Prairie Notes #203 - An October to Remember
Prairie Notes are monthly photo/journal observations from Tandy Hills Natural Area by Founder/Director, Don Young. They include field reports, flora and fauna sightings, and more, mixed with a scoop of dry humor and a bit of philosophy.
They are available free to all who get on the FOTHNA email list.
An October to remember
Prairie Notes #203
November 1, 2023
1) An October To Remember
2) Moon Walking & Watching with Amy, Chris & Don
3) Field Report - October
4) New Species - October
5) Don & Debora Young - NPSOT Presentation
6) Prairie-Sky / Star-Party Report
7) Restoration Report
8) People On the Prairie
9) October Drone View of Tandy Hills
10) Prairie Proverb - Chief Beautiful Bald Eagle
1) An October to Remember
I don’t recall being so busy in one month since the Prairie Fest days. The largest restoration project in our history took place in October led by City of Fort Worth, Natural Resource Planner, Michelle Villafranca and her assistant, Jarid Hall. Large sections of privet were removed from multiple locations. Separately, Friends of Tandy Hills’ hired crew removed several large trucks full of privet along View Street. Exciting new views are evident all over the natural area.
There were also several groups exploring Tandy Hills in October. The Amy Martin picnic-hike on the 21st and the Cross Timbers Master Naturalists training session with Suzanne Tuttle on the 22nd. Each event had about 30 participants and involved a lot of hiking
Top that off with a monthly, PrairieSky / StarParty, a young man named Matt Nelson shot an amazing new drone video of Tandy Hills, we enjoyed a rare, annular solar eclipse, and, most exciting, a wave of Monarch Butterflies passed through the park.
To end the wild and crazy month, we had more than 6” of rainfall as of 10/27, and got a taste of winter weather. November is shaping up to be just as memorable. Read more about these events and activities below.
DY
Video by, Cody McCoy, featuring Michelle Villafranca.
The Monarchs have landed.
2) Moon Walking & Watching with Amy, Don & Chris
Amy Martin, the author of Wild DFW, is also known as the Moonlady. She just can’t get enough of Tandy Hills, so . . . On Sunday, November 19th starting at 5:30 PM, she will talk about the culture and science of the Moon, and read her popular essay Moonstruck. Then she and Don Young will lead participants in a hike in the moonlight. Moon song singing, Moon shadow dancing, and howling at the Moon guaranteed. Before, during, and after the walk, Chris Emory will offer viewing of the Moon through his Moon telescope and talk about how he as a photographer captures the night sky.
Check out the Facebook Event Page, HERE.
3) Field Report - October
Fall wildflowers are popping. Maximilian Sunflowers, Dotted Gayfeather, Aromatic and Heath Asters, Giant Blue Sage and Stiff-leaved Goldenrod, among others. As of, October 27th, we have had more than 9” of rain this month. According to some experts, the right amount of rain, at this time, will help the wildflowers next spring. Lots of other stuff happened this month including dozens of Monarch Butterflies that floated into Tandy Hills on October 8th. They found shelter and plenty of nectar from Dotted Gayfeather and other prairie plants. Take a virtual walk in my boots and see what you missed. Be sure and click on photos to see the entire image.
DY
4) New Species - October
The species count for October ended up at 1971. We had a little help from the Cross Timbers Master Naturalists class who visited on 10/22. They, alone, recorded about 200 observations on iNat. A few notables are pictured below. See them all on the Tandy Hills iNat Project Page HERE.
5) Don & Debora YOung - NPSOT Presentation
Friends of Tandy Hills founders, Don & Debora Young, will deliver a presentation to the North Central Chapter of, Native Plant Society of Texas, on Thursday, November 2nd starting at 6:15 PM. The presentation is titled: Stewardship in Action, and will discuss the various ways stewardship is employed at Tandy Hills by Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area. The focus will be on recent and current activities. See their website for details: https://npsot.org/event/don-young-on-preserving-tandy-hills-natural-area/
6) Prairie-Sky / Star-Party Report
Due to cloudy-ish skies, the October Star Party had only two astronomers who welcomed about 20 attendees. The next and last event of the year is, Saturday, November 18th. Check website for more info HERE.
Here is your November sky commentary by Fort Worth Astronomical Society rep, John McCrea:
The November 18th FWAS / Tandy Hills star party will be our last scheduled star party until March 2024.
For our November 18th FWAS/Tandy Hills star party, we will have most of our familiar winter constellations. Some of the more familiar summer constellations remaining are Lyra (the Lyre) and Cygnus (the Swan). Among the fall/winter constellations visible will be, Cassiopeia (Queen of Ethiopia), Pegasus (the Winged Horse), Andromeda (daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus), Cepheus (Husband of Cassiopeia and noted for a pulsating type of star known as a Cepheid variable, which is a standard candle for measuring distances, discovered in 1912 by Henrietta Leavitt). Perseus (Rescuer of Andromeda), Pisces (the Fish), Taurus (the Bull) and our friend the Pleiades (the seven sisters). The summer triangle (Vega (25 LY), Deneb (1,411 LY), and Altair (17 LY)) will still be visible, but low in the west. Our circumpolar friend Ursa Major (the Great Bear) will be low over the northern horizon.
The sun will set about 5:26 PM on November 18th. The moon will be a 5-day old waxing crescent at 34% illumination in the constellation Capricorn (the sea goat). The “Lord of the Rings” of our solar system, Saturn (♄), about 895 million miles away, will be in Aquarius (the water carrier), and will be up all evening, as will Jupiter (♃), about 375 million miles away, in the constellation Aries (the ram). Neptune (Ψ), at 2.8 billion miles away will be in Pisces. Uranus (♅), at 1.76 billion miles away, will be in Aries.
7) Restoration Report
As mentioned above, October 2023 was a record-breaking month for land management at Tandy Hills. Both the Fort Worth Park & Recreation Department staff and hired crews, paid with your donations, removed or mulched vast amounts of Privet and other invasive species. It will take a few years to be fully restored but the currently visible results are astounding. The goal is to help the native plants get back to where they were before Privet shaded out their habitat. This in turn helps the native wildlife.
Some of the cost of this labor, equipment and supplies is paid for with your generous donations. You can make a donation to this worthy cause, HERE: https://www.tandyhills.org/donate
8) People On the Prairie
The Amy Martin Traveling Nature Show stopped by Tandy Hills on October 21st. The 30-odd attendees had a delightful time learning about the local ecosystem and hiking the new trails and witnessing the recent restoration projects. The next day, Debora & Don Young had a lovely morning hosting another 30-odd, Cross Timbers Master Naturalists, in training. This was a Land Stewardship Field Trip. Stewardship of Tandy Hills is something we have a bit of experience with. The leader/instructor was Suzanne Tuttle. Lastly, I included a photo of a typical fall afternoon at Tandy Hills near the trailhead. As you can see, there are lots and lots of folks posing for photos on the hill overlooking downtown. With The Interns now back at school, there is no one to monitor their behavior.
9) October Drone View of Tandy Hills
Drone camera, still shot view above Tandy Hills on October 1st by, Matt Nelson. See video by Matt, below.
10) Prairie Proverb - Cheif Beautiful Bald Eagle
“People should think of their words like seeds. They should plant them, then let them grow in silence. Our old people taught us that the earth is always speaking to us, but that we have to be silent to hear her. Do you hear the sound of the prairie? That is a great sound. But when I’m talking, I can’t hear it.”
Become a “Friend”, HERE: https://www.tandyhills.org/donate
Prairie Notes© is the official newsletter of Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. All content by Don Young except where otherwise noted.
