How long would it take you to make 1,000 seedballs?

Pinching off a bit of clay/soil/seed mixture, the students rolled grape-sized seedballs between their hands.

Many hands make quick work of two buckets of seedball mixture.

It took 40 sixth-graders about 90 minutes to produce more than 1,000 seedballs to toss into the prairie/wetlands at Sheldon Lake.

Making seedballs to distribute a coastal prairie seed mix follows a farming method popularized in Japan. After the dried seedballs are scattered, all that is needed is a good rain to dissolve the seedballs and give the seeds a chance to germinate.

The students also helped with sprigging and potting. On this rainy day, getting muddy was part of the learning process.

This big seedball will make about about 75 little ones.

When you have a broken arm, you perfect a one-handed technique for rolling seedballs.

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.

Common Sanddragon may be watching you

A great collection of Ted Lee Eubanks' photos of Odonates of the Hill Country made me want to snap more photos of dragonflies around my house.

This specimen along Slap Out Gully looks like a Common Sanddragon.

Turk's Cap attracts hummingbirds, butterflies and bees

Today the stand of Turk's Cap at the butterfly garden was buzzing with activity. I saw more hummingbirds than butterflies as midday.

Moonlight paddle on Crystal Bay

Sunset on Crystal Bay.

Our moonlight paddle launched into Crystal Bay at Baytown Nature Center. 

An outfitter's daughter spotted a raccoon in the grass. As we pulled our kayaks into the water, the girl tried to entice the raccoon with bait left on the bank.

The raccoon didn't want to play. The girl hopped into a canoe with her dad.

The outfitter told us to stay in the bay until everyone was in the water. However an experienced kayaker who had brought her own paddle took off. She was headed toward the island that separates the bay from the ship channel traffic.

The rest of us waited while one of the coordinators paddled out to bring her back to the group.

Then we were off. I was in a 12-footer by myself. A young man from Madrid was in a 6-footer. I think we should have switched.

Moonlight on Burnet Bay.

As the sun set around 7:30, about 15 kayaks rounded San Jacinto Point into Burnet Bay.  That's when the mosquitoes found us.

The swarms were so miserable that some wanted to land and walk back to the launch site. I didn't understand why they thought the mosquitoes would leave them alone onshore.

Half of us continued on. If you kept moving and caught a breeze, the mosquites were not so bad.

And so there we were enjoying an evening on the water. There was moonlinght. And refinery lights.  And mosquitoes.

But hey, that's Baytown.

It's always a treat to see a Luna moth

The Luna Moth lives about a week. At nightfall after it emerges from from its pupa, it looks for a mate.

I found this impressive Luna Moth in the yard this morning.  It was about as big as my hand.

I was able to snap a couple of pics before it flew to a tree. They are strong fliers.

Ventral view.

This one was found on a Carolina Jessamine vine near the ground close to a Sweetgum tree. Sources say the Luna moth caterpillars love to munch the Sweetgum leaves.

Dove season in my yard

No hunters here, other than a pesky dog that likes to chase interlopers.

 Dove season opens this month.

The doves visiting my yard don't look too worried unless the feeder is empty.

Who will get to the feeder first?