Butterflies, butterflies, butterflies

With the upcoming NABA Butterfly Count, I’ve been out practicing- or trying to practice- finding, observing, and identifying our local butterflies. Initially, I was very gung-ho about it: I want to see everything, not miss an ID, pick out the unique or interesting butterflies, and generally have a rewarding time.

I didn’t succeed. As it turns out, I’m not very good at IDing butterflies. They’re small, fly fast, hide in the bushes, and can have very cryptic or subtle colorations. I mean how hard can it be to identify a Monarch? It’s big, iconic, easy to see! It seems to me that the Monarch is the butterfly equivalent of a Bald Eagle. They’re everywhere- on billboards, tv, symbols in businesses and of the US. But in real life when you’re out looking for a Bald Eagle, they can be pretty difficult to find. You’ll find Cardinals and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and Grackles much more easily. And don’t forget the I-got-a-quick-glimpse-and-thought-it-was-a-Bald-Eagle but it was really a Crested Caracara. Monarch’s have those too: Queens, Viceroys, and Soldiers. Heck, a quick glimpse of a Gulf Fritillary can send you to the wrong ID!

It's... uh... ok. It's not the thing I thought it was.

Sounds of the times

As we move from winter to spring and summer, the trees and bushes start up their photosynthesis machinery again. While great at providing shade for the tired birder, leaves are also super at hiding everything we want to see! At our recent Birding101 outings and Field Trips, we’ve been talking about the benefits of birding by ear.

Red-eyed Vireo mid-song.

The Big Day!

Every year in late January or early February, the country pauses to take in a spectacle like no other: Months of preparation, training, late nights and early mornings, tough competition, and a singular focus to survive. That’s right, it’s:

SUPERB OWL 2015!

Now the Superb Owl celebrations were originally a way for t.v. comedian Stephen Colbert to avoid the legal ire of the NFL by talking about the “big game” without permission last year (relevant part starts about 2min in). Now in good fun, National Audubon’s CEO David Yarnold got in on it to talk about some of the issues with the Barred Owl/Spotted Owl management in California.

Who manages you? Who manages you all!?

August sunshine!

Well, if we can be excited for anything in August in Texas, we can be excited about the sunshine! What’s that saying about too much of a good thing? Hogwash I say! Particularly this August! Despite the long-term projection from NOAA for slightly warmer and drier weather this next month, that can’t touch the brutality from the last few years! Heck, they’re talking about rain next week! Maybe not talking a lot about it, but you’ll have to admit it’s been a much better summer than the past few in terms of rainfall and cloud cover.

Sometimes this is the best way to bird in August

So what does all that mean for me!? Er… you!? I know I had a whole blog about reading books and staying inside last month… well that was then! August is whole new month, full of plenty of new things to see!

Lick Creek Park Nature Center and Rio Brazos Audubon

At a recent meeting of the Friends of Lick Creek Park, David Schmitz from the City of College Station Parks Department described the plans to finish the design and start construction of a Nature Center at Lick Creek Park. This center was part of the long-term master plan and a bond for the construction was approved by voters in 2008. 

After enduring the economic downturn, the City is ready to allocate the funds to build the building. At this time, there are no hard and fast plans for the buildings and structures- David Schmitz presented several renderings made by the architectural firm (below), but final plans won't be made until City Council OKs it.

We at RBAS, as well as the birding community in the Brazos Valley and beyond, realize the uniqueness of LCP as a birding hotspot (187 birds in Ebird) and prime habitat for birds year round- from nesting neotropic migrants, to over wintering sparrows and towhees. We use the park formally for our monthly Birding 101 program, BioBlitz with TAMU in April, North American Migratory Bird count in May, North American Butterfly Count in July, and the Christmas Bird Count in December. Not to mention all of the times we go out as individuals to get into a natural, wooded area. In addition to our uses, TPWD recognizes LCP as a hotspot on their Birding Trails List along with other important birding destinations across the state. So what’s going to happen? A lot of good things I think...

What is planned?

There are a lot of details still in the air, as City Council hasn’t given final go ahead to generate specific plans- but we do have some ballpark rendering to give us an idea:

- Expanded parking

- LEED certified building (potentially)

- Indoor and outdoor classrooms

- Restrooms

- Storage for classroom materials

- Office for staff

- WiFi?

- Pond?

- Butterfly gardens? With an emphasis on Monarchs (milk weed)?

Rendering of potential LCP Nature Center and parking area

Side-view of LCP Nature Center

Other notes:

- Building sight and expanded new parking lot will tie in to current parking lot

- Current chimney swift tower, butterfly gardens, and memorial bench will be untouched

- They are planning on having a capacity of 60-100 people for a class (think school field trips)

- Some lighting will have to go in, but they are conscious of the stars and darkness

- Central open air breezeway will have some displays (flat poster types)

- Rain water harvesting and solar power are planned

- ADA compliant

Blow-out view of Nature Center- classroom/storage on left, facilities
and office on right, breezeway in middle

Side-view of Nature Center

Outdoor teaching space and storage

So what is RBAS’s roll in this?

We have the opportunity to provide our knowledge and expertise to help the City in the implementation of their plans. In teaming with Friends of Lick Creek, Brazos Valley Texas Master Naturalist , and potentially others, we will be able to have a conversation with the City to help work in some of the ideas, desires, wants and needs that we see as valuable. 

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The knowledge base that our groups bring together has significant breadth and depth- we have the people that know the things that make a center like this work- and what would work for this specific center in this specific place. We need those voices- the people that use and enjoy this park the most- to share their ideas- what would we like to have? Where would we like to have it? How much? Too much? More? When? What can we do to help?

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Firstly, we will need people to show up to the City Council meeting when this item comes before the board to voice our support for the project.

As for the bigger question of what can we contribute to this project and what do we want this park/Nature Center to look like… Well? It’s up to us to get our ideas organized and start the conversation with them before the planning is done. 

Time is of the essence as we will need to collaborate with these other groups and speak to the City with more or less one voice. They are optimistic that they can get an up or down vote to go ahead with the bidding process in the coming month or two. 

Leave a comment below with some of your ideas or things you would like to see at (or close by to) this facility (or send an email to riobrazosaudubon@gmail.com if you have a lot on your mind).