Prairie Notes #219 - Harbinger(s) of Spring
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.
Harbinger(s) of Spring
Prairie Notes #219
March 1, 2025
1) Harbinger(s) of Spring
2) Field Report - February
3) New Species Report - February
4) 17th Annual Trout Lily Walk
5) Newsworthy & Noteworthy
6) PrairieSky / StarParty Report
7) Prairie Proverb - Gary Snyder
1) Harbinger(s) of Spring
The Spring Equinox is not until March 20th and yet we have been talking about the harbingers of spring for weeks now. After the recent prescribed burn, the View Street (ICONIC) meadows are an inviting place to search for the harbingers. I’m not the only one searching. The Tandy Hills Crow family has been studiously poking around the almost barren prairie in search of shiny and edible things. We have much in common, the Crows and I.
The beloved, beautiful, tiny but showy, Trout Lily (TL’s), get all the credit for being the “harbinger of spring” but, they are not typically the first to bloom. Other, unsung species are the true heralds of spring. In this issue, I am highlighting TL’s and two other harbingers. Less poetically and perhaps more correctly, they are more like, “winter-blooming” species more than harbingers. But we need poetry in our lives as much as we need science. These little harbingers can help with that.
The first blooming plant I observe most years is, Bigroot Springparsley (Vesper macrorhizus). Like TL’s, they are small and difficult to spot. Unlike Trout Lilies, they grows in wide open full sun. Its sensuous, filigreed leaves usually emerge in January. A few days later the strange white or pink-ish flowers appear. I find them alluring. According to iNat, there have been about 400 observations of Bigroot, nationwide, compared to 13,000 for TL’s. And, yes, they do have a BIG root, as you can see in photo below by, Sam Kieschnick,
The second blooming plant that I see each year is the Trout Lily, AKA: White Fawnlily (Erythronium albidum). Much has been written about them in Prairie Notes. TL’s prefer full to partial shade with lots of leaf cover and typically grow under Oak trees near a seep or a creek. They have some interesting quirks such as, they take 7 years to fully mature and their corms resemble a dogs tooth. Hence, their other common name: Dog Tooth’s Violet. TL’s are undeniably worth searching for but it takes persistence. (If you listen closely, you can almost hear their golden-throated, trumpet-shaped flowers bugling out a siren song.)
The third harbinger of spring I am focussed on here is, Wedgeleaf Draba (Tomostima cuneifolia). Like the other two, they are small and hard to spot. I usually find their little colonies along the edges of the prairie near the tree line. At first glance they resemble a white mold-like substance on the ground. But a closer look reveals fanciful little white flowers on short stems. As they mature, they develop distinctive, paddle-shaped seed pods.
Other species you might consider harbingers that tend to bloom in late February or early March and before the iconic spring wildflowers, include, Ground-Plum (Astragalus crassicarpus), Tenpetal Anemone (Anemone berlandieri) and Inland Ceanothus (Ceanothus herbaceus), AKA: New Jersey Tea.
Most of these harbingers of spring require getting down on the ground to fully appreciate and photograph. I urge you to do so at your earliest convenience.
CLICK on each image below to see it un-cropped and with captions.
Thanks for reading Prairie Notes and supporting Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area. Your donations are welcome HERE.
DY
Bigroot Springparsley (Vesper macrorhizus)
Trout Lily, AKA: White Fawnlily (Erythronium albidum)
Wedgeleaf Draba (Tomostima cuneifolia)
2) Field Report - February
Aside from a few harbingers, Tandy Hills is still very much a winter landscape. The temps were in the teens in mid-February but, Spring is on the way. The spring wildflower sprouts appear mostly unharmed by the Arctic blasts and they are slowly emerging from the burned meadows. That includes the Trout Lilies that we hope are still blooming on March 1st. (See #4 below) A family of American Crows seem intrigued by the burned meadows. They are out there every day poking around in the dirt looking for colorful curiosities and earthworms. I will be joining them and looking for colorful, spring wildflowers, any day now.
February 5th looked and felt like spring. A few days later it was 11 degrees at Tandy Hills.
By February 24th the sub-freezing temps were gone and I was lured outside.
Another harbinger of spring is, Cedar Fever. The Ashe Juniper Trees (misnamed Mountain Cedar) are now in full bloom. Try not to breathe.
3) New Species - February
There were only two new species found in February and both were fungi and both observed by Sam Kieschnick.
The species count remained unchanged in February. See all 2,268 species at the Tandy Hills iNat Project Page HERE.
4) 17-th Annual Trout Lily Walk
The first Trout Lilies of 2025 were observed on February 5th. We are hoping they are still blooming when Sam Kieschnick leads the walk on March 1st at 1 PM. Knowing Sam, it will move at the speed of botany. It’s a free event but please RSVP HERE.
5) Newsworthy & Noteworthy
>>>>>>> Native Prairies Association of Texas Fort Worth (FW-NPAT) will host a post burn tour at Tandy Hills on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 10am - 12pm. Tandy Hills had a prescribed fire on the View Street meadows on December 19, 2024. Jeff Quayle will co-lead and should be joined by Suzanne Tuttle, Michelle Villafranca, Jared Wood and FTW burn boss Jared Hall. Meet near the playground at 9:45am.
This tour is offered by donations. The suggested donation amount is $5; but please donate any amount you believe this special tour is worth. Donations benefit the Native Prairies Association of Texas (conservation & land trust organization) & are non-refundable.
Get your $5 tickets and complete info HERE.
>>>>>>> On Thursday, March 13th at 6:30 PM, Michelle Villafranca, Fort Worth Park Operations and Natural Resource Planner, will deliver a talk at a joint meeting with Fort Worth Audubon Society and Native Prairies Association of Texas. Titled: How a Grant Expedited Invasive Species Control, Community Partnership & Interns, Michelle will discuss the challenges (and joys?) of getting the grant that helped pay for the mulching project and putting all the details of it into practice.
It takes place at the UNT Health & Science Center, RES Building, Rm #100, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76107
It is free and open to the public but please register and get complete info, HERE.
>>>>>>> About 90 people were either present or on Zoom for Don Young’s recent presentation to the Cross Timbers Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists. It is now available on the CTMN YouTube channel, HERE. The topic: The Sensuous Prairie. (Due to some early technical difficulties start at about the 1:18 minute mark.)
6) Prairie Sky / Star Party report
The 2025 season is finally here and starts on March 8th. See the full schedule on the website HERE. Plan to come out to see the night sky and visit with members of the Fort Worth Astronomical Society (FWAS). 2025 will be their 10th straight year at Tandy Hills.
Here is the sky-watching commentary for February from FWAS rep, John McCrea:
“For our March 2025 star party, we will still have familiar winter constellations. Some of the most familiar are Orion (The Hunter) with Canis Major (The Big Dog) to the east with its brightest star Sirius. Above and to the left are Castor and Pollux of the constellation Gemini (The Twins). To the west of Orion is the bright red star Aldebaran of the constellation Taurus (The Bull) and the Pleiades (The Seven Sisters) just a little further west. North and west is the lopsided pentagon shaped constellation Auriga (The Charioteer) with its brightest star Capella (little goat).
The sun will set at about 6:38 PM on the 8th of March. The moon will be a 9.8-day old waxing gibbous in the Constellation Gemini.
The winter hexagon will be in the south/southwest, and is an imaginary line between Sirus, Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux, and Procyon.
The planet Mars will be in Gemini, Jupiter will be brightly shining further west in the constellations Taurus (The Bull). Uranus will be a little further west, but still in Taurus. Venus will be on the western horizon in the constellation Pisces. The bright star hovering around the southern horizon is the star Canopus of the southern hemisphere constellation Carina (The Keel). If you were in Sydney, Australia, you would find Canopus 71o above the horizon.”
7) Prairie Proverb - Gary Snyder
“Nature is orderly. That which appears to be chaotic in nature is only a more complex kind of order.”
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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.
