2022 Bioblitz planning
If anyone would like to propose future Texas area bioblitz locations for 2022, feel free to comment here or private message. Proposed locations must have overnight facilities (with restrooms) onsite or nearby. Most state parks might not be ideal because they're extremely crowded on weekends and require reservations months in advance for camping.
Also, I think it might be a good idea to avoid areas of moderate to severe drought when possible.
This Google map documents location of past, planned, and potential bioblitz gatherings:
Scheduled 2022 events:
- April 8-10: Timberlake Field Station
- April 29-May 2: City Nature Challenge
- May 6-8: Indian Creek Ranch [Identify modal]
- May 21st: Austin bioblitz: Decker Tallgrass Prairie Preserve
- Sept 16-18: Riverby Ranch Mitigation Area and Bois D'Arc Unit of Caddo Nat'l Grasslands
- Oct 7-9: Hidden Springs Preserve near Florence, TX
- October 20-23: Master Naturalist annual meeting in Houston
Potential 2023 event locations:
- Powderhorn WMA - Sam is planning an event here
- Roger Fawcett WMA - TPWD is planning an event for spring (west of Fort Worth, between I-20 and Palo Pinto Creek Reservoir
- Lake Proctor, Copperas Creek Park (Erath Co.)--Here, the onsite park ranger is interested in hosting us at a group pavilion for an overnight stay.
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Black Gap WMA, Davis Mountains Preserve (with TNC approval), Independence Creek Preserve (with TNC approval), Roy E. Larson Sandyland Preserve, Powderhorn WMA, Falcon Lake, State Park :)
I second Falcon Lake State Park. Estero Llano Grande State Park near Weslaco, which has a variety of great habitats and accommodating park staff. National Butterfly Center in Mission. Lots of host plants for lepidoptera and Rio Grande river access; super nice staff. Would need approval to do mothing there.
I don't think we've had a bioblitz on the immediate coast that I can remember. The possibilities are vast:
-- Upper Texas Coast: Sea Rim, High Island, Bolivar Peninsula, Anahuac NWR, etc.
-- Matagorda County: Mad Island WMA, Matagorda, mouth of Colorado River, Palacios.
-- Calhoun County: Powderhorn Ranch (if available), Port O'Connor, TOS's Magic Ridge Sanctuary, etc.
-- Coastal Bend: Port Aransas, Aransas Pass, Rockport, Copano Causeway.
-- Corpus Christi area: Anything/everything from Lake Corpus Christi to the coast, including Hazel Bazemore Park, Polywog Ponds, the Osa, Packery Channel Co. Park, Mustang Island, N. Padre Island.
-- Kleberg/Kenedy County: Lots of small places to explore; sand plains (distinct veg community); maybe King Ranch access?
I've visited almost all of these locations for birding purposes but I'm eager to explore them for their wider array of plants and animals.
Hagerman NWR and Caddo LBJ Grasslands (any of the units) in the north Texas region
the panhandle is underrepresented but it's a drive for most of us. Gene Howe WMA near Canadian is really interesting; I never got a chance to hit it hard when I lived in Amarillo but it looks promising. Of course there's also Caprock Canyon and/or Palo Duro.
Lake Meredith/Alibates National Recreation areas are pretty good, but I don't know what the paperwork to have an event there would be like.
I would love to hit panhandle a bit. Don't know what all areas are accessible other than Muleshoe NWR. Second Chuck's mention of coastal areas. And of course far west texas Big Bend area etc are still big holes in my observations.
East Texas Pineywoods: Caddo Lake NWR, Old Sabine Bottom WMA, Northeast Texas Trail (130 miles long!), SFA Experimental Forest
If you want to go outside Texas:
Pond Creek NWR (Ashdown, AR area)
Little River NWR, Beaver's Bend (McCurtain County, OK)
Soda Lake WMA, Red River NWR (Shreveport, LA)
I concur with @cosmiccat: Northeast Texas is in need of attention!
I am for all of these places. :) That's the wonderful thing -- there are SO many spots to explore! And I know whichever place is chosen will be just wonderful. :)
Just FYI -- WMA's really need to be checked with the hunting/management schedules. Sometimes they close for various reasons (hunts/burns/programs). State Parks can have some extra public, so the sooner to get things on the calendar, the better -- and the more likely that more folks can come!
Private lands can be fun, but you definitely need to make sure that the landowner is ok with the data being on iNat. If I can be able to come, they'll need to sign a little landowner permission sheet for me (or any TPWD folks) to come and make observations.
A few years back, we went to Del Rio and to a spot that wasn't really open to the public and ALL of the observations had to be obscured... I didn't really like that too much, but we did do it.
Caddo Lake NWR is awesome, and there's some OK-ish hotels and food nearby. So many Cajun restaurants. The state park isn't bad either; would definitely benefit from people set up for kayaking/canoeing with camera equipment
I would like to recommend Indian Creek Ranch (a 10,000 acre unexplored (except a little bit by me) area). It is privately owned, so not open to the public, located about 1/2 an hour SW of Rocksprings, TX. Lat/long is: 29.84797, -100.33126. I have found many poorly documented species here, starting with the infamous Anemone edwardsiana. Others include: Carlowrightia linearifolia (which is way out of documented range) and Muhlenbergia spiciformis (for which it seems I've submitted the first and only oberservation in iNat; go figure).
I have checked with the landowners and there are open to having a group explore the ranch and document what they found. Edwards County in general is overlooked. Observations would not need to be obscured. The landowners are actually interested in what is at the ranch, so I'd need to figure out how to create an official place name for it on iNat so we could share with them what was documented. Those who come would need to sign a waiver in case of injury.
I like the sound of Indian Creek Ranch! Jo, I'll message you privately about how to set up an area on iNat for the ranch.
On board for Indian Creek Ranch too! Always up for exploring some of those huge private ranches, especially in that part of the state.
Thanks to help from @gcwarbler I've been able to create both a place and a project (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/indian-creek-ranch-biodiversity) for Indian Creek Ranch. I started on iNat at the end of 2020 and have managed to find about 660 species at the ranch during this past year. I know I have just scratched the surface but this provides a flavor of what is on the ranch.
Thanks @bacchusrock! Let us know what dates you have in mind. I think spring would be ideal for that location. I noticed that I've got the 2nd highest number of observations for Indian Creek Ranch (3 anemone seeds)--and I've never even been there!
Woo hoo! This looks like a super exciting location. And yeah, if you're able to snag a date sooner before later, it allows lots of us to plan accordingly. :)
Don't let my schedule dictate anything... buuuuuut, I do have weekends of May 7th and May 14th open (all other May weekends are booked). April only has the weekend of 23rd open (the rest are booked already!) for me... Whew! Next year's calendar is already looking bonkers!
@sambiology You are clearly in high demand! ..as it should be.
@gcwarbler -- would you apply to be my intern please? :)
Definitely a good busy! :)
..only if I can carry your luggage wherever you go.
There aren't any restrictions from the landowner perspective in the spring as hunting season for white-tails is over. I just need to give them notice. Reviewing my observations, late April / early May would be good timing. Too late for anemones (the glabrous one was photographed on April 9), but maybe Russell would need to make a special trip to find more of those. Perhaps, then I suggest April 23, May 7, or May 14 and see what would work for the rest of us.
As an FYI, for accommodations, the ranch has an 18 acre landing strip (if someone has a plane, yes, you can fly in) where there is a hangar and plenty of room to park a car or pitch a tent. I will also be asking the landowners if anyone is interesting in hosting. Unless something changes at the border, hotels (if they can be called that) in Rocksprings aren't an option as they are fully booked with state troopers and the like.
@bacchusrock, could you create a journal post specifically for the Indian Creek Ranch bioblitz? You can share the link here, then we can all mosey over that way to talk about it.
Let's see if this worked: https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/bacchusrock/59386-bioblitz-at-indian-creek-ranch
I've updated this journal post, including the map (up there at the top) and am starting to flesh out additional 2022 events. The problem is, I want to have one every weekend--and deciding what to schedule this year and what to postpone for 2023 is difficult for me.
Thanks for the tag, I'll follow the discussion here and attend where I can!
I second the Hagerman NWR suggestion. We would definitely have to check with them first (hog hunts) and there's no camping on site. Sherman is right down the road for lodgings though.
When is the City Nature Challenge this year?
Reminder that Master Naturalists have the annual meeting in Houston Oct 20-23rd so that weekend is already booked for me and several others. I'll be at Indian Creek Ranch and if we do something on the coast, I will be there. Otherwise, I'll have to pass as my travel budget is already blown.
Thanks for the tag! I don't know enough places to suggest anything right now but I'm super excited to get out exploring wherever I can!
I don't really have anything to add other than I am just thrilled to be included. I hope to make it wherever we go. Hagerman would be awesome because it is an hour away from me:). I'd love to go far though, too, if I can make that happen.
All of those areas sound great! I'd still like to hit Mason Mountain WMA sometime.
I just saw this today on bugguide. Not in Texas, but not too far away and sounds like fun.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/2081950
@megachile More events you may be interested in.
I updated the list with events on May 21st and June 4-5.
@isaaceastland @joel_p_ashman @devinpedraza @haleydaniels @jgoralczyk1 Here are some bioblitzes that you all may be interested in.
For a Fall destination, I've made contact with folks at two places NE of DFW just south of the Red River. See the list of events in this journal post for information about the Riverby Ranch Mitigation Area and Bois D'Arc Unit of Caddo Nat'l Grasslands near Telephone, TX. The Google map shows the location of both places (they're almost adjacent).
There are overnight accommodations onsite at Riverby (a room with beds, two baths, and a kitchen).
I just need to nail down a date. Does September 23-25 sound OK? If I don't hear a resounding "no" by Monday, I'll make plans for that date.
@alisonnorthup, @amzapp, @annikaml, @bacchusrock, @baxter-slye, @bosqueaaron, @brentano, @catenatus, @cmeckerman, @connlindajo, @currenfrasch, @elytrid, @gcwarbler, @jcochran706, @kimberlietx, @k8thegr8, @knightericm, @lorimalloy, @lovebirder. @mikef451, @sambiology, @tadamcochran
I'm starting to pack!
Sounds great to me!
YES! Barring family stuff I'll be there. Bonham and Paris aren't too far and both have hotels too. May bring one or both kids depending.
Looks good to me.
Thank you!! I may not be there until Saturday and will have to leave by 3 on Sunday, but I should be there.
Sounds fun!! I'm a definite maybe. 23-25 will probably work. It's close to my s.o.'s birthday so I may not be able to do the whole weekend.
An interesting presentation on Riverby Ranch restoration project.
https://boisdarclake.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2019.12.04-Riverby-Ranch-Presentation.pdf
I'm in!
@pfau_tarleton May I reserve a bed, please? Thanks.
I'll go tentative on this one. It would be a long drive for me.
it's on my calendar, but i'm a maybe. have a long trip i'm getting back from the weekend before so just depends if i'm up for it by that friday.
I just remembered I have a mothing event locally on Sep 24 that I'm hosting for our TMN chapter, so I'm probably out unless I can convince the organizers to adjust the date.
How many beds are there? I might be coming alone for this one.
I'm a yes barring unseen circumstances!
I wouldn't mind a bed if there is any left.
It's my understanding that there is one room with 18 beds, 2 restrooms, and a kitchen. After I get the date finalized, I'll make a separate journal post and include all the details there.
I'd also like to get a bed :)
I am also part of the scheduled Sept 24 event that Jack mentioned. Thanks for reminding me Jack! Sorry that I can not make this date.
I will put it on my calendar.
How about the weekend prior? Sept 17? I'm looking for an optimum date--nothing set in stone yet.
Sept 17 works for me.
The 17th is great for me!
Sep 17 will work for me!
Works for me.
OK with me.
Works for me.
won't work for me, but no worries, i'll catch the next one
I can probably do the weekend of the 17th.
Still good for me.
17th is actually way better for me.
I'll have to get permission for that weekend. =)
Official journal post --> for Riverby Ranch Mitigation Area and Bois D'Arc Unit of Caddo Nat'l Grasslands Sept 16-18.
Most likely I will have to miss this one. :( I'll keep it in mind though if my schedule opens up.
Just playing around on the map, it looks like the Sabine Pass area is a little light on observations, especially things that aren't birds, butterflies, or dragonflies. There's several National Wildlife Refuges, State Parks, and J.D. Murphree WMA just south of Port Arthur. Maybe worth looking in to for the future.
Hey everyone! Is there any buzz on plans for spring 2023 yet?
@bosqueaaron read my mind. hoping to block off a weekend on my calendar even if we don't know location. spring scheduling underway :)
@knightericm Same here :) Filling in my new '23 calendar.
I'm looking forward to getting a couple (or more) bioblitzes to put on my 2023 calendar. :-)
Just looking at Chuck's suggestions from 2022 up top, I like the idea of doing something down in the Coastal Bend/CC area. I lived in Corpus 20 years ago and would love an excuse to go down there. @annikaml how are you on bird species in Nueces and Kleberg Co.?
Nueces - 161 😊
Kleberg - 15 🙁
Very clear where we need to have a bioblitz! 😉
(And please, please, please, not April 14-30!)
Hahaha! I TOO am wanting to do a spring-ish time bioblitz!!!
So, annika is booked April 14 - 30, and I'm booked on all weekends in May except for May 20th... My stupid calendar filled up faast this year.
How do folks feel about May 19 - 22????? I can talk to some folks at Powderhorn WMA for this weekend... What say you???
Calhoun County??? :)
I say "yay" to Powderhorn!
Date and location sound good to me!!
OK , I am already counting the days until we meet again!
May 19-22 works for me! IN
Geez....yall are demanding! Glad Sam jumped in to toss the peasants some crumbs!
🤣
I'll toss some more crumbs over here on the 2023 Bioblitz Planning post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/pfau_tarleton/73400-2023-bioblitz-planning
I added the May 19-22 dates to my calendar.
I'm game for May 19-22 in Powderhorn.
@tadamcochran @annikaml Woohoo I'm hot on Annika's tail feathers for Kleberg Co. I've got a whopping 7 species already! Oooh oooh and 17 in Nueces. Watch out, I'm on 🔥! 🤣🤣
@kimberlietx I've got zero in both! LOL
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