The Lift Station Tour 02-25-2007

February 25, 2007
The Lift Station Tour:

I have this walking tour that I take through a combination of Greenbelt/Power Cut and Water Lift Station properties that winds behind my subdivision. I have been doing this for over 2 years now. This season I decided to use Google Earth
( http://earth.google.com ) an unbeliveable free mapping and species management program! I have located my area, mapped our the walking path and I will add species seen and locate their areas for each expedition. Here is today' map.

The area is a primarily hardwood forest remanant with some pretty heavy trail and path cutting activity in the past. Areas have been used ny local kids for Paintball wars, hideouts, treehouses and bike/ATV riding trails. The first walk is down a canopy shaded walk to the lift station. At the Lift station if you take a right you will walk into an open trail area bordered with forest on both sides. A right will take you down a forested path near and skirting the bayou area.

The most productive habitat is to the left. I have found a huge Texas Red Bud Tree (Cercis canadensis var. texensis) that is in full bloom at this time and it is the primary Nectar Source in the area. I hung out by it for an hour or more hoping to see Elfin butterflies. None today, unfortunately. I expect that some will be seen as we saw one last year but were unsuccessful at capturing it.

There are some flowers in bloom. I have identified many of them using my favorite WildFlower Fieldguide -- Wildflowers of Houston and Southeast Texas by John and Gloria Tveten. It is a great guide and I use the web for any flowers that just happen to slip by the Tvetens.

The prime nectar sources today are: Rubus trivialis or the Southern Dewberry. It is a kind of wild blackberry that is well defended with thorns. It grows vinelike on the ground and is quite capable of tearing up unprotected skin! It attracts most of the skippers such as this Erynnis species (most likely Erynnis horatius) and I have seen the Pygus communis hovering or landing on it.

The very biddest draw is the Cercis canadensis var. texensis or as it is commonly called The Red Bud Tree. There is a single specimen right at the lift station and it draws very well as long as it is in bloom.

Species seen(S) or Vouchered (V) today:

• Libytheana carinenta - Nymphalidae - Snout Butterfly (V)
  
• Pyrgus communis - Hesperiidae - Checkered Skipper (S)
  
• Anaea andrea - Nymphalidae - Tropical Leafwing (V)
  
• Eurema lisa - Pieridae - Little Yellow(V)
• Colias eurytheme - Pieridae - Clouded Sulphur (V)
  

Time: 1:00 - 3:00 PM Temperature: Mid 60's - Partly Cloudy - windy

Bob

Lake Houston Park 02-24-2007

Saturday February 24, 2007 -=- Lake Houston Park

"Lake Houston Park is a beautiful, lushly forested expanse of nearly 5,000 acres 30 miles north of Houston. It is located where Caney Creek and the East Fork of the San Jacinto River meet near the town of New Caney, and it straddles the Harris-Montgomery County line. " --(http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/lakehoustonpark.html).

I went out with my great friend David Kent to visit this little gem of a park. We met with Park Naturalist Jerry Walls and an amazing lady by the name of Reda Schmidt. The Park was hosting their "Off the Beaten Path" day, so about a dozen hardy souls loaded up into two 4WD vehicles and off we went.

It was relatively cool and rainy but we saw a few very interesting animals. Reda noticed this amazing Snapping Turtle crawling across the path and we stopped for pictures. He was relatively clean and fairly animated. He crawled slowly off into the woods, and we went on looking for new adventures. The trail on which we were driving was very soft an so much care was taken to avoid tearing it up or getting bogged down.

The Woods were a combination of Hardwoods and Conifers with low lying swampy areas dominated by Sago Palms. It was in the boggy Sago Palm areas that we saw the First Butterflies - Falcate Orangetips - the Spring Herald here in Texas. They were only flying when the rain stopped and the sun made an appearance. I was lucky enough to catch one perching on the top of a broken tree. It stayed here until the sun reappeared and with the mottling on its wings it blended in very well with the lichens.

We saw only Males and only in the areas where the Sago Palms occurred. In most instances they were near the ponds but I saw no Butterflies near Peach Creek. We will be back to help them with the provisioning of exhibits for a new Nature center in the park. Overall it was a great trip and we really enjoyed the staff. They clearly love this preserve and we look forward to working with them.

Bob Nuelle