Events, Field Notes

Spring Creek Preserve 4/28/2008
Birds		Butterflies & Moths	Herps	Flowers
Red-Eyed Vireo	Indigo Bunting	Monarch (Danaus plexippus)	Texas Garter Snake	Missouri Primrose	Drummond's Skullcap Wahoo
White-Eyed Vireo	House Finch	American Lady (Vanessa virgiensis)	Rough Green Snake	Drummond's Sundrops	Lyre-Leaf Sage
Orange-Crowned Warber	Yellow Warbler	Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)	Blanchard's Cricket Frog	Evening Primrose	Texas Paintbrush
Nashville Warbler	Belted Kingfisher	Question Mark (Polygonia	Five-Lined Skink	Prairie Verbena	Wild Four-O'Clock
Eastern Phoebe	Barn Swallow	Clouded Sulphur (Colius pholodice)	Ground Skink	New Jersey Tea (Redroot)	Roadside Gaura
Great-Crested Flycatcher	Morning Dove	Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)		Krameria (Ratany)	Prairie Phlox
Least Flycatcher	Black Vulture	Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)		Golden Alexander	Prairie Larkspur
Great-Tailed Grackle	Eastern Kingbird	Common Checkered Skipper (Pyrgus communis)		Antelope Horns	Southern Dewberry
Cedar Waxwing	Western Kingbird	Cloudy-Wing sp. (Thorybys sp.)		Green Milkweed	Fox-Glove
Carolina Wren	Red-Bellied Woodpecker	Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)		Purple Milkweed Vine	Texas Vervain
Swainson's Hawk	Downy Woodpecker	Reakirt's Blue (Hemiargus isola)		Prairie Plantain	Prairie Spiderwort
Sharp-Shinned Hawk	Tufted Titmouse & young	White-Lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata)		Prairie Fleabane	Dotted Blue-Eyed Grass
Red-Tailed Hawk	Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher			Barbara's Buttons	Prairie Onion
Cooper's Hawk	Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher			Texas Dandelion	Wild Hyacinth
Great Blue Heron	Cowbird			Plains Yellow Daisy	Mealy Sage
Great Egret	Barred Owl			Greenthread	Texas Yellow Star
Snowy Egret				Wahoo	Queen Anne's Lace
American Crow				Yellow Sweet Clover	Japanese Honeysuckle
White-Crowned Sparrow				Filaree (Stork's Bill)	Bush Honeysuckle

Left to Right: Five-lined Skink, Rough Green Snake (Jim Folger),

White-Lined Sphinx, Blanchard's Cricket Frog, Monarch caterpillar on Antelope Horns,

Bumble bee on Bush Honeysuckle, Missouri Primrose

Longear Sunfish males guarding their nests in Prairie Creek (tributary to Spring Creek). (Texas Parks & Wildlife web site:

"Spawning occurs throughout late spring and early summer. Males scoop nests out of gravel bars. Females are enticed to

lay their eggs on a particular nest by a male who swims out to meet her, swimming around her rapidly and

displaying his brilliant spawning colors. After the eggs have been laid, males chase the females away and guard

the nest vigorously despite their small size, chasing away all intruders. Males may continue to guard the nest for

a week or more after hatching, until larvae have dispersed." The males are striking with turquoise fins and

orange bodies, making it our most colorful sunfish in Texas.

April 22 EARTH DAY

The newly mowed prairie looks park-like until you see wildflowers coming up along with native grasses....

April 21 Thanks James for sending these images from Spring Creek..

Dr. Peter Assman submitted a TX Bird list for Plano Outdoor Learning Center...a river forest located north of Spring Creek Forest

and in the same Rowlett Creek watershed:

April 19-20/08
Plano Outdoor Learning Center / Bob Woodruff Park

Highlights: Yellow-throated Vireo, Wood Thrush, 
Olive-sided Flycatcher, Red-breasted Nuthatch

Incredibly active this weekend, with 69 species on
Saturday, added 3 more Sunday. Spectacular vireo chorus 
in the early morning of April 19 with up to 8 individuals 
of 3 species (WEVI, REVI, YTVI) singing at the same time
near the bridge.

YTVI and Wood Thrush heard again Sunday (April 20) 
singing from the same locations.


Canada Goose - Branta canadensis     1
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos     X
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus     1
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     1
Great Egret - Ardea alba     1
Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis     2
Black Vulture - Coragyps atratus     1
Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii     2
Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus     1
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis     2
American Coot - Fulica americana     3
Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus     1
Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria     1
Upland Sandpiper - Bartramia longicauda     1
Franklin's Gull - Larus pipixcan     7
Rock Pigeon - Columba livia     37
White-winged Dove - Zenaida asiatica     8
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     6
Chimney Swift - Chaetura pelagica     5
Black-chinned Hummingbird - Archilochus alexandri     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus     6
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     5
Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus     1
Olive-sided Flycatcher - Contopus cooperi     1
Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe     2
Great Crested Flycatcher - Myiarchus crinitus     6
Western Kingbird - Tyrannus verticalis     1
Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus     1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - Tyrannus forficatus     6
White-eyed Vireo - Vireo griseus     5
Yellow-throated Vireo - Vireo flavifrons     1
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus     6
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     6
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     7
Purple Martin - Progne subis     4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Stelgidopteryx serripennis     1
Cliff Swallow - Petrochelidon pyrrhonota     1
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica     7
Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis     7
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     9
Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis     1
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus     11
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus calendula     3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea     4
Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis     3
Wood Thrush - Hylocichla mustelina     1
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     1
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos     3
Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum     2
European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris     25
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum     15
Orange-crowned Warbler - Vermivora celata     1
Nashville Warbler - Vermivora ruficapilla     3
Northern Parula - Parula americana     2
Yellow-rumped Warbler - Dendroica coronata     2
Black-throated Green Warbler - Dendroica virens     1
Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina     5
Lark Sparrow - Chondestes grammacus     2
Savannah Sparrow - Passerculus sandwichensis     17
Lincoln's Sparrow - Melospiza lincolnii     26
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis     12
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     18
Indigo Bunting - Passerina cyanea     1
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     40
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     2
Great-tailed Grackle - Quiscalus mexicanus     35
Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater     2
American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis     77
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus     2

This report was generated automatically by eBird
 v2(http://ebird.org/tx)

Added Sunday: Turkey Vulture, Eurasian Collared Dove, Inca Dove

April 16

Good news! Marvin reports that two of our bluebird boxes have babies...thanks for checking them Marvin. Unfortunately others had

wasps and/or ants....

Charles Torello stands beside a huge American Elm (Ulmus americana)measured a few years ago at 157 inches in circumference

This giant is located in Spring Creek Forest between N. Garland Ave. and Namaan Forest High School well off any

beaten paths.... Check with this Dallas Wild Life leader and join him April 20 to explore and work on trails....

http://hiking.meetup.com/

April 6

Spring migrants are coming through...Audubon's, Yellow-Rumped, Parula, Orange-crowned, Nashville warblers,

White-Eyed (4), Solitary vireos (3), Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, Grasshopper Sparrow (3)

Rough-keeled Green and Lined Snakes (new on reptile list by Derek) also seen.

Work day April 5 was fun clearing out nuisance vegetation around the prairie edges, where it encroaches unless controlled...

Several hawks, Harris's sparrow, and other birds were around as we cleared. The City of Garland Parks & Recreation bush-hogged

the prairie, helping keep out the invasive hardwoods and other plants....thanks Parks & Recreation! President Barbara Baynham

and her husband are in the far left of the first photo. Leadership Garland and Master Naturalist programs also helped!

March 26 Colors of spring with new leaves on the oaks and blooming Mexican plum...

March 18 Big rain...even at 5:23 PM the rains keeps coming and rainfall so far is around 3.41 inches. These are photos of Spring Creek

at Holford Road around 2:45 PM today: We met with Tom Frey on site earlier to discuss mowing the Preserve on the western side of Holford

Road to control invasive hardwoods and nuisance vegetation...but this will certainly be delayed for a couple or more weeks now. There

was concern about disturbing Bluebirds but none have been spotted in the vicinity or around our bluebird boxes so far.

March 12

According to Dale Clark's site, Henry's Elfin (Callophrys henrici) flies
from late-February to late-March in our area, and primarily feeds on Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis),
as well as Mountain-Laurel (Sophora secundiflora),Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis), Yaupon Holly
(Ilex vomitoria), Texas Persimmon (Diospyros texana). The ones at Spring Creek seemed to be fond of perching
on Mexican Plum and Eastern Redcedar.

Update: photo on right is black tiger swallowtail male (March 13)

 

Today's butterflies:

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) - 1
Falcate Orangetip (Anthocharis midea) - 1
Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) - common
Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) - 1
Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae) - 1
Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) - 1
Henry's Elfin (Callophrys henrici) - 3
Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) - 1-2
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) - 1
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) - 1-2
Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria) - everywhere
Juvenal's Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis) - 1

I think the white one we saw at Bob Woodruff was a
female Falcate Orangetip. They do indeed show a black
spot on the forewing, which I had forgotten about. It
looked falcate-ish in flight for the brief looks that
I had.

Derek

March 10 Martin Selznick sent us these photos of a nice juvenile Cooper's Hawk...thanks Martin! Derek has written up a blurb on how to tell this species from the

Red-Tailed Hawk. This is the "chicken hawk" of the old days despised by chicken farmers but feeds on English Sparrows, field mice and

is beneficial to the woodland ecosystem.

I agree this is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. The smallersize, slimmer shape, and longer tail separate
Accipters from Buteos, so it's not a Red-tail.  It is a juvenile based on the dark brown upperparts and
underpart streaking. It is a Cooper's rather than a Sharp-shinned, because this bird appears to have a
round-tipped tail (not square or notched), and the streaking underneath is mostly dark blackish-brown,crisp

narrow tear-drop shaped, fading away towards the whiter belly. A juvenal Sharp-shinned on the other hand

would showthicker (and often paler brown or red-brown) underpart streaking/spotting extending down through the belly.
-Derek

March 8...This report of destruction of monarch wintering habitat is alarming...we may not see many Monarchs around Spring Creek in the near future.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/science/earth/07butterfly.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

March 4

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1239 AM CST TUE MAR 04 2008

...RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM SNOWFALL SET AT DALLAS FORT WORTH...

 A RECORD SNOWFALL OF 1 INCH WAS SET AT DALLAS FORT WORTH YESTERDAY.
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 0.8 SET IN 1917.

Although it wasn't even that deep at Spring Creek, it was still a nice landscape early Tuesday morning....

Feb. 24: First of season Purple Martins heard by Peter Assmann over Big Lake in Plano.

More Trout Lily shots...thanks to Martin Selznick. Note the honeybee, the main pollinator of this species in second image. A little skink (last image)

Feb. 23 Trout Lily Walk

We had a good turnout for the 15th Annual Trout Lily Walk led by Tom Frey, Landscape Architect for the City of Garland with almost 70 participants! Thanks also

to President Barbara Baynham and her husband for them setting up a table with pamphlets and maps of Spring Creek Forest. The Trout lilies didn't appear to be fully in bloom, but we all enjoyed the day! Thanks to Tom for another interesting Tour as he told the crowds about the cultural and natural history of Spring Creek.

Thanks for nice backlit shot of trout lilies Derek.... Birds included Turkey Vulture,Black Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk,Red-shouldered Hawk,Accipiter sp., Mourning Dove,Red-bellied Woodpecker,Downy Woodpecker,Hairy Woodpecker,Northern Flicker,American Crow,Tufted Titmouse,Carolina Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch,White-breasted Nuthatch,Brown Creeper,Carolina Wren,Golden-crowned Kinglet,Ruby-crowned Kinglet,Hermit Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler,Yellow-rumped Warbler,Chipping Sparrow,Field Sparrow,Song Sparrow,Harris's Sparrow,Dark-eyed Junco,Northern Cardinal and House Finch.

Feb. 19 Jim Varnum reported Trout Lilies yesterday...thanks Jim!

Re: Spring Creek Forest Preserve (1770)
Stephanie and I found trout lilies along the back trail to the prairie yesterday afternoon (2/18). Maybe 50 plants, just a few with flowers, none fully open.
We found none along the long concrete path and between the path and Holford Rd.
Lots of Elderberry coming up.
And a sapsucker.
Someone dumped a large log and a section of tree trunk in the parking lot.

Feb. 11

Derek officially submitted the data for Ray Hubbard the results can be seen by anyone now, at
http://cbc.audubon.org/cbccurrent/current_table.html  type in TXLR count code and there it is!

Enjoy Birding on the Great Backyard Bird Count

The Great Backyard Bird Count is February 15-18. Organizers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon say they are hoping eBirders will go the extra mile to report their sightings to GBBC this year. Last year, participants reported more birds than ever before: over 11 million individuals of 613 species, and broke the all-time record for total checklists: 81,003. Greater participation ensures better coverage of birds at locations all across the United States and Canada, and provides a more reliable record for tracking bird populations. If you would like to see your counts appear on GBBC maps and tables, please send your counts to the GBBC web site in addition to eBird. For more information about this year's Great Backyard Bird Count, including instructions, birding resources, and images from this year's count, visit GBBC.

February 10 Dr. Peter Assmann posted his observations for Bob Woodruff Park and the Plano Outdoor Learning Center....he spotted an Ovenbird!!!

January 30 James Rusk sent us this panoramic view of Spring Creek Preserve this week...Thanks James!

Wind gusts of 30mph up to 50mph are expected on January 29 and a fews days after so we aware of fire danger!

Google Maps now features images of street addresses so type in 1782 Holford Road , 1708 Holford Road, and 1520 Holford Road to see views of Spring Creek Forest and Preserve entrances and a view of Spring Creek. The exact street addresses don't match actual street addresses since map accuracy is not 100% (for now).

Peter Assmann posted his bird bird list from Bob Woodruff Park. Spring Creek is part of the same Rowlett Creek

A wet field of dropseed and little bluestem with invading Eastern red cedar ...taken during a light rain today...

The dampened grasses revealed their earthy colors as it rained. Unfortunate these remnant escarpment

prairies are becoming a rare sight north of Spring Creek Forest and Preserve as developers grab the last