Author: NPSOT-Wilco

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June 8 recording for “Living Soil: The World Beneath Our Feet”

The video recording of our June 8, 2023 chapter meeting is now available featuring Living Soil: The World Beneath Our Feet with Jim Williams.

Our YouTube channel. Like and Subscribe!

Business slides for 2023 chapter meetings are here, listed by date. (If this particular meeting’s business slides were not added yet, they will be soon. Please check back later.)

NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend!  Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook.

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Calling Citizen Scientists to help USGS Pollinator Research

News from the United States Geological Survey about a citizen science project (April to November 1, 2023) related to pollinator research:

“This is a pilot project encompassing 6 states: Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. We are asking people to mail in already deceased butterflies, moths, or skippers in efforts to begin a USGS Scientific Collection to further research related to the decline in insect populations. All specimens received will be made available to other scientists within the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct research. To be able to answer specific regional questions, it is critical to receive specimens from a variety of locations. We appreciate any help you can provide related to distribution as it will help the success of the pilot project.” 

Find all the details in this USGS flyer: (hover over the image & click to expand it)

image of a flyer with information
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Field Trip Report: Beautiful Vistas at Tejas Park

— by Nancy Pumphrey

We wish all of you could have been with us on the field trip to Tejas Park on Saturday, June 10. The first part of the walk was through the woods with sightings of American germander, snapdragon vine, and black-eyed Susan. The river was on the left and we peeked down there.  We pressed on and walked out to the open area.

group of people on field trip
Tejas Park field trip, June 10, 2023

WOW, what a sight! The whole field was blooming! Monarda, American basket-flower, black-eyed Susan, Indian blanket, prairie acacia. Then we came upon a devil’s claw (Proboscidea louisianica), another great sight. Then a dung beetle came by pushing a piece of dung 10 times bigger than itself… But the star of the day was the American basket-flower. It was so stunning to see so much of it in full bloom.

We wound up the walk with lots of water and Sue’s lavender brownies. It was a beautiful day and a great field trip.  Hope you can come with us next time.

image of American basket-flowers
American basket-flowers, Centaurea americana
image of black-eyed Susans
Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta
image of American germander
American germander, Teucrium canadense

Photos by Nancy Pumphrey

Click the button to see photos from some of our past field trips.

Field Trip Photo Album