cosmiccat's Journal

I've been focusing on winter birding this week, since the fish aren't biting. Today I went to the Lake O' the Pines reservoir, where I found a new lifer bird, the sedge wren. It was a very cooperative subject and let me get very close to it. Finding a new bird is always exciting! I have two more winter bird trips planned: Red River NWR in the Shreveport-Bossier area and White Cliffs Natural Area in Arkansas.

I noticed that my iNat life list is at 1,891 species. I made it a goal to reach 2,000 by the end of the year. I think that I'll probably get most of the ones I need when I go to Brownsville in the fall.

In other news, I found a pdf of a guide to freshwater snails for free: http://www.ohiomemory.org/cdm/ref/collection/p267401ccp2/id/4026

Before the weather got bad this weekend, I went to Caddo Lake WMA to hunt fungi. I found several species that I haven't seen before, but that's normal for a mushroom outing because there are so many species! How many? Well, here is an article about David Lewis, a naturalist who has found 550 species on his 60-acre property! Wow! https://www.texasobserver.org/fungi-town/

In other mushroom news, a new book that focuses on the fungi of the southeast has been published. I haven't bought it yet, but it's on my wish list. https://www.amazon.com/dp/160469730X/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3NQDTV2NFN2V&colid=1LN8GGF6MRTFH&psc=0

Since it's going to rain all this week, I plan on going to the Lake O' the Pines area to find more mushrooms.

There are so many nature places in Brownsville that I couldn't possibly visit them all in one week. I think I've narrowed it down to three:

Sabal Palm Sanctuary
http://sabalpalmsanctuary.org/

Boca Chica Beach
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Lower_Rio_Grande_Valley/visit/boca_chica_beach.html

Adolph Tomae Jr. County Park
http://www.cameroncountyparks.com/adolph-thomae-park

I picked the county park because it has a fishing pier, and I want to see if I can find some freshwater species that only live in that area, like the Rio Grande cichlid. I'm going to try saltwater fishing for the first time on Boca Chica Beach. Maybe I'll catch something awesome like a barracuda!

I've been looking at iNat's species list for Cameron County and seeing all the beautiful Mexican birds and butterflies has me excited! I noticed the list is mainly those birds and butterflies, which is to be expected since they are the reason people visit Brownsville. It's one of the reasons I want to go, after all! However, there aren't many species listed for other organisms like grasses, marine invertebrates, and fish. I hope to help fix that. ;p