

For accommodations, the ranch has an 18 acre landing strip (if someone has a plane, yes, you can fly in) where there is a hangar and plenty of room to park a car or pitch a tent. There is electricity at the hangar and a small fridge. There is also a portable toilet including a small sink. There are some motels, a B&B and places with power to park a travel trailer in Rocksprings. I will also be asking the landowners if anyone is interesting in hosting.

The project page only shows about 660 documented species. This accurately shows what plants and insects I have found, although it took the October Pollinator BioBlitz to get me interested in the latter. For, birds, my list of species has been created as a journal post (https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/bacchusrock/59437-birds-of-indian-creek-ranch) and includes rare gems such as montezuma quail, golden-cheeked warbler, and black-capped vireo.

Publicado el domingo, 31 de octubre de 2021 a las 01:57 PM por bacchusrock bacchusrock

Comentarios

whispers -- please please please weekend of either May 7th or May 14th!

;)

Anotado por sambiology hace mas de 2 años

Of the dates proposed (let's not forget Apr 23rd), May 7th would work best for me.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace mas de 2 años

I will be there any time it is convenient for y'all.

Anotado por textileranger hace mas de 2 años

Could you tell us more about the location? I am not familiar with it and didn't find much on Google. Thanks

Anotado por clairesorenson hace mas de 2 años

Yes, Claire. I was thinking about that this morning. I will come up with some descriptive information to add to this journal post. It is a private ranch, so not much public information available.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace mas de 2 años

Oh boy, I sure hope I can make this! The location is exciting. 'Private ranch' is also exciting! I love this part of Texas.

Anotado por tadamcochran hace mas de 2 años

Looks like it's down by Del Rio; that's a bit too far for me.

Anotado por williampaulwhite17 hace mas de 2 años

Wow! Looks enticing! Will look forward to finding out more info!

Anotado por lovebirder hace mas de 2 años

Have updated this post with some additional information. If you have specific questions, please let me know and I'll add the information.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace mas de 2 años

Sounds really interesting, definitely planning on participating! Car camping.

Anotado por annikaml hace mas de 2 años

Poking around on the map (on the Project page, click Observations, and then Map view) I think the answer is no, but are there any active springs?

Anotado por pfau_tarleton hace mas de 2 años

I'm signing up now! Car camper in the flight path side space. Thanks!

Anotado por mikef451 hace mas de 2 años

Ooooooh! Uncommon plants = uncommon insects.

Anotado por amzapp hace mas de 2 años

Great idea Jo

Anotado por ronstephens hace mas de 2 años

Very interested, Too soon to commit. If camping is there a way to still access electricity? Have to have electric or y'all will run me off the property after one night.

Anotado por brentano hace mas de 2 años

Sadly, no active springs. There is power at the hangar, but no internet. A number of landowners do have internet so some may be willing to make their access available. Cell phone coverage is available in many areas of the ranch, including the hangar. Best coverage is with T-mobile and AT&T.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace mas de 2 años

Excited!

Anotado por centratex hace mas de 2 años

Yay Jo! So glad to see this post! Do you know if they will allow specimen collections? I'm thinking Triodanis spp of course, but I'd love to be able to collect other plants for the herbarium too. Might as well ask about insects too...
I've definitely got it on my calendar!

Anotado por kimberlietx hace mas de 2 años

On my calendar.

Anotado por connlindajo hace mas de 2 años

Let us know when there is a date!

Anotado por k8thegr8 hace mas de 2 años

Jo, I'd recommend going with the May 7th date since that's best for you (and Sam, of course!). Everyone else seems to have an open calendar. Will it be Fri night and Saturday night? Sometimes the bigger events have included Sunday night (three nights). But that's your choice!

Anotado por pfau_tarleton hace mas de 2 años

Omg, now I'm REALLY interested!

Anotado por tadamcochran hace mas de 2 años

Do we have dates for the City Nature Challenge 2022 yet, @sambiology? Seems like May 7 might be cutting it close.

Anotado por tadamcochran hace mas de 2 años

Interested, please keep me in the loop.

Anotado por sawwhet hace mas de 2 años

@kimberlietx I expect the owners won't have an issue collecting samples of plants and insects, however, I will make sure I ask when I request written permission from them for access to their tract. Right now I have verbal agreement and you have permission to collect from my 100 acres and the 18 acres around the landing strip. There are also 33 miles of road which are essentially open to anyone on the ranch so, collecting along the road is definitely not a problem. We're regularly cutting back trees and bushes. One of the Triodanis I collected for you was from along the road.

I recommended Friday and Saturday night for sure as it can be a long drive to get here for some. Happy to include Sunday for those who want an extra day.

Once we get confirmation on the City Nature Challenge 2022 dates, we can set it for May 7th unless there is a conflict.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace mas de 2 años

Woooo hooo!!! If it's on May 7th, I can totally be there. Hope I didn't persuade everyone too too hard on that date. :)
It's the weekend AFTER the City Nature Challenge, but folks may still be uploading stuff up until May 8th. It is pretty tight, but after the city nature challenge, most of our cameras will still be warm and easy to start back up. ;)
https://citynaturechallenge.org/

Anotado por sambiology hace mas de 2 años

@kimberlietx I live there and you can collect all the samples you like on my property too. I am about half way between Jo and the landing strip.

Anotado por textileranger hace mas de 2 años

Sounds like a great spot to do some naturalizing! Got the date on my calendar too.

Anotado por rkostecke hace mas de 2 años

I will definitely be there. I would also like to add, my Ph.D. project is at the Texas A&M Sonora Research Station, perhaps there is the possibility of hosting a tour/small iNatting stop there if there are people interested? I'd love to help make that happen if anyone is willing to help collaborate! There is also slight potential for it to be a place to stay the night, but we would need to start coordinating now. @bacchusrock

Anotado por austinrkelly hace mas de 2 años

CNC 2022 dates are at the bottom of the event website: April 29 - May 2 (photos), May 3-8 (identify what was found). Of course, things may change.

Anotado por amzapp hace mas de 2 años

Yay on collecting! Let's all go discover a new species of Triodanis!! :D Thanks also @textileranger and @austinrkelly... I'd love to visit both properties, time permitting! I can try to be available additional days before/after Indian Creek Ranch.

I'm interested if anyone is hosting a place to sleep & shower. I don't mind camping but I'd rather not since I have a tendency to bring everything and the kitchen sink.

Anotado por kimberlietx hace mas de 2 años

@catenatus The air force out of Del Rio might be checking you out if you arrive in a Yak-3 with a VK-107A.

It is about a 90 minute drive from the air strip to Sonora and there are hotels there, but don't know if they are impacted by the flood of state troopers staying in the area. Perhaps folks will want to stop in on the way in on Friday or way out on Sunday. @austinrkelly If you want me to add any specifics into the journal post to assist in coordination, let me know.

@kimberlietx I live here so coming early or staying later is definitely an option. I will be reaching out to landowners with the firmer dates and plans this weekend so we'll quickly start knowing how many are willing to host someone.

I am updating the post to reflect dates of May 6-8.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace mas de 2 años

Count me and my ranch in.

Anotado por pbynum hace mas de 2 años

I know I've missed a lot of the groups outings but I am EXTREMELY interested in this opportunity.

Anotado por mchlfx hace mas de 2 años

@paige186 This is the bioblitz I spoke to you about.

Anotado por mikef451 hace mas de 2 años

Thanks @pbynum I found some plants at pbynum's place that I've never seen on my tract.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace mas de 2 años

An update for everyone. @textileranger and I started an initial outreach to the landowners to start collecting written agreements. So far, we have agreement from landowners of about 1,300 acres for exploring and collecting some samples. These acres represent a good variety of habitat from dry creek beds, open meadows, scrub, and some steep terrain, i.e., sheer cliff faces where those interesting, inaccessible plants grow.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace mas de 2 años

Ah, super bummed. That Sunday is mother's day so I think I'll have to.... bring my mom ;) I'll be there

Anotado por knightericm hace mas de 2 años

I plan to be there, tent or car camping at the air strip. Is there drinking water available at the hanger?

Anotado por sawwhet hace mas de 2 años

FYI @jeffmci9

Anotado por connlindajo hace mas de 2 años

Any place a small travel trailer could stay? Is Sonora the nearest town? Or a nearby State Park. Or a place to boondock?

Anotado por clairesorenson hace mas de 2 años

Oops, sorry I didn't see the new reference to Rocksprings.

Anotado por clairesorenson hace mas de 2 años

There is no potable water at the hangar. I do plan to bring 5 gallon containers of nice well water to the hangar for everyone's use so you'll be able to refill water bottles, etc.

Closest park is Kickapoo Cavern State Park, about an hours drive away. I do think there is a place in Rocksprings where travel trailers can park. There is also plenty of room at the hangar to park a travel trailer or one of the landowner's tracts. We've had a few already responding willing to host individuals. As we get closer, I'll start collecting more specifics from everyone so we can coordinate.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace mas de 2 años

@jcochran706 @mammelton50 @aprilsee Just passing this along to interested folks.

Anotado por mikef451 hace mas de 2 años

Sounds like a great place!

Anotado por jcochran706 hace mas de 2 años

Beautiful area! It's on my calendar. I will car camp unless there is a host situation available. I can bring a 5-gallon water container and xtra cooler of ice.

Anotado por aprilsee hace mas de 2 años

Very interested!

Anotado por texslm hace mas de 2 años

I would really enjoy participating, please count me in. I would just come for Saturday - no camping spot needed for me. I will be happy to help provide a few cases of bottled water.

Anotado por sisterkeith hace mas de 2 años

If I didn't say it already, I'm in!

Anotado por tadamcochran hace mas de 2 años

I plan on attending this!

Anotado por reidhardin hace mas de 2 años

I'll be there. =)

Anotado por k8thegr8 hace cerca de 2 años

super interested. have to see how the work schedule goes closer to that time

Anotado por texslm hace cerca de 2 años

For those camping is there a restroom or porta potty available?

Anotado por sawwhet hace cerca de 2 años

Yes, there is a portable toilet at the hangar. I've updated the description here to include that information.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace cerca de 2 años

My husband and I will be there with our trailer. Recently finished my Master Naturalist training and they said I can count this project toward my volunteer hours to certify. Yay! I look forward to adding some new species to my list, at a new location. And hanging out with iNaters, of course.

Anotado por clairesorenson hace cerca de 2 años

Count me in. I just blocked out that long weekend and will tent camp.

Anotado por sawwhet hace cerca de 2 años

Adding to my radar.

Anotado por rymcdaniel hace cerca de 2 años

Anybody know the nearest airport off the top of their heads?

Anotado por nanofishology hace cerca de 2 años

The nearest airport, if it is still providing commercial flights (had been served by American Airlines prior to the pandemic) is Del Rio. After that, choices are San Angelo, San Antonio, or Austin. Trouble with Austin is you're mostly on secondary roads to get here. From San Antonio it is I-10 for quite the distance.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace cerca de 2 años

... and if you have your own small plane, there is a landing strip at the ranch.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace cerca de 2 años

Del Rio airport wasn't active a few years ago. Was hoping there was something closer than San Antonio/Austin, but I guess not.

Anotado por nanofishology hace cerca de 2 años

You are correct. Del Rio (DRT) wasn't active for about 5 years after United stopped serving them and then AA started serving them. I just checked the AA website and looks like they have flights.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace cerca de 2 años

Wow, awesome! The rental car situation there isn't the best so I might still need to fly in through San Antonio anyways, but looks like I shouldn't have issues making this meetup. It's been WAY too long

Anotado por nanofishology hace cerca de 2 años

@megachile You'll meet half of Texas at this event... you should come :)

Anotado por kimberlietx hace cerca de 2 años

I have good news and bad news. The good news is:

I have secured permission from landowners to give us access to about 2,500 acres to explore
We have permission to collect small specimens from all but 200 of these acres
The birds are back in force and the bugs are numerous

The bad news is that we are experiencing a drought. We have not had any decent rain since October. Other than November when we had 0.4", we've had less than 1/4" each month: 0.18" in Dec, 0.15" in Jan, 0.18" in Feb, and a whopping 0.01" in March). This has had a serious impact on flowers, which are currently far and few between. The trees and shrubs seem to be doing fine and managing to go through their normal cycle.

I am sharing this so that y'all know what to expect at the ranch. Right now there is no rain in the forecast, however, I will provide an update as soon as it happens.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

As long as there are bugs, I'll be there. =)

Anotado por k8thegr8 hace casi 2 años

We are thinking about having a BBQ and gathering at the hanger Sat night during the ICR BioBlitz and would like to hear your thoughts. I have plenty of charcoal that I can bring. After that we need to decide how best to provide the food etc. Bring your own food? Pitch in for main course and everybody bring sides? Any other ideas you may have are welcome.

I think the sooner we decide the better so, lets begin the conversation.

Anotado por pbynum hace casi 2 años

For gatherings in the past, they've ranged from everyone brings food just for themselves to having one meal as a group. We had a potluck at Timberlake, and that seemed to work well--for me at, least :) I'd say that one group meal is good and the other meals with everyone taking care of themselves. But we had a lot of food left over--so we'd need to try to avoid that perhaps.

Anotado por pfau_tarleton hace casi 2 años

Adding @swissagnes to the conversation.

Also, I have added a journal post to the ICR page on navigation to and around the ranch.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

To avoid a lot of leftover food, maybe everyone just bring their own food but we can fire up the grill on Saturday night. As an FYI, there will also be a microwave available to heat up food.

We finally got some rain on Tuesday. Only 0.3" but that doubles our rain for the year.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

Despite similarly dry conditions at Timberlake Field Station, our recent bioblitz documented ~600 species, many of which had never been documented in the four previous bioblitzs at that location. It was dry and barren and almost devoid of wildflowers, but we found some really interesting things! I'm sure it will be the same at Indian Creek. We'll have to look harder and be more creative in our observations, but doing so will reveal things we wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

Anotado por pfau_tarleton hace casi 2 años

I know I will always and forever regret it, but several opportunities have arisen in my area that compete with the weekend date. However, the one event that clinched it is when my youngest grandson told me that it is the weekend he will be in the Milam County Community Children's Theater production of Jungle Book. I will definitely miss seeing every one and exploring a new to me area of Texas.

Anotado por connlindajo hace casi 2 años

@connlindajo We'll miss ya, Linda Jo!

Anotado por tadamcochran hace casi 2 años

Agree with Russell. I expect we'll find all kinds of interesting species and a number that have not been documented in Edwards County, which is so little explored.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

I'm sorry to say we can't make it after all. We had to shift some trip plans due to the loss of a family member. So we will join them for a celebration of life in Kentucky. I look forward to the next Bioblitz, we really enjoy them.

Anotado por clairesorenson hace casi 2 años

I'm planning to be there/camp Fri through Sunday morning. What is the shower situatiom? I have a camp shower but no privacy screen. I tend to be a chigger magnet.

Anotado por nanofishology hace casi 2 años

There is no shower at the hangar, however, if you really, really needed one someone could accommodate you (e.g., me, but that means a 20 minute drive each way from the hangar). I have tarps I could bring to the hangar and we could see if we could set up a privacy screen. The grass around the hangar is kept short so should be safe enough there from chiggers but definitely bring your chigger defenses for everywhere else you will wander.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

Would appreciate the tarps! I plan to spray my clothes with permethrin so hopefully that will do the job but plan to bring my shower just in case.

Anotado por nanofishology hace casi 2 años

The landowners have requested that all participants sign a liability waiver. I am including the link here (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aAvSxxuTRtxZ4wmxFcckVKan7kpUcE9L/view?usp=sharing) and in the verbiage at the top of this journal post. If you can send me a link to a signed copy ahead of time, great. If not, please bring one along. If you can do neither, I will have some forms available for signing.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

@bacchusrock Has there been any rain in the last couple of weeks? I've been keeping tabs on the weather in Rocksprings. I know that's still an hour or so away. Just curious if there has been any rain at ICR.

Anotado por tadamcochran hace casi 2 años

We did receive some more rain. In addition to the 0.3" we received on April 19, we received another 1/2" in the north part of the ranch this week. They may have received more in the southern part of the ranch. They got 1.5" in Rocksprings. We've noticed things can vary a lot from one end of the ranch to the other. Things started looking a lot greener even after the rain on the 19th and I expect plants to go crazy with this week's rain - just in time for the BioBlitz. But let's not forget to look in the less obvious places ...

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

The gate code for the lock that has red tape on it is is 1357 (there are about 4 locks on the gate). Please be careful when relocking the gate not to bypass any of the other locks.

If you share when you expect to be arriving, someone has volunteered to be at the gate during busy arrival times to make sure there are no issues with the lock, answer any questions you may have, and to collect your waivers.

Also, please be careful driving around the ranch. There are a number of blind corners. The landowners have been reminded that it will be busy this coming weekend.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

Maybe I missed it above but what are the proposed time limits/suggestions for arrival and departure on Fri and Sun? Thank you, Jo, for all the organizing and help!

Anotado por jcochran706 hace casi 2 años

There were no time limits. I was planning to go to the hangar Friday morning to open it up and set things up. Since the ranch is far from pretty much everywhere, I was expecting that most individuals would start showing up Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday afternoon but essentially, whatever works for you.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

I should be arriving around 12:30 or so on Friday, assuming no major flight delays.

Anotado por nanofishology hace casi 2 años

Bring lots of water everyone. Latest weather forecast is high 90s possibly 100 degrees on Saturday and Sunday. Ugh. Not May weather at all.

Anotado por rymcdaniel hace casi 2 años

I will be bringing 5 gallon jugs of my well water to the hangar, so plenty to share. For the water junkies out there, I think it tastes good.

I also have a number of jug juices with ice that I can bring to the hangar if anyone will need them for use in their coolers. I will keep them in the deep freeze until I get requests for them.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

I overlayed the plot map that Jo linked to on google earth and put it in a .kmz file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q2gvoyfjv3zvior/ICR%20Ranch%20accessibility.kmz?dl=0

If you download that to your phone and open in the google earth app, you should be able to figure out where you are at on the site in real time and also see which plots we have access to.

Anotado por knightericm hace casi 2 años

Here's an easier to read version that also shows the hangar location: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k34ofv81kyh2xgp/ICR%20Ranch%20accessibility%20version%202.kmz?dl=0

Anotado por knightericm hace casi 2 años

I'm super excited to see folks this weekend! I'll likely end up there on Friday late afternoon/early evening and will stay until Sunday around noon.

Hopefully there may be another drizzle or two this week to prep for us getting there too!
https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/Rocksprings+TX?canonicalCityId=003d4719c3069f32dca969181b6219c2c564b3102cfb12fcbfcc0eb1da8ebcd1

Anotado por sambiology hace casi 2 años

Oooo, @knightericm, that's fantastic! Didn't even know this was a thing my phone could do!
@bacchusrock, don't you and @kimberlietx leave me behind...I'm tagging along too.
I'm going to put up an insect trap which looks like a small tent somewhere near the hangar. I'm also bringing bottles so folks can help me collect ichneumonid wasps.
Had to wear a coat today, looking forward to some warm weather! :) Bringing lots of ice to go with that well water--our water here tastes like dead algae.

Anotado por pfau_tarleton hace casi 2 años

Considering it was snowing in Ohio a week or so ago... I am VERY excited about the weather

Anotado por nanofishology hace casi 2 años

It's a deal @pfau_tarleton. We may need to go in your truck. Mine my be busy taking folks to other parts of the ranch. I'm not sure if I mentioned it anywhere (but I thought I did) that the road to the hangar is quite drivable by all vehicles. Once you get past the hangar, it can get rough in parts and you want a vehicle with good clearance and tires with good treads.

On a completely separate topic, I would like to create a combined bird list to submit to eBird for each of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So, I would appreciate if everyone could keep track of what they see from the time they get to the ranch gates. I will have a list available at the hangar with the common birds at this time of year where people can contribute what they saw.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

Very excited about this bioblitz!
I'm planning on arriving between 5pm-7pm on Friday, leaving at noon Sunday. I will be car camping.

Anotado por annikaml hace casi 2 años

I think you might be thinking of the OnX Hunt app which is about $32 per year. I use it cause I need to see property lines when using trail cameras for all our Nature Tracking projects. Some are in neighborhoods so being able to see the boundaries is a must. I used the map that Jo added to drop a Go or No Go pin in all the properties.
Thanks for that Jo!

I will try to arrive around Friday between Noon and 1pm.

Anotado por mikef451 hace casi 2 años

When I first downloaded OnX Hunt I had a 7 day free trial. I find it very useful to see exactly where I am.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

@bacchusrock Do you think a Subaru will handle the rougher roads okay?

Anotado por rymcdaniel hace casi 2 años

Depends on the model and the tires and your experience on rougher roads. I have a RAV4 as well as a Toyota Tacoma. The Tacoma can go anywhere on the ranch but I hate driving down cutting pen draw (I think that is marked in google maps as such; along Abrusley / Moore). I'm comfortable taking the RAV4 to the hangar and into Phase 1 (north end). I've never considered taking it around Lanning / Stephen properties, to Rickard, or the Allen loop, but you could also probably drive those. Ultimately, you'll need to judge when you get there. I wouldn't recommend taking it into Phase 7.

This is why I am offering to take people to different areas if need be in my Tacoma.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

Thanks. That may affect my plans a bit and I may want to see if I can get a ride down to McFarland/Barnes from someone at some point. We'll see. Plenty of places to see, but too much to hit everything I think.

Anotado por rymcdaniel hace casi 2 años

I'm thankful for this opportunity and sorely disappointed that I can't make it after all. I know y'all will enjoy exploring. I look forward to experiencing the area through your observations.

Anotado por aprilsee hace casi 2 años

Going to try to leave early Friday morning and arrive around noon-1p.

Anotado por tadamcochran hace casi 2 años

@rymcdaniel Both my husband and I are interested in visiting Barnes / McFarland. If Sunday morning works for you, we can plan to take you there in my truck.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

Appreciating that everyone generally prefers to go where they want, when they want I asked my husband to mark up a map with which sections of road are more rough. He has driven them 100s of times more than me. This file, posted on the navigation journal post, shows which roads everyone can easily drive on (green marker), which ones are rough (orange marker), and ones on which I would take my Toyota Rav4. The one orange stretch I regularly drive is the hill into Phase 1 at Jordy property: it is steep and bumpy. I will have a copy of this posted in the hangar so you can use your judgement in planning your trips.

@rymcdaniel Speaking with my husband, he figures you can get you Subaru to Barnes / McFarland.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

Great, I'll be there!

Anotado por currenfrasch hace casi 2 años

I am planning on arriving mid-morning, or something like that, on Saturday. It depends on how distracted I get along the way. I am also planning on pitching a tent for Saturday night. Looking forward to just hanging out with folks.

Anotado por centratex hace casi 2 años

As I read all the comments regarding the big gathering beginning tomorrow, I growing more and more despondent about the great time I will miss. If possible, could someone take a group photo of all the iNat folks and share? I want to be even more miserable because of the folks I missed meeting and seeing again. Will be thinking of you while I am here at home taking care of stuff. However, I do look forward to seeing my grandson doing something he loves and I will also be able to do some "belly botany" with Monique Reed (Illustrated Flora of East Texas) in College Station. @bacchusrock Please plan another future expediton to the location. Enjoy!

Anotado por connlindajo hace casi 2 años

@connlindajo Just step out into the 100 degree heat this weekend and maybe you won't feel so bad. :)

Anotado por rymcdaniel hace casi 2 años

BTW, if anyone photographs what looks like some boring old Glandularia bipinnatifida this weekend, please take pics of the inflorescence from the side to look for fruiting calyces. We may have the as yet undocumented on iNat species Glandularia tumidula at the site.

Anotado por rymcdaniel hace casi 2 años

@connlindajo Monique Reed was my lab instructor for Taxonomy of Flowering Plants at TAMU in the 1992 Spring semester.

Anotado por centratex hace casi 2 años

I'll arrive Friday evening and car camp. Will we be mothing? I have some power and non power setups. =)

Anotado por k8thegr8 hace casi 2 años

There may be another undocumented iNat species, Tragia leptophylla. nathantaylor mentioned it in one of my observations for a Tragia ramosa

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

@k8thegr8 "Will we be mothing?" she says.... 🤣 This group can't go anywhere without mothing gear. OF COURSE WE WILL MOTH!! No gathering is complete without eleventy sheets to explore.

Anotado por kimberlietx hace casi 2 años

Y'all have a blast! Unfortunately, I can't make it this time, but I can't wait to see what y'all find:)

Anotado por lovebirder hace casi 2 años

@bacchusrock very interesting on that Tragia. that's now top of my target list for the trip. reading into nearby habitat, it looks like it's often found in gravelly creek beds and on the edges of creeks in limestone crevices

Anotado por knightericm hace casi 2 años

We got lots of limestone crevices in dry creek beds.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

Thanks to all who braved the 108F weather and participated. I have added a summary journal post here.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

In retrospect, the heat wasn't bad at all. I barely even remember all of the near death experiences :). Sunday morning standing at the edge of the Bar-Mac cliff hearing nothing but the wind and seeing everything but people made it all worth while!

Anotado por pfau_tarleton hace casi 2 años

@bacchusrock , your hosting and organizational skills are exceptional. Thank you for enabling us to explore so many great places!

Anotado por amzapp hace casi 2 años

I very much enjoyed the ranch and the company. Thanks, Jo, for organizing it!

BTW, I just noticed that there are only 19 observations of Tragia so far. Judging by how many I leaned on with my bare arm or knee while taking pictures of tiny plants and bugs, I think that number should be at least thousand-fold higher!!

Anotado por annikaml hace casi 2 años

Your comment, @annikaml is timely. I had been neglecting taking photos of Tragia ramosa thinking it was over observed. When I just checked in iNat, it has less than 1000 observations. We have also now found T. leptophylla at the ranch and there could be some T. amblyodonta. Makes Traiga much more interesting to examine and photograph .

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

Thanks so much for hosting a fun event, Jo! The hospitality was great, especially for bird viewing at your house. What a great place you have. I really appreciate you loaning me your extra phone for mapping too, else I'd still be wandering around on ICR somewhere. By the way, if that ever does happen and I expire, whoever finds me can have my camera as long as they upload my last photos to iNat.

While looking for something else I found a website that the moth-ers might find interesting. It's southwesternmoths.com and it has a link to a set of pinned moths from Edwards County. If you view the Slide Show and mouse over the moth you will see the name and other details.

https://southwesternmoths.com/moths-of-edwards-county-texas/

I'll try to get my stuff uploaded soon. Looking forward to seeing what everyone found!

Anotado por jcochran706 hace casi 2 años

Thanks Jo for hosting this event! I had a great time here with great people! Looks like we ended up with three species of confirmed bats, Mexican Free-tailed bat, Hoary bat, and Northern Yellow bat. From my last two BioBlitz's I can see some ideas worth experimenting with as further documentation of the bat frenzy that occurs from the mothing. I will pursue these going forward.

I have completed my uploading of observations at ICR.

Anotado por mikef451 hace casi 2 años

Still wading through my observations, but I found a pair of jumping spiders, a male and female, where the male was doing mating displays. Brought the total observed on iNat of this species to 9!
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/845331-Habronattus-tuberculatus

Anotado por nanofishology hace casi 2 años

Wonderful!

Anotado por k8thegr8 hace casi 2 años

I shamefully have not yet gone through photos. I slid into home late on Sunday night, started the new job Monday morning, and went into the field again last weekend. Can't wait to relive it all (minus the heat) through photos and specimens. PS. @k8thegr8 , picked up 4 buck moth cats on my way home to add to my spiny cat rearing resume!

Anotado por kimberlietx hace casi 2 años

Excellent!! The Texas Hemileuca are a pain in the butt. =)

Anotado por k8thegr8 hace casi 2 años

I am done uploading, but I know I have a bunch of observations that aren't fully identified yet.

Anotado por nanofishology hace casi 2 años

Great @nanofishology Could you please email me a list of the tracts you visited? I'm sending individualized thank you notes to each of the landowners so want to include information on how many people visited their place.

Anotado por bacchusrock hace casi 2 años

I am directionally challenged so I stayed around the hanger or went with you if I went anywhere.

Anotado por nanofishology hace casi 2 años

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