Prairie Notes #138 - Happy Trails to Tandy Hills
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.
Happy Trails to Tandy Hills
Prairie Notes #138
June 1, 2018
01) Happy Trails to Tandy Hills
02) Field Report - May
03) PrairieSky / StarParty Report
04) National Prairie Day
05) Prairie Posse Report
06) The Silence of the Bugs
07) Prairie Proverb
01) Happy Trails to Tandy Hills
You should regularly expect big news from Friends of Tandy Hills but this news is BIG & HUGE. After a year and a half of dedicated effort, Friends of Tandy Hills has been awarded its largest grant, ever. On May 24, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department announced their Recreational Trail Grants for 2018. Here's the Press Release:
"Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area in Tarrant County received $28,000 towards Tandy Hills Natural Area. Improvements include, the rehabilitation of a 1.5 mile natural surface hiking trail and, an additional 1.5 mile hiking trail with a raised causeway and bridge."
FOTHNA friend, Suzanne Tuttle, took the lead on the grant application with a little help from Anne Alderfer, Don and Debora Young. The project should start this fall and be complted before years end. This is another major step in implementing the Tandy Hills Master Plan.
Big, huge thanks to Suzanne for doing an outstanding and successful job on the app....AND...Big, huge thanks to TP&WD for wisely seeing that Tandy Hills is worthy of this grant.
Next challenge: Build the Pavilion!
DY
02) Field Report - May
Up until mid-May, Tandy Hills was crackling with wildflowers of many colors and textures. On several evenings the aroma of prairie flora and the light of the setting sun was simply intoxicatingly magical, luring nature lovers, pollinators and, of course, droves of glamour/family/baby/wedding photographers. By May 15 however, the showiness had begun to fade but not the amazing spring bounty of biodiversity. You just had to look a liitle deeper. As the summer Solstice approaches and late May temps hit 100+ with no rain in sight, the prairie is fast becoming more about grasses than wildflowers. But that makes Tandy Hills no less interesting. Check out my pics from May:
03) PrairieSky / StarParty Report
On an enchanted evening in May with a crystal clear sky above, a crowd of 60-odd people headed for the Tandy Hills to do a little star-gazing. It was special. As one observer remarked:
"Ah, the sensory experience of an evening in a city park surrounded by telescopes. The wind is cool, children are laughing and parents are yelling, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!"
04) National Prairie Day
The first Saturday of every June is National Prairie Day. (June 2, 2018) The event was founded in 2016 by the Missouri Prairie Foundation. If you are so inclined to celebrate this holiday, Tandy Hills is an excellent choice of venue. Check out this little 2-minute vid to see what you have to celebrate throughout the year at your local prairie:
http://www.tandyhills.org/videos/national-prairie-day-tandy-hills
05) Prairie Posse Report
A posse of six, hard working, heroic folks showed up on May 19 and proceeded to clear a big meadow of privet giving the native species a a little more room to roam. You are welcome. Join us next time.
06) The Silence of the Bugs
This recent Opinion piece in the New York Times by Professor, Curt Stager, points to the importance of citizen scientists and iNaturalist in keeping track of what's going on in a natural world that is rapidly changing. HIghly recommended reading.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/26/opinion/sunday/insects-bugs-naturalis...
Illustration by, Enzo Peres-Labourdette, for the NY Times
07) Prairie Proverb
“The prairie was built by prairie plants, a hundred distinct species of grasses, herbs, and shrubs; by the prairie fungi, insects, and bacteria; by the prairie mammals and birds, all interlocking in one humming community of cooperation and competition, one biota. This biota, through ten thousand years of living and dying, burning and growing, preying and fleeing, freezing and thawing, built that dark and bloody ground we call prairie.”
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.
