This week was a rather eventful week for me. This week we got to work the cows and I got the opportunity to palpate a cow to see if she was pregnant (which she was) I also got a chance to castrate a bull calf. I was also able to drive an automated tractor for the first time which was incredible and to top it all off we finally got some rain! Looking forward to the coming weeks!
Thanks and Gig ‘em,
Michael Escobar Fall Farm Intern
Week 21:
This past week, I have assisted the farm crew in working the cows of two of our herds. Working cows was a new experience for me, and I value my increased understanding of the process, the effort it requires, and the techniques needed to herd, cut, and otherwise move the cows around. For the southside cattle, a motley crew consisting of Dr. Tomeček on horseback, Bobby in a pickup, and myself on a 4-wheeler moved the cattle into the pens, and then for both herds, I pitched in on foot as everyone worked to cut the cows from the calves. My job beyond that point involved working with others to corral the cows in groups to a smaller holding pen, then into the lane that leads to the chute, where I kept them moving forward down the lane as each cow was encouraged into the chute to be identified, inoculated, dewormed, re-tagged as needed, and palpated, before being released back to pasture. I also observed and assisted in a similar process wrangling unweaned calves that were then returned back to the herd, leaving the calves heading to sale to be moved into the trailer.
The blue-winged teal (Anas discors) have finally begun arriving these past two weeks, and in response, I started formal waterfowl surveys this week, accompanied by the farm intern, Mike, who has significant experience duck hunting and has lent his expertise to tailoring our approach to each pond to avoid detection and maximize viewing opportunities, as well as assisting me in spotting and identifying any waterfowl present. Including incidental sightings and aside from the teal, I have also spotted a small group of northern shovelers (Anas clypeata), more than a handful of pied-billed grebes (Podilymbus podiceps), a multitude of American coots (Fulica americana), a couple flocks of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) and a single white-faced ibis (Plegadis chihi) on the wing, as well as a greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) and a Wilson’s snipe (Gallinago delicata) at water’s edge. Mike and I are very much looking forward to greater numbers and increased species diversity of waterfowl and shorebirds as the fall migration progresses, and I anticipate additional opportunities to document and photograph some of the more wary and cryptic species.
Dani Miller
Wildlife Biologist
Stiles Farm Foundation
Hey look! A burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) was spotted in fine fettle on the Stiles Farm Foundation yesterday, visiting the eastern edge of the species’ wintering range. This individual flew out of some track-and-field pole vault padding flipped over and left behind by a past tornado, which inadvertently provided artificial tunnels under the crosshatched layers of foam. These owls prefer to inhabit open grasslands and prairies and can usually be seen on the ground standing on their long legs or perched on low fence posts and similar structures. They are generalist predators of both invertebrates and small vertebrates, with prey ranging from grasshoppers, beetles, and dragonflies to lizards, snakes, frogs, small birds, rodents, and young rabbits.
While burrowing owls are not considered a threatened species across their range, their numbers have been dwindling in recent decades due to habitat loss from agricultural and urban development as well as the consequent hazards of pesticides, vehicle collisions, and predation by domesticated cats and dogs. The good news is that these birds do not require extensive swathes of grassland to subsist and can actually thrive within relatively small patches of suitable habitat, such as those developed through small-acreage native grassland restoration programs. We participate in both state and federal restoration programs here on the farm because these efforts can provide critical habitat for important prairie species, such as the burrowing owl, without compromising the long-term viability of agricultural operations that rely on cattle and crop production.
Weeks 19 & 20:
Last week, I posted a few more trail cameras in addition to the operations already established at the recurring survey points. I stationed the new cameras as practice for myself in locating game trails, setting the cameras and avoiding/removing triggering vegetation, and experimenting a little with camera placement and programming. Three of the cameras were also set to collect time lapse or “field scan” photos at ponds, to see if waterfowl can be identified at distance with that technique.
After collecting and reviewing the first set of photos from the additional cameras, I have determined that field scanning ponds is not likely to be effective as a secondary method of monitoring waterfowl, due in large part to low long-distance image quality. On both Reconyx and Bushnell cameras, egrets and herons are identifiable, but anything smaller is a vague silhouette that precludes species identification unless the light is absolutely perfect and the animal is actually near the camera. I did have better success experimenting with trigger camera heights and angles, with one camera set at around 8 feet high and angled down to cover a clearing. It regularly captured the entire animal in frame as the individual moved through the view field, and I will be trying that at other sites in future. I’ve included a few new images that showcase some of the better results of my efforts so far, including one of the first grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) on this survey, as well as a trio of raccoon kits (Procyon lotor) adding to our already robust population, confirmation of two beavers (Castor canadensis) at one site, and a great blue heron (Ardea herodias).
In other news, the monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) arrived en masse over the weekend, and I have been enjoying their presence around the farm these past few days. This past Tuesday, I spotted a common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), a species of warbler previously unseen on the farm. I also finally achieved my first decent, identifiable photo of a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), collected last Thursday. We have numerous great-horned owls on the property, but they usually spot me and fly off before I notice their perch or don’t let me get close enough for a photo if I do. This in
dividual was a confident fellow and just kept an eye on me as I circled closer, until finally deciding my presence was too off-putting to further endure, and silently glided off.
Until next time,
Dani Miller
Wildlife Biologist
Stiles Farm Foundation
The past few weeks have been very busy with everyone from working cattle and separating sick cows from the herd, to getting a new plow and adapting it to our needs, and I even got to go to a career fair on behalf of the farm! I am still very much enjoying life here on the farm and look forward to the coming months.
Michael Escobar
Weeks 17 & 18:
As an update on my camera trapping efforts, I checked the cameras one week after posting them to confirm they were functioning properly and to see if the game trails on which they were focused were receiving animal activity. After reviewing the photos, I reprogrammed the Bushnell cameras to medium/high sensitivity, rather than high, as they were picking up every twitch of grass in the background. The Reconyx at high sensitivity are more selective, and I left them as they were. I will check the Bushnells again later this week to assess the effectiveness of the slightly lowered sensitivity level. Two cameras also needed to be adjusted to tilt at a higher angle, more parallel to the ground, to capture the entire individual animal on camera, as the mesomammals at these locations were consistently moving across the viewing field slightly out of frame. I may also put out a few more cameras in new locations around the farm, in order to continue improving my camera trapping skills and discover what species are active in some of the areas we haven’t surveyed so far. As of the first check, the cameras this round have captured the usual suspects: raccoon, opossum, skunk, and coyote, as well as beaver, otter, and bobcat.
I recently created a PowerPoint that will be used to present the Partners for Fish and Wildlife project plan as an outdoor classroom to Thrall ISD personnel, and I look forward to sharing our designs for the project and receiving feedback from teachers and administration as we begin to take action in converting the site back to native prairie and building infrastructure for nature education purposes. I am also currently refreshing my WordPress knowledge in order to update Dr. Tomeček’s lab website and should be making progress with new content on the site very soon.
I’ve included a few of the better camera trap photos, one each of North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), North American beaver (Castor canadensis), and bobcat (Lynx rufus). Additionally, please enjoy these photos of an adult southern leopard frog (Rana [Lithobates] sphenocephalus) and large female Texas spiny lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus) that I came across while out and about. The latter I managed to capture using a homemade catchpole composed of a 4’x¼” dowel rod and fishing line.
Dani Miller
Wildlife Biologist
Stiles Farm Foundation
Weeks 15 & 16:
Pond surveys for waterfowl will begin soon, so I have been evaluating the various options on the property in order to select a subset of ponds that appear to provide the essential habitat conditions for waterfowl. I began the process by calculating the surface areas of each of our larger ponds using Google Earth and then measured depths by means of a kayak and a rope knotted by foot and weighted at one end, determining the maximum depth and estimating a rough average by halving the maximum. These two numbers allow me to then calculate volume, measured as acres-feet. I also looked for aquatic vegetation and determined species present.
Once the sample of ponds is established, I will begin monitoring each pond in person one morning per week and recording waterfowl species and numbers of each present. I also plan to post cameras in advance to collect time-lapse photos and will then compare the data from the two survey methods, both to test the effectiveness of the cameras as a waterfowl survey tool and hopefully, to maximize sampling accuracy. So far, I do not have any confirmed waterfowl sightings on the farm this season, but I look forward to observing the variety of migrating birds as fall approaches.
In wildlife encounters last week, a medium-sized Western rat snake (Pantherophis obsoletus) was retrieved from the inside wall of a well that was about to be capped; a juvenile yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea) was accomplishing the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel, specifically with crayfish, at one of our small ponds drying up; and a tersa sphinx moth (Xylophanes tersa) was holding onto my window against the windy conditions (which reneged on the promise of rain that day). I also collected an interesting insect from a pond while kayaking, originally thinking it was a rather confused walking stick. After doing a bit of research, I discovered that it is an aquatic insect of the genus Ranatra, in the family Nepidae, members of which are commonly called water scorpions, in part due to the rear appendage extending out from the lower abdomen that resembles a tail. This appendage is actually a set of hollow, siphoning tubes that the insect lifts out of the water in order to breathe. Unlike the arachnids after which they were named, water scorpions can’t sting you with their bum snorkel, but some species of Nepidae can supposedly deliver a painful bite, so handle with care if found. It is thought that mosquito larvae make up a significant portion of the Ranatra spp. diet, along with other aquatic invertebrates, so I am a new fan.
Until next time,
Dani Miller
Wildlife Biologist
Stiles Farm Foundation
Week 14:
Hunting season started off with a bang on September 1st (please pardon the obligatory pun), and I’ve since been busy collecting wings from the barrels in order to record harvest data. As of last Friday, we have documented over 175 doves harvested from the farm so far this season, so quite a bit of activity for the first week. Adult mourning doves have accounted for approximately 59% of birds harvested, with juvenile mourning doves making up another 24% and all white-winged doves and Eurasian collared doves coming in at 11% and 6%, respectively. I am interested to see if those percentages change over time as the season progresses.
Coverboard deployment was pushed back a week due to some adjustments I made to the lifts after constructing a test coverboard with the original lengths, which did not leave as wide an opening as I had envisioned. I spent some time last week shortening the lifts and trimming them at an angle in order to further encourage herps that might be moving along the outer e
dge to flow into the opening and under the board. I began distributing the boards on Monday and should finish setting everything up by tomorrow. The included photo shows the underside of the final design for the lifted coverboard.
Last week’s interesting wildlife sightings included a juvenile Western ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus) who had the misfortune to get caught in a glue trap inside a house (it was rescued and released), as well as a female Io moth (Automeris io) found resting on the office door one morning and a Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) enjoying her lunch of filleted dragonfly. Side note: If you find an animal in a glue or sticky trap that you wish to release, try spraying non-stick cooking spray on and around where it is stuck to the trap, avoiding the head as much as possible, before attempting to gently peel the animal off the trap. Liberal application of olive oil or a similar product can also help the process along, and will help remove the glue from your hands as well.
Dani Miller
Wildlife Biologist
Stiles Farm Foundation
