Texas Nature: 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Great Blue Heron Cam

In the last post I talked about the Hawk Cam that Cornell University has online, now they have a Great Blue Heron Cam posted. In 2009 Great Blue Herons started building a nest at this site and early this year the university put up a couple of cameras which are online now. The herons returned about 10 days ago and the female layed her first egg just yesterday. Even though the Hawk Cam operates 24/7 it is hard to see what is going on after nightfall. With the Heron Cam one of the cameras takes good night video, so you can check at any hour and still see good pictures. To Check out the Heron Cam follow this link.
Heron Cam

Below are a couple a pictures of the nest. The video is much better than the screen captures below.

Great Blue Heron on nest.

Night shot of Great Blue Heron on nest.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Pitcher Plants

There are 6 different genera of carnivorous plants with a total of 45 species in the United States. These carnivorous plants can be categorized into 5 basic types, flytraps, bladderworts, butterworts, sundews and pitcher plants. Of these five basic type only the the Venus Flytrap is not found in the Big Thicket of Texas. On a recent trip to a couple of units of the Big Thicket National Preserve I was able to photograph some pitcher plants. The species of pitcher plant that grows in this area is Sarracenia alata, commonly known as Yellow Trumpets or Pale Pitcher. Unlike the other types mentioned pitcher plants are passive since they do not use movement in the capture and digestion of insects. Pitcher plants capture insects by luring them to the mouth of the trap color, nectar, and sent. Once they land on the lip and venture into the mouth, the insects slip on the waxy inner surface. As the insects slide down the funnel they are further impeded by downward pointing hairs lining the lower portion. Eventually ending up in the bottom of the pitcher where they drown in fluid the contains digestive enzymes. The digestive enzymes decompose the body so it can be absorbed, leaving only the exoskeleton.

Sarracenia alata

Looking inside the funnel of Sarracenia alata

Immature leaf of Sarracenia alata.

The bug eating pitchers are not the only unusuall part of Sarracenia alata. The Pale Pitcher plant has a large greenish-yellow, downward hanging flower. The flower has five large sepals that form an umbrella over the flower and the five petals droop between the spaces of the style. The style forms a sort of upside-down umbrella that catches the pollen, which is scattered by the wings of bug that enter.

Sarracenia flower, cutaway view, with english labels of anatomical parts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Friday, March 23, 2012

Wildflowers of Texas Video

A short video of some of my wildflower photos.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Hawk Cam

There is a pair of Red-tailed Hawks that have had a nest above Cornell University's athletic fields and the university has installed a live web cam over the nest. As I write this there are 2 eggs in the nest. You will be able to watch live stream as the hawks take turns incubating the eggs and raise their chicks. There is also a chat for watchers to discuss what is going on in the nest as it happens. Below is a screen shot that I captured this afternoon. To check-out the birds go to http://www.livestream.com/cornellhawks. The camera operates 24/7, although there is not much to see at night.

Nesting Red-tailed Hawk at Cornell Universtiy

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Spring Wildflowers

Indian Paintbrushes and Texas Bluebonnets - Bluebonnet Season 2011 (Photo credit: Texas Bluebonnet Sightings)

Well it's that time of year again. Spring is only a couple of days away and people will be traveling to Texas from all over to view the beautiful display of spring wildflowers. With the drought we have been having the display last year was a bit disappointing. Fortunately we have been having a good bit of rain over much of the state this winter and temperatures have been mild. Hopefully this year will be much improved over last year. Weather you are from Texas or out of state you might want to plan ahead to find out where the best displays are. Here are a few websites to help you plan your trip.

http://texaswildflowerpictures.com/update.htm
http://www.lone-star.net/wildflowers/sightings.htm
http://www.texasbluebonnetsightings.com/

Pleasure Island Part 4

The fourth part of my series on Pleasure Island takes us to the North Levee. So far this area has been the least productive in my trips to Pleasure Island. Although it has not been as good as the other areas, it still provides plenty of opportunities to view and photograph nature. I suspect that part of the reason for it being less productive is that the levee road is surrounded by water on both sides with very little land to attract wildlife or grow plants. On the southeast side is Sabine Lake, where the road is protected by a rock barrier. You will see various shore birds walking on the rocks or floating on the lake.

View of Sabine Lake along north levee.

Willets along the north levee of Pleasure Island

Great Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron

The northwest side of the levee road is also bounded by water. There are narrow channels on either end of the road with a much wider area of water in the middle section. Unlike the lake side, the is a strip of land the can support a variety of plant life, including trees and shrub. In addition to shore and water birds this area should attract a variety other birds and wildlife that use the plants for food and shelter. Also this area should be of interest to those of us interested in wildflowers. I hope to have some photos of the wildflowers of this area in future post. For those interested in Texas wildflowers you can view some of my photos on my other blog and website at http://wildflowersoftexas.blogspot.com/ and http://www.wildflowersoftexas.com/

One of the channels on the northwest side of the levee road.

Large body of water in the middle section of the levee road.

Northwest side of levee road.

Great Egret standing in the road.

Great Egret

Red-breasted Merganser

Laughing Gulls

Friday, March 16, 2012

Great Backyard Bird Count 2012

The Great Backyard Bird Count took place on February 17 - 20. This is the first year the I participated in the count and had a great time. I only had one day off during the count but I also made a quick count during my lunch break on another day. I chose Cattail Marsh and Beaumont Botanical Gardens for my count locations. Both are located in Tyrell Park in Beaumont. I had a total of 308 birds and 19 species. I also added 5 life birds to my list, bringing that to a total of 53 birds. Below are photos of the 5 life birds that I spotted during the count.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Pleasure Island Part 3

Continuing south along T. B. Ellison/Martin Luther King Jr. Drive you find photo opportunities on both sides of the road. The left side of the road away from the ship channel is mostly high reeds and some areas of stand water. The photo below was taken in this area.

Snowy Egret and Common Gallinule hiding behind it.

For about a mile and a half, past the hurricane damaged road mentioned in the last post ( see Pleasure Island Part 2 ) the road moves away from the ship channel. Then it parallels the channel all the way to the Causeway Bridge. The pilings, barricades, rocks and mud flats attract shore birds.