East Texas Naturalist Blog

It is amazing what a difference a couple of days have made.  It has been so rainy and cold for over a month.  The temperatures were so much cooler than the calendar would suggest.  Then a couple of days ago the sun came out.  The temperature actually moved into the lower 80s.  On top of that, the trees are turning green. I made mention of the fact that the birds didn't care what the weather was presenting, they were acting like it was Spring.  Now all the signs are there.  It is so cool.

The first hummingbird came to the feeder today.  It was a beautiful male.  About an hour later, another male came.  I am pretty sure that it is a different one.  The first one was in much better color.  It was nice to see them here.

I also have a pair of Robins building a nest in the tree/bush just outside my window.  This is the same bush that I see the Phoebees in quite often.  The Robins have been really busy today, flying back and forth with twigs and grass.  I don't know that they will really stay there for they have not been exposed to the "normal" human traffic in that spot.  That includes a two year old who is quite active and is often pushing all sorts of rather loud wheeled toys just under the branch where they are nesting.  We'll see how brave they are.

Three weeks ago we had 5 1/2" of snow, then another day of snow the next week.  It has rained most of the time for about a month.  The lake is up over 4 feet above normal (and what it was a month ago).  The temperature has been about 10 degrees lower than normal so we have had a lot more 40s and 50s than 60s and 70s.  However, it is Spring.  Today is the first full day of Spring.

The weather may not show that Spring is here, but the birds don't care.  They are here in numbers on and around my feeders.  There have been numerous species including chipping sparrows, house finches, goldfinches, cardinals, titmice, and chickadees. Nearby are "my" pair of mockingbirds, some phoebes, a nuthatch, and about thirty yards away, a bluebird has been around now and then.  

On the lake, the white pelicans are back.  With them is a species of duck, but the light has been poor so I can't tell which ducks.  The coots are still there as well.

I have had to stay busy at that other pursuit, making money to eat now & then along with other such mundane activities, so I haven't been writing.  Unfortunately, I also haven't been taking many pictures either.  Some, but not many.  However there are good things happening on the nature lover front.

I signed up for the Texas Master Naturalist training.  It is a really interesting program.  Rather than try to explain, let me take a paragraph from their website at http://tmn.org.

"In Texas, this partnership among the Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension,Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and some 370 local partners has resulted in a unique master volunteer organization. At the state level, the organization is directed by an advisory committee providing training guidelines, program marketing and promotion, curriculum resources, and advanced training opportunities; and a volunteer representatives committee responsible for representing the varied interests of the chapters and providing a communication link to state committees and program leaders."

I really enjoy my morning walks in the woods along the lake.  Never once have I seen another person on these walks.  I must admit that is a pleasure.  Not that sharing nature wouldn't be fun, for sharing anything is usually better than being alone.  There is a fine line of distinction though.  It is fun to share nature with those who also appreciate and enjoy it.  That is somewhat of an issue these days.

I do love the solitude of walking along the woods; stopping to take pictures here and there; sitting on a fallen log to see what comes along when I sit quietly and wait; and discovering something new on every walk.  These solitary walks are a joy.  Selfishly, I know I would not want to share that time on any kind of regular basis.  That "alone time" is so peaceful.  Ocassionally sharing that time would be fine for I do enjoy showing others the joys of nature and the little treasures that can be found in even a short walk in the woods can bring. 

But there is another aspect of all this.  The morning walks in the woods are refreshing in so many ways, but that is only a small part of enjoying nature.  

Let me start this with what sounds like another version of "when I was your age, I walked four miles to school and it was uphill both ways" story.  I was actually born at St Paul hospital in Dallas, but then it was back to the farm in Newsome, Texas (Camp county between Pittsburg and Winnsboro).  We lived on a small farm where my grandfather grew cotton and potatoes.  My grandmother maintained a huge garden which fed us for most of the year.  The house had no electricity or running water.  We got our water from the well and light from kerosene lanterns.  The only thing that was "piped" into the house was butane for our cooking stove and heaters.  

I know it is a little hard to believe how different it was from now.  My kids never lived without central heat and air, cable TV, a telephone and all the other normal accouterments.  By the time they got to school age we had computers, cell phones and video games.  I had blocks, plastic army men, a baseball and later a high tech item, an Etch-a-sketch.  Quite a difference.

When I started having an interest in animals, I learned about them mostly at my grandmother's knee.  From her I learned about such about things as hoop snakes (grabbed their tail in their mouth then rolled after you so they could bite you or sting you with their poisonous tail), spreadin' adders (whose very breath was deadly), grass rattlers (striped and looked like garter snakes but were rattlers without rattles and deadly) and so many other "facts" about so many creatures. I learned that if you pull a hair from a horse's tail and put it in water, it would turn into a worm; that "horny toads" could squirt blood from their eyes that would blind you if it got into your eyes; that centipedes stung with their feet and if they ran across your foot, stinging you all the way, you would die; and, of course, frog and toads would give you warts if they urinated on you.