Hershey Ranch - Labor Day 2019

Erin and I spent part of the Labor Day Weekend working out at the ranch to wrap up deer surveys, advance some reading and writing projects, and to just plain relax. While out there, I decided it was long past due to create a dedicated Hershey Ranch location on iNaturalist and to also do a better job of documenting the plant and wildlife that occur there. I was happy to see that the location shape for the ranch automatically grabbed some of my previous observations and synced them to the Hershey Ranch list. With only a dozen or so observations, there is a lot of room for improvement.

My inspiration to take a stab at this comes from my friend @mikaelb who has done some great stuff using this platform as a means of modern day naturalist journaling.

My first observation over the weekend came from a Nutria seen hanging out on the side of one of the ponds. Even at 200 plus yards, it didn't like me spying on it and reluctantly entered the water. These exotic invasive aquatic rodents are seen regularly on the ranch, primarily in the large soil conservation lake. Our management paradigm is remove as many exotic species and promote natives as best as possible. However, we haven't paid much attention to the nutria since our management objectives largely emphasize range restoration and health - combined with extremely limited capacity. Until we get an indication that there presence is interfering with a ranch management objective - either ours or a neighbors - they'll likely remain.

Erin and I took a quick cruise around the ranch before dark. Not much was moving but we did see this hatchling Texas Spiny Lizard.

My friend and deer survey member Lee joined us at dark. As we caught up outside the Little House we were serenaded by a pair of Eastern Screech-owls - possibly the first I've observed at the ranch (I'll need to check on that). I'm not sure if it was aggression or coincidence but one of the owls dove out of the canopy and within a foot or so of my head on its way to a tree just behind me. It was a cool experience and I was happy it didn't take off with my hat! Before we left, we documented two additional critters: Coast Toad and Blackberry Looper Moth

The deer survey was consistent with the previous iterations from August. We counted nearly 90 deer along our 6+ mile spotlight route. These results are encouraging and, coupled with the previous surveys, suggest an improving trend in buck to doe ratios and increasing fawn production/survivability at Hershey Ranch.

During the survey we saw a number of non-target wildlife including Armadillos, Grey Fox, Black-tailed Jackrabbit, Raccoons, bats, a roosting Red-tailed Hawk, and two Great Horned Owls.

Late the next morning Erin and I took another tour around the ranch and added a few bird observations.

We also noted a wonderful stand of Big Bluestem growing along a stretch of gentle ravine. This is the first I have observed at Hershey Ranch during 5 plus years. My gut tells me that it is likely in response to a combination of a recent prescribed burn, complete rest from grazing, and a wet spring. I hope to see more of this grass in the future.

During our tour, Erin and stopped at another gentle ravine that was wet and abuzz with flying insects. I've recently taken to studying dragonflies - I'm a complete noob at this point - so with zoom camera in tow, I got to work documenting all I saw at this point. I'm seriously enjoying the color and diversity of these creatures! Each of these is technically a lifer - yes, that's how noob I am. I was especially excited about the Roseate Skimmer since seeing a photo in my dragonfly ID book. The Twelve-spotted Skimmer was what originally caught my eye with its impressive pattern and large size.

Overall - a wonderful weekend and great way to re-charge the batteries while getting little work and play done.

Posted on Σεπτέμβριος 03, 2019 0254 ΠΜ by romeyswanson