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Camouflage
[This is a post I originally wrote for my personal site, gardenaustin.com.] I never really thought about it until now, but translucency is a pretty efficient form of camouflage. Why waste energy on pigments that may not meet all your needs? I spotted this common green darner (iNaturalist) in my tomato vines on a cold morning.…
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Texas Pollinator PowWow
This looks to be a good symposium of topics ranging from pollinators to native plants, and how to get involved in creating or preserving the ecosystems that support them. Speakers include Merlin Tuttle, retired founder of Bat Conservation International, Michael Warriner, TPWD invertebrate biologist who has spoken at CAMN before on bumblebees, and a slate of…
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2015 Mammals Class
The 2015 trainees had a great second class with Dr. Pamela Owen, Associate Director of the Texas Memorial Museum, teaching the overview of Texas mammals. CAMN has been fortunate to have Dr. Owen teach this class for a number of years. As part of the talk, she brings examples of pelts and skulls for students…
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Winter Rains
The weather has been somewhat cold and soggy over the past few weeks, and cabin fever has been a nagging companion at least to some (says the guy who has rearranged his garage at least twice this past month). But there are the upsides to it. While our local rains haven’t done much to change the…
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Integrating Nature into the City with ImagineAustin
Imagine Austin is a 30-year plan established by the City of Austin aiming to help Austin grow in a compact and connected way. In order to involve the community in this effort, the ImagineAustin Speaker Series was born. Every few months, a collection of speakers from all over the country join one another to discuss quality…
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Creekside Story
Nice little portion of the Austin webpage in a blog format featuring local riparian stories, info and issues, and maintained by Austin Watershed Protection. Nice plant ID photos and simple key in the entry about our species of indigenous holly, the possumhaw and the yaupon. (But not the Buddy. Sorry, couldn’t resist.) http://www.austintexas.gov/creeksidestory
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Field Notes from WQPL Biologist Matt McCaw
Many CAMN volunteers contribute hours to Austin Water Utility’s Water Quality Protection Land preserves. This short reflection by WQPL field biologist Matt McCaw encapsulates a little of why these lands are so special to Central Texas and the City of Austin, and why so many of us work to make a difference there. http://austintexas.gov/article/notes-field-austins-wildland-artifacts
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Urban Forest Grant Program
Soaking in the hot springs in far-flung Big Bend, you never know who you’ll run into if you strike up a conversation. This year we met the City of Austin employee responsible for promoting the Urban Forest Grant Program. Essentially, this money is sitting there waiting for a really NICE CAMN project somewhere. He…
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December Monthly Meeting – Presentation
We had a well-attended meeting this past Wednesday with around 30 participants. The Class of 2015 was well-represented, with around 15 of its members in attendance. Wizzie’s talk focussed mainly on Central Texas ant identification and strategies for managing pest ants. Some discussion of the new(-ish) invader, the tawny crazy ant (Nylanderia fulva), was included. We…
