pfau_tarleton's Journal

Feel free to join us for a late October Bioblitz at Timberlake Field Station--October 21st (with October 28th being an alternative in the event of bad weather). Attendees may begin arriving at noon Friday or anytime thereafter. We'll depart after lunch Sunday.

I think everyone will already know, but it's been dry. There won't be much plant or aquatic life (unless the ponds catch water).

Upon arrival and before exploring, sign a release form at the pavilion. There will be printed maps for you to take also.

The original cabin (with AC and restrooms) is available and has 3 rooms with one bed and one room with 4 bunk beds. In addition there are two new bunkhouses (with AC and toilet) that sleep 12 each (6 bunk beds). There's lots of room to pitch a tent, or car camp, near the restroom and shower facility. No need to make reservation for cabin or bunkhouses--plenty of beds now.

Here's the link to detailed info about Timberlake (including directions): https://docs.google.com/document/d/19D_D0b94QvtB72GR8e5cSH8XHXFSe9DS69zffjRrbtw/edit?usp=sharing

Tarleton State University’s Timberlake Field Station is an educational and research facility located on the Colorado River in the heart of Texas--midway between Austin and Abilene. The 790 acre property has over 2 miles of Colorado river frontage and includes bottomland and upland habitats.

Timberlake iNaturalist Project:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/timberlake-biological-field-station

Observations listed from least observed to most observed:
https://jumear.github.io/stirfry/iNatAPIv1_observations_species_counts?place_id=118103&taxon_id=48460&verifiable=true&order=asc

You might be a maverick, but you also are likely a pre-maverick! There's this project which uses an algorithm to identify observations that are almost maverick--specifically, a 2 to 1 disagreement. This is a great way to catch those possible mis-identifications...you know, back when you were still "learning".

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pre-maverick

Two approaches are possible.

First approach:

you can go there, click the observations, filter to show YOUR observations, then work through them to see why you're a pre-maverick. Or here's the URL (replace yourusername with your username):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=any&place_id=any&project_id=156949&verifiable=any&user_id=yourusername


And this version of the URL allows you to see these in Identify mode:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?reviewed=true&quality_grade=casual%2Cneeds_id%2Cresearch&project_id=156949&verifiable=any&user_id=yourusername

Second approach:

as mentioned by @lappelbaum below, you can use this URL to find any pre-mavericks that you have IDed for other people (replace yourusername with your username):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=any&place_id=any&project_id=156949&quality_grade=needs_id&verifiable=any&not_user_id=yourusername&ident_user_id=yourusername (note there are two yourusernames to change)


And this version of the URL allows you to see these in Identify mode:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?reviewed=true&quality_grade=casual%2Cneeds_id%2Cresearch&project_id=156949&verifiable=any&ident_user_id=yourusername

Identify mode (showing research grade also):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=needs_id%2Cresearch&project_id=timberlake-biological-field-station&d1=2023-06-23&d2=2023-06-25

Observations:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2023-06-23&d2=2023-06-25&place_id=any&project_id=timberlake-biological-field-station&verifiable=any

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Please join us for a June Bioblitz at Timberlake Field Station--June 23-25. Attendees may begin arriving at 2 pm Friday or anytime thereafter. We'll depart after lunch Sunday.

Upon arrival and before exploring, sign a release form at the pavilion.

The original cabin (with AC and restrooms) is available and has four rooms beds. In addition there are two new bunkhouses (with AC and toilet). There's lots of room to pitch a tent, or car camp, near the restroom and shower facility. No need to make reservation for cabin or bunkhouses--plenty of beds now.

Here's the link to detailed info about Timberlake (including directions): https://docs.google.com/document/d/19D_D0b94QvtB72GR8e5cSH8XHXFSe9DS69zffjRrbtw/edit?usp=sharing

Tarleton State University’s Timberlake Field Station is an educational and research facility located on the Colorado River in the heart of Texas--midway between Austin and Abilene. The 790 acre property has over 2 miles of Colorado river frontage and includes bottomland and upland habitats.

Timberlake iNaturalist Project:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/timberlake-biological-field-station

Observations listed from least observed to most observed:
https://jumear.github.io/stirfry/iNatAPIv1_observations_species_counts?place_id=118103&taxon_id=48460&verifiable=true&order=asc

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Tag folks you think would be interested. This list is incomplete and not intended to be exclusive.
@annikaml, @bacchusrock, @baxter-slye, @bosqueaaron, @brandonmeadows, @brencero, @brentano, @cameralenswrangler, @centratex, @chasingchickens, @currenfrasch, @connlindajo, @devinpedraza, @eaneubauer, @gcwarbler, @gwaithir, @immortalwhat, @inhat83, @isaaceastland, @jcochran706, @jeff_back, @k8thegr8, @knightericm, @kimberlietx, @laurahaynes, @lovebirder, @lulubelle, @mammelton50, @mpintar, @mikef451, @observerjosh, @prairie_rambler, @rkostecke, @rymcdaniel, @sagaciousoctopus, @sambiology, @swissagnes, @tadamcochran, @wildcarrot

Penstemon guadalupensis is a Texas endemic documented from only a handful of counties. It's similar to P. albidus which ranges from Texas to Canada. Both differ from P. cobaea by being considerably smaller overall: smaller flowers, narrower leaves, shorter height. Despite its name, P. albidus (the white-flowered penstemon) comes in a pale lavender version. P. guadalupensis, however, has only been documented as white-flowered.

P. guadalupensis is underdocumented species. And almost certainly has declined in many areas due to land abuse. In 1895, it was very abundant along the Guadalupe River and Town Creek in vicinity of Kerrville. It hasn't been seen in Kerr Co. since.

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Here's a slide showing the two side-by-side, a range map, and Heller's original description of P. guadalupensis along with the type specimen:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QhU48ez5eZkzk-5FfgNw6Weg6ztee6ovFhkZZTQ4U88/edit?usp=sharing

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To distinguish the two, these are my thoughts at the moment, based on observing a lot of P. guadalupensis in person (and all of the observations on iNat) and comparing them visually with several hundred iNat observations of P. albidus from across the western great plains (Canada to Texas).

Based on that, here's my conclusion on how to distinguish them:

P. albidus has leaves that are as wide at the base as they are near the flowers--the basal leaves are not linear. The color of the leaves lean toward bluish green (often with a frosted or matte appearance--which would feel like sandpaper):
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/82465393
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/81787058
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/81068195

P. guadalupensis has leaves that are narrow at the base (linear, strap-like) and increase in width as they approach the flowers. The color of the leaves lean toward yellowish green:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155081768
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/24737402

The difference in leaf width from base to flower (or lack thereof) being a character that really stands out to me. And FNA has some outright mistakes in the description and key both. I've since found Heller's original description, and he highlighted the leaf shape as I've described it as a main character. Note: the FNA couplet for these species contains an error in leaf width (compare it with the FNA species description).

There are some specimens that are contentious (i.e. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5892242), so the reliability of distinguishing characters may not be 100% and there may be hybridization or these species may represent clinal variation of one species, etc.

Penstemon guadalupensis is a relatively uncommon penstemon which I found (one specimen of) at Lake Proctor: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/77358627

I'm curious how abundant they are at this location (a Corps park) and the Corps personnel are interested in documenting uncommon plants.

Folks interested in coming out to focus efforts on looking for Penstemon guadalupensis are welcome. We just need to settle on a date in mid-April. I'm not sure if we'd spend the night (it's an option), but that's something we can discuss.

@bosqueaaron, @jcochran706, @annikaml, @gcwarbler, @kimberlietx, @sambiology (tagging some of the more obsessive plant folks--feel free to tag others).

@kylewatter

[Postponed: this event has been postponed--hopefully we can reschedule]

Two unique West Texas properties, owned by The Nature Conservancy, will be the focus of a fall bioblitz! Both locations feature a spring--that precious source of cool water in the desert (but no aquatic collecting will be allowed). TNC is especially interested in us contributing to knowledge of odonate diversity at Diamond Y.

The plan is for Independence Creek to be our home base, with a day excursion to Diamond Y on Saturday (for those that want to). They're not too far apart (as measured in Texas distance).

We can start arriving Friday and spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at IC.

Here's a map showing both locations.

Thanks to @knightericm for making arrangements and TNC staff for welcoming us to these unique properties.

• Diamond Y iNat observations
• Independence Creek iNat observations

Details regarding facilities at Independence Creek will be posted when available.

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At long last, I've accomplished the Texas Anemone Grand Slam. I finally got a chance to see Anemone edwardsiana in the wild--atop Lover's Leap near Junction. With this observation, I have seen all five (or six) species--and all within one week. At Lover's Leap, A. edwardsiana is sympatric with A. okennonii and A. berlandieri (all three of which were suffering greatly from the dry conditions here). This is the only location I know of where three species occur sympatrically. On the way back home, we stopped at O. H. Ivie Reservoir (Riverside WMA) and found A. okennonii and A. berlandieri in abundance and doing well (more rainfall here). Nowhere else have I seen A. okennonii in such abundance--there were millions of them in full bloom. The day before, I had seen A. caroliniana in Comanche Co. and the prior weekend we had seen A. tuberosa at Hueco Tanks State Park, A. okennonii near Carlsbad, NM, and the putative new species near Seymour, TX.

All five (or six) species--and all within one week! I'm the first member of the human species to have accomplished this feat (my wife missed out by not having seen A. caroliniana this year--but she has seen all the species, just not all within one week).

What an adventure for an Anemonophile!

https://www.inaturalist.org/identifications?user_id=insert_your_user_ID_here&category=maverick

Our observations for the weekend.
Our observations in identify mode (including research grade).
Our observations in identify mode (needs ID only).
List of species observed sorted with least observed first.

Powderhorn Wildlife Management Area is on the coast between Port O'Connor and Indianola. View an iNaturalist map here.

Coordinates of entrance to the WMA: 28.434577644041553, -96.53424007243173

Google Map showing entrance, headquarters, and boundaries (WMA in yellow, State Park area in red). Unless I hear otherwise, we are restricted to the yellow WMA area.

Overnight, primitive camping is available on the WMA. There is electricity, water, ice machine, refrigerator, and bathrooms (but not showers). The gate (see location up at the top of this post) should be unlocked but please be sure to close the gate behind you. The building 1.6 miles down the road from the gate will be our headquarters. There are no shade trees in the vicinity of the headquarters, but the building has a shelter on the backside to provide relief from sun and rain and the building will be open in the event of a storm.

There are some locations near the WMA that folks may be interested in visiting on their way to or from the WMA. The location of Powderhorn and these other points of interest are shown in this map.

TPWD webpage

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The anemones are an early blooming wildflower which goes dormant after setting fruit. Their peak bloom time is March, and typically extends from February to April. Some species have been seen blooming in December this winter--perhaps because of the unusually warm winter. In winter, before blooming, they produce their characteristic tripartite leaves.

Anemones on the southwestern Great Plains and northern Chihuahuan desert (western Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas and eastern New Mexico and northern Coahuila) are rarely documented, and very little is known about their distribution and habits. There may even be an undescribed species in this area (a focus of my research). Within this area, I have found that some species seem to prefer gentle, north-facing slopes.

This journal post is to encourage folks to keep an eye out for anemones in this geographical region. All parts of the plant need to be photographed to help ensure an identification (the more pictures, the better).

• Anemone okennonii
• Other, unidentified species
• Anemone berlandieri reaches it's western-most distribution here
• Anemone edwardsiana (likely restricted to the Texas hill country)

Tagging folks that have made several recent plant observations in this area:
@currenfrasch, @ck2az, @jesusnc25, @debm, @empid, @nolandmartin, @s_pi_ky, @mako252, @austinrkelly, @codystricker, @derrell_d, @jotol, @christopherrustay, @joshua_tx, @calebhelsel, @shaunmichael, @lyrae, @rlseman, @willjaremkowright, @briancriter, @alegatocamarena, @carloscarrera, @g_vladimir_hr, @myriada, @roberto999, @pepepaulin, @floresdecoahuilasma, @prairiehagrid, @mlc629, @bobhoard, @nickvarvel, @kvotx, @brooksy , @cbeasley3, @prairiehagrid, @tim-springer, @dwverser, @gtsalmon, @charley, @dpacheco, @jarrellk, @wildcarrot, @liraley, @ianshelburne, @bobnieman, @alix_in_wonderland