June 4-5: Paluxy River, Stephenville, Erath County mini-bioblitz

Saturday/Sunday

***CANCELED---DUE TO LACK OF LIVING ORGANISMS***

Lance, Prairie Oaks Master Naturalist, will host a 2nd event at his homesite property just north of Stephenville on the North Paluxy River (overnight tent or car camping).

Here's the post for the 1st event held at his place last July (with links to the 433 species that 5 people documented in one afternoon/evening).

Lance's property is about 30 acres on the headwaters of the South Paluxy River and includes both limestone upland and heavily wooded bottomland areas along the river (which, at this location, is a small, but deep, channel). Lance has been allowing the land to restore itself from it's former state for the past 20 years, and it's looking pretty spectacular.

The turnoff onto the gravel road from the highway isn't well marked and is easy to drive past (best to let your GPS map assistant tell you when to turn). Down the gravel road a bit, the gate to the property is recognizable by being constructed of black pipe--first gate on the right just after making a hard (right-angle) left turn. The narrow driveway winds downhill through the property to the rock house. Find a place to park in the mowed grass near the house or barn (Google map pinpointing house).

Here are photographs, one looking down on the house from the log cabin (taken in 2021) and others taken end of May this year.

There will be electricity for lights, but you should bring extension cords if you have your own light setup.

Folks can start arriving anytime around noon-ish Saturday and stay until around noon-ish Sunday.



Just tagging some usual suspects--focusing on folks in the general area (but not intentionally omitting anyone!)
@amzapp, @annikaml, @aprilsee, @baxter-slye, @bosqueaaron, @brentano, @butterflies4fun, @connlindajo, @cosmiccat, @currenfrasch, @elytrid, @gcwarbler, @gwaithir, @k8thegr8, @kimberlietx, @knightericm, @lovebirder, @mikef451, @oddfitz, @pynklynx, @sambiology, @wildcarrot
Publicado el lunes, 09 de mayo de 2022 a las 11:29 PM por pfau_tarleton pfau_tarleton

Comentarios

Fantastic! Had a great time there last year. Many thanks to you and Lance for setting this up.

Anotado por jcochran706 hace casi 2 años

Same here, really enjoyed Lance's property. I will be there!!

Anotado por annikaml hace casi 2 años

i'll be out of town that weekend. i'd be there otherwise

Anotado por knightericm hace casi 2 años

I have another commitment that weekend in Milam County. :-( Rats!

Anotado por connlindajo hace casi 2 años

I'll be visiting Mom out of state. Y'all enjoy for me! I agree w @connlindajo :-( Rats!

Anotado por aprilsee hace casi 2 años

Oh no! I wish I could come!

Anotado por k8thegr8 hace casi 2 años

I'll put it on my calendar (only 2.5 hour drive for me so that is nice !!!).

Anotado por butterflies4fun hace casi 2 años

I'm adding it to my calendar! Thanks for sharing!

Anotado por wildcarrot hace casi 2 años

I'll be out of town...but I'll happily look at any fungal finds :)

Anotado por pynklynx hace casi 2 años

At this time I am planning to make this one.

Anotado por brentano hace casi 2 años

Putting it on my radar.

Anotado por rymcdaniel hace casi 2 años

I'm not going to be able to make it as my granddaughter has an event on Saturday.. Have fun and looks like the rain should have things blooming at least.

Anotado por butterflies4fun hace casi 2 años

I've been out at Lance's place today and a few days ago, and I'm struck by the near absence of animal life (other than some skippers, a bee, and a white-eyed vireo). The drought I suppose is to blame (only ~3 inches since January). There are essentially no wildflowers currently in bloom, and the pond (which held water last year) is dry and barren. I have a Malaise trap set up, and it's been catching quite a few moths, so the mothing may be fine...but daytime insect numbers are very low otherwise. I'll set up my moth light tonight at my house just a few miles away and see what turns up. I added several pics and posted them at the link above. Soooo, those who were planning on coming, we need to decide if it's worth it or whether to cancel.

Anotado por pfau_tarleton hace casi 2 años

That's a real bummer, but perhaps not surprising. The dearth of wildflowers really puts a damper on my usual iNat vocation, since I like the pollinators. Poor birding hits me, too, as that's another main interest. Any dragonfiles or damselfies? Does his pond have water? Is the Paluxy running?

I'll be interested to see what you come up with for moths, Russell.

Anotado por jcochran706 hace casi 2 años

I've seen essentially no dragonflies or damselflies--the tank is dry.

Mothing at my house was really bad last night...half a dozen moths or so and thousands of small, black beetles.

Anotado por pfau_tarleton hace casi 2 años

Thanks for the update, Russell. I can't imagine it's going to get better, given we should be entering a drier period. I did a hike at Granger Lake today and the wildflower situation is quite poor there, too, although I did find some beetles and butterflies using a few stands of thistle. Dragonflies are as few as I've ever seen in one of my favorite places there.

I won't be the first one to say "cancel", but I will say I'd be leaning towards not showing up for this one given the reported conditions.

Anotado por jcochran706 hace casi 2 años

I've officially canceled due to lack of living organisms...well, let's say postponed. Life will return.

Anotado por pfau_tarleton hace casi 2 años

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