Wild babies

It’s that time of year again, so let’s review:
What do you do if you find a tiny fawn all by itself?
LEAVE IT ALONE!
Very good! Carry on.

Hot hike

Went on a hike yesterday morning on some new land recently obtained by the City of Austin Water Quality Protection program. For the most part, it was a great hike and the acreage is gorgeous. About three/quarters of the way through, on our way back, I got overheated during an uphill climb across [...]

Hill Country grasses photoblogging

I had the privilege yesterday to participate in a field class on identifying the Texas Hill Country native grasses. The class was held on the Onion Creek Management Unit of the City of Austin’s Water Quality Protection Lands. It was conducted by botanist and Master Naturalist Tom Watson, a Land Steward for [...]

Where I’ll be today

Pretty cushy volunteer gig.  Stop by and say hey if you’re in the neighborhood, and bring your recyclables for free glass-bottom boat rides.  A free glass-bottom boat ride at Aquarena on a beautiful Sunday, with mariachi music-what could be better?

GBBC. Get outside and make a difference

Valentines, shmalentines! Do something that really matters - take part in the upcoming Great Backyard Bird Count, sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.
The count dates are February 15–18, as in this upcoming Friday through Monday.
Anybody can do it. You don’t have to be an expert, you can do [...]

Out in the tules

In our artificial human-crafted environments, we can stop time or rearrange the evidence of its passing.  At least, that’s the illusion to which we willingly submit in our closed spaces where the light is always how we want it no matter the hour, the temperature just right no matter the season, the surfaces uniform and constant, unaltered by [...]

Good word for the netroots to ponder

Ecotone:
A transitional zone between two adjacent ecosystems.
The boundary or transitional zone between adjacent communities containing the characteristic species of each, such as the edge of a woodland next to a field or lawn.
A narrow and fairly sharply defined transition zone between two or more different communities. Such edge communities are typically species-rich.
See also, edge effect.
(Triviality: [...]

Death of a wild parrot

Edgewater, New Jersey is home to a boisterous flock of wild Quaker parrots.  Unfortunately, for those birds and their human neighbors, it’s also the site of some of the worst industrial poisoning in the United States.
A heartbreaking story and warning from the wonderful BrooklynParrots.com:
The poisons that we place in our world will last for [...]

“Fundamental to life” - Special showing of The Unforeseen

If you’re anywhere in the Central Texas area on October 27 or 28, you definitely don’t want to miss this:
The Corral Theatre in Wimberley, Texas, is having a sneak preview of award-winning Austin director Laura Dunn’s new film, “The Unforeseen,” on October 27 and 28
Sponsoring the film is the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association. Tickets for [...]

Canyon Gorge update

My stat counter tells me some of you may have seen the news that Canyon Lake Gorge will now be open to the public. If you are in the area and can get into one of these tours, trust me, it will blow your mind.
A rare opportunity to see the results of a natural “big [...]