Balcones Canyonlands Chapter at Concordia University TX
Fall, 2016
How is Our Chapter Different?
Inside this issue:
For those of
you who
don’t know
me, my title
within the
chapter is
“Student Welfare Director,”
and I am a professor at Concordia.
How is Our Chapter
Different?
1
From the President
1
Paper Wasps
2
Fun Facts About Owls
2
Project Update: Researching the Monarch
3
You may know that ours is a
“collegiate chapter” (the first
and only, in fact), but you may
not know exactly what that
means or how it makes us
special.
Project Update: Wild
Basin Photography
3
Many chapters seek out college students as members. But
Monarchs & OE
4
How to Help an Injured
Bird
5
Grackles
5
Annual Meeting
6
Officers & Committee
Heads
6
Save the Date!
11/08/16—Chapter Meeting
at Concordia
12/10/16—Leadership Day
for Officer Candidates (Open)
12/13/16—Meeting, Elections, & Holiday Party
in our model, we reserve
leadership positions for Concordia students. These students receive academic benefits at Concordia for membership, such as course credit, extra credit, and graduation honors. Students also
make network connections
and practice critical career
and life skills that make
them more employable.
Perhaps more important
than that, the work done
through TMN is beneficial
and helps build lifelong connections to the field of conservation. Think of what’s at
stake for our planet in the
context of climate change,
pollution, biodiversity loss,
etc. Our students will help
solve those problems. It is in
our best interests to prepare
them for those struggles.
So, the next time you see one
of our students, please encourage them. Consider becoming their mentor. Invite
them to work on a project with
you. Any support you provide
today will lead to a better
world tomorrow!
—Sam Whitehead
From the President
Hello, Marvelous Master Naturalists!
As this is my last time addressing you as president, I
would like to take a moment
to really emphasize just how
amazing it has been to serve
this chapter. It has been a
pleasure and a privilege to be
your president these past 18
months.
Things haven’t been the
smoothest, but we have grown
not only in numbers, but also
in confidence. In total, our
certified members have grown
from 16 to 48! We are cur-
rently in the midst of our 3rd
training class—our largest one
to date! We have grown our
projects, our reach and our
resolve to the cause and to one
another.
This past year and a half we
have partnered with our sister
chapter to provide basic and
advanced stream team training. We celebrated Earth day
and the 20th anniversary of the
BCP (soon to be a yearly
event). And we maintained
hiking trails, even as we developed plans for new ones.
From the very first “nay” and
“overruled” to the last time I
ask “all those in favor,” it has
been quite a ride. Looking to
the future, I can see that our
chapter is shaping up to be a
unique asset not only to our
community, but also to fellow
Master Naturalist Chapters.
Now that we have found our
“feet,” I look forward to what
the next group of officers has
in store. I have a feeling they
will achieve even more!
Signing off for the last time,
— Kaitlyn Rodriguez
Canyonlands Chronicle
Volume 2, Issue 5
Page 2
Paper Wasps
Paper wasps are reddish brown
wasps, and may sometimes have
yellow markings. They are about
¾- 1 inch in length with smoky
wings.
Paper wasps make a paper nest
out of chewed wood fiber. The
nest is open and hangs from single filament. The nest is typically
constructed in protected areas
such as under the eaves of
homes, in shrubbery, mailboxes
or on fences.
Source: Wizzie Brown’s blog,
www.urbanipm.blogspot.com
Mated queens overwinter and
emerge in spring to start a small,
new nest in which to lay eggs.
The colony, if left alone, grows in
size throughout spring and summer. During this time workers
forage mainly for protein, usually
other insects, so they are great at
helping to manage pests. Colonies reach their peak size in late
summer to early fall. Starting in
late summer, paper wasps forage
on sugars and may be drawn to
human inhabited areas that may
contain a food source, such as
garbage cans, outdoor patio areas
or hummingbird feeders.
Paper wasps tend to be unaggressive, so if the nest is in an area
where a stinging incidence is
unlikely, it is best to leave it
alone. If the nest is built in an
area where someone may get
stung—in a mailbox, on playground equipment, etc.—then it
is recommended to manage
wasps and then remove the
nest.
Early in the season, when nests
are just being started by founding females, it may be possible
to discourage paper wasps to
nest in a certain area by knocking down the nest repeatedly.
This is not recommended when
the nest is larger and contains
multiple wasps.
Aerosol formulations—both
synthetic and naturally derived—are available for paper
wasp management. The nest
should be treated either in the
early morning or late evening to
ensure that wasps are not out
foraging for food. Use caution
when treating paper wasps
nests. Not only are you using a
pesticide, but you are dealing
with insects that can sting repeatedly. After all wasps are
gone, knock down the nest and
throw it away. You may want to
clean the area where the nest
was hanging to rid the area of
any pheromones that could
quickly attract new wasps to the
area.
For more information or help
with identification, contact me
at 512.854.9600.
—Wizzie Brown
Fun Facts About: Owls
Reference and Photo:
www.audubon.org

Many owl species have asymmetrical ears, located at different heights on their head to help
them pinpoint the location of sounds in multiple dimensions

The eyes of an owl are not true “eyeballs.” Their tube-shaped eyes are completely immobile,
providing binocular vision which fully focuses on their prey and boosts depth perception

Owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. A blood-pooling system collects blood to power their
brains and eyes when neck movement cuts off circulation

A group of owls is called a parliament. This originates from C.S. Lewis’ description of a meeting of owls in The Chronicles of Narnia

Owls hunt other owls. Great Horned Owls are the top predator of the smaller Barred Owl
Canyonlands Chronicle
Volume 2, Issue 5
Page 3
Project Update: Researching the Monarch
For the past three months
Jessie Zehr and I have been
working with several organizations in support of the Monarch butterfly. We began by
covering miles of roadsides in
Travis, Caldwell, Bastrop,
Hays, and Williamson counties targeting milkweeds species and getting a representative sample of what plants
were flowering.
We then gathered information
through an online survey and
in-person interviews on the
Monarch efforts and opinions
amongst the conservation
community. Thank you to
those who participated!
We have now moved on to a
phase of the project where we
are doing more in-depth analysis of native milkweed, its habitat, and associated nectar
plants in parks, private properties, and other public spaces.
If anyone has any known milkweed locations we can include
in this study, please contact
Jessie or me. We are not recording information on property locations, only on milkweed and nectar plants.
—Stephanie Putnam
Photo by Karen McGraw
Project Update: Wild Basin Preserve Photography
ing land to Wild Basin, while the city in turn gave the developer
the right to relocate plans for building 100 residential buildings
to some adjacent property. This was one of the first transfers of
development rights in the Austin area. The results created an
important preserve containing Blacked Capped Vireo and Golden
Cheeked Warbler habitat.
The preserve is a pleasant escape from the rat race right in
Westlake. The hike includes open views, shaded forest trails and
a waterfall. There are
good opportunities
for wildlife and native plant viewing on
a hike there as well.
Recently, I've been doing
some photography volunteer
work for the Travis County
BCCP, which has been a lot of
fun. I've been taking photos
for them that they can use for
their newsletters, social media, website and other promotional material.
Obviously the focus of these
pictures is showcasing the
beautiful scenery in the preserves. The first preserve I
went to shoot was Wild Basin
Preserve, which is a 227-acre
preserve in the Balcones Canyonland preserve system that
is located off of highway 360
in Austin, TX. This preserve is
open every day to the public,
but also serves as a creative
research center for St. Edwards University students.
The preserve was founded in
1974 by Janet Poague, who
negotiated development rights
agreements between: the City
of Austin, Travis County, and
Westview Development. This
deal involved Westview donat-
If you haven’t had a
chance to visit, you
should put it on your
list!
And if you are interested in volunteer
opportunities at the
preserve, contact
Amy Belaire.
(Click for a map of
the preserve.)
—Heather Valey
Photos by Heather Valey
Canyonlands Chronicle
Volume 2, Issue 5
Page 4
Monarchs and OE
The protozoan parasite
Ophryocystis elektroscirrha
(OE) infects monarch and
queen butterflies. It is an
obligate parasite and requires
a host to live within and to
grow and multiply. It was
first discovered in the 1960’s
infecting monarchs in Florida.
Since then, it’s been found in
monarch populations across
the world. It is thought that
the parasite has co-evolved
with monarchs.
Monarchs infected with
OE have spores wedged
between the scales on the
body, with the greatest
concentration occurring
on the abdomen.
There are three major populations of monarchs in the U.S.
One is east of the Rocky
Mountains and winters in
Central Mexico, migrating
north into the U.S. and Canada. Another is west of the
Rocky Mountains and overwinters on the coast of California. The third population is
non-migratory and can breed
year round in areas such as
Florida, Texas and Hawaii.
Monarchs infected with OE
will have spores wedged between the scales on their
body, with the greatest concentration usually occurring
on the abdomen. The spores
are very small and require a
microscope to see. The spores
are lemon shaped and are
brown to black in color. To
check for spores, rub a piece
of clear tape on the tip of the
abdomen of the monarch and
then look for spores under a
microscope.
Female monarchs pass OE
spores onto their offspring
when they lay eggs. When the
caterpillars emerge from the
egg, they eat the egg shell and
ingest the spores. When the
spores reach the midgut of the
insect, they break open and
release the protozoan parasite. The protozoans move
through the gut lining to the
Source: Wizzie Brown’s blog, www.urban-ipm.blogspot.com
epidermis where they reproduce
asexually. In the butterfly
chrysalis stage, the protozoans
go through sexual reproduction
(again increasing the number of
protozoans). Spores form so the
emerging butterfly will be covered in spores. Spores can also
be scattered onto milkweed
from butterflies laying eggs or
feeding on nectar and then consumed by caterpillars as they eat
foliage.
Once the butterflies are infected, they do not recover. OE
does not grow or reproduce on
the adults. The spores remain
dormant until they are ingested
by a caterpillar.
healthy adults. The parasites
can damage the cuticle of the
insect and cause the insect to
lose weight faster. Many infected monarchs look healthy,
so the only way to determine
infection is by looking for
spores.
What can you do? Check
monarchs for spores and destroy any you find that are
infected. I know this seems
harsh, but infected monarchs
further spread the protozoa
and kill more butterflies in
later generations. Cut down
milkweed several times per
year to get rid of any possible
spores that may be on the
plants and to encourage new,
healthy growth.
Infected pupae have dark
blotches 2-3 days before emergence. Adults that are heavily
For more information , coninfected often have problems
tact me at 512.854.9600.
emerging from the chrysalis.
—Wizzie Brown
Some may even die before
emerging. Others that do
emerge may fall to the ground
before their wings are expanded
and die quickly. Mildly infected
adults may be smaller than
Canyonlands Chronicle
Volume 2, Issue 5
Page 5
How to Help an Injured Bird
Glen Chappell sh are d th is
article, which was originally
published in the New York
Times:
“Check out any bird that’s
lying sideways on the ground,”
says Rita McMahon, director
of the Wild Bird Fund, who
notes that the fall migration
season is when a lot of birds
fly into windows. Prod the
unresponsive bird’s legs—if
they move freely, there’s a
chance of revival.
Keep the bird warm. The average body temperature of many
migratory birds in flight is 105
degrees, but they can end up
concussed on a cold cement
sidewalk where the temperature can be 70 or degrees or
less. “They’re in shock,”
McMahon says, “The sidewalk
leaches out their body temperatures.” Put the bird in your
pocket to warm it up. Do not
worry about disease. “They
have avian diseases, which we
generally can’t get,” says
McMahon. “Just wash your
hands.”
Find a little box or paper bag.
“When birds go into a quiet,
dark spot, they rest, McMahon
says. “A brown paper bag is the perfect bird ambulance.” Let the
bird rest for an hour. If, after that, the bird is fluffed up and has
its beak tucked under a wing, it is still trying to get warm.
Wait until it becomes alert, then take it to a park with a water
source (or out in your yard) and let it go. “With the release, you
want to keep the bird away from windows or traffic,” McMahon
says. “Don’t throw the bird in the air. Just let him leave.”
McMahon says there’s a 50 percent chance you can save the
bird—a significant call to action, considering that more than a
third of all North American bird populations are at risk of becoming extinct. The Audubon Society estimates that 90,000-230,000
migratory birds die each year from window strikes in cities.
—New York Times, 10/14/16
Note: If your rescue goes poorly, take the bird to a wildlife rehabilitation center. Karen McGraw recommends All Things Wild, a
local wildlife rehabilitation organization she supports.
A brown paper bag is the
perfect bird ambulance.
Grackles—An Urban Habitat Dweller
seem to be where Grackles
tend to congregate in large
groups.
Grackles are omnivorous, eating insects, minnows, frogs,
eggs, berries, seeds, grain,
along with small birds and
mice (and the occasional
French fry).
Kelly Simon from Texas Parks
& Wildlife recently spoke to
the 2017 class about urban
habitat, and the grackle is
certainly synonymous with
that.
Their electronic sounding
song goes to the tune of chewink chewink to a more complex breeding season tune that
gets faster and faster and ends
with a loud crewhewwhew!
—Lori Najvar
Wide open spaces in shopping
center parking lots, power
lines, along with isolated
trees—all in urban spaces—
Photos by Lori Najvar
Canyonlands Chronicle
Volume 2, Issue 5
Page 6
Annual Meeting Update
Several of us attended the recent TMN 17th Annual Meeting at La Torretta Lake Resort in
Montgomery, Texas.
The keynote presentation was “Texan By Nature:
Practicing Conservation Where we Live, Work,
Worship and Play,” by Erin Franz, Executive
Director of Texan By Nature. This organization
was founded by Laura Bush. Their mission is to
spur Texan-led conservation that produces tangible benefits for people, prosperity, and natural
resources.
Sessions ranged from 4-hour outdoor learning
opportunities about birding, water, and photography, to shorter indoor presentations on tall
grass prairies, pollinators and natives, citizen
science for the overlooked and forgotten, using
social media for chapters, healthy soils, wildflowers, and more.
If you didn’t attend this year, start planning now for next year. It’s a great way to get advanced
training hours and network with other chapters! Plus, it’s a fun way to get to know your fellow
chapter members better.
—Karen McGraw
Chapter Officers & Committee Heads
Officers:
Current officers for the Balcones
Canyonlands Chapter at Concordia
University TX ar e:
 Kaitlyn Rodriguez, President
 Open, VP
A big “thank you” to our
officers and committee
heads!
 Open, Secretary
 Sam Whitehead, Interim Treasurer
Committee heads:
 Training & Membership: Theresa Rooney
 Volunteer Service: John La isy
 Advanced Training: Jessie Zehr
 Program: Open
 Communications/Newsletter: Ka ren McGra w
 Outreach/Webmaster: Beth Samuelson
 Historian: Pete Ara nda
Our mascot: Salam an der
Newsletter masthead: Jessie Zehr
 Host: Bill Cryer
 Student Welfare: Sam Whitehead
 Nominating: Maire Cox
Chapter members are encouraged to contribute articles and photos to the newsletter. Let us showcase
your recent activity, favorite native plant, tree, bird or book! Most stories are 125-150 words in length.