Texas Nature Notes

The Naturally Curious among us.

This posting on TexBirds piqued my interest, as one of my favorite things to sit and watch is a prairie dog town:

"As a spin off of searching for Mountain Plovers, I got a pretty good look at the birds and animals in Texas Prairie Dog towns, including 64 Burrowing Owls in seven days of observing.

A casual non-academic description with pictures and maps is at http://www.bills-earth.com/pdogs/pdogs.html (ed note: Just click cancel if you get the secured front page message)

Bill Holliday
New Braunfels, Tx."
 

Check it out!  Mr. Holliday has thoughtfully included maps showing the prairie dog towns he watched, and includes lists of the different species, including badgers and a female Mallard that he saw using the dogtown.

If you'd like to find out how to book a private stay at a ranch in the Canadian Texas area of the Panhandle with huge Prairie Dog Towns (and private blinds for Lesser Prairie Chicken viewing, contact Texas Prairie Rivers Region and/or check out the Panhandle Plains Wildlife Trail Map from Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Moth Watch, Black Witch reports requested 6/25/04

Photo of species:
http://www.dallasbutterflies.com/Moths/html/ascalaphaodorata.html

We are currently in the midst of a Black Witch (Ascalapha odorata) outbreak.
This species migrates up from Mexico to as far north as southern Canada.
I've been getting a steady stream of reports since May 30, mostly from
Texas, AZ, NM, & LA, but also one or two reports from CA, NV, and recently
from Kansas.

Request for Help

To help us better understand the storm related insect movements, we need your observations! 
If you witness large numbers and/or movements of Black Witches or other insects, please contact: 

Mike Quinn
Invertebrate Biologist
Texas Parks & Wildlife
3000 S. I-35, Suite 100, Austin, TX 78704
mike.quinn@tpwd.state.tx.us
512-912-7059

Thanks!

__________________________________________
   North American Black Witch Records
http://home.satx.rr.com/txento/witchna.htm


Link to natural (& cultural) history of species:

________________________________________
    Black Witch Migration in Texas
http://home.satx.rr.com/txento/witch.htm


Thanks! Mike Quinn, Austin

512-912-7059
mike.quinn@tpwd.state.tx.us
______________________________
      Texas Entomology
http://home.satx.rr.com/txento
**********

For answers to questions about this list, as well as current Texas
Birding Links, visit the Texbirds Reference Page at http://www.texbirds.org

Nesting Bald Eagles in Texas

From TexBirds, May 17, 2004:

The Llano eagle nest produced 2 young that fledged.  It was unique in that
during part of the rearing of young 3 adults were in attendance.  This was the
first this was documented.

It was also unique in that it had the highest rate of visitation for any nest
in Texas and the birds acclimated to greater than 500 people per day at a
distance of 75 yards and still successfully raised young.  Most eagles do not
tolerate any close range human disturbance.

Texas Bald Eagles had another banner nesting year and we continue to find new
nest at at least 10% per year.  We new of 117 active nest in 2003 and have
recorded at least 133 for 2004 with a nest north of Dalhart being the most
disjunct of the nesting population.  High density areas for nesting eagles
continue to be Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn Reservoirs, and the lower reaches
of rivers along the Coast from the Guadalupe to Trinity River.

The Bald Eagle will be delisted as a federally threatened species in the near
future.  It will still be protected by the Eagle Protection Act and other
state and federal laws.


Brent Ortego, Texas Parks and Wildlife
Victoria, TX

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A final census flight made May 12, 2004  did not find any whooping cranes
at Aransas.  The last two cranes were last seen on the refuge late in the
day on May 4th.  Census flights in Canada's Wood Buffalo Park are scheduled
to begin this week.  Tides at Aransas were notably high, the highest seen
since mid-October, 2003.

  Tom Stehn
  Whooping Crane Coordinator
  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  Aransas NWR
  P.O. Box 100
  Austwell, TX 77950
 

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