Pollinators love basket-flowers

At Baytown Nature Center

The basket-flowers are blooming and that makes the pollinators happy. These pics were taken at Baytown Nature Center, Sheldon Lake State Park and my yard.

Bumblebees collect honey for transport in the pollen baskets on their hind legs.

Monarch

Tiger Swallowtail

Carpenter bee

Honey bee adds honey to it pollen basket.

Is that a clapper rail?

 

Why, yes, it is a clapper rail.

When I snapped photos of the bird at Baytown Nature Center from my car, I wasn't sure what it was. I tried to identify it later by looking online and came up with clapper rail.

But that didn't seem right. I'm not a birder, but I hang around some birders so I know clapper rails are elusive. On bird counts they usually are heard rather than seen. Also this was a big bird, and I always imagined clapper rails as smaller birds hiding in the grass.

Unsure about my identification, I asked three birder buddies, and they all agreed it looks like a clapper rail. The white eyebrow, gray face and tail feathers are major clues.

As a non-birder, I was quite pleased with my sighting.

When a neighborhood sinks, a nature center rises

Class with seine net.

Something I wrote for TMN-Galveston Bay Area chapter's newsletter.
.....................

The story of the rise of Baytown Nature Center also is the story of the fall of a popular waterfront neighborhood and the triumph of nature.

I have heard the BNC story several times. It’s part of the experience for ninth-graders participating in the Back to the Bay field trips.

When the students hear how about 300 homes once stood where they are tossing cast nets and doing water testing, they take another look at their surroundings.

On the drive into BNC, as Burnet Bay comes into view on the right, there is an inground swimming pool jutting up at the shore. Take the trail to Wooster Point and find a shelter built on a home’s foundation. The pink floor tiles of the bathroom are still visible

These landmarks are reminders of BNC’s history.

During the mid 1930s, a cattle rancher’s land was sold for development. Humble Oil thought the site would be a great place to build its executives’ homes.

During 1962, Baytown annexed Brownwood subdivision, which was in a beautiful setting with linked peninsulas surrounded by three bays, Crystal, Scott and Burnet.

However with the influx of industry and residents, there came problems. Groundwater was pumped out for use by nearby plants and other developed areas, which caused subsidence.

As the land sank, flooding during the high tide seasons became a problem. The switch to surface water stopped subsidence, but the land loss was irreversible. Tropical storms and hurricanes caused more damage.

Residents tried to hang onto their beloved homes, but ongoing flooding and evacuations became their reality from 1967 to 1981. Many decided to leave.

Then devastating Hurricane Alicia hit in 1983. The hurricane wiped out the neighborhood with storm tides up to 10 feet high. (video)

Longtime residents were heartbroken when the area was declared uninhabitable and utilities to the peninsula were cut off. Some homeowners filed lawsuits. During the next 10 years the homes, foundations and streets continued to crumble while legal issues were sorted out. It was wild area for squatters, dumping and nature.

Eventually the city of Baytown obtained the land with a plan to turn the area into a natural preserve.

In 1995 the Baytown Nature Center opened with 65 acres of tidal wetlands, freshwater pools and forested areas. Most of the initial funds were for a mitigation site as part of the French Limited Superfund cleanup project. Houses were bulldozed and the streets became part of the trail system.

During the next 10 years channels were dug and lined with smooth cordgrass. An observation hill was built and trails were added (and continue to develop).  BNC expanded to 450 acres.

Today school groups of all ages visit regularly. The smaller peninsula at the front of the park is open to fishing although there are warning signs about toxins that may be in the fish.

Petrochemical companies surround BNC and Ship Channel traffic glides by.  The San Jacinto River Waste Pits SuperfundSite is upstream.

Yet most agree that thanks to environmental regulations the water is much cleaner than it was in the 1970s and wildlife has made a comeback.

Fishing is prohibited in the channels cut into the larger peninsula to protect the wildlife.

Hikers and bicyclists share the trails. In addition to the wildlife and wildflowers, photographers can find a great view of the San Jacinto Monument. North America’s smallest butterfly, Western Pygmy Blue, likes the glasswort (Salicornia spp.) along Arkokisa Trail.

Birders find everything from Roseate Spoonbills to Eastern Screech Owls. The past couple of years a Grooved-bill Ani has stopped by. BNC is one of the few locations in Harris County that the Nelson’s Sparrow and Seaside Sparrow can be seen during the winter months.

BNC is still susceptible to flooding. In 2008 Hurricane Ike flooded BNC with 13 feet of water.  A lot of debris had to be cleared. The playground and other structures were rebuilt with the knowledge that nature continues to shape BNC’s future.

** BNC, 6213 Bayway Drive, is open daily, except Christmas and days of extreme weather. Admission is $4 for adults and $1 for seniors and children.

BNC's Brownwood Pavilion

Today's walk at BNC

A Great White Egret shook its feathers when I came too close. Then it flew away.

After a low in the 30s and three days of rainy weather, the sun came out.

With the temp at 50 F, it was a great day for a quick walk after our regular Friday Mexican food lunch.

Immature human stare down with an immature Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.

Monarch finds a sunny place to warm himself.

Fluttery Dogface butterfly finally ...

... let's me see her open wings.

Looks like this mockingbird has a low opinion of me.

What's in the cast net today?

The instructor's demo cast hauled in some menhaden. Or do you call them shad?

Ninth-graders used cast and seine nets during a Back to the Bay class to get a peek at what's below the water's surface.

On this warm October morning at Baytown Nature Center we mostly found menhaden, brown shrimp, comb jelly and old oyster shells covered in barnacles and hooked mussels.

But it's always fun to catch something.

A guy looking for bait fish wanted this catch. Sorry, dude, this is a catch-and-release class.

One group caught a 5-inch blue crab with their seine net.

But mostly they caught little brown shrimp and comb jelly.

Morning walk in a park cures brain stuffiness

Buckeye butterfly along a trail

Before the heat makes sweat pour into your eyes, a quick walk in a park can be good for what ails you.

A snotty-nose cold has kept me indoors all week, but Friday I needed some fresh air. Wandering a couple of trails at Baytown Nature Center was the right prescription for a full recovery. A lunch of Mexican food also helped.

Toad in the underbrush.

Water drops on a spider web.

Osprey shakes it off

This cloud bank was more impressive in real-life.

After a late-morning downpour, the sun peeped through.

As the sky brightened an osprey perched on a tree top to preen.

It was probably getting ready for another fishing foray over the water at Baytown Nature Center. The hawks like to snag fish with their claws.

I'm a terrible birder, but it was hard to miss this big one on the top of tree.

This osprey was checking its feathers after a rainstorm.

Shore birds wading around

Walking a trail at Baytown Nature Center I noticed that the alligator was still in its pond. (see below). Not much was happening around the alligator's outpost.

However two ponds down the trail a bird party was in full swing. No gators allowed.

Great Egret leaves behind its birdbrain buddies.

Roseate Spoonbill, often called a flamingo by school kids.

A White-faced Ibis joins his White Ibis cousins for some foraging.

Is that an alligator? Yep

Could be a log but it's not.

We were looking for butterflies along the trails at Baytown Nature Center when someone noticed an alligator.

It was my first gator sighting out there. The water on the peninsula is mostly brackish, and the point is surrounded by three bays that lead to the Gulf.

This gator was in a pond along the Crystal Bay side.

It surfaced to take a look at us.

Not a big one. Maybe 4 feet long.

Hey, gator, have you seen any interesting butterflies? Nevermind. See you later.

Getting schooled on cast nets

After about 15 frustrating minutes of getting into the swing of tossing the cast nets and pulling up nothing, the students hit a school of mullet. Yay!

The ninth-graders were part of Baytown Nature Center's Back to the Bay program, which opened again this week for the fall semester.

The only two girls in the group were the first ones to haul in a couple of fish. Girl power!

But the boys caught up. About 10 mullet were caught before the aquatic organism collection session ended.

The fish went back into the water, and the students had to return to campus for more schooling.

Birds are served fish soup

 These birds were waiting for me to pass so they could go back to their fish buffet.

After two days of rain and minor flooding, it was a gray morning on the trails at Baytown Nature Center.  These noisy birds were not happy to see me.

As I got closer to their perch, I found the tire rut along my path was filled with water teeming with trapped little fish. The fish had been washed into the puddle and couldn't escape.

Sad for the fish, but happy time for the birds.

I didn't see any other fish-filled puddles. Either this was the only place it happened, or birds had cleaned out the other puddles.

The puddle on the left had about 30 little fish trapped.

They were less than an inch long.

This tiny toad (black spot in the center) was hopping nearby. I hope he wasn't dessert.

This week's greeters at BNC: blue-winged teal

Blue-winged teal have been hanging out this week in the new wetlands restoration area along the road leading into Baytown Nature Center.

I wonder if the busloads of kindergartners noticed the unofficial greeters when they arrived at San Jacinto Point for their field trip.

I also wonder if the students will remember the hand movements for the plant chant: seed, germination, seedling and plant. I know I will.

Coyote helps students fill out site survey forms

Right on cue, a coyote strolled across a trail this morning.

The ninth-graders participating in Baytown Nature Center's Back to the Bay program were on a bridge filling out their site survey forms.

They were at the bottom of the page putting check marks next to fish, birds, insects.

Then the students looked around for wildlife.

Holly, our leader, was saying that meant coyotes, bobcats, opossums when a student pointed toward a coyote. It was about 50 yards away and had stopped to glance our way before ducking away.

That was an extra cool moment on this cloudy 50-degree day.

Later the students put on waders to pull a seine. The big catches were a hermit crab, grass shrimp and  little blue crabs.

The teacher promised that anyone who caught a fish with the cast nets could skip the next test. They tried valiantly but only came up with some comb jelly.

The teacher agreed to add five points to their test scores for comb jelly catches.

Monarchs enjoy the BNC butterfly garden

Buddies Jan and David H. released some tagged Monarchs and at least one of them found a friend.

After a tussle on the ground these two flew away together.

This beat-up faded Monarch found a bit of milkweed. I wonder where it began its journey.

Another milkweed stopover

Morning encounter with a coyote

Spotted about 11 a.m. on a sunny September day.

You never know what you will see on the trails at Baytown Nature Center.

Last week -- before the rains -- I saw this coyote as I was leaving. I didn't get out of the car to snap these photos.

When I stopped the car to take a photo, the coyote turned around to avoid me but stayed on the road.

Earlier this month our dog went crazy when she saw a coyote trotting along the brush line behind our house.

Some land on the other side of the highway is being cleared, and I wonder of some of the wildlife is finding its way to our little strip along Slap Out Gully.

Fish of the day: mullet

Not all the ninth-graders who arrive at Baytown Nature Center for the Back to the Bay program are happy about being outdoors. It can be too hot or too cold. And sometimes insects are an extra bother.

But all the students seem to enjoy catching something with cast nets during Aquatic Organism Collection.

Today's biggest catch was mullet.

With the seine net, students in waders hauled in grass shrimp, a small flounder and more comb jelly.

Mullet portrait

Trying to scoop up Comb Jelly caught in a cast net.

Another mullet for show-and-tell and then back into the water.

Then the rains came on this September morning.