Musings

Surprises

Back in the 60’s the Volkswagen Beetle had an advertising campaign called “it’s not pretty, but it gets you there” that featured a picture of the Lunar Lander used by NASA to land on the moon. It was a very successful campaign using a theme often foreign in car advertising—functionality versus sex, beauty and fast. And if you had a Volkswagen Beetle or Microbus of that era, it was certainly truth in advertising.

 

The Magnolia Warbler is now only beautiful, but it makes a long flight between Central America and Canada. Landing in Quail Valley
was part of "gettin' there."

I think it was successful because it was a surprise that made you laugh. Surprises keep us going and stimulated. Unfortunately in our highly planned and organized schedules, it’s sometimes hard to take advantage of them.

 

I got a call from birder and photographer Margaret Sloan early Saturday morning that she had the most species of birds in her garden she has even had. If you’ve been to Margaret’s garden, which is always populated by interesting and varied birds, you know that’s a strong statement.

It seems the heavy rains starting Friday evening into Saturday morning had driven the tropical migratory birds leaving the Gulf Coast for nesting areas further north out of their normal night flights of multi-species flocks.  I was going to write about my success with having a larger variety of fledgling birds this year by following some simple things Margaret taught me such as re-positioning feeders and bird baths. My fledgling Red Bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, Chickadees and House Finches (in addition to the usual Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, White-winged doves, and Mockingbirds) however paled to Margaret’s story.

 

There were so many birds in the heavily leafed-out trees, it was hard to focus on the fast-moving 14 species of Warblers that visited such as the Blackburnian Warbler above.

And talk about multi-species. Scarlet Tanagers, flycatchers, warblers, vireos. Margaret wrote on Sunday, “I'm sure I woke you up yesterday.  I apologize for that, but I was so excited about the yard.  It was like fantasy land for a day.  By the end of the day, I'd seen 14 species of warblers, 5 or six different flycatchers, 4 vireos and so on.  The total species combining migrants and residents was 58!” Now this is not in a birding sanctuary area, but a suburban garden on Oyster Creek. And birders love to count species.  By Sunday evening Margaret had seen more stragglers. “Here's my revised count.  I actually had 35 migrant species and 33 local species in the yard for a total of 68.  As mentioned previously, there were 14 different warblers!  Wow!”

 

I did go out with my field glasses and look up into the trees, but I had plans Saturday as well as Sunday with other people involved so I did not run over to Margaret’s in my gown and robe with my field glasses as I impulsively desired.

No Margaret, you didn’t wake me up . . . and I wouldn’t care to hear such a story. I was scheduled for the Sugar Land Garden Club Tour in Sugar Creek. It seems in Quail Valley where we only had 5 inches of rain and no high winds. Sugar Creek had 8 inches of rain and lots of downed limbs. One garden on the tour had lost its gazebo, but you would have never known. Despite Oyster Creek being up within 8 inches to the top of a wrought iron fence at one of the gardens, the tour went on and was beautiful.

The high winds were likely why the birds stopped in Quail Valley south of Sugar Creek. Very different surprises, same event. Visit our bird blog for some photos in addition to the Loggerhead Shrike featured bird of the month. 

Photos copyrighted by Margaret Sloan

Illustrated reprint from 5-16-2012 Fort Bend Independent

What's bloomin'?

 

White Orchid Tree is in bloom.

One of the fun things about working with gardeners is seeing their gardens and seeing what’s bloomin,’ what’s workin,’ and hearin’ what didn’t. Working with both the Quail Valley and the Sugar Land Garden Tours, I’ve been able to get first hand peeks at a delightful variety of gardens.

Those experiences get my juices flowing to maybe tackle something I’ve been putting off . . . or just some inspiration to add a little zing to a bare or uninteresting place, try a new plant or one I’ve never seen “that way.”

 

What’s fun is working with the garden owners and watching them approach opening their gardens to a bunch of strangers. Letting people in your backyard is indeed both a generous gesture and also very personal one. And the weather challenges for the past several years from record freezes to record droughts, tests the hardiest of souls.

 

All of the pictures shown have been photographed between Saturday, April 14 and Tuesday, April 17, 2012,
from Quail Valley Tour Gardens.

The Quail Valley Tour is this coming Saturday, April 21 from 10 to 3; so I spent the weekend visiting the gardens to see what’s bloomin.’ Mother Nature has been kind to this tour both with rain and less extreme weather. Well, knock on wood, she still has time to do something unexpected.  

 

One year, well-known gardener Arvada Simcoe had the most beautiful roses . . . some of her Belinda’s Dream were the size of large salad plates . . . and her many varieties of roses had such fragrances.  The night before the tour, Mother Nature let loose with a violent rain and wind storm.

 

 

Several varieties of Amalrylis
are blooming.

Those of us who had seen the garden were indeed disappointed. But with the riot of all kinds of other flowers, the public didn’t know the difference and went through a little bit of mud, actually created a little bit of mud, with the throngs entering her garden.  Arvada said it took almost 6 months for the grass to recover. Like I said earlier, it is indeed generous to open your garden.

 

 

After the record freeze and cold the next year, it stayed below 70 into April . . . but somehow, there was beauty you might have missed in what were often very lush gardens. And blooms we didn’t always have on the tour at this time of year.

 

 

Bougainvillea.

This year in addition to those annuals and perennials that are the main stay to keep color in the garden,  I’ve seen everything from a white Orchid Tree in bloom, Amaryllis, Caladiums, roses, divine smelling jasmine,  lush butterfly vines, butterfly and bee attractors,  to fruit already set on citrus, grape, and get ready for this, Papayas!  One garden actually has Cannas in bloom—and these are not your ordinary varieties, from lush ones from Guatemala.  You’ll have to come to learn how he, with the help of Mother Nature, managed this feat. Opening your garden isn’t for the faint of heart.

 

The Sugar Land Tour is May 12 from 9 to 4 with gardens featured in Sugar Creek. So you’ll get two great opportunities, 3 weeks apart to see what’s bloomin’ and the creativity of the garden owners.

Both tours sell tickets at the locations the day of the tour, come rain or shine. Follow the signs.

You can learn more about the Quail Valley Tour and down load a tour map or call Janice Scanlan at 281 261-2320.  It is April 21, rain or shine from 10-3.

Sugar Land Garden Club tour is May 12 from 9-4.  Press Spring Garden Tour when you reach the site or contact Cheryl Swanson at 281-242-1773.

Get some garden inspiration starting this weekend.

Illustrated reprint from 4-18-2012 Fort Bend Independent

More pictures, click image to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How collections and different textures work together to enhance an area, surprise.

  To exotics . . .

Go coastal

Do you remember when “fallout” was a bad word—as in radiation fallout?

 

Chestnut-sided Warbler is a "tropical warbler" and spring & fall migrant and "fallsout" of the sky toward the end of April in coastal Texas.

Well, for birders, “fallout” is a good concept because it signals when migratory birds “fallout” of the sky—particularly from flights from Central and South America across the Gulf of Mexico. And April, early May, is a prime time to witness bird “fallout” in a number of Audubon Bird Sanctuaries and National Wildlife Refuges in the Greater Houston area. So it’s a great time to “go coastal.”

 

And it can be as easy as “driving around the loops” at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge near Lake Jackson or the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge near Angleton.  You avoid the mosquitoes that way, but get to see a refuge by “car birding” or hiking. This is within the designated Columbia Bottomlands that is in Brazoria, Fort Bend, Wharton and Matagorda Counties and covers the San Bernard, Brazos and Colorado Rivers’ flood plains. This site is used by over 240 species of birds each year hosts approximately 29 million birds annually. Oyster Creek and other creeks and bayous are part of this area. So yes, we sit in a “Globally Important Bird Area” according to the Audubon Society and BirdLife International.

 

Pine Warbler is a winter visitor, not a spring & fall migrant.

That Margaret Sloan has photographed more than 130 species of birds just in her garden on Oyster Creek in suburban Quail Valley tells you how fortunate Fort Bend is for birding.

 

The Audubon Bird Sanctuary at High Island is internationally known and visited by global birders at this time of year. It may be farther to drive, but from Mid March to Mid May guides are on hand for free talks, bird walks and identification sessions on warblers and shorebirds.  If you’re a novice birder, this is a non-intimidating way to get started. High Island is also the largest and most varied sanctuary. There is a $7 charge to enter or you can buy an annual patch for $25. Headquarters is at the Boy Scout Woods. This is such a popular place during April that every Saturday in April St. Matthew Methodist Church on High Island opens its doors from 11 to 1 with a Barbeque lunch for the public.

Anahuac  NWR near Winnie is also a great place if you don’t want to go as far as High Island and is abundant with wildlife and birding.

 

Black-throated Green Warbler is another "tropical warbler" and spring visitor migrating from Central America to mid to eastern Canada and the upper US.

But High Island is not the only Audubon Sanctuary, nor important one. In 2009 North Deer Island near Galveston Tiki Island was designated a Global Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society and BirdLife International. It is the home for nesting for 19 species of shorebirds. It can only be viewed by boat.

 

So literally in our backyards we sit in areas that are considered important internationally. In Missouri City, Urban Forester Paul Wierzbicki has not only been improving our tree canopy, but also has started a Bird Sanctuary in Buffalo Run Park, which is on a former quarry site with a beautiful lake that is navigable and a great place to go fishing plus a lot more. The City of Missouri City and the Master Gardeners recently completed planting phase one. To learn more, contact Paul at 281 403-8645.

Stay home or go coastal. Enjoy nature this spring.

Photos copyrighted by and courtesy of Margaret Sloan.

Reprint and amplified from 4-11-2012 Fort Bend Independent

More links and info about this article
including a video!

 Birding Warblers from Cornell Lab is a short video that actually features information about the Chestnut-sided Warbler featured in the Fort Bend Independent and on our bird blog. It shows many varieties of Warblers as well and provides easy tips for birding so that you can get started without so much frustration or feel intimidated.

Link to San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) near Lake Jackson

Link to Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge near Angleton

Link to Anahuac NWR

Link to Columbia Bottomlands state recognized Important Bird Area

Link to Audubon High Island Bird Sanctuaries and Map.

Link to Audubon North Deer Island Bird Sanctuary.

Link to Texas National Wildlife Refuges List.

Link to Global Important Bird Areas.

 

Something different

My cousins from Menard came to see us on Friday.  If you’re unfamiliar with Menard, it has about 2000 population and is actually a rural area in Texas that grew (from 1608 in 2000 census). It’s north of Kerrville, Junction and the Colorado River and sits on the San Saba River. It’s dry and a transition between the Texas Hill Country and West Texas. As with any transition eco system, it is interesting country full of deer and wildlife.  It’s a great star gazing place. Dan rain harvests, runs the newspaper, The Menard News, and Cindy is an elementary school librarian, retiring from teaching and working part time now.

Usually when they come to Houston, we go inside the 610 Loop as both their kids and grandchildren live there, but they wanted to come to Fort Bend. Last visit, we went to the Printing Museum in Houston. Fascinating and well done, if you haven’t been there. So what would be different, interesting and something they can’t see in Menard in an afternoon?

We are getting so many places, museums and other events in Fort Bend, but something different? We chose Brazos Bend State Park and the Hindu Mandir on Brand Lane in Stafford. Neither one, let us down.

 

Can you find the alligator in this photo?

The alligators were out in force and the weekend crowd was only trickling into the park so you got some good long views of large and medium gators. Both Dan and Cindy remarked they had never seen alligators in the wild, just in zoos. Come to think of it, I can’t remember if it was Armand Bayou or Brazos Bend where I first saw alligators in the wild (besides the ones in Quail Valley). We also enjoyed driving past the George Ranch and talking about how the George Foundation has such a positive impact on our county.  

 

It seems we’re not the only people in Fort Bend who know how special Brazos Bend can be.  A Norwegian, who now lives in Katy, brought her Norwegian visitors, and we were in the Nature Center together. She remarked that she always brings her Norway visitors to Brazos Bend. Just like Menard, they don’t have too many semi-tropical swamps. So if you or your visitors like nature, try Brazos Bend.

 

Hindu Mandir in Stafford, Texas.

Then, we headed for the Hindu Mandir and were just-in-time for 4 o’clock prayers. The beauty alone of this Italian marble and Turkish sandstone edifice with its fountains and landscaping is breathtaking. Hearing the prayers and experiencing the solitude and peace is quite another story. Watching the gators lolling on the logs had me just relaxed enough to fully be able to enjoy this experience and how welcoming this community of believers is to outsiders. Chiman Patel gave us the full tour after prayers. He expressed his faith, belief and its history in a humble and compelling manner. What most impressed us was how he takes it into his daily life by walking 5 miles a day, eating healthy, giving back to the community.

 

It’s easy to take for granted where you live and never go see the sights or experience outside of your normal life. Does the Port Authority Tour Boat on the Houston Ship Channel still exist? If so, it’s on our list to re-experience. Write, if you know.

And write the different experiences you enjoy and/or take visitors in Fort Bend (or in the area) to janicescanlan@clear.net  or just post it here. We love day tripping and something different!

Illustrated from the 4-4-2012 Fort Bend Independent

 

Texas Snow

 

The beautiful "yellow glow" of this photo is not a filter, but a glow from the pollen in the air. The beautiful garden is Bil and John Miller's garden that will be on the Quail Valley Backyard Tour, April 21 from 10 to 3.

We don’t have much snow on the Gulf Coast, anyway the white kind. We’ve got a bumper crop of the yellow kind—tree pollen. I was taking pictures this week end for the QV Backyard Tour . . . I had just focused on a pair of Northern Cardinals on a feeder. A wind gust brought such a cloud of yellow Texas Snow that even the birds flew away.

 

It was a pretty weekend in spite of the snow, but it has those of us with allergies a little puny. I suppose Mother Nature is re-grouping after the record drought. She’s doing a heck of a job between pollen snow and oak leaves.  But the weather was great for spring break.

There was an old video of Chet Huntley (he used to be an NBC news anchor if you’re under 40) about spring break which was a new phenomenon in the late 50s. Chet was somewhat dubious of all the mindless fun, so he likely fit in with the rural Oklahoma schools I attended before college.  We didn’t have spring break, but we did take time off in the fall for cotton picking season. Since spring break was for college students then, I could only attend the “Where the Boys Are” movies or listen to Connie Francis songs.

“Where the Boys Are” was a melodrama of Midwestern girls getting introduced to the suave Ivy Leaguers and getting used, by the likes of George Hamilton. Coming out in 1960, it introduced to a larger audience the cool jazz that was going around college of Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan and Chico Hamilton, as well as putting Fort Lauderdale on the map.  And I suppose helped eventually institutionalize spring break in the entire school system. We also got a spate of teenage angst beach party movies with singers like Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello that were considerably less serious. Annette was all grown up from the Mickey Mouse Club, which John said they watched faithfully in his college fraternity in the 50s. Seems watching  Annette “grow up” was quite interesting.

Hollywood was quite fond of taking recording artists and making movies around them. And they sold like hotcakes. Don’t stand up too well to watch today, but I certainly thought they were cool then and were readily making Hawaii a dream spot, which isn’t hard to sell. “Gidget Goes Hawaiian” and Elvis’ first movie, “Blue Hawaii.” Then we got the surfers with the Del-Tones and the Beach Boys. Yes, pardon the bad pun, but we were “snowed” by these movies.

One 70s movie, “American Graffiti” does stand up today and introduced actors such as Richard Dreyfus, a grown up Ron Howard, and Harrison Ford. And who could forget Suzanne Somers in the white ‘56 T-Bird? Cindy Williams and others went on the keep TV sitcoms going . . . and yes, “Happy Days” with Ron Howard and Henry “the Fonz” Winkler.

“American Graffiti” was written and directed by George Lucas who has been innovating movies ever since with the Star Wars and Indian Jones movies . . . and BTW, he had one-third interest in Pixar Animation Studios. So I suppose there’s a very slender thread between Disney and the Mickey Mouse Club with Annette to George Lucas writing about the real thing in “American Graffiti” to changing the animation industry Disney pioneered to Pixar. Anyway, the thought line is about as deep as Texas Snow.

 Illustrated from the 3-21-2012 Fort Bend Independent

More novel events

A couple of weeks ago my column was about novel events happening during this Fort Bend winter bird season. This has really been a fun couple of weeks hearing about your novel events and learning how serious birders approach them. Texas is constantly competing with California for the most species of birds so birds not only draw local attention, but also have become a tourist opportunity—kind of like seeing the wildflowers in the spring Hill Country.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird photo by Margaret Sloan

We’re blessed in Fort Bend to be beneficiary of winter visitors as well as spring and fall migrants. This year we’ve been getting more new winter visitors and are having more species of hummingbirds actually winter here. Cornell’s Project Feeder Watch confirms this . . . more and more hummingbirds are becoming “winter Texans” and actually winter all along the southeast US. Those that once chose New Mexico, Arizona and West Texas may have come this way due to severe drought.

 Many of the hummingbird winter vagrants look like one another . . . so it’s easy to mistakenly indentify them. So Birder Margaret Sloan called the Hummingbird bander. She actually had five species of Hummingbirds at one feeder. She’s always has some Rufous and Ruby-throated winter in her garden. This year in addition to them, she had Allen’s, Broad-tailed and Black-chinned Hummingbirds at the same feeder.

Now I could get into all the differences and that male Allen’s resemble male Rufous or female Ruby throated resemble female Allen’s and Rufous. Then, male Broad-tailed resemble male Ruby-throats. If you’re confused, so are my notes. I now understand what keeps the Hummingbird bander busy! To see pictures of many of these Hummingbirds press the following link to Margaret's photo album and scroll down to Hummingbirds. Birds of Quail Valley by pressing this link.

The big story was the sighting a Flamingo at the number-four tee box on the El Dorado course in Quail Valley in late December.  Tony Estus thought his wife had mistakenly identified a Roseate Spoonbill for a Flamingo, but then the Flamingo flew over him at a closer distance than his wife’s sighting. While their coloring is the same, the bills are very different, the Rosette fly with their necks straight while the longer-legged Flamingos fly with a curved neck like herons and egrets. Correction: Falmingos also fly with a straight neck like a crane. It is much longer and colored, unlike the shorter (and white) Roseate Spoonbill's.

 

The Flamingoes shown above are likely Greater Flamingoes that are more orange to coral. The American Flamingoes are more pink. However, the bills, necks and legs and size are about the same. Contrast with the Roseate Spoonbill below.

 

Roseate Spoonbill photo by Margaret Sloan

I thought I saw a Flamingo in MacNaughton Park near Thunderbird Lake in late December, but it flew toward the El Dorado Golf Course before I could get a closer look and was flying with its back to me so I could not confirm the neck curved or straight in flight. I’m having a cataract removed in February, so my distance vision isn’t too good so I didn’t bother Margaret with it.

Seems she would have liked me to bother her.  The whole story of the serious birding community and Flamingoes is quite a saga of tracking two birds that are making their way along the Gulf Coast. One is an escapee from a zoo in Wichita, Kansas—a Greater Flamingo. The other is an American Flamingo that was banded as a young bird in Honduras. All Flamingoes in the US are considered escapees and even banded are very hard to track as they leave an area quickly. Late December is old news the third week of January. Press here to see more pictures and learn more about the Roseate Spoonbill.

As our tale shows, when they are seen by novice birders, we don’t think about what to do.  Well, write to me at janicescanlan@clear.net or Google Birds of Fort Bend to contact our website. If Margaret is in town, she’ll do her best to photograph the bird, especially a Flamingo.

Illustrated from Musings column in the 2/2/2012 Fort Bend Independent.

Novel Events

Many individuals love novel events happening in their lives, and birders and nature enthusiasts who pay attention to their gardens or seek out areas to stalk birds and watch nature love to talk about unusual visitors. We’ve all had our share this year due to the drought of unusual visitors to our gardens. Some more wanted than others.

I wish I had been swift enough to photograph one very unusual scene in my back garden this year. I would have called it either Professional Courtesy or Predator Courtesy. A black and white cat enjoys sitting and sleeping on our fence in the cover of some fig leaves. Having the bird feeders to watch is like kitty TV. However, this year he was sharing the fence with a medium Hawk, likely an immature Cooper’s Hawk.  They stayed about ten feet apart—again professional courtesy. What's missing in the photo above is the Black & white cat at the corner of the fence and about 10 feet to the right the Cooper's Hawk.

While I’ve never seen the cat catch a bird (really never stalk, mostly sleep then lazily watch), I can’t say the same for the Hawk. The Cornell All About Birds website says this behavior is fairly common in Cooper’s Hawks, which are year round birds here. They suggest, “if you put out seed for birds in your backyard, there’s a chance you’ll also attract the attention of a Cooper’s Hawk. While catching smaller birds is just doing what comes naturally for a Cooper’s Hawk, many of us would prefer not to share the responsibility for the deaths. If a Cooper’s Hawk takes up residence in your yard, you can take your feeders down for a few days and the hawk will move on.”  Actually I only had to shoo the Hawk, but I did not fill the feeders for a few days as well.

Since my back yard is not in an open space on Oyster Creek as is Birder and photographer Margaret Sloan’s, her variety of birds is much wider than mine. We both have had unusual visitors or just more than normal as well. Margaret has a less shady garden so is able to grow more food sources and has placed fruit trees like loquats along Oyster Creek as well. However, just the drought has brought Black-bellied Whistling Ducks to our garden for seeds and the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers are feeding from the feeders more than in the trees, just to name a couple. Margaret Sloa n's view of Oyster Creek fro m her back garden photo on right.

Sharon and Mark Wright have a paradise for nectar feeders in their back garden, especially in the summer with all their Plumerias as well as a Rangoon Creeper.  Last year Sharon said they had a Calliope Hummingbird visit (way off course to Western Mexico for the winter), but this year may even be more usual.  A female Anna Hummingbird. She and Margaret have Rufus Hummingbirds for much of the winter—and keep feeders filled for them.

Picture above on left is a Rangoon Creeper. The picture below is with some of Sharon and Mark Wright's beautiful Plumerias. Really an attraction for nectar loving birds and butterflies.

Margaret and I have both noticed more parakeets and escaped caged birds as well as have both had more calls about them. And more inquiries of “what’s this bird I just saw.” So everyone is having their share of novel events. The Harris's Sparrow is one novel event that is our featured bird this month. http://traction.typepad.com/birds

So tell us about your novel events . . .janicescanlan@clear.net

And speaking of novel events, the Texans did very well in the playoffs despite their challenges and inexperience in the play-off pressure cooker. They didn’t quit on us and comported themselves as you would hope professional players would.  Keep it up during the off-season! Thanks for the fun, Houston Texans. 

Illustrated from Musings column in the 1/18/2012 Fort Bend Independent.

Please click on photos to enlarge them.

More . . . . . . . .Hummingbirds and Flamingoes.

Margaret Sloan writes that since we talked, she's had the "hummingbird bander" come out. She actually had 5 different species coming to one feeder including: one she thought was Rufous as an Allen's female.  She had a Rufous, an Allen's, a Ruby-throated (also banded), a Black-chinned, and a probably a Broad-tailed.  The Allen's and the Broad-tailed were new birds for the yard.  

She thought she might have too many feeders, or possibly the hummingbirds aren't as needy.  The bander mentioned that when the weather is warm, hummingbirds spend a lot of time feeding on insects and not as much on feeders.

Flamingoes . . .

Tony Estus writes that in late December his wife thought she saw a Flamingo and basically he told her it must have been a Roseate Spoonbill. A few days later, Tony saw a bird take off from the pond on the left side of the Eldorado #4 tee boxes. He got a good look and then had to agree with his wife, that she was right and not crazy like he told her she was. Seeing is believing! Ironically I (Janice Scanlan) saw what I thought was a Flamingo at quite a distance in MacNaughton Park in late December, but I'm having eye surgery in February and my far vision is not very dependable . . . but the height and bill shape were just too like a Flamingo even at a distance. All About Birds does not include the Flamingo (American, Caribbean, or Greater). Where they exist (and there used to be a group on Red Fish Island in the Houston Ship Channel ten or fifteen years ago) they are considered to be escapees of the Greater Flamingoes. They seem to be fairly regular wading birds in the Florida Everglades, but still escapees. Since they need a brackish or salt water diet, they likely escaped from a zoo or a private collector. Moody Gardens has a fairly large collection as does the Houston Zoo.

Resolution time

Were you glad for 2011 to be over? On an unscientific CNN poll, 85% of respondents said “Good riddance to 2011.” Of course, 2012 is an election year so those 125,000+ people may want to think twice about that. After all, is there anything else that can be written, polled or shown about the Iowa caucus? I thought the best one was how those wily Iowans have learned to fleece the rest of the country—the news media and the political campaigns anyway to pour millions into their economy. Talk about jingle bells.

Looking back on the year there are several trends that are quite interesting. What they mean may depend on your viewpoint . . . but they’re interesting to consider.

The weather. This past year we had weather records that matched the 1936 Dust Bowl, doubled the 1974 record number of tornadoes, and exceeded the 1927 Mississippi River record flood heights. One year. Many climatologists believe that these extremes are like baseball players on steroids. The extra oomph from the heat in the atmosphere fuels the intensity of the weather patterns so you get records.

Most concerning is that drought, which was also great in Russia, increases food prices. That’s not good news to people living on fixed incomes or those living close to or on the edge.

So our next trend: suburban poverty and the stress on food pantries. I know Fort Bend pantries have had increased needs, but are those needs coming from the middle class? In Chicago the affluent suburbs of DuPage County west of Chicago, a Pew Research survey shows that poverty and numbers in poverty increased 50%. I plan to call the Fort Bend food pantries to see if more middle class in need is a trend they are seeing.  

Even with unemployment dropping somewhat, some say new jobs are not paying as well. Others say it depends which employment ladder you’re on. Does it matter? If someone has used up savings or is in the hole, digging out will take a lot longer or may not be possible if your job pays less. 

And 40 and 50 year olds, who have never saved, are starting to recognize what that means . . . and what they’ve missed in compound interest.  Some say, why didn’t “they” teach us about this? Having practical programs in schools does have an impact . . . making these lessons relevant is happening in some schools today. And that’s something that will have positive impact years from now.  

And it takes knowledgeable teachers and good curriculum to produce relevant school programs for life lessons. In Texas we are geared to raising property taxes to pay for buildings. I’ve never seen a building that could teach a student. And we still live under the assumption that we can pay less than the private sector and still attract high quality teachers.  We drastically need to beef up programs in science and math if America is to have those better job ladders. Lots of talk in Fort Bend in 2011 about science and math buildings versus teachers. Californians who brought us Proposition 13 are now saying, raise my taxes if it goes to the public schools.

How do these reported trends impact us in Fort Bend?  Some interesting musings for the 2012. The good news is we have a can do spirit in Fort Bend. Resolution time, folks.

Illustrated from Musings column in the 01/04/2012 Fort Bend Independent.

 

Bits 'n pieces

John and I took some time off for Thanksgiving and just kicked back. We went to Hermann Park for one “staycation day.” The Lake Plaza near the train station is not only beautiful and ties elements of the park together, it’s made the entry to the zoo much safer and attractive. It’s not a giant parking lot out front anymore, but a pedestrian plaza to enjoy Lake McGovern where you can watch the paddleboats, eat at the Pinewood Café, get a park train ticket or stroll over to the Zoo.

If you haven’t been to Hermann Park in the past couple of years, you will see how a plaza can really transform traffic and use of the park as well as enhance existing features such as the Mary Gibbs Jones and Jesse L. Jones Reflecting pool and the Japanese Garden. We had a tasty wrap and a Smoothie at the Pinewood Café while we enjoyed the lake and plaza. With new trails and bridges throughout the area, the park has more areas to explore and enjoy.  Maps are on the www.hermannpark.org website.

We rode the Metro Train from the Park n’ ride on Fannin, got off on Sunset and re-boarded at Hermann Hospital. This gave us a nice walk through the park and Zoo without the hassles of a car and a chance to look at all the building in the Medical Center (coming and going).  It’s a wholesome experience and you see families from all walks of life in all areas of Hermann Park.  

On the Missouri City front, Council voted unanimously to approve the Community Show & Sell Farmer’s Market for 6 months on the first and third Saturday of the month. This is a reasonable amount of time so that growth and new needs can be considered.  There seems to be a more deliberative approach to Council Meetings. Staff is certainly providing much better background materials for consideration as well as options, which likely improves the quality of the meeting. The Council actually listened to understand a consultant on HUD block grants and Fair Housing. Since this impacts us city-wide, appreciation for the ins and outs are a must if we are to benefit from these grants and requirements.

What did get controversial  was sidewalks. While the contention was made we spent more percentage wise on sidewalks than Sugar Land, Interim City Manager Alan Mueller pointed out that the figure included Sugar Land’s capital budget, not its general fund only. So, guess what, we spend the same percentage on sidewalks as Sugar Land. Where Missouri City’s difficulty may come, is all the years we spent not repairing or doing much building of sidewalks.  What the general fund can do is limited. A discussion of bond issues ensued. I would have liked to talk more about the merit of the objectives first and then start to look at funding options. Arguing about who should do what is somewhat meaningless if we haven’t agreed on what sidewalks do in connecting people to a city.

And that brings a welcome to our new City Manager Edward A. Broussard, who will assume the reigns in 2012. Broussard brings a strategic planning and working with citizens, council and staff to ensure we’re getting where we want to go. That process, done properly, holds everyone accountable for performance and measures how far we’ve gotten. It takes years to build anything worthwhile. A flexible plan helps you get there with more realistic expectations that better factor in various stakeholders.

Illustrated from Musings column in the 11/23/2011 Fort Bend Independent.

 

Rain Harvesting

Frankly, in the region we live, too much water had been the emphasis . . . and it’s always been feast or famine where water was concerned everywhere in Texas. Today, capturing run off pays dramatic results. More and more, particularly in the Texas Hill Country and west, central and the panhandle, all varieties of rain harvesting are being deployed. Permeable parking lots now capture rain below them. All capture reduces flooding. The photo above on the left, shows water level in Kiamesha Weir (near Crow Valley) several days after our second rain this fall. The water level is even with the bulk head. Please click on image to enlarge it.

What really piqued my interest was the recent storm water diversion into Thunderbird Lake, a lake on the El Dorado Golf Course. It had totally dried up. Truthfully, with the lake being dried and cracked, I was pleasantly surprised how much water our two recent rains captured. From the first rain much water was lost to being absorbed in the ground, but still left enough water it had not evaporated 2 weeks later during high temps. Our last rain really paid dividends compared with the first one as well as being a larger, more general rain. Thunderbird Lake pictured above on the right (behind homes on Lakeview Drive) only recently had a storm water diversion system constructed by the Quail Valley Municipal Utilities District). With two moderate rains, this lake that had totally dried and the ground cracked is now supporting water fowl again.

I especially wanted to compare Thunderbird with Kiamesha Weir, which has been a storm water diversion project years old. Kiamesha had gotten very low, but had never completely dried up. Just from our last moderate rain, I’m happy to report that Kiamesha Weir is now up to the wooden bulkheads and Thunderbird is half way up. Water fowl have replaced vultures at Thunderbird. On the left above, Thunderbird Lake has not reached the bulkhead, but has not had the benefit of storm water diversion until the last two rains as has Kiamesha Weir which was very low, but never totally dried because it has had storm water diversion.

My cousins in Menard capture run off from their roof for two tanks, 1000 and 1500 gallons respectively. In normal years they have plenty of water for their large vegetable garden all spring, summer and fall. It has been so dry in Menard; they have been carrying out bath water to water their foundation. Their tanks did provide until late August, but finally dried up from use and evaporation.

They don’t have a sophisticated system. In fact, my cousins and rain capture expert Billy Kniffen of Texas A&M laugh and refer to their system as the “white trash level.” Now don’t get all politically correct and write . . . it’s a joke.  Long story short, their 3 inch rain overflowed the 1000 gallon tank and filled the 1500 just from roof run off. They have installed two more 300 gallon tanks. Dan Feather of Menard, TX. waters his vegetable garden from a rain capture system. Even in this dry portion of Texas, his tanks normally supply enough rain spring through fall for a large vegetable garden. Due to extreme drought conditions in Texas, the tanks ran dry in August, but filled totally from a 3 inch. rain.

Many of these systems are quite invisible. In the urban and suburban areas with deed restrictions many capture systems lie below patios using aquablocks for harvesting and save enough water to run lawn and garden irrigation systems tied to them by pumps. And tax incentives do exist with up to 14 LEEDS points. But rain barrels work as well. You can rig up a trash can for as low as $12.00 for your own white trash system. Papershell in Richmond had a class and workshop on doing so in August. The Feathers' goats keep the brush "mowed." This area is fenced off from the vegetable garden. It shows the arid area surrounding the vegetable garden.

Billy Kniffen of A&M really walks the talk. He moved to an area where there is no city water and well water was not high quality. He completely runs his household including drinking and a greenhouse on harvesting rain runoff. His greenhouse captures roof water into an underground facility. Since water gains or loses temperature less quickly than air, this water storage helps moderate greenhouse temps. He uses grey water from baths and laundry for a drip irrigation system for outside cottage gardens. Read more about Billy's rain harvesting systems and his self-sufficient home.

With water bills now starting to reflect the value of water, these systems look a lot more viable even in our area.

Illustrated from Musings column in the 10/19/2011 Fort Bend Independent.

More .  .  .

For more technical information about Billy Kniffen's work, including costs, figuring capacity and needs as well as see some extremely interesting pictures, please press this link.

I first became interested in Rain Harvesting for urban and suburban areas from a talk Matt Boring provided for the Quail Valley Garden Club in 2009. If you would like to read more about how water features and rain harvesting might fit into a suburban landscape, press here.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally-recognized green building certification system. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in March 2000, LEED provides building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

LEED promotes sustainable building and development practices through a suite of rating systems read more 

Stories related to this column about lakes in Quail Valley and the City of Missouri City.

Progress on building the water diversion system. Missouri City partners with Quail Valley Municipal District and builds water diversion system (among other areas of progress).

The next two stories provide background of Missouri City buying and taking over the lakes on the Quail Valley subdivision. As of this date some residents on and near Thunderbird Lake are negotiating with Missouri City to dig a water well to supply additional fresh water to Thunderbird Lake at the resident's own expense.

Missouri City's responsibility for and response to lakes going dry. 

Background on Missouri City buying the Quail Valley Golf Club.