Friends of Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge

Short-eared Owl at Hagerman NWR

2012-01-26T04:32:00.000-08:00

The recent sighting of Short-eared Owls at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge has created quite a stir, with photographers and birders vying for a look at the rare visitors.

Jack Chiles checked the bird census reports for the Refuge, and found that this particular owl has not been sighted since 1991, but previous to that was seen every few years.

The following is a list of recorded sightings of Short-eared Owl on the refuge.

1971 - 2 were seen on 2/7, 1 on 2/27, 1 on 3/10 and 3/22.

1974 - 2-5 seen on 11/23 to 12/17

1979 - 1 on 11/30

1982 - 2 on 12/18

1983 - 1 on 1/28 and 2/10

1984 - 1 on 11/11

1986 - 1 on 5/29

1989 - 1 on 1/26 and 2/2

1991 - 1 on 11/10, 11/11, 11/14, 11/16, 11/19

And the current series of sightings starting with the sighting by Skeeter and Marolyn Lasuzzo on Thursday, January 12, 2012, at the marsh on Silliman Rd.

According to David Sibley (Sibley Guide to Birds, Knopf, 2000), the Short-eared is a medium sized owl and so aerial that it may be confused with the Northern Harrier and like the Harrier, is found in open expanses such as marshes and prairie, hunting rodents, often seen during daylight hours. The winter range covers most of the lower half of the U.S. as well as the upper West Coast. Welcome back to Hagerman!

Bird sightings at the Refuge are posted weekly on the Bird Data page, www.friendsofhagerman.com; visit the Friends Facebook page for photos and more sighting information.

Photo - Short-eared Owl, by Mike Chiles

Begin to Bird Class Offered at Hagerman NWR

2012-01-19T08:37:00.000-08:00

Would you like to learn more about the birds that are coming to your backyard feeder? Would you like to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count (http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/) this year, Feb. 17- 20? Maybe you are thinking of purchasing a bird field guide or a pair of binoculars. Or maybe you would like to be able to identify birds you see at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge will offer Begin to Bird, a free class for beginning birders, starting on Saturday, January 21, from 9:30 – Noon, and finishing on Saturday, January 28, again from 9:30 – Noon.

Led by long-time birder Dick Malnory, the class is recommended for adults and teens. Malnory will address features to look for in purchasing equipment such as field guides and binoculars, and show strategies for learning to identify a number of songbirds and waterfowl.

Participants will register at the door, on January 21; no advance registration necessary. The class will meet in the Multi-purpose Meeting Room in the Visitor Center at the Refuge, 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman 75092. You may contact Malnory through the Refuge, 903 786 2826, or through the Friends of Hagerman website (use “Contact”).

Photo - American Robin, by Bill Hurst

Coming Events at Refuge, Jan. 14-28, 2012

2012-01-12T05:16:00.000-08:00

Hagerman NWR - Coming Events, January 14 – 28, 3012

Second Saturday, January 14, 2012 - The Sparrows of Hagerman, 10 am, Meeting Room, Visitor Center.

Dr. Wayne Meyer will lead this presentation on the many kinds of true sparrows that migrate to Texomaland during the winter months.

Identification tips for birders of all levels of ability, including the importance of habitat, in recognizing different species.
Species can be grouped by habitat such as Grasslands or Trees and Brush, then by physical characteristics such as Zebra Head, Red Cap, Streaky Fronts with Stickpins and others.

Informal lecture at 10 am, followed by a short field trip on the Refuge, weather permitting. Those attending might want to bring field guides and binoculars, and dress for the weather.

PLUS

Second Saturday for Youth, January 14, 2012, 10 am – “Recyclerama”, Audio Visual Classroom, FOH Center

Mr. Can-head craft project! And - make some music - Toot a newspaper horn, or tap out a rhythm on a cereal box drum!
Games and activities to encourage recycling and re-use.

For ages 4 – 10 (parents must accompany ages 6 and under, thanks); short nature walk, weather permitting; bring coats, etc. Please call the Refuge to reserve a place for your child, 903 786 2826.

AND

FOH Nature Photo Club – 12:30 pm, January 14, 2012, Audio Visual Classroom, FOH Center

Program, “Physiology of Photography: Why We See Things the Way We Do”, by Dale Thoreson

Photo sharing – theme – “Winter”. Send photos in jpg format with your name in the file name to fohphotoclub@gmail.com ASAP!!
Club is open to all photographers interested in nature photography. Visitors welcome!

Bring a brownbag lunch and make it a day at the Refuge.

Still more...

Begin to Bird Class, Saturdays – January 21 AND 28, 9:30 am – Noon, Meeting Room, Visitor Center.

Learn how to choose and use field guides and optics
Learn strategies for identifying birds

Free class; register at the door January 21. Leader – Dick Malnory

Programs are sponsored by Hagerman NWR, 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, TX 75092, and the Friends of Hagerman. Open to the public free of charge; nominal dues for Photo Club, no charge for visitors to club meetings. No reservations needed except for youth program.

Photo: Harris' Sparrow, by Dick Malnory

"The Rut" at Hagerman NWR

2012-01-05T04:20:00.000-08:00

Hagerman Wildlife Refuge has beautiful White-tailed deer within its boundaries. Traveling the roads and trails within Hagerman hoping for a glimpse of one of the magnificent bucks is a common pastime of many visitors to the refuge. One of the best times to see White-tailed bucks in Hagerman is during "the rut". The rut is the time of year when deer breed. During the rut, the bucks move more often on a constant search for does with which to mate. This is also a time when the bucks have their attention focused on finding does and seem to lose a lot of their natural caution. For this reason, White-tailed hunting season runs during the rut. This is also a great time to photograph the bucks. Not only does one have a better chance of seeing a buck, but the bucks look magnificent during the rut.

So when is the rut at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge? According to a three year study done in 1995, the timing of "the rut" varies depending on where you are in Texas. In the Post Oak Savannah region of Texas, which is where Hagerman Wildlife Refuge resides, the rut begins as early as September 30th and extends to January 16th with the average breeding date being November 10th. The biologists' study found that the does had an average of 1.7 fetuses and that 95% of the females had been successfully bred. The biologists also found that 92% of the fawns were born by June 17th. Grayson County lies adjacent to the Cross Timber Region where the rut begins October 13th and last until around the 17th of December. These dates might actually be more accurate for Hagerman. This is the most recent data I have found. This same study also pointed out that over half the White-tailed deer have twins and that triplets were not common, somewhere around 2%. I observed a doe with triplets in Hagerman last year.

My wife and I will hike into the backcountry at Hagerman in an attempt to photograph White-tailed bucks. We will set up a blind along some obvious deer trails and wait for the deer to pass by. This technique usually results in some close up images of numerous bucks. After a morning in the blind, I decided to drive to the west side of Hagerman hoping to see some bucks moving across one of the roads. I stopped on the Big Mineral bridge to photograph a Great Blue Heron in the creek. I had spent about thirty minutes waiting for a Great Blue Heron to fly from its perch in the creek, hoping to get a flight shot. When I decided to give up and put my camera down, the heron flew over to the shore. I again picked up the camera, hoping the heron would fly back to its perch. As I was following the heron as it walked along the shore, it walked into the edge of the water just as a beautiful 11 point buck strolled into my camera's view. Since I had my eye fixed against the camera body, the appearance of the deer in my viewfinder was a pleasant surprise. As a wildlife photographer, one must always be prepared for the unexpected.

Written By: Skeeter & Marolyn Lasuzzo, Photo by Skeeter Lasuzzo

Statistical data from a study and article found on Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

ED Note: Wildlife and nature photographers are invited to the Friends of Hagerman Nature Photo Club which meets bimonthly at 12:30 pm, at the Refuge. The next meeting will be on January 14, 2012.

2011 Headlines & Highlights at Hagerman NWR

2011-12-29T06:30:00.000-08:00

As we approach the last days of 2011, it's time to look back on what has been a very good year at the Refuge.

Hagerman NWR turned 65 on Feb 9, 2011.

Rick Cantu named Grand Prize Winner in the 2010 USFWS Employee Photo Contest.

24 nest boxes adopted and three bluebird trails set up and monitored throughout the season.

New electric vehicle, the Bluebird Buggy, dedicated to monitoring Harris Creek Trail.

Kids Fishing event held March 19.

Friends participated in Texoma Earth Day, April 16.

Grayson-Collin Electric Coop provided poles and installed eight owl boxes at the Refuge.

Environmental Day, held May 6, for Pottsboro 4th graders.

Refuge staff began move to new building in late June.

New Friends of Hagerman NWR website online, July, 2011.

New signage added throughout Refuge.

Red River Valley Tourism Association met in new Visitor Center August 3.

First Second Saturday program held in new building, August 13.

Grand Opening, September 8, Deputy Director of Region 2, USFWS, Joy Nicholopoulos headlined event, Refuge Manager Kathy Whaley recognized Jay Noel as Refuge liaison for construction.

Super Second Saturday held September 10.

Native Plant Garden established by Grayson County Master Gardeners.

Nature Nook books and gifts opens along with new Visitor Center.

Youth program moves to Audio Visual Classroom; building dedicated to Friends use.

Refuge Manager Kathy Whaley was selected to attend USFWS Advance Refuge Management Academy.

October 8, winners of second annual Hagerman NWR Photo Contest announced; activity sponsored by FOH.

Photo safaris organized by FOH Nature Photo Club held April 30 and October 15.

Doug Raasch honored in October, with trail renamed Raasch Trail.

Elevation for Lake Texoma level low for the year – 609.78’. The lowest level ever recorded was 599.94’ on March 20, 1957.

Two life members for Friends of Hagerman NWR added in 2011: Carlos and Eulalia Araoz and Jetta Operating Company, Inc.

Pair of whooping cranes visited Refuge briefly on November 17.

High on the Hawg, BBQ Dinner series, held in conjunction with the three Archery Deer Hunt weekends at Refuge.

Species reported at the 2011 Christmas Bird Count: 119 species, representing the 5th highest count ever.

Wetlands restoration and management project completed by Refuge staff.

A big thank you to Kathy and Rick and the staff at Hagerman NWR, and to all who support and enjoy the Refuge. Happy New Year, from the Friends of Hagerman

Photo - Great Blue Heron, by Sandy Boltman

The Twelve Days of Winter at Hagerman NWR

2011-12-21T06:14:00.000-08:00

On the first day of winter, at Hagerman we see - a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the second day of winter, at Hagerman we see - two eagles soaring and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the third day of winter, at Hagerman we see - three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the fourth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the fifth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the sixth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the seventh day of winter, at Hagerman we see - seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the eighth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the ninth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - nine cameras clicking, eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the tenth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - ten pintails dabbling, nine cameras clicking, eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the eleventh day of winter, at Hagerman we see - eleven geese-a-browsing, ten pintails dabbling, nine cameras clicking, eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

On the twelfth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - twelve bluebird boxes, eleven geese-a-browsing, ten pintails dabbling, nine cameras clicking, eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in a tree.

For more information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, see http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/ and http://friendsofhagerman.com.

Audubon’s 112th Christmas Bird Count Is Model for “Crowd Science”

2011-12-15T05:40:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Bird Count at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge will take place on Saturday, December 17. To participate, contact the Friends of Hagerman. For the post this week we have a press release from the national Audubon Society about the annual event:

The longest running Citizen Science survey in the world, Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will take place from December 14, 2011 to January 5, 2012. Tens of thousands of volunteers throughout North America will brave winter weather to add a new layer to over a century of data.

“Audubon was a social network before the world ever heard the term,” notes David Yarnold, Audubon President & CEO. “Each December the buzz from our social network goes up a few decibels, as people with the knowledge and the passion for birds provide what no organization alone can.”

“It’s a globally recognized example of crowd-science,” says Gary Langham, Audubon’s Chief Scientist, who took his young daughter and wife on last year’s CBC. “Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count is also a tradition that does good things for families, communities, and the conservation movement.”

Scientists rely on the remarkable trend data of Audubon’s CBC to better understand how birds are faring in North America and beyond our borders. “Data from Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count are at the heart of hundreds peer-reviewed scientific studies,” adds Dr. Langham; “CBC data have informed the U. S. State of the Birds Report, issued by the Department of the Interior, and modeled after Audubon’s annual reports begun in 2004. For example, in 2009, CBC analyses revealed the dramatic impact Climate Change is already having on birds across the continent."

“Everyone who takes part in the Christmas Bird Count plays a critical role in helping us focus attention and conservation where it is most needed.” said Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count Director, Geoff LeBaron. “In addition to Audubon’s reports on the impacts of Climate Change on birds and our analysis of Common Birds in Decline, it is the foundation for Audubon’s WatchList, which most identified species in dire need of conservation help.”

The Audubon Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 when Frank Chapman, founder of Bird-Lore (which evolved into Audubon magazine) suggested an alternative to the “side hunt,” in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most game, including birds. Chapman proposed that people “hunt” birds only to count them. Chapman’s initiative was described by British actor John Cleese in this video clip from The Big Year.

Last year’s count shattered records. A total of 2,215 counts and 62,624 people tallied over 60 million birds. Counts took place in all 50 states, all Canadian provinces, plus 107 count circles in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. The first ever CBC tally was submitted from Haiti, where the count circle is located at Les Cayes, the birthplace of John James Audubon. In Colombia, the Audubon count is a crucially important monitoring system of biodiversity in the country. More about last year’s results here.

Audubon CBC data not only helps identify birds in most urgent need of conservation action; it reveals success stories. The Christmas Bird Count helped document the comeback of the previously endangered Bald Eagle, and significant increases in waterfowl populations, both the result of conservation efforts.

Counts are often family or community traditions that make for fascinating stories. Accuracy is assured by having new participants join an established group that includes at least one experienced birdwatcher. Count volunteers follow specified routes through a designated 15-mile (24-km) diameter circle or can arrange in advance to count the birds at home feeders inside the circle and submit the results to a designated compiler. All individual Christmas Bird Counts are conducted between December 14 and January 5 (inclusive) each season, with each individual count occupying a single calendar day.

The journal Nature issued an editorial citing CBC as a "model" for Citizen Science.

A New York Times opinion piece captured the pleasure and precision of counting: “The personal joy they experience from patiently spotting and jotting down each flitting fellow creature, exotic or not, is balanced by a strong pragmatic factor in the management of the census by the National Audubon Society.”

Photo of Geese at Hagerman NWR by Robert Cummings

Geese at Hagerman NWR

2011-12-01T03:52:00.000-08:00

Geese and ducks are now at the Refuge in huge numbers, so we decided to re-print this article by Helen Petre that originally appeared in the Featherless Flyer, November, 2009, edition.

Great flocks of waterfowl arrive at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge every fall from the Central Fly-way to find food, shelter and protection for the winter. Waterfowl are the Order Anderiformes, Family Anatidae. Geese are the Subfamily Anserinae. Geese are heavier and have longer necks than ducks. Their short legs are farther forward than those of ducks; an adaptation for more efficient grazing since they are terrestrial feeders. Geese have broad, round tipped bills and feed on grains, seeds, aquatic plants and young grasses. They thrive in the grain fields over the winter at Hagerman. The geese migration is best known for the large number of birds migrating and for the loud, noisy communities that spend the winter here.

Male and female geese look identical. They fly with deep, powerful wing beats. In November at Hagerman, listen for the noisy birds migrating and look for the V formations and long undulating lines.

Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) are the most widespread geese in North America with a black head and neck, white breast and chin strap and characteristic honk, bark or cackle. Historically, Hagerman has had more Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens) than Canada Geese , but both species spend the entire winter on the Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma, arriving in late fall and staying until March. Hagerman also has some Greater White Fronted Geese (Anser albifrons), a fairly common brownish goose with a white face and orange legs. Some 10,000 geese winter on the refuge feeding on grain and aquatic plants. Rested and refueled, they return north along the Central Fly-way to nest in the Arctic again next summer.

It is the Snow Geese that are the most abundant Hagerman winter residents. Snow Geese are smaller than Canada Geese and migrate in to Hagerman in great numbers along with smaller Ross’s Geese (Chen rossii), the rarest goose in North America. Snow Geese are white with black wing tips and have a heavier bill than Ross’s Geese. Ross’s Geese look like miniature Snow Geese. Look for the smaller birds which lack dark streaks on the bill.

Snow and Canada Geese are common in Oklahoma at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge, but Ross’s Geese are uncommon north of Texas. Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge seems to be the place to go for the winter for Ross’s Geese. They are becoming increasing more common winter residents and mix well with Snow Geese.

Hagerman provides food, rest and shelter for the migrating geese that now depend on the 400 acres of planted wheat for energy to keep warm and build up reserves for the return trip north. Providing food also keeps the birds from foraging in farmer’s fields. Historically, waste grain from agricultural fields was the primary food source for migratory geese, but more efficient harvesting leaves less food available in the field. Without Hagerman management, there would not be enough food energy to sustain the numbers of geese over wintering here in north Texas.

Editor's Note: Second Saturday, December 10, will feature programs on the winter waterfowl at the Refuge. There will be a talk by Dr.Wayne Meyer at 10 am, followed by a field trip along Wildlife Drive aboard TAPS buses, with a guide on each bus. The youth program will also take a tour to see the geese; reservations required for the youth program, call the Refuge, 903 786 2826. Programs are free and open to public, sponsored by the Refuge and the Friends of Hagerman.

"THE GRAY GHOST" AT HAGERMAN

2011-11-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

"The Gray Ghost" is a term used to describe a male Northern Harrier. Relatively few adult males are seen and photographed. They seem to just appear out of nowhere and for this reason, mature males have long been referred to as “The Gray Ghosts”. The adult male is gray on its head, wings, and back with a gray tail banded with a number of darker gray bars. The male has white underparts, black wingtips, and a brilliant yellow eye. The Northern Harrier is one of the few raptors where the plumage of the male and female is very different. Since juvenile Northern Harriers resemble the adult female in plumage color, there appears to be more female harriers than males. Female and immature Northern Harriers are primarily brown overall with a lighter breast with dark streaks. Both the male and female have a very diagnostic white patch at the base of their tail. The Northern Harrier has a wingspan of 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 feet, with the female being quite a bit larger than the male.

Harriers are considered one of the most acrobatic raptors. They can be seen "hunting on the wing" flying low and slow over the fields as they hunt. When hunting, harriers use their hearing more than other hawks, with the help of their owl-like facial disks. Their prey consists of small mammals, reptiles, insects, and birds. While harriers fly calmly over a field, they will dramatically alter their direction and plunge onto their prey.

Northern Harriers nest on the ground in piles of sticks and leaves. A male harrier will mate with multiple females and can be seen flying a series of barrel rolls during their courtship display.

There are numerous Northern Harriers at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge right now. Mostly females and juveniles, but we have seen males on a few occasions. Getting close enough to a Northern Harrier to get a good photo is difficult. Trying to chase or follow them with a vehicle usually does not result in a close image. Studying a harrier's flight habits and patterns over a few days can give the photographer an idea of where to park and wait for the harrier to come to them. Harriers tend to fly regular routes along ditches, hedgerows, fencelines and road margins. I have had some luck using this technique resulting in a number of flight and portrait images of both the female and male Northern Harrier.

Written by: Skeeter & Marolyn Lasuzzo

Photography by: Skeeter Lasuzzo

For more raptor photos see the Friends of Hagerman Gallery and Friends of Hagerman Facebook Page.

Turkey Facts from NWTF

2011-11-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

The Friends of Hagerman recently held a program for children at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, “Talking Turkey” with classroom materials provided by the National Wild Turkey Federation.

By sitting in with the youngsters, Blogger learned that:

Benjamin Franklin nominated the turkey to be the national bird for the United States of America.

President Abraham Lincoln started the tradition of a White House pardon for a turkey on Thanksgiving – the impetus? His son Tad made friends with the turkey that was to be on the Thanksgiving menu (later named Jack!)

There are five subspecies of the wild turkey: Eastern, Osceola, Rio Grande, Merriam’s and Gould’s. The wild turkeys at Hagerman NWR are Rio Grande. The domestic turkey we are familiar with is descended from a subspecies that is now extinct.

An adult female turkey is called a hen. Hens generally weigh between 8 and 11 pounds. Female turkeys less than one year old are called a jenny. Like many other birds, the females’ feathers are more subdued in color than the males’, allowing them to better blend in with their surroundings.

An adult male turkey is called a gobbler. The name comes from the sound they make in spring, to attract the hens during the mating season. Gobblers weigh about 21 pounds, but the birds’ weight varies by region of their habitat. A male under one year in age is called a jake. Hatchlings of both genders are called poults.

Young turkeys favor insects for their diet. As they mature, mast such as acorns, pecans and berries, along with various seeds and grains, becomes the primary diet for the wild turkey.

Wild turkeys can run or fly. They can run up to 19 mph for short distances. They usually fly only short distances but can fly up to 55 mph. They prefer the borders between woodlands and field…low cover for nesting, trees for roosting and for their food source.

Wild turkeys are not migratory and often live out their life span within five miles of their hatching site.

Unregulated hunting had nearly pushed the wild turkey to extinction by the 1930’s. Then hunters stepped in to support conservation and restoration, and now thanks to individuals, to legislation and to organizations like the National Wild Turkey Federation, more than seven million wild turkeys roam America’s woodlands.

Happy Turkey Day!

Photo by Dick Malnory

The Colors of Autumn at Hagerman NWR

2011-11-16T15:41:00.000-08:00

By Helen Petre

Every autumn, usually in November, nature puts on a brilliant show of color at Hagerman NWR. This is attributed to mild autumn days coupled with cold, but not freezing nights. Each autumn the amount of sunlight decreases as the days grow shorter. This is the signal for the leaves to stop making chlorophyll. When the leaves stop making chlorophyll, the other pigments become visible.

Leaves produce food by photosynthesis. They use the sun’s energy, water and carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrates. Leaves produce carbohydrates for the tree or shrub all during the spring and summer. They do this so well, that by autumn, the tree or shrub has enough food stored in the trunk and roots that it can live through the whole long winter without making any more food.

The sun’s light is actually white light and consists of all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Most leaves have lots of chlorophyll and some carotenoids. Some leaves also have anthocyanin, tannin and flavones. Chlorophyll absorbs all of the colors of light in sunlight except green. Green light is reflected, so a leaf that has mostly chlorophyll looks green.

Carotenoids are carotene and xanthophylls. Carotenes are similar to vitamin A and they look orange, like pumpkins, carrots and sweet potatoes. Xanthophylls are the pigment in sunflowers, dandelions, corn and egg yolks.

Some leaves also have anthocyanin, which can be red or blue. If the plant is acidic, the color is red. If the plant is basic, the color is blue. Tannins are the brown color in tea, bark and blackjack oak leaves in the fall. Flavones are the yellow in horse chestnut and onions.

Autumn leaf color is due to newly made red pigments as well as yellow and orange carotenoids that were already present in the leaf and are rendered visible because the leaf is no longer making the dark green chlorophyll in autumn. . Each species of deciduous tree and shrub has its own unique colors. Red oak and winged shining sumac leaves turn bright shades of red in autumn. This is because as the amount of sunlight decreases, a layer of cells develops at the point where the leaf joins the stem. This blocks carbohydrates from moving out of the leaf and the increased amount of carbohydrate is used to make anthocyanin, the red color. Female shining sumac trees also produce red fruits that stay on the tree until frost. Anthocyanin production is inhibited by frost, so when it freezes the leaves can no longer make the red pigment and they turn brown from tannin. If the day time temperatures are too warm, the colors will be less intense because the chlorophyll will still be masking the other colors.

Besides trees, poison ivy abounds at Hagerman NWR and it is one of the most beautiful plants in the fall. Be careful not to touch it. Many people mistake poison ivy for harmless foliage and gather it to use in decorations. The red, yellow and orange color is due to the anthocyanins.

Honey Locust trees at Hagerman turn yellow in autumn. They have no anthocyanin, but lots of carotenoids. Other fall plants at Hagerman that turn yellow are: pecan, muscadine grapes, black walnuts and cottonwood. Sycamores turn brownish yellow. Wild plums turn reddish yellow and rough leafed dogwoods turn purplish red. Persimmon turns yellow, orange and reddish purple.

When you come to Hagerman in the fall to view the migrating ducks and geese that come to feed in the fields and marshes for the winter, spend some time noticing the vibrant and beautiful colors of fall. The yellows and oranges were there all along, but they were not visible because of all the green of summer. Now is your chance. Enjoy.

(Photo by Laurie Sheppard)

For more photos of the Refuge as well as information on activities and events of the Friends of Hagerman, see www.friendsofhagerman.com.

At the Refuge - Week of November 6 – 12, 2011

2011-11-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

Beginning this week, all visitors to the Refuge Office, Visitor Center and FOH Center (Audio Visual Classroom, etc.) at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge will enter via the main gateway. The road leading to the FOH Center and maintenance area is being gated off. To reach the FOH Center, just follow the road from the Visitor Center parking on through the maintenance area.

On November 11, Veterans Day, the Refuge Office will be closed and there will be no official business conducted. The Visitor Center and Nature Nook will be open from 10 am – 3 pm that day.

Hagerman NWR and the Friends of Hagerman will offer several programs at the Refuge on Second Saturday, November 12.

Activities will begin with a guided nature walk, led by Dr. Jason Luscier, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Austin College. Participants will note that recent rains have greened up the Refuge, just as of this week there is a little autumn color and the fall migration is still underway. Walkers will meet at 8 am at the Visitor Center and should dress for the weather. Bring your binoculars and field guides or use our loaners. The walk will end in time for the 10 am programs, and will be cancelled in case of rain.

From 9 – 10 am complimentary coffee will be served in the FOH Center.

At 10 am, Ross Anderson will speak on Tree Swallow Reproductive Success and Site Fidelity at Red Slough Wildlife Management Area, Oklahoma, in the meeting room of the Visitor Center. Tree Swallows are a nearctic-nearctic migrant and their range has expanded southward in the last three decades. This swallow is a cavity nester and readily accepted nest boxes placed at Red Slough Wildlife Management Area (WMA). At Red Slough WMA a network of nest boxes was established and the occupying swallows were monitored. Over two field seasons, Anderson banded 346 Tree Swallows and recaptured 40% of the adults and 5% of the previous year’s nestlings.

Anderson is a graduate student from Southeastern Oklahoma State University under the guidance of Dr. Doug Wood. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Conservation at SOSU and has completed the coursework for a Masters in Conservation at Southeastern. He is working on completing his thesis. Anderson currently resides in Tushka, Oklahoma, where he owns an archery shop.

Also at 10 am, the Second Saturday for Youth topic will be “Talking Turkey”, with Katie Palmer. This program is full, for Nov. 12, thanks.

The Friends Nature Photo Club will also meet in the Visitor Center on Nov. 12. A photo presentation from the October photo safari will be shown from noon until 12:30 pm, and then the meeting will begin. For details on sharing photos for the meeting, please contact fohphotoclub@gmail.com.

All of these activities are free of charge and open to the public. Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, Texas, 75092. Visitors may enjoy outdoor activities at the Refuge from sunrise until sunset daily, with no admission charge.

New at the Nature Nook

2011-11-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

The Nature Nook at Hagerman will soon offer a product direct from the Refuge! Hiking and walking sticks hand-crafted by William H. Powell, from fallen wood found at Hagerman. The blogger had a peek at these on Monday, made from woods like cedar and winged elm.

Bill Powell and his wife Carol are workampers at the Refuge and have a strong connection with Hagerman NWR; since Bill’s retirement, they have given up their home in Pennsylvania and served as workkampers at eight national wildlife refuges across the U.S., spending several months during each of the last two years here at Hagerman in that capacity. A retired cemetery superintendent, Bill is certified to operate maintenance and other equipment at the Refuge, while Carol uses her office skills. In addition Bill was Photographer of the Month for the Friends in February of this year and placed in the recent annual Hagerman NWR photo contest.

The Nature Nook also offers wood carvings by Dick Malnory, matted nature photos by Donna Niemann, and framed photos by Mary Karam. In addition Laurie Lawler’s laminated bookmarks, featuring photos taken at the Refuge, and nature notecards by Sue and Dick Malnory can be found in the gift and book shop.

The Nature Nook is open from 9 am - 4 pm Monday through Saturday and 1 - 5 pm on Sundays. New merchandise is arriving for fall and the holidays. This week packets of Bluebonnet and of Mixed Texas Wildflower seeds arrived, just in time for fall planting. Volunteers staff the operation and are glad to help you choose just the right nature gift from among T-shirts, caps, field guides and more. Most credit cards are accepted, too.

Click to learn more about Hagerman NWR and the Friends of Hagerman.

Photo of Bill Powell taken by Dick Malnory.

Halloween Fun at the Refuge

2011-10-27T04:02:00.000-07:00

Families can find some “naturally” enjoyable ways to get into Halloween mode at Hagerman NWR. Take a walk along one of the five trails at the Refuge and look for something creepy like a spider web or a tree “skeleton”. You can pick up a printed trail guide at the Visitor Center or download one from the Friends website.

Wait – hush! What was that rustling sound? Was it the wind in the dry grass or did a ghost just brush by? Maybe if you’re lucky you might even spot that Halloween icon, an owl, or hear one hooting.

Other good “I spy” objects are – hollow tree, “faces” in the burl of a tree, animal tracks, leaf skeletons, crows, vultures, worms and beetles. On the way to the Refuge, look through your bird field guide for the birds wearing “masks”!

You can view the “ghost” town of Hagerman that was cleared away when Lake Texoma was built – with the lake level so low, the area where much of the town stood, although normally under water, is currently dry land.

If the Halloween fun begins to pall, you might want to move into “harvest” mode. At the Refuge, berry, nut, and mushroom picking are allowed without a permit, for personal use only, 5 gallons per person per day. Firewood cutting (from fallen trees) is allowed, with a Special Use Permit, obtainable at the Refuge Office during weekday business hours (7:30 – 4 pm, Monday – Friday).

One last thing - your car will turn into a pumpkin at sunset, if you are not on your way out of the Refuge! Visit the Refuge website and www.friendsofhagerman.com for more information.

Photo by Donna Niemann

High on the Hawg is Back!

2011-10-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

You can do your part to alleviate the wild hog problem at the Refuge!

Attend HIGH on the HAWG for 2011 !!

FUNdraiser event, Back for the second year

The Refuge staff will prepare delicious barbecue and the Friends will supply all the trimmings.

Not only can you help out, you will have three opportunities to do so!

Barbecue will be served from 5:30 – 8 pm on three Saturdays:

November 5, November 19 and December 3.

The Audio Visual Classroom at the Refuge will be transformed into the

"Friends of Hagerman Cafe"

Your waiters will be the Friends board of directors, with the aid of additional volunteers.

On the menu: BBQ pork, potato salad, beans, coleslaw, bread, pickles, onions, &

HOMEBAKED PIE or COBBLER! Plus iced tea or coffee.

All this good food, great service, and fun can be yours for only

$10 per person, and $5 for children aged 12 and under.

No reservations needed, just show up and purchase tickets at the door.

See you there!

For more information about Friends activities, see www.friendsofhagerman.com

Good Old Days

2011-10-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

October is the “Fair” season in N. Texas, when folks gather to enjoy fairs and festivals - today’s post features an excerpt from a “History of Hagerman” written by Annette Morrison Catts, whose family lived there, and generously shared with the Friends of Hagerman NWR:

The town of Hagerman developed several fun traditions which helped its citizens bond in friendship. For one thing, the Merchants Association of Hagerman stimulated their already good business by sponsoring Trades Days. Show windows were given a special shine, and the best merchandise was displayed. A big rodeo was usually the principle feature with local boys roping and riding for prizes offered by the merchants. Also, the Woodman Hall on the second floor of the Bean Brothers General Store was the scene of community gatherings, box suppers, beauty contests, dances and programs. Another big event was Election Day, which was always a red-letter day because the people on the route always came to spend the day, shop and visit with “the folks in town.” The post office and train depot were places for daily visits as well.

It was also exciting when before the 20’s the first automobile came to town. Two gas stations sprung up in response, Otto Dutton’s and Ma & Pa Black’s, which became Moore’s Service Station. Otto also had an Auto Parts and Repair shop. But people had to learn to drive their new horseless carriages. Someone accidentally ran into the vertical pipe that made the Artesian Well flow high enough to drink from and fill a bucket. They broke it off at the ground! That pipe was never replaced. The Artesian Well had been the focal point for many community picnics on the grounds of the Cotton Gin. It makes you wonder how TV and computers could have improved on that! Former residents were coming back for water until about 2005 when it quit flowing.

And, just as the headlines report crimes and wildfires today, Morrison continues:

There were other less pleasant sources of excitement, too. In 1917 bank robbers cut all the phone lines, dynamited the bank and shot up the Hunt Smith home, escaping with $3,000. And in 1926 and 1938 there were fires which destroyed several businesses. But since there was no fire department, the men just had to use a bucket brigade system to put out the fires. Tom Smith died of a heart attack after pumping water from the well and carrying a bucket to fight the last raging fire, when he was 74.

Photo: Main Street, Hagerman, Texas, circa 1910 (from Refuge files).

You can learn more about the town of Hagerman in the new exhibits at Hagerman NWR, and ironically, with the lake level so low, you can now walk about in the area where much of the town was located before Lake Texoma was filled.

National Wildlife Refuge Week at Hagerman

2011-10-06T05:06:00.000-07:00

National Wildlife Refuge Week begins October 9, and with the majority of the visitors at Hagerman coming on the weekend, the Friends will start the celebration one day early, on Second Saturday, October 8. "Prairie Grasses and Fall Wildflowers" will be the topic with Dr. Connie Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Biology, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, as the speaker. Dr. Taylor’s program will begin at 10 am in the Multi-purpose Room of the new Visitor Center at the Refuge.

The Refuge and the Friends are so fortunate to have speakers and program leaders who are experts in their field and Connie Taylor is no exception! Dr. Taylor earned her PhD at the University of Oklahoma, where her major was in Plant Ecology and Plant Taxonomy. Known for her research on Goldenrods and native and introduced plants and their distribution in Oklahoma, she and her late husband, Dr. John Taylor, collected and reported new to Oklahoma over 150 species of plants. Dr. Taylor taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University for 28 years, offering 17 different courses. She authored a catalogue of all vascular plants growing in Oklahoma and Keys to the Asteraceae of Oklahoma. Currently she is working with the Flora of Oklahoma Group on Keys to the Flora of Oklahoma.

Dr. Taylor plans to take the group outdoors for part of her presentation, weather permitting.

Also on the calendar for October 8, early-birds can meet at 8 am at the FOH Center at the Refuge for a nature walk, led by Dr. Wayne Meyer, weather permitting. The walk will conclude in time for Dr. Taylor’s presentation.

There will be Coffee with Friends from 9 – 10 am in the FOH Center, with complimentary coffee available.

At 9:30 am, in the Multi-purpose Room of the Visitor Center, winners of the 2011 Hagerman NWR Photo Contest will be announced and awards presented.

At 10 am, just prior to Dr. Taylor’s program, a special presentation in honor of a long-time volunteer will be made by the Friends of Hagerman.

Also planned for National Wildlife Refuge Week:

Monday, October 10, is a federal holiday, Columbus Day, and although the Refuge Office will be closed for official business, the Visitor Center will be open to the public from 10 am – 3 pm.

The Fall Photo Safari will be held on Saturday, October 15. To register (advance registration please!!), send your name, contact information, camera make/model, and experience level to fohphotoclub@gmail.com.

The Refuge is open daily from sunrise to sunset, free of charge. This week will be a great time to visit Hagerman, to walk, bird, picnic, bicycle, take pictures, do the auto tour, see the new Visitor Center or just enjoy the outdoors and some glorious October days.

These programs, sponsored by Hagerman NWR and the Friends of Hagerman, are free and open to the public. The Refuge is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, TX, 75092. For more information, call the Refuge, 903 786 2826, or see friendsofhagerman.com.

Effects of Drought at Refuge

2011-09-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Photo: Harris Creek bed, looking north from Wildlife Drive at the bridge.

Visitors who have not been to the Refuge recently will be amazed at the changes in the landscape brought about by the drought. We contacted Refuge Manager Kathy Whaley, Dr. Wayne Meyer, and Dr. George Diggs, while doing research for a presentation on the impact of the drought on Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. Here is what we learned.

Whaley told us, "If you walk or drive through Hagerman NWR, it is easy to see that the Texas drought has not bypassed the Refuge. Wetlands are dry. the lake is at a 32-year low. Hiking trails are full of cracks in the soil - some more than two feet deep. Shorebirds passing through this fall will find mudflats, but they will be much farther out than normal, making the birds very difficult to see."

She continued, " The ditch we normally pump water from to fill some impoundments is dry. The Refuge staff is working hard to install the water pipeline from Big Mineral Creek to all water to be pumped into the wetlands along Wildlife Drive, but it is a slow, time-consuming process."

"So far," Whaley reported, "staff has rescued two wading birds and one deer that were stuck in the mud. One of the birds, a Snowy Egret, actually had a turtle hanging onto its right leg. Assistant Refuge Manager Rick Cantu found this out while working to free the bird when he grabbed the turtle that was buried in the mud, trying to free the bird. The good news is that Rick still has all his fingers and we saw both legs and two feet as the Egret flew away. The only loser of the day was the turtle."

Whaley said that the lake level is dropping by as much as one inch per day. Ponds, if not already dry, are also getting drier and wildlife are having to travel to the lakeshore to get water. Feral hogs are creating wallows in creek beds where a few pockets of mud remain. Raccoon, bobcat, coyote, and deer tracks are visible along many areas that have not yet been covered by growing grasses and weeds. Plants are suffering - many trees and shrubs are turning brown and only time will tell if they have simply gone dormant or are dying. Numerous grasses and wildflowers are now dormant also, leaving many shades of tans, grays, and browns throughout the Refuge.

Whaley added, "Rain will come again - but when is anyone's guess. There is no doubt that the lack of precipitation will have a negative impact on some species and their numbers will decline. But native wildlife have evolved to withstand drought, and for the most part, they will survive. With any luck, non-native species such as the feral hog will also be impacted and perhaps reproduce in fewer numbers."

Dr. Wayne Meyer, Associate Professor of Biology at Austin College, added, "Drought has certainly affected the food supply and several summer breeding birds stopped early this year. The lake still provides drinking water for most species, so the real crunch as been the loss of seed crops and fruits, plus the insects that would have been feeding on green plants. Since the drought is not terribly widespread (I know, Texans want everything to be big, but east of north of us there has been excess rain), migratory animals like birds and insects will probably not be too badly affected. I expect their numbers to be near normal next year."

Like Whaley, Meyer says, "I'd like to think that the feral hogs will decline a bit, but I'm not holding my breath. Deer have been more visible lately, presumably because they are having to come to the lake or ponds that still hold water to drink every day. I don't know how their food supply has been affected but I should think they would be able to find sufficient browse around the the water sources. There may be a bigger dip in their numbers just because there is less food scattered across the drier parts of the Refuge.

Meyer added, "By the way, we are expecting a bumper crop of waterfowl this year; the prairie potholes got lots of rain and duck and goose reproduction was high. The question will be whether they will be able to find enough forage to make it through the winter. If Lake Texoma rises over the next few months to inundate all the dry ponds that are now full of smartweed, it will be a fabulous year for waterfowl - but if the lake level does not go back up, the waterfowl will probably have to go elsewhere by the end of December, much as they did last winter."

The third person we contacted, Dr. George Diggs, Professor of Biology at Austin College, pointed out that droughts occur with some frequency on the long term-scale, referring to the Dust Bowl ear and the bad drought of the 1950's. "Plants in this area therefore must have adapted for such occurrences. This adaptation does not rule out tree death or even the elimination of some species from certain areas or a dramatic decrease in animal populations."

Diggs continued, "When this ecosystem was intact ( a couple of hundred years ago) such occurrences would probably not have had significant long-term consequences because the ecosystem had enough resilience to recover over time. However, now, with so little native vegetation left and much of the best habitat converted to a variety of uses by humans, drought damage to the small remnants of native vegetation may have more serious consequences. Most of the habitat at the Refuge is so modified by natural conditions that I simply don't know what effect the drought will have."

On September 18, the elevation for Lake Texoma was 609.95'. Lake level information is available at http://www.swt-wc.usace.army.mil/DENI.lakepage.html.

For Refuge information see the official website, and for information on the Friends, see friendsofhagerman.com.

Photo by Dick Malnory

Curlycup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa)

2011-09-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

By Nancy Miller

Despite the heat and the drought we have experienced this summer, the Curlycup Gumweed is in full bloom at the refuge right now. Lucky for us, it favors dry soil. It can be found mainly on the end of many pads, and along the Auto Tour route.

This is one of my favorite flowers. It starts growing in the Spring, blooming late June to early September; however, it seems to bloom in the later months at the refuge. I have seen a few that bloomed earlier along some of the back roads. I have been watching them for several weeks, waiting for the bright yellow blooms to appear. They finally came in full bloom about two weeks ago.

I check out all the wildflowers at the refuge, but this is my favorite, attracting all kinds of cool looking insects as well as the beautiful butterflies. They seem to come at the right time for the butterflies that are starting to migrate to stop and enjoy. I’m hoping to catch a few more butterflies on them since butterflies seemed to be a little scarce this year.

The Curlycup Gumweed is a member of the Aster family. Curlycup Gumweed is unpalatable to cattle, sheep, and horses. Tannins, volatile oils, resins, bitter alkaloids and glucosides give it an unpleasant taste. The fresh or dried leaves of gumweed can be used to make an aromatic bitter tasting tea. The plant was used by the native North American Indians to treat bronchial problems and skin afflictions such as reactions to poison ivy. It is used in modern herbalism for treatment for bronchial asthma. The plant merits investigation as a treatment for asthma.

The dried leaves and flowering tops are anti-asthmatic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, expectorant and sedative. Externally, the plant is used as a poultice to treat burns, poison ivy, dermatitis, eczema and skin eruptions. In early times, the Spanish New Mexicans would drink an extract made from the flower buds and boiling water for kidney problems. The sticky sap was chewed as gum. Leafless stems would be used as brooms.

References:

http://montana.plant-life.org/species/grindelia_squarro.htm

Photo by Nancy Miller

For more information about what to see and do at Hagerman NWR, see the official Refuge website, and the Friends website.

Choosing, Using Bird Field Guides

2011-09-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

By Dick Malnory

There are hundreds of field guides to birds on the market. So – how to select the right one for yourself? Here are some points to consider:

· Choose a guide that covers the geographic region where you plan to bird. There are versions available for Eastern and Western U.S., individual states or regions, as well as for other parts of the world.

· Portability – for true field use, choose a version that easily fits into a pocket or bag to carry in the field.

· Illustrations – some field guides have photos of the birds, others use paintings. With modern photo editing technology, photographs may represent a bird most faithfully; however, paintings offer the ability to highlight field marks, so this decision becomes a matter of personal choice.

· Choose a field guide that includes bird descriptions for different seasons (i.e., spring – breeding), for both genders and for juveniles, along with pictures representing each. It is helpful to have a field guide that points out distinguishing field marks and size by the picture of each bird.

· Some guides include unique feeding behaviors and flight patterns. A few field guides include silhouettes, a great help in bird recognition.

· Bird songs are usually included but may be difficult to interpret. An exception to this are the new electronic field guides with bird calls.

· One of the handiest features is a quick reference index at either the front or back of the field guide. This eliminates going through the entire index for each search. Tabs or color codes for bird families facilitate searching.

· Range maps should appear on the same page as the pictures, for ease in use.

A final point about field guides - any bird guide is worthless unless studied and used regularly! Unfortunately the information is not absorbed by placing the book under your pillow at night.

A large variety of birds will be seen this fall at Hagerman NWR as the fall migration is underway. For your convenience, these field guides and foldout flash guides are now available for sale in the new Nature Nook at the Refuge:

Birds of North Texas laminated field guides, Ducks at a Distance, Birds of North America, Backyard Birds of Texas, Field Guide to Birds: Texas, and Songbirds Pocket Guide.

Binoculars and field guides are also available on a short term loan basis for use at the Refuge during your visit. For more information, see Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge or Friends of Hagerman.

2011-09-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

The Annual Hagerman Reunion is held each year on Labor Day. After reading about the event in the paper, some Friends decided to visit the reunion earlier this week to meet some of the descendants of those who once lived in the town of Hagerman. It is interesting that the group has remained so connected some 70 years after the town was cleared away to make way for Lake Texoma. We spoke with a number of folks who had brought photos, home movies transferred to current video technology, recordings of oral history, scrapbooks and more.

We heard the sharing of memories such as seeing the German World War II POW’s who were brought to the area to help clear the land of trees and structures, for the lake-to-be, and watching Perrin Field ramp up training for fighter pilots for the war. We learned that one woman, undoubtedly an early feminist, succeeded her husband to become one of the early postmasters of the town. We were shown a sketch map showing the location of the various buildings in the town – including at one time, three grocery stores. The school went through grade eight – for high school, youngsters traveled to Denison or even out of state, to boarding schools. The last graduation took place in 1942. We heard that the final gathering in the town was held under a brush arbor constructed to accommodate the crowd, and one of the town sages proposed the motto, “The Street Where Old Friends Meet”, for the gathering.

We learned that many of these memories and documents have been shared with Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, to aid in the preparation of the recent history of the area for the new exhibits at the Visitor Center, which is having its Grand Opening Sept. 8. We hope that you too will enjoy learning about the history of the town of Hagerman.

In the photo, taken by Dick Malnory, Annette Morrison Catts, of Missouri, who was introduced to us as the historian of the group, is shown holding a scrapbook about the church at Hagerman. To make way for the lake, the wooden church building was moved to Denison, where it became Hyde Park Presbyterian Church.

Please see Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge and Friends of Hagerman for more information about the Refuge and activities of the Friends.

Lake Texoma Highs and Lows

2011-09-01T04:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the water level for Lake Texoma as reported by the US Army Corps of Engineers was 611’ above sea level. A record may soon be set for the low water level, for the last twenty years. Yet in 2007, the lake level rose to over 640 feet, going over the spillway, washing out roads and other improvements, altering wildlife habitat and spreading debris over large areas. This also occurred in 1957 and in 1990. Again in May, 2009, the lake level reached 629’, flooding roads at the Refuge, among other places around the lake, just as repairs to the 2007 damage were about to get underway.

Lake Texoma, formed by the Denison Dam on the Red River, is one of the largest reservoirs in the US. It is the 12^th largest USACE lake and largest in the USACE Tulsa District. The two main sources of water for the lake are the Red and Washita Rivers as well as a number of creeks including Big Mineral where Hagerman NWR is located; the total drainage area for the lake is 39719 square miles. Denison Dam and Lake Texoma were authorized for construction by the Flood Control Act approved June 28, 1938, (Public Law 75-791) for flood control and power generation. Construction was started in August 1939 and completed in February 1944.

Why does the level vary so widely? According to B. J. Parkey, USACE, who spoke on Second Saturday at Hagerman in May, 2010, since the lake was developed for flood control, in anticipation of spring rains, the pool level is allowed to go down to approximately 615’ by spring each year. If spring rains don’t come, the level will continue to decline until sufficient rain occurs over the drainage area for the lake. The second purpose for the lake, power generation, is put on hold except for brief periods, over these dry spells.

Visitors to the Refuge will notice a greatly increased shoreline, with shorebirds on their fall migration clustering in areas where there is still some water. The USACE has issued a health warning re the bloom of blue-green algae in the lake. People and pets are to avoid contact with the water. Let’s all hope for rain soon.

More information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge can be found on the official Refuge website, and Friends activities are available at www.friendsofhagerman.com. Photo, taken in 2007 by Dick Malnory, shows fishing in a flooded field beside Refuge Road near the former Visitor Center location, and Wildlife Drive inundated except for the bridge.

Picture the Refuge

2011-08-25T04:59:00.000-07:00

Photographers can always find something new at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge habitat ranges from wetlands to prairie to woodlands, and seasonal changes add infinite variety to the landscape, flora and fauna to be found there. Another variable is the time of day and weather for a particular visit. Information about the Refuge for photographers can be found on the Friends website, but some may prefer to discover the perfect “shot” for themselves.

This fall there will be a number of opportunities for photographers beyond a solo photo outing.

Entries will be accepted for the 2^nd annual Hagerman NWR Photo Contest, through September 15. Rules and entry forms are available online. Winners will be announced on October 8, to kick off National Wildlife Refuge Week.

In continuing celebration of the Grand Opening of the new Refuge Headquarters and Visitor Center, the Blackland Prairie raptors will be shown at the Refuge from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm on Saturday, September 10, as part of Super Second Saturday, a good chance for photographers to get close ups of the birds that will be displayed.

From 12:30 - 1:30 pm that day, the Friends Nature Photo Club will offer a free Photo-How-To. Participants who bring their camera and manual can learn more about the features offered by their particular model; cameras from simple point and shoot to digital SLR’s are welcome. In addition an interactive program will allow the photographer to view changes created by manipulating various camera settings. A photo composition workshop will be offered as well as instruction on downloading, resizing and cropping photos. The session will wrap up with a presentation at 1:30 pm of photos on the theme, “Macro”, shared by club members. The club, which is open to anyone interested in nature photography, meets at the Refuge every other month, from 12:30 - 2 pm.

Also on September 10, families can take the photo scavenger hunt challenge; bring digital camera (any type) and sign in between 8 am and 2 pm at the Info Desk in the new Visitor Center. Photos must be submitted by 2 pm to complete the challenge.

On Saturday, October 15, the Friends Nature Photo Club and the Refuge will sponsor the Autumn Photo Safari, watch for details on this event which will wrap up National Wildlife Refuge Week.

Photographers are also invited to share their photos taken at Hagerman on the Friends Facebook page and through the Photographer of the Month program.

For more information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, visit the official Refuge website, and see Friends of Hagerman for more on activities and events.

Federal Duck Stamps

2011-08-18T04:34:00.000-07:00

What are Duck Stamps? The US Fish and Wildlife Service Duck Stamp website says that Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps, commonly known as “Duck Stamps,” are pictorial stamps produced by the U.S. Postal Service for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. They are not valid for postage. Originally created in 1934 as the federal licenses required for hunting migratory waterfowl, Federal Duck Stamps have a much larger purpose today.

According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, “Ever since the first Duck Stamp was issued, the annual Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp has been a popular collector’s item for hunters and non-hunters alike. You can read a brief history of the Federal Duck Stamp at http://www.fws.gov/duckstamps/federal/pdf/DuckStampStory702.pdf.

Federal Duck Stamps are a vital tool for wetland conservation. Ninety-eight cents out of every dollar generated by the sales of Federal Duck Stamps goes directly to purchase or lease wetland habitat for protection in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Understandably, the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated and is a highly effective way to conserve America’s natural resources.

Each year a national competition is held for the stamp design. The 2011 - 2012 Duck Stamp was painted by wildlife artist James Hautman of Minnesota

In 1989, the first Junior Duck Stamp was introduced, along with an environmental education program for youth. A nationwide competition is held also, through the schools, for art for the Junior Duck Stamp.

The US FWS lists five reasons to purchase a Federal Duck Stamp:

Hunters over the age of 16 must purchase a Federal Duck Stamp each year if they want to hunt migratory waterfowl.
Birders and other frequenters of National Wildlife Refuges purchase a $15 Federal Duck Stamp each year in order to gain free admission to refuges.
Conservationists buy Federal Duck Stamps because they know that the stamps are, dollar for dollar, one of the best investments one can make in the future of America’s wetlands.
Collectors buy both the Federal and Junior Duck Stamps because the beautiful stamps can gain value over the years and are an important part of America’s outdoor culture.
Finally, educators, conservationists, hunters, parents, and students alike buy $5 Junior Duck Stamps in order to support conservation education programs in the U.S.

Where to purchase a Federal Duck Stamp:

· Many United State Post Offices

· Major sporting goods and outdoor stores that sell hunting licenses

· On the web at http://www.duckstamp.com/mm5/.

Information in this post is from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Wildlife Refuge Association. Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is one of over 550 refuges across the U.S. The Friends of Hagerman support conservation and educational programs and activities at the Refuge.

Explore Texas in 1835 with Dr. Gideon Lincecum

2011-08-11T04:30:00.000-07:00

The Second Saturday program at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge for the month of August will be something a little different: a Chautauqua-style lecture in which Dr. Jerry Lincecum role-plays his ancestor, Dr. Gideon Lincecum. Gideon Lincecum was an American pioneer, historian, physician and prominent naturalist in Texas. Gideon will be introduced by Dr. Peggy Redshaw. The free program will be held in the meeting room of the new Visitor Center at the Refuge, which is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, 75092, at 10 am on August 13. Second Saturday nature programs are open to the public.

Jerry Lincecum, a sixth-generation Texan, is an Emeritus Professor of English at Austin College. He has a BA from Texas A&M and the MA and Ph.D. from Duke University. Jerry, who is shown in courtesy photo above, is a great-great-great grandson of Gideon.

Peggy Redshaw, a native of central Illinois, is Professor of Biology at Austin College. She holds a BS from Quincy College and a Ph.D. from Illinois State University.

Along with their colleague, the late Dr. Edward Hake Phillips, Jerry and Peggy have published several scholarly books and papers drawn from the Gideon Lincecum Papers, including “Adventures of a Frontier Naturalist” (1994), “Science on the Texas Frontier” (1997), and “Gideon Lincecum’s Sword: Civil War Letters from the Texas Home Front” (2001).

Coffee will be served in the Friends Building from 9 - 10 am on August. 13, and Second Saturday for Youth will begin in the Friends Classroom at 10 am. Please note that reservations are closed for this month's youth program, as it is full.

For directions or more information about Hagerman NWR, please see the official Refuge website or Friendsofhagerman.com

Fall Shorebird Migration

2011-08-04T04:03:00.000-07:00

On August 2, 2011, Jack Chiles reported in the highlights for the weekly bird census at the Refuge:

In an area south of "F" pad that is drying up we saw 2 American Avocets, 1 Western Sandpiper, 4 White Ibis, 15 White-faced Ibis, 1 Solitary Sandpiper, 2 Long-billed Dowitchers, 3 Wilson's Phalaropes, 6 Stilt Sandpipers, 2 Semi-palmated Sandpipers, 3 Greater Yellowlegs, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpipers.

Yes, the shorebirds are arriving on the fall migration.The following is a reprint of an article by Wayne Meyer, PhD, that appeared in the September, 2009, issue of the Featherless Flyer.

Most people know that there are thousands of geese at Hagerman NWR each winter, but not many know that shorebird migrations bring at least twice that many birds through our refuge. North American shorebirds breed in the northern tier of states, Canada or the high Arctic. Most of them spend the winter in the tropics, although some species will travel into South America. This means that they must fly thousands of miles, a feat requiring a great deal of fuel. Wetlands located along the migration routes, therefore, are important places for the birds to stop and refuel. Since Hagerman NWR is on the southern end of the Central Flyway and close to the end of the Mississippi Flyway, it gets lots of traffic each spring and fall.

The spring migration is rushed. Birds travel quickly to get to their breeding grounds and claim the best territories. A few early migrants arrive in late March and the big rush is over by the second or third week of May. Within that period the individual species tend to occur in waves, each species having its own peak period of just one or two weeks within the 6-8 weeks of spring migration.

In fall, however, the situation is quite different. A few birds appear in late July but the last ones don’t arrive until November. For any particular species there may be two or even three waves in one season.

Breeding success helps explain the reason for these multiple waves. The first migrants are failed breeders and nonbreeders. Injured birds, young birds that didn’t collect sufficient resources to breed, and birds whose young were lost to predators head south early. We see them in July and August. Advantages to coming south early include fewer predators and less competition for food.

The adults who raised young will remain on the breeding grounds until their young are able to care for themselves. They take advantage of the long hours of summer sunlight to collect energy for molting and to store fat prior to their long flights. These birds usually begin showing up at Hagerman NWR in late August or September and peak prior to October. This is an interesting time to observe the birds as some wear breeding plumages that we rarely see.

The third wave is usually made up of juveniles who hatched during the summer and are making their first migrations. Since they used food energy for growth, they need more food than their parents did before they can store enough fat. They begin to arrive in mid-September and peak in mid-October, although a few slow-pokes will not pass through until November. Some overwinter at Hagerman NWR.

Take a few visits to the refuge this fall and watch the shorebirds moving through. Each visit is sure to show you different things and you’ll get all the challenge you could ask for in identifying the many birds that use our favorite fueling station.

Dr. Meyer will present a program on Shorebirds at 10 am on September 10 as part of Super Second Saturday at the Refuge. In the meantime, as he advises, take time to see these shorebird visitors for yourself.

Photo- Avocets, by Michael Haight

To learn more, see Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge and Friends of Hagerman NWR.

Crossing Rebuilt

2011-07-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

By Kathy Whaley

Sometimes man thinks he has solved a problem, then Mother Nature comes along, and in the blink of an eye, shows him he had better head back to the drawing board. Back to square one we go. This happened with the creek crossing at the end of Meadow Pond Trail. Long years ago, an old iron bridge made it possible to cross the creek and access more remote parts of the Refuge without driving the many extra miles around from the other side. After the bridge washed out, a different type of crossing was installed that allowed vehicles to drive across the creek bed on a firm surface. Unfortunately, this crossing was not adequately stabilized so it, too, washed away. During heavy rain events, this currently dry creek bed becomes a raging torrent of water– moving anything in its way.

This summer, with help from regional USFWS engineers and Refuge staff member Jay Noel, a much better designed and built crossing has been installed. A ramp of concrete with several feet of large rip-rap (stone) on each side now stretches completely across the creek. Even though this section of the Refuge is not open to the public for driving (visitors may, however, hike or bike in this area), it is important to Refuge staff for routine law enforcement patrols, access during prescribed burns, or as an available route for responding to a wildfire. Another positive from this project is that the contractor who installed the crossing for us was kind enough to dig all of the metal from the old bridge out of the creek - even though this was not part of their contract - and it is on its way to being recycled!

We feel confident the new crossing will work perfectly as designed – but are still anxious to see it in action - if it ever rains again!

Photo by Wayne Meyer

To learn more about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, see the official website or FriendsofHagerman.com.

New at Refuge - "Bluebird Buggy"

2011-07-21T05:05:00.001-07:00

Visitors at Hagerman NWR these days may see a new vehicle rolling quietly along Harris Creek Trail once each week. The vehicle, an E-Z-Go, is dedicated to the monitoring of the Bluebird nest boxes along Harris Creek Trail, and was put into service July 15.

In keeping with the Refuge efforts to go green, the vehicle is electric powered. To charge the battery, an electrical cord is simply plugged into a charger in the Equipment Shed. The vehicle has good power for climbing grades and is simple to operate. There is minimum disturbance to wildlife while the vehicle is running. As a bonus for the monitors, it also fun to drive!

Only one more thing is needed - a name! Bluebird Buggy is under consideration.

Note: Lucky people attending the Grand Opening Ceremony on September 8, 2011, may get a shuttle ride from the parking area to the new Visitor Center in the Bluebird Buggy.

For more information about the nest box monitoring project at the Refuge or other Friends activities, please see friendsofhagerman.com, and for complete Refuge information, click Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge.

Photo by Dick Malnory shows monitor Jack Chiles stopping by nest box, in new vehicle.

New Website for the Friends

2011-07-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our newly re-designed website!

www.friendsofhagerman.com

New look, same address, and we hope you will easily find information you may be seeking about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge and the Friends of Hagerman, and will enjoy the many photos from the Refuge.

One improvement - rather than having our old-style NEWS page, which was more or less a catch-all for lots of info, we now have a FRIENDS page with information about the Friends, Friends projects, organization, membership and more, we have a REFUGE page with these sections: VISITOR INFORMATION; BIRD DATA, where you can find the Bird Survey Highlights, Bird Check List and other birding information; TRAILS which offers the hiking trails guides, the newest official Refuge guide and related information, and then a section for HUNTING BOATING & FISHING.

Next, we have an ACTIVITIES page, with coming events, and you may also go directly to SECOND SATURDAY and SECOND SATURDAY FOR YOUTH events.

On the NEWS page, you can find the Featherless Flyer and other headline news; in addition you can now view the Friends Facebook page, without having to be “on” Facebook to view the many interesting posts and photos there.

Under GALLERY, you will find many beautiful virtual photo albums, led off by the current Photographer of the Month, as well as top Nature Photo Club news. You may also go directly to NATURE PHOTO CLUB with a listing of events, links to contest forms and more. Also under GALLERY you will find the PHOTO GUIDE, a guide to the Refuge especially for photographers.

And we are not through! Coming soon, you will be able to shop the Nature Nook online, renew your membership and contribute with the addition of a secure section to the site.

We hope each of you will visit the site soon and send us your comments!

A special thanks to all the photographers who have contributed to the wonderful collection of images taken at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, a collection we have drawn on liberally for this site.

AND special thanks to each of you for your support for the Friends and the gifts which have gone toward this project.

Listening to the Painted Bunting

2011-07-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

By Wayne Meyer, PhD

The conversations of Painted Buntings at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge have been listened to carefully this summer. Two of my students, Leticia Pilar and Taliesin Kinser, and I have been recording their songs since the first of June and are now playing their songs back to them. The research is intended to determine how Painted Buntings tell each other just how angry they are.

In Song Sparrows and several other songbirds, a bird can register displeasure by singing at a neighbor. If the neighbor matches that song and sings it back at the first bird, this means “I’m mad enough to start a fight”. If he doesn’t feel that angry, he can avoid escalating the conflict by singing another song that he shares with the first bird. This tells the first bird “I recognize your complaint, but don’t want to dispute with you”. A third choice is to sing a song that the first bird can’t match because it isn’t in his repertoire; this stops the conflict.

Painted Buntings, however, don’t share songs, so they can’t use this system of matching to regulate aggression levels. We have been using a wooden decoy atop a speaker to simulate territory intrusions. If we use songs from a neighbor, the response will be muted since the buntings have settled their boundaries and don’t need to react strongly to neighbors who pose no threat. If we use songs from a stranger, however, the response is very aggressive. We record these interactions and compare the response to strangers with the response to neighbors. So far, we have found that Painted Buntings use virtuosity to indicate aggressiveness. They sing more songs, longer songs and use a larger proportion of their repertoire the angrier they get.

Next time you listen to a bird song in your backyard, pay attention and see if the singer changes his tune or if he attracts the attention of another songster. Nearly all of the “songbirds” in North America use some sort of song modulation to communicate with each other.

Photos by Dick Malnory

Want more information? See Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge and Friends of Hagerman

Refuge Visitor Center Moving Closer to Completion

2011-06-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

During the past two weeks, good progress has been made on the new Refuge Visitor Center/Administrative Facility! The majority of construction has been completed and staff members have moved into the admin side. Landscapers are still working to install plants and irrigation lines and punch list items are being completed. The only major item remaining is to install exhibits both inside and outside the building. This is expected to happen beginning in mid August and should take 7 - 10 days.

Now that we have taken legal occupancy possession of the facility, we will provide limited access to the public. Visitors will be allowed to enter the Visitor Center from 7:30am to 4:00pm Monday through Friday to get Refuge information and/or obtain Senior or Access Passes. The restrooms will also be available. The portion of the facility where exhibits will soon be installed is closed-off and the multi-purpose room will remained closed until July’s Second Saturday Program. Once the exhibits are installed, we will be open the hours listed above plus Saturday 9:00 to 4:00 and Sunday 1:00 to 5:00.

The official grand opening event is set for Thursday, September 8th. Stay tuned for more information on that day and the following weekend when new facility tours and programs will be offered for everyone!

Text and photo by Kathy Whaley, Refuge Manager

Note: The Visitor Center will be closed for national holiday on Monday, July 4. For more information about the Refuge, click Hagerman NWR, For information about the Friends, see Friends of Hagerman.

A Wildflower by Any Other Name

2011-06-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

What is that pretty purple wildflower? Which one? The one that has tiers of flowers stacked on the stem like wedding cake layers. Oh, that’s Horsemint.

Horsemint ? Someone else told me they thought it was Lemon beebalm.

It is…it is also Purple horsemint, Lemon mint, Plains horsemint, and Lemon horsemint. Many names for one plant, Monarda Citriodora (Lamiaceae).

The Horsemint has been glorious at the Refuge for the past few weeks. The blooms range from purple to lavender, with colored bracts. Now the flower heads are turning brown, preparing to shed seeds for next year’s crop.

An annual that stands about 1- 2 feet tall, Horsemint has lemon scented leaves and attracts hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. The plant can tolerate drought, making it ideal for our area!

Whatever name you use, Horsemint is a wildflower all can enjoy each spring.

For more information about wildflowers and other aspects of Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, see the official website. The Friends of Hagerman website has info on activities and events as well as photo albums of wildflowers and wildlife at the Refuge.

Text by Sue Malnory; photo by Dr. Wayne Meyer

Nesting Least Terns at Hagerman NWR

2011-06-16T05:31:00.000-07:00

If you have visited Hagerman NWR in the last few weeks you have probably noticed that several of the pads (Tern Pad, “D” Pad, and “F” Pad at present) are barricaded. These pads are sites that the Least Terns have chosen to build their nests. The Interior Least Tern is an endangered species and is protected in Texas by Federal Regulations.

The Least Tern is the smallest of the North American terns. The breeding adult is gray above, with a black head and nape and with black extending from the eye to the bill. It has a white fore-head and an orange-yellow bill with a dark tip. The under parts are white and the legs orange-yellow. In flight look for the black wedge on the outer primaries (the outermost wing feathers) and the short deeply forked tail. An average adult is 8 to 10 inches in length and has a 20 inch wingspan.

Interior Least Terns usually begin nesting here in late May or early June preceded by 2 to 3 weeks of noisy courtship. This includes finding a mate, selecting a nest site, and strengthening the pair bond. Courtship often includes the “fish flight”, an aerial display involving aerobatics and pursuit, ending in a fish transfer on the ground between two displaying birds. Courtship behaviors also include nest preparation and a variety of postures and vocalizations. Least Terns are colony nesters where nests can be as close as 10 feet apart but often are more than 30 feet apart. The nest that you usually see here is a very shallow depression in the gravel.

Egg-laying usually begins in late May with the female laying 2 to 3 eggs over a period of 3 to 5 days which are then incubated with the male and female alternately sharing duties for a period of about 21 days. The eggs are pale to olive buff and speckled or streaked with dark purplish-brown, chocolate or blue-gray markings.

Nesting adults defend an area surrounding the nest (territory) against intruders. Intruders can include humans, coyotes, fox, raccoons, bobcats, domestic dogs and cats, American Crows, Great Egrets, and Great Blue Herons among other creatures. When defending a territory, the incubating bird will fly around giving an alarm call and diving repeatedly at the intruder.

The chicks hatch within one day of each other and remain in the nest for about a week. Then they will wander from the nest in search of shade or cover. They will be able to fly within 3 weeks of hatching.

For feeding the Least Terns need shallow water like we have at Hagerman NWR which provides an abundance of small fish.

In an effort to help the terns be successful in raising their young we monitor the terns a minimum of once a week during the nesting season. We try to locate all the nests and map them out. Then we keep records of eggs laid, eggs successfully hatched and birds that fledge. We have cameras at each colony monitoring for problems such as varmints enabling us to possibly head off future problems. We put out logs and driftwood for shade.

The Least Terns will probably be observed around the pads until late August. After the Least Terns leave in late summer we will be anxiously awaiting their return next spring as they usually return to the same breeding site year after year.

Text and photo by Jack Chiles.

For more information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge,the official website is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html

For information about the Friends of Hagerman, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Swallows at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge

2011-06-09T04:22:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has driven through Hagerman Wildlife Refuge in the last few weeks has probably noticed the flocks of swallows darting through the air. Until Marolyn and I stopped and really spent time trying to photograph these birds, we were not aware that there were different species of swallows all flocked together. We talked to Jack Chiles, (our "go to guy" for bird identification at Hagerman) who informed us that there are three easily seen species of swallows in Hagerman -- Barn Swallows, Cliff Swallows, and Bank Swallows. The Purple Martin, along with a few other much less common species (Northern Rough-winged Swallow and Tree Swallow), can also be observed. Now, the challenge -- see, identify and photograph each of the three most abundant and easily seen species of swallows. Seeing and identifying was not a problem, but photographing swallows, especially in flight, can be very frustrating.

The Barn Swallow is very distinctive with deep blue plumage above, orange to buff color on its breast and belly while the throat and forehead are rust in color. It is the only North American swallow with buffy to cinnamon under parts and under wing linings and a white-spotted, deeply forked tail. This swallow looks as if it is wearing a mask due to the line between the deep blue of the head and the rust color on the throat. Probably the most distinctive feature of the Barn Swallow is the deeply forked tail.

The Bank Swallow is America's smallest swallow. It is brown above with wings and back slighter darker. The underside is mostly white with the exception of a distinctive brown breast band below a white throat. These swallows have long slender wings with a slightly forked tail.

The Cliff Swallow is sometimes confused with the Barn Swallow. They both have deep blue backs, but the Cliff Swallow has a light colored belly, dark throat and light brown to rust face. A very distinctive white forehead and square tail help to distinguish the Cliff Swallow from the Barn Swallow. Sometimes two white streaks can be seen down the back of the Cliff Swallow.

The habitat, behavior and diet are very similar among the three species of swallows found in Hagerman. All feed mostly on flying insects, usually above water and near their nest which for the Cliff and Barn Swallow is built under the eaves of buildings and bridges. The Bank Swallow's nest is built in the banks of sandy cliffs. In Hagerman, most feeding and nesting is seen in and around the bridges. Some foraging can be seen over open fields.

These swallows are long distance migratory birds. The Barn, Cliff and Bank Swallows all head to Central and/or South America for the winter and usually begin their migration south when their young become independent and ready for the long flight.

A point of interest -- the killing of Barn Swallows for their deep blue feathers was one of the issues that led to the founding of the Audubon Society and legislation to protect migratory birds.

Now you know -- all those swallows buzzing around Hagerman are not the same and now you, too, can identify them.

Written by Skeeter & Marolyn Lasuzzo

Photography By Skeeter Lasuzzo

For more information about HAgerman National Wildlife Refuge, the official website is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for more on the Friends, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

White-faced Ibis

2011-06-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

There are not many birds that have iridescent feathers. Two that come to mind are the Turkey and the White-faced Ibis. Most of us have seen wild Turkeys either in the wild or in pictures, but my guess is that most have not seen the White-faced Ibis. Hagerman Wildlife Refuge usually has a few each year, but this year over 30 Ibis can be observed feeding in the shallow marsh.

The White-faced Ibis is a medium size shorebird - 20-26 inches tall, with a wingspan of 32-36 inches. The most obvious feature on the face of the Ibis is the long, down curved bill. The Ibis uses its curved bill to search in the mud for snails, newts, insects, and especially crayfish, frogs, and fish. The White-faced Ibis gets its name from the thin band of white feathers around its mostly red face.

The White-faced Ibis numbers, while somewhat recovered inland, are declining in coastal North America where they are threatened by the draining and receding of wetlands and the use of pesticides. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, not only are they on the Texas "threatened" list, but are being reviewed by the federal government for potentially being listed as an endangered or threatened species.

Usually the Ibis is seen as a brown bird with a long curled bill feeding in the marsh and along the shallow shoreline. Only when the sunlight is at the right angle do the back and tail feathers show the iridescent blue, green, and purple colors. As a photographer wanting a flight image, you must find the birds feeding at just the right angle to the sun and then hope, when they take flight, that they do at this same angle such that a flight image showing the iridescent color on the Ibis's back feathers can be captured. As always, patience is a photographer's best asset. A little luck never hurts either.

Skeeter & Marolyn Lasuzzo

Photography by Skeeter Lasuzzo

For more information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, please see the official website, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and to learn more about the Friends, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Volunteer Opportunity at New Visitor Center

2011-05-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

Text by Kay Casey

Love nature and wildlife?

Like to meet people and help others enjoy the outdoors, birds and photography?

Enjoy the satisfaction of giving your time and talents to promote a better world?

Friends of Hagerman NWR and the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge have a deal for you.

If you love nature and enjoy sharing with others, you will find pleasure working at the new Hageman National Wildlife Refuge visitor center and nature store. The new $3 million facility will open to the public soon and volunteers are needed to staff the visitor information desk providing excellent Refuge information to our visitors and making sales for the Nature Nook.

The job description is simple. Use your pleasant, friendly competent attitude to:

· Greet refuge guests and answer questions.

· Make sure every visitor has the information needed to have a good experience at the Refuge

· Inform guests about the opportunity to support the Refuge by joining Friends of Hagerman

· Ring up sales of nature related items in the new gift shop/bookstore

· Some volunteers will perform a variety of chores such as keeping the information materials and merchandise displays neat and fresh, stocking the drink dispenser, labeling merchandise and reporting visitor requests.

Volunteers will be needed daily for the Nature Nook and the visitor information desk between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Our goal is to have two persons per half-day shift. You can choose to work one or more shifts weekly or monthly.

New volunteers will receive training about the refuge from the Refuge staff and about working in the Nature Nook from Friends of Hagerman . Beginners will work with experienced folks as they learn more about the Refuge and the nature store.

Contact the Refuge office at 903-786-2826 or email naturenookathagerman@gmail.com for more information.

The Great Blue Heron

2011-05-19T05:21:00.000-07:00

One of the most easily recognized and photogenic birds in America can be seen every day of the year at Hagerman. The largest member of the heron family, the great blue heron stands four feet tall and has a six foot wingspan. The name is misleading. Rather than blue it is largely gray with a long yellow-orange bill, yellow eyes, long pale legs and black occipital patches separated by a white stripe. The underside of the neck is white with black and brown hatching.

The great blue is solitary most of the time except when roosting or breeding. Its diet is mainly fish, frogs, snakes and other marine life. While foraging it slowly stalks its prey. It may remain motionless for minutes before suddenly striking with its long uncoiled neck. Small fish are grasped in the bill and large ones are impaled. They are then tossed in the air and swallowed headfirst. Great blues tuck their heads close to their chest in flight, making them easy to identify.

As the days lengthen early in the year light penetrates the skull stimulating hormone production. This initiates migration and breeding. In the south some birds do not migrate. Hormonal changes produce remarkable physical changes. The most obvious marker is a bright electric blue skin patch between the eye and bill in a location called the lores. The legs become salmon colored and tha crown feathers are elongated. The male is about ten percent larger than the female. Otherwise both sexes appear identical. Courtship is initiated by the male who finds an old nest or builds a new one and stands by it engaging in a series of stretches called displays. His new mate will reciprocate with displays signalling her acceptance of his overtures. She then proceeds to rebuild the nest to her specifications with his help. When this chore is completed more mutual displaying occurs followed by copulation. The clutch usually consists of four eggs. The eggs are hatched after four weeks of incubation.

Both parents share the responsibilities of incubating, catching food and feeding the chicks by regurgitating partially digested fish. As the chicks mature the competion for food becomes violent. The youngest and therefore the weakest chicks often die from starvation or fratricide. By eight weeks when the chicks are almost as big as their parents and ready to fledge. By the end of the first year less than half will have survived.

The greatest concern for the future of all birds is the unremitting habitat destruction due the explosive human population growth. The world’s population in 1930 was two billion. By 2011 it was up to seven billion with a projection of nine billion in 2030. The ramifications of these changes should be obvious.

Text and photo by Phil McGuire

For more information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, see the official site, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for information about the Friends, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Barred Owls

2011-05-12T06:16:00.000-07:00

The Barred Owl is a medium size owl that is brown to gray-brown in color with white streaking on the belly and chest. Of course, like most owls, they have a facial disc. The Barred Owl's facial disc is gray in color with a brown border. The Barred owl lives in wooded swamp areas or wooded areas near waterways. They are widespread over most of the U.S. and Canada.

Even though these owls are nocturnal, they can be seen during the daylight hours mostly in early afternoon. They hang out in dense foliage usually near the trunk of a tree or in tree cavities.

The Barred Owl is a highly vocal owl and will call in the daytime as well as at night. Often the call is a series of eight sounds followed by silence while the owl listens for a reply. Mates will call in tandem, but the male's voice is deeper and more mellow. Many other vocalizations are made which range from a short yelp or bark to a frenzied and raucous monkey-like squall. While Barred Owls will call year round, courtship begins in February with breeding occurring between March and August. Barred Owls will usually nest in cavities in trees but will on occasion use an abandoned hawk, crow, or squirrel nest.

After 2 to 4 eggs are laid, the male will bring food to the female while she is on the nest. The owlets will leave the nest before they can fly, usually in around 4 weeks. The young owls can be seen perched on limbs near the nest flexing their wings in preparation for when they will fledge. The parents will care for their young for at least 4 months.

Again, like most owls, the Barred Owl will hunt from a perch. They will locate their prey with their amazing hearing and/or eyesight, then dive to the ground onto their prey. Their main food source is mice and voles, but will also feed on frogs, fish, rats, squirrels, moles, snakes, lizards, and many insects. A few other facts about Barred Owls--their life span is about 10 years in the wild, their only natural enemy is the Great Horned Owl and pairs mate for life while maintaining the same territories and nesting site for many years.

Finding Barred Owls to photograph can be difficult. They are usually in dark shadows or dense foliage at dusk or dawn when light is very low. Barred Owls, like most owls, will also hunt during low light or dark conditions. This makes it challenging to use a high enough shutter speed to successfully capture an owl on its perch, much less in flight. If you locate an owl during the day and approach it, the owl will likely fly away from you, not making for a favorable image. If you are fortunate enough to observe an owl on its perch in daylight hours, be patient. Wait for the owl to fly on its own or dive for prey. If you're lucky, you might get a good angle for a flight shot.

Text by Skeeter & Marolyn Lasuzzo. Photography by Skeeter Lasuzzo

Ed. Note: For more information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, you may visit the official Refuge website, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and the Friends of Hagerman site, http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Nest Box Monitoring

2011-05-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

What do a big city fireman, a realtor, a retired rural postal carrier, a corporate trainer, an attorney, two radiology technologists, a social worker, an engineer, and a lay preacher have in common? These folks make up just part of the Nest Box Monitoring Team at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge who are on the job much of the year to build and set-up nest boxes for song birds, monitor the boxes and report data during the nesting season, and then clean and repair the boxes for the following season.

Very early this spring new boxes were added, for a total of 54 nest boxes along three trails at the Refuge, Myers Branch, Meadow Pond and Harris Creek. Box locations were chosen with the habitat preference of Bluebirds, Prothonotary Warblers, Carolina chickadees and Titmice in mind. Currently there are primarily two styles of nest box in use, the Peterson design box and the saltbox. One monitor has donated a specially designed box a unique ventilation design and camera access.

For 2011 the team elected to report data on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, nestwatch.org. Kathy Whaley, Refuge Manager, created monitoring notebooks for each trail with compatible data sheets, coding keys, trail maps and other needed information. Each nest box has a unique number, key in monitoring and reporting; and there is a data sheet for each box on which the monitors enter their findings. Periodically another volunteer enters the data for all three trails on the Cornell website. Another volunteer sends weekly reports and photos of activity in designated boxes to those who adopted nest boxes for the season.

The monitors’ task is to observe nesting activities including whether adult birds are in the area, or even on in the nest box, if a nest is present, for what species and how complete; the number and type of eggs, young, estimated age of young, and estimated date they will fledge. In addition the monitors perform maintenance to keep the boxes habitable and safe for nesting birds. Some of the monitors are expert birders who are helping the less knowledgeable acquire the needed skills.

The Nest Box Monitors are subdivided into two “trail” teams, with members of each trail team rotating monthly to monitor their assigned boxes weekly. Necessary equipment for monitoring includes notebook for recording observations, spatula for removing wasp and other invasive nests, soap to rub on boxes to deter wasp nest-building, observation mirror, assorted tools for opening nest boxes and quick maintenance, camera, insect repellant and binoculars.

Monitors meet monthly as a group to share information and improve skills. Nest Box monitoring is an enjoyable way to see more of the Refuge, learn more about wildlife and meet others who share these interests. For more about volunteering, send your contact information to friendsofhagerman@gmail.com with the subject line Nest Box Monitor.

For more information about the Refuge and the Friends of Hagerman, see http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html, the official website for Hagerman NWR, and http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Photo - Young Carolina Chickadees in nest box on Harris Creek Trail, by Nest Box Monitors

Summer Tanager at Hagerman NWR

2011-04-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

By Skeeter & Marolyn Lasuzzo

On April 16th we photographed our first Summer Tanager of the season. We had been hearing its song for a few days, but had not visually observed one until the 16th. One of the many exciting things that come to Texas and Hagerman Wildlife Refuge in the spring is the colorful spring songbirds. The Summer Tanager is just one of our favorite four birds of spring. The Painted Bunting, Yellow Warbler, Indigo Bunting, along with the Summer Tanager are our most sought after birds to see and photograph during spring and summer.

The male Summer Tanager is all red, the only all red bird in North America. The female is a light yellow to olive green. The immature first spring male is a combination of bright yellow with small amounts of red. The male Summer Tanager is often mistaken for a male Cardinal. While they really don't look alike, most people just assume the red bird they see is the more common Cardinal. These birds spend most of their time high up in the top canopy of trees in dense forested areas. In the spring the Summer Tanager arrives after wintering in Central and South America.

The Summer Tanager's main food is bees and wasps. They are excellent flycatchers, able to seize adult bees and wasps in mid-flight and take them back to a perch where they then kill them by beating them against a tree limb. They will remove the stinger and then eat their victim. In addition to eating bees and wasps, the Summer Tanager also eats a wide variety of flying and non-flying insects such as cicadas, grasshoppers, ants, beetles, dragonflies, caterpillars, and spiders.

Summer Tanagers also eat fruits and berries, mostly in the winter or during breeding season. These include blackberries, blueberries, mulberries, and bananas. In the image, the bird sometimes called "the bee-eater”, appears to be planning his attack on this bee. The Summer Tanager made an attempt to capture the bee but missed. I felt fortunate to not only witness but to photograph this interaction.

Ed. Note: Painted Buntings will be the topic for Second Saturday on May 14, 2011, with Dr. Wayne Meyer’s program Songs of the Painted Bunting. For more information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, the official website is

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html.

Information about the Friends of Hagerman can be found at http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Yellow Rail Reported at Hagerman NWR

2011-04-21T05:33:00.000-07:00

Yellow Rails are secretive marsh birds that winter in wetlands along the gulf coast and breed in wet meadows of the northern United States and parts of Canada. As they migrate from one place to the other in the spring and fall, Yellow Rails may stop for a day or two in wetlands of northern Texas. However, due to their secretive nature, these birds are very hard to find. Yellow Rails are quite small – only about the size of an Eastern Bluebird. They have short, thick bills and their plumage is generally dark with yellow breasts and faces. Not only does this coloration make them well-camouflaged with their habitat, but they typically remain very inconspicuous (for example, they feed in very dense vegetation). When Yellow Rails are threatened by a predator (or an approaching bird-watcher), they run under the vegetation where they can go unnoticed. Their vocalizations are a series of 4 or 5 ticks that sound similar to marbles clanking together. They primarily make these calls in preparation for their breeding season. Consequently, any birds that might be passing through northern Texas right now might be quite vocal. According to Pulich (1988), there are very few confirmed records of Yellow Rails occurring in Grayson County. If they’re going to occur here, Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge seems to be the most likely place to find them. There has been a recent report of Yellow Rail vocalizations in the refuge, so please keep your ears open and your eyes peeled. Any detections of this species should be reported to the refuge staff.

Jason D. Luscier, PhD

Austin College

Sherman, TX

Pulich, W. M. 1988. The Birds of North Central Texas. Texas A & M University Press, College Station, TX.

Editor: Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is located on the Big Mineral arm of Lake Texoma, at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, TX 75092. The phone number is 903 786 2826. For more information about the Refuge, please see http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for information about the Friends of Hagerman, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Cedar Waxwings Still at Hagerman NWR

2011-04-14T04:10:00.000-07:00

Skeeter & Marolyn Lasuzzo

Photography by Skeeter Lasuzzo

On April 10th, we were fortunate to photograph a flock of Cedar Waxwings near a small puddle at the edge of the woods in Hagerman Wildlife Refuge. These beautiful silky textured birds usually travel in small to large, very compact flocks - meaning the birds fly very close together. Cedar Waxwings are foragers. They will fly into a berry tree and devour the berries in a short amount of time. There are times when these birds can get so intoxicated from overripe fruit that they cannot fly and have been known to fall off of limbs. They will feed on not only berries but flower petals, insects and will drink sap on occasion. The Cedar Waxwing can also be observed passing fruit back and forth between birds.

These birds are identified by the crest of feathers on their head, the black mask on their face and chin and their silky feather appearance. They also have yellow bellies and white under tail coverts. There is a very distinctive bright yellow band on its tail. The bright red feathers or "sealing wax" at the end of its secondary wings are what give the Cedar Waxwing its name as well as the fact that red cedar berries are their main food source.

Most of the time the Cedar Waxwings will land in the top of trees or in dense berry bushes or trees making it very difficult to get a clear image. We have found that when these birds leave the trees to go to a water source they will sometimes land on lower limbs before going all the way down to the water source, as do most birds. That's exactly what happened at Hagerman which led to a number of pleasing images. The small puddle was ringed by dead limbs approximately 8 to 10 feet above the water. The flock of Waxwings landed on these limbs and posed for a picture before going down to have a drink. As usual with Cedar Waxwings, when the last bird had a drink, the entire flock took flight at the same time and in a flash was gone.

The Cedar Waxwing is a winter resident at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge as well as most of the southern half of the U.S. They will spend the summer in Canada and the central U.S. The Cedar Waxwings will be leaving Hagerman soon to head north.

We have also been fortunate to photograph the Bohemian Waxwing in March in Wyoming. Believe it or not, the Bohemian Waxwing is equally as beautiful as the Cedar Waxwing.

For more information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, please see http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html, and for information about the activities of the Friends of Hagerman, http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

2011-04-07T07:31:00.000-07:00

Should I use spot metering or center weighted? What's the best ISO for this shot? Conversations like this will be heard across Hagerman NWR on April 30 as small groups of photographers fan out across the Refuge for the 3rd Annual Spring Photo Safari.

Whether you have never opened the manual for your camera (manual??) or are experienced at setting up sophisticated nature shots, there is a place for you at this event. There are only a few requirements, the big one is that you need to register in advance to be sure there is a place for you, as spaces are limited.

You will also need to be on time, 8 a.m., in this case, so your group can set out together. Bring your camera, and your manual - the group leaders will be familiar with most cameras but may not know all the bells and whistles on your particular model. Extra batteries! Tripods are good, if you have one, and footwear for walking through grass wet with dew.

You may also bring a brown bag lunch, to join in the post-shoot discussion in the audio Visual Classroom at the Refuge. Dessert will be provided.

There is no charge for participation; to register send your name, contact information, make and model camera to fohphotoclub@gmail.com.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, TX 75092. Photo programs at the Refuge are sponsored by Hagerman NWR (http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html) and the Friends of Hagerman ( http://www.friendsofhagerman.com ).

Photographing the Belted Kingfisher

2011-03-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

Text and photo by Skeeter Lasuzzo

The Belted Kingfisher is both fun and frustrating to photograph. These little birds will hardly sit still long enough to get a good close up image. There are many things about the kingfisher that are interesting, such as the female is more brightly colored than the male, unusual in the bird world, and how they dive head first into the water in an attempt to catch fish. One of the most unexpected facts about the kingfisher is that they build their nest in a burrow in the dirt banks near creeks or streams. The burrow will usually slope upward from the entrance, probably to keep water out and can be anywhere from one to eight feet in length.

We have found that spotting a Kingfisher and then trying to get close to it is almost impossible. Since we had previously seen a Kingfisher near a small body of water in Hagerman Wildlife Refuge, we set up and waited for the Kingfisher to show up. After a while, the male Kingfisher showed up and landed on a limb just as we had hoped. Upon landing on the limb, the Kingfisher announced its arrival by raising its topnotch and tail feathers and letting out its loud cry. We were prepared and got the image.

ED: New Bird Checklists are now available at Refuge Headquarters, stop in and pick up one on your next visit. For more information about the Refuge, see http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for information about activities and events, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com/.

GPS Units Available for Checkout at Refuge HQ

2011-03-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

By Becky Goodman

Have you ever hiked the trails out at Hagerman and gotten turned around? Have you driven the pad roads and gotten confused? It happens all the time. People get so excited about seeing the next bird, animal, flora or fauna that they forget to pay attention to where they are and where they should be going.

Hagerman now has four GPS receiver units that can be checked out from the Refuge Headquarters. Two of these GPS receiver units are pre-loaded with four of the hiking trails that are available for the public to enjoy at the Refuge. You can page through the contents to determine whether the trails are loaded on the unit you plan to use.

While the Refuge staff has installed more signage on the trails and roads to make it easier to traverse Hagerman, it’s a great idea to check out one of the new GPS units to help you explore the Refuge safely.

Brief instructions on how to use them are included in the checkout, but how do they work? These devices provide their users with information about location, distance, direction, tracking and routes. The GPS receivers use a process called trilateration. The receiver locks signals with at least four different satellites orbiting the Earth, and based on the time it takes the signals to reach the different satellites, a calculation is made about the location of the GPS unit. Therefore, it’s important to make sure that the GPS receiver has an “eye to the sky” the majority of the time it’s in use.

When using a GPS receiver unit, it is very important to mark the starting point. These marks are called “waypoints” on most GPS systems. The more waypoints marked, the easier it is to retrace the route and to return to the starting point.

Other safety features include recording the distance of a hike or drive, tracking weather forecasts, barometric pressure readings and humidity levels to help avoid storms, and showing the times of sunrise and sunset to assist in planning.

The next time you’re out at Hagerman, check out one of the GPS receiver units. They’re available from the Refuge Office on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Saturdays between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and on Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. If you’d like to check to see if a unit is available or to reserve one, please call the Refuge office at (903)786-2826.

To find out more information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, please visit: http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html. To learn about activities, events and programs at the Refuge, please visit http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Refuge Opens Boating and Pond Fishing Season

2011-03-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

Text and Photo by Ken Carr

Although fishing is allowed throughout the year in the creeks and parts of Lake Texoma that exist in the Hagerman Wildlife Refuge, the unofficial fishing and boating season starts in mid-March when the crappie begin their annual spawn and boating once again is allowed in some Refuge waters and fishing is allowed in the Refuge's several small ponds.

Once again this year the boating and pond fishing will begin a few weeks early on March 15. Until 2010, the opening date was April 1. As in years past the closing date is Sept. 30.

The two extra weeks may not sound like much to the uninitiated, but these weeks usually coincide with the spring crappie run which lasts roughly from mid-March to the end of April depending on springtime temperatures. During this time crappie gather in shallower waters and become more aggressive feeders. Much of the spawn occurs in creeks and sloughs and the use of a boat, even a small jon boat or a kayak, allows the anglers to fish thousands of acres of water that otherwise would be unaccessible. Watercraft must be confined to only the waters of Big Mineral Creek and its associated creeks. Water skiing, jet skiing and night time boating are not allowed. The Refuge is closed after sundown.

Most of Hagerman's ponds are bank accessible and are particularly good for younger anglers because of their shallower waters. The ponds are stocked occasionally and can provide a fun afternoon for younger anglers. Refuge officials recommend that adults catching fish in the ponds practice catch and release because the ponds can be easily fished out. Two of the more popular ponds are located near the Refuge office and others are along the Harris Creek Trail as well as Haller's Haven Trail.

There are three boat ramps located in the Refuge. They are on Tern Road, near Pad L and between pads A and B. The ramp on Pad L was built last year and has a floating dock. Anglers with kayaks and small flat bottomed boats can launch from the bank at Big Mineral Park, which is also a popular place for bank fishers. Other popular spots for bank fishers include the oilfield pads, Harris Creek across the road from the Refuge office and the low water Bridge north of the Refuge Office.

Those fishing the Refuge waters are required to have either a Texas fishing license or a Lake Texoma Fishing License. Those fishing the Refuge ponds are required to have a Texas fishing license. The only anglers not required to have a fishing license are those under 17 years of age and those born in 1930 or earlier. Anglers may keep up to 37 crappie per day, but they must be at least 10 inches in length.

Kevin Vaughn is a full time law officer at the Refuge and is known for his diligence in enforcing Refuge regulations, particularly in regards to licenses, fish limits-both size and number--and the Refuge's speed limits.

Photo Caption: Log jams on Big Mineral Creek such as this can be ideal fishing spots for crappie in the Hagerman Wildlife Refuge. The boating season which just opened in the Refuge allows boating anglers to reach "fishy" spots such as this on the lower end of the creek which usually are inaccessible to bank anglers.

Regulations for Refuge use and other information may be found at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html. Friends of Hagerman activities and events are posted at http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Crested Caracara: the falcon that acts like a vulture and looks like an eagle.

2011-03-10T05:31:00.000-08:00

By Wayne Meyer, PhD

Lately there have been several sightings of Crested Caracara in Texoma (see photo by Mike Chiles, Denison Dam, December 2010). This bird has a fascinating life history. Caracaras are birds of prey, but despite their large size and broad wings that get them mistaken for eagles, they are most closely related to falcons. Unlike other falcons, the Crested Caracara rarely takes prey in the air. Instead, Caracaras usually find prey by perching and waiting for the prey to go by, or they will cruise low over fields, not unlike the way Northern Harriers do. When a Caracara finds prey, it usually chases it on foot, which may explain why insects are a very large part of the Caracara’s diet.

Caracaras are relatively common in central Texas, although they had been in decline from the 1930s to 1980s. If you have ever driven past a chicken farm between Houston and Corpus Christi, you may have seen one feeding on carcasses of dead chickens. Their willingness to eat carrion means Caracaras are often found among groups of vultures, and one local name for them is Mexican Buzzard, which reflects their fondness for carrion.

Over the last few years, we have been seeing Caracaras more often at Hagerman NWR. One possible explanation for the increased sightings is that populations in Texas are recovering slowly from the effects of pesticides and persecution. Some experts suspect, however, that like lots of other southern species that are slowly moving northward, the Caracaras are responding to global climate change. As human caused warming has occurred, the Caracara, White-winged Dove, Great-tailed Grackle and several other species have expanded their ranges northward.

To learn more about birds and other wildlife at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, visit the official Refuge website, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html, and for information about activities and events, please see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Dark Morph Red-Tailed Hawk At Hagerman

2011-03-03T05:29:00.001-08:00

Text and Photography by Skeeter Lasuzzo

Red-tailed Hawks are the most common hawk in North America and are known for their brick-colored tails. While most of us are familiar with a typical Red-tailed Hawk seen soaring over pastures or sitting on telephone poles on the edge of fields, we might not know that there are a number of different colors or subspecies of Red-tails. Some don't even have a red tail. The image I have included today is a dark morph Red-tailed Hawk, sometimes called a Harlan's Hawk. The Harlan's Hawk breeds in Alaska and North-West Canada then migrates south to primarily Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas where they spend the winter. This hawk was photographed at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge. The Harlan's is considered uncommon at Hagerman and this is the first one we have seen there. Notice the light colored eyes.

Another subspecies of the Red-tailed, that can sometimes be seen in North Texas, is the Krider's Hawk. It is a light colored version with a white colored head and tail. The tail may even have a pinkish tint.

This is also the season to observe the courting ritual of not only the Harlan's but all Red-tailed Hawks. The male and female hawk will soar at high altitude, circling one another. The male will alternate steep dives with steep upward climbs. He will then approach the female from above. He will briefly touch the female with his legs and on some occasions they will lock talons and spiral toward the ground, eventually pulling apart.

So keep your eyes to the sky, not only for the dark morph Red-tailed Hawk (the Harlan's Hawk), but for a chance to witness an unusual courting ritual.

Want to know more about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. The official website for the Refuge is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and information about activities and events of the Friends of Hagerman can be found at http://www.friendsofhagerman.com

The Train

2011-02-24T05:17:00.000-08:00

By Marolyn and Skeeter Lasuzzo, Photo by Skeeter Lasuzzo

Marolyn and I like to hike at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge. One of our favorite hikes is the trail along Deaver Pond, Meadow Pond and on to a train trestle at the end of the trail. This hike is a little over 5 miles round trip. One can usually see shorebirds along the ponds and numerous songbirds in the trees along the trail. On a number of occasions, we have seen deer, turkeys and wild hogs. The trail is wide and flat and makes for a nice stroll. One of the things you will see is the train that comes along periodically. The train tracks run along the south side of both ponds. The trail and the tracks intersect at the end of the trail near the trestle. While not wildlife, the train does make for an interesting image, especially in black and white.

Ed Note: Additional information, from the "Guide to the Hiking Trails at Hagerman NWR", by Doug Raasch: [To reach Meadow Pond Trail] From the visitor center go south along the lake, about two miles, until the road makes a “T.” You will be looking straight down Meadow Pond trail as you approach the “T.” You can park at the trail head or in the day use area on the right. A restroom is available. (ED: PLEASE do not block the gate!)

After passing through the turnstile… The trail is perfectly flat … because we are following the rail bed that once was the lifeblood of the village of Hagerman. The berms that occasionally shelter the trail are left over from rail bed construction.

(ED: The track now in use belongs to the Union Pacific Railroad, and was previously part of the M-K-T or “Katy” Railroad lines; the track was relocated from the original route through the town of Hagerman when Lake Texoma was built.)

Links:

For more railroad history, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri%E2%80%93Kansas%E2%80%93Texas_Railroad and

http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/history/index.shtml.

The official Refuge website is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html

And for information about the activities of the Friends of Hagerman, please see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Join the 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count

2011-02-17T05:29:00.000-08:00

(Information in this post is from Cornell Lab of Ornithology, http://www.birds.cornell.edu/)

You can help count the birds! February 18 - 21 are the dates for the annual Great Backyard Bird Count this year. The count is coordinated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada, and all interested persons - people of all ages and skill levels - can help by counting birds in their yards, neighborhoods, or other locations across the U. S. and Canada.

Cornell’s instructions are to simply tally birds for at least 15 minutes on any day of the count, then go to http://www.birdcount.org and enter the highest number of each species seen at any one time.

Cornell states that numbers submitted to Cornell provide an instantaneous snapshot of birdlife across the continent for all to see, and that you can watch as the tallies come in at http://www.birdcount.org.

“Whether people observe birds in backyards, parks, or wilderness areas, the Great Backyard Bird Count is an opportunity to share their results at http://www.birdcount.org,” said Judy Braus, Audubon’s vice president of Education and Centers. “It’s fun and rewarding for people of all ages and skill levels--and it gets people outside!”

“When thousands of people all tell us what they’re seeing, we can detect changes in birds’ numbers and locations from year to year,” said Dr. Janis Dickinson, director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Information, including bird-ID tips, instructions, and past results, is available at http://www.birdcount.org. For photographers, the count also includes a photo contest.

For more information about birds at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, please see the official Refuge website, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for information about events and activities of the Friends of Hagerman, as well as many bird photos, visit http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Photo, Female Red-winged Blackbird, by Donna Niemann.

Happy Birthday, Hagerman NWR

2011-02-09T05:14:00.000-08:00

Hagerman National Wildlife has a birthday today, February 9! The Refuge is now 65 years old. Hagerman NWR was established in 1946 by agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, following the construction of Lake Texoma. Hagerman NWR is within what was historically the hunting territory of several Native American tribes including the Caddo, Wichita, Comanche, and Kiowas. There is limited evidence of their temporary and recurrent or seasonal use of the area, but no permanent settlements have been noted.

In 1873, the MKT Railroad (Missouri, Kansas and Texas) known locally as “the KATY” crossed directly through lands that would become part of the Refuge. This brought many people and new beginnings, including farming, to the north Texas area. In 1910, a 10 acre area adjacent to the rail bed and underneath a portion of what is now Lake Texoma was plotted and streets were named. Previously a farming community known as Steedman as far back as the 1880's, the new town was named Hagerman after an attorney for the MKT Railroad who was instrumental in getting approval for the railway to be constructed through Indian Territory. The town had about 250 residents with churches, stores, a cotton gin and most everything one could need at that time. The town site was abandoned in 1943 to prepare for flooding of Lake Texoma. Today, the Wildlife Drive and Meadow Pond Trail exist on that same railroad bed.

Prior to the building of the lake, the land now encompassed by the Refuge included not only the town of Hagerman but outlying farms. Names of area families such as Goode, Terry, Dunning, Steedman, Harris and Meyers still designate roads, administrative or geographic features in and around the Refuge, and Hagerman NWR, established as an overlay of a portion of the Big Mineral arm of Lake Texoma consisting of nearly 12,000 acres, provides a variety of habitats for birds and wildlife.

The first Refuge Manager was Marcus Nelson, who served in that capacity until 1951. On a visit to Hagerman NWR in 2007, Nelson said that the first two buildings at the Refuge were boxes that heavy equipment came in. He talked about building the first service building and equipment building for only $12,000. Nelson retired in 1980, as the Chief of National Wildlife Refuges, in Washington DC.

Hagerman is one of over 500 national wildlife refuges across the United States, and one of 21 here in Texas. Happy Birthday, Hagerman NWR, and many happy returns!

For more information about Hagerman NWR, please visit the official Refuge website, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for information about activities and events, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

The Pileated Woodpecker

2011-02-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

By Skeeter & Marolyn Lasuzzo

The Pileated Woodpecker is a very conspicuous bird when seen flying through the woods. They are "crow size", around 16 to 20 inches long, with a wingspan of 27 to 30 inches. In flight, they show large white underwing patches with black overall markings. They do have a "call", but most often the sound you will hear from a Pileated Woodpecker is the drumming on a tree that sounds like the tree is being hit with a wooden mallet. The flaming red crest is also very noticeable. The male has a red crest that comes all the way down to its beak and under its chin. The female crest is red only on the top of its head. The image I have included is of a female Pileated.

While it's very difficult to get close to these elusive birds, we have had a pair frequent our back yard this year. I was able to photograph this bird by opening our sliding glass door and shooting from inside the house. This worked out great since it was snowing very heavily with a very low wind chill.

Ed. Note: The Hagerman NWR Bird Check List indicates that while the Pileated Woodpecker is present at the Refuge, it is unlikely to be seen. Birders have very occasionally spotted or heard them in the picnic area of the Goode Unit, near Dead Woman Pond, in the Big Mineral picnic area, along Meadow Pond trail and Oil Field Road. For more information, the official website for the Refuge is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for the Friends of Hagerman, http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Room for Wildlife

2011-01-27T05:51:00.000-08:00

We have had night visitors at our backyard bird feeders several times this winter. The accompanying photo shows a young raccoon enjoying sunflower seeds one evening this week. We generally deal with this by bringing the feeders in at night for awhile until the “varmints” give up and go elsewhere, but the latest incident made me think about a recent article I read listing the loss of habitat as a major cause of bird deaths. "Elsewhere" is dwindling. Hence the importance of Hagerman and other national wildlife refuges whose mission is to provide protection, rest and shelter for migratory and other birds.

In the 2006 animated movie, Over the Hedge, a subplot shows the difficulty animals experience in the face of blind development. Think about the birds who travel the North American flyways - for years they follow a chain of a welcoming lakes, forests or prairies, then one year, oops, now a mall or housing development or major highway has taken over one or more links in that chain. You could liken it to your favorite vacation spot closing down or pricing you out! But survival, not simply enjoyment, is at stake here. Let’s support the national wildlife refuges and “leave the light on” for wildlife, as Tom Bodett would say.

To learn more about Hagerman NWR, its mission and birds of the Refuge, please go to the offical website, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html; you can also learn about acitivites and events at the Refuge by clicking on the Friends of Hagerman link, http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Today's post by Sue Malnory, photo by Dick Malnory

What Birds Can I See Here?

2011-01-20T06:49:00.000-08:00

Birders and other visitors to Hagerman NWR are always interested to know what birds are to be seen out on the Refuge. And currently there are several ways to obtain this information, some electronic and some the traditional way.

1. Each week on the NEWS page of the Friends of Hagerman website, http://www.friendsofhagerman.com (click Bird Survey Highlights), the highlights of the weekly bird census taken at the Refuge are posted, along with location for many of those listed.

2. Similarly, these highlights are also posted on the Friends Facebook page; if you are not “on” Facebook, you can navigate to the Friends page by googling Friends of Hagerman Facebook Page. Once on the page, scroll down to find the weekly post.

3. At Refuge Headquarters, a new whiteboard has been mounted just inside the door, with recent sightings posted, along with the date and location.

4. Also at HQ, ask the staff or the volunteers on hand for the Bird Census notebook, with complete record of birds seen each week.

In a more general sense, the Photo Gallery on the Friends website has albums devoted to the waterfowl, waders, raptors and songbirds. The collection is a work in progress and new photos taken at the Refuge are always welcome; send in jpg format to friendsofhagerman@gmail.com along with your name and the photo title. Permission to use the photo is implicit when you submit them. We also appreciate photos taken at the Refuge that are shared on Facebook.

A Guide to Winter Birds for Photographers lists most likely species and suggested locations. This publication is free and may be picked up at Refuge HQ.

A new and slightly revised edition of the bird check list for Hagerman is due in at this time; be sure to pick one up at HQ, free of charge, to register the birds you see on your next visit to Hagerman NWR. The list is also available on the Friends website, on the NEW page (click About Hagerman ) and on the official Refuge website, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html.

So enjoy your trip to Hagerman NWR and be sure to let HQ know if you spot something different!!

Post by Sue Malnory, with photo, Wilson's Snipe, by Eileen Sullivan

Swan Song

2011-01-13T04:24:00.000-08:00

Adios, amigo - or amiga? The most photographed bird at Hagerman NWR for 2010 has disappeared. Yes, the much reported, much discussed, and much photographed Mute Swan is not around anymore. Mystery bird - from where? To where? The swan first appeared in late March, 2010, and was seen regularly until late November, 2010.

According to Peterson Field Guide to the Birds of North America (2008), the Mute Swan was introduced from Europe, and its range is slowly expanding. The year-round range is along the upper East coast and Great Lakes area, and irregularly, all the way to Iowa and Minnesota. The summer range is along the southern boundaries of Indiana and Ohio, nowhere near Lake Texoma or North Texas.

So - how did the Mute Swan make its way to the Refuge - probably we will never know. If only it weren’t mute…

If you would like to know more about what to see and do at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, please go to the official website for the Refuge, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for information about the programs and activities of the Friends of Hagerman at the Refuge, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Post by Sue Malnory, with photo by Dick Malnory

Eagles in Texoma

2011-01-06T05:56:00.000-08:00

Post and photo by Skeeter Lasuzzo

Most people living in the Texoma area are not aware that Bald Eagles make their way to Lake Texoma and surrounding areas to spend the winter. I have also learned that some people believe all Bald Eagles have a white head and tail. Bald Eagles take up to 5 years to get the white head and tail that they will have throughout their mature lives. Over the last couple of weeks I have been fortunate to photograph Bald Eagles in two of the three different stages of their lives - from juvenile to approximately 2 years old. At one point, we were watching 4 eagles at one time. The image at right of the mature Bald Eagle was taken in the Tetons.

The juvenile Bald Eagles are all dark with the exception of white under wing coverts and white streaks on the tail. The immature eagle develops white patches on the belly and back after one year and additional white on the head and the yellow bill begin to develop after 2 or 3 years. Up until this point, the bill is mostly black.

The all white head and tail come with maturity after 4 to 5 years.

Ed. Note: The American Bald Eagle became a protected species in 1940. See http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/baldeagle.htm for more information on current legal status. Eagles have been seen at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge recently near the pad roads on both sides of Big Mineral Arm.

For more information about Hagerman NWR, please see http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and activities and events of the Friends of Hagerman, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

If We Build It...

2010-12-30T04:54:00.000-08:00

Post and photo by Kathy Whaley

If we build it, will they come? We hope so! The Hagerman Refuge/Ducks Unlimited wetlands restoration project has started. In mid-December, Refuge employees Jay and Rusty set elevation posts and began using heavy equipment to move dirt to elevations that will allow us to manage the water level in MSU 10.

This is the first of three impoundments that will eventually be restored to provide emergent wetlands for ducks. When completed, the three wetland areas (surrounded by dikes) on the northwest side of Wildlife Drive will be floodable to 12” - 18” deep and have gently sloping bottoms and properly placed water control structures. Our goal is to attract dabbling ducks such as mallards, pintail, teal, shovelers, and gadwall who paddle around in shallow water searching for seeds, insects, and small aquatic invertebrates to eat.

Once completed, a new pump (recently ordered by Ducks Unlimited) located on Big Mineral Creek will provide a reliable water source through underground pipe that will allow flooding of all wetlands on both sides of Wildlife Drive for almost a mile. This will ensure that ducks arriving for the winter have shallow water to land on. Our hope is that - long term - more ducks will find Hagerman a good place to spend the winter and the numbers will increase.

Note: Free pamphlets on wildlife including the wintering ducks and geese are available at Refuge Headquarters during office hours. For more information about Hagerman NWR please see http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for information about acitivities and events of the Friends of Hagerman, visit http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Kathy Whaley is the Refuge Manager at Hagerman NWR.

Twelve Days of Winter at the Refuge

2010-12-23T05:53:00.000-08:00

On the first day of winter, at Hagerman we see - a Cardinal in an oak tree.

On the second day of winter, at Hagerman we see - two eagles soaring and a cardinal in an oak tree.

On the third day of winter, at Hagerman we see - three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree.

On the fourth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree.

On the fifth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree.

On the sixth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree

On the seventh day of winter, at Hagerman we see - seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree.

On the eighth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree.

On the ninth day of winter, at Hagerman we see- nine sparrows “chipping”, eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree.

On the tenth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - ten pintails dabbling, nine sparrows “chipping”, eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree.

On the eleventh day of winter, at Hagerman we see - eleven vultures waiting, ten pintails dabbling, nine sparrows “chipping”, eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree.

On the twelfth day of winter, at Hagerman we see - twelve geese a-browsing, eleven vultures waiting, ten pintails dabbling, nine sparrows “chipping”, eight birders watching, seven shovelers shoveling, six winter wrens, five hiking trails, four leaping deer, three anglers angling, two eagles soaring, and a cardinal in an oak tree.

The holidays are a perfect time to visit the Refuge, where you can see all this and more. The official Refuge website, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and http://www.friendsofhagerman.com give directions to the Refuge and information on activities there.

Best wishes to all for a very happy holiday season, from the Friends of Hagerman NWR.

Post by blog editor, Sue Malnory; photo collage by Sue and Dick Malnory.

Add a New Dimension to Your Visit to Hagerman NWR

2010-12-16T04:57:00.000-08:00

By Kathy Whaley, Refuge Manager, with photo by Chris Jennings

Calling all nature explorers! Ever see an animal track and wonder what made it? Do you like to look at birds, but don’t have a pair of binoculars? What kind of snake is that lying across the trail? Would a field guide to birds help you determine if you are looking at a Snow Goose or Ross’s Goose?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, or just enjoy digging a little deeper into the great outdoors than a ride down the wildlife drive, the Friends of Hagerman have a new tool to help you. Four backpacks have been stuffed with items including (1) field guides to birds and other species such as trees, reptiles, or amphibians, (2) laminated photos with tracks of a few species of common Refuge wildlife, (3) a note pad and pencil to write down what you found on your visit, (4) binoculars, and (5) even a hand-held, Earthmate GPS to help you find your way to new places on the Refuge!

The best part is….. these backpacks are available for you to check-out and take with you for the day FREE OF CHARGE. All you have to do is stop by the headquarters to pick it up. The only think you will need to provide is a copy of the driver’s license for the person driving the car, and a contact phone number. Come on out and explore Hagerman! There’s a whole natural world out there just waiting on you.

Headquarters at Hagerman NWR is located in a temporary office/trailer on Refuge Road, and is open Monday - Friday, 7:30 am - 4 pm; Saturday, 9 am - 3 pm, and Sunday, 1 - 4 pm. Holiday hours: open Dec. 24, 10 - Noon; closed Dec. 25. Open Jan. 1, 10 am - 3 pm. Visitors are welcome; please stop and sign in. Free maps, guides and brochures are available in addition to the backpacks.

For more information, please visit the official website for the Refuge, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for the Friends of Hagerman, http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

This Recipe is for the Birds

2010-12-09T04:23:00.000-08:00

Last week we blogged about the thousands of geese that have arrived at Hagerman NWR to spend the winter. Today we are narrowing the focus to our own backyard, where winter weather is bringing more birds to our feeders; all the songbirds we get love this homemade bird food. The recipe originally came from a co-worker, years ago, who showed me how to take a section of tree branch, 1-1/2 inches or more in diameter, drill some holes in it, add a screw eye on one end, and hang near your other bird feeders. Then you pack the holes with the mix. For a time we also spread it on an old flat plastic grater with a handle for hanging - that worked well until a raccoon or possum departed with it one night. And some people simply slather it on the rough bark of a tree trunk.

The easiest method to make the bird food is to use a food processor, but you can use a mixer or simply work with your hands to blend the ingredients in a large bowl:

Basic ingredients: flour, cornmeal, lard, peanut butter

Optional add-ins - peanuts or other nuts, raisins or other dried fruit (chop these before adding, if not using a food processor)

Start with about 1 cup each of flour and of cornmeal, 1/4 cup each lard and peanut butter and mix well. Add more of the fats if too dry, or more dry ingredients if too soft. Blend in optional add-ins once you have the desired consistency, a "dough" that is not sticky. Store in a sealed container. We use it quickly enough that we have no problems with the mix becoming rancid but you could make smaller batches until your bird visitors get “hooked” on it.

Making the feeder and a batch of the mix for a gift is also a good holiday project for children. Similar feeders and dough can also be purchased ready-to-use in specialty bird retail stores.

Winter birds abound at Hagerman NWR, witness the bird survey highlights posted each week on the Friends Facebook page and website. The annual Christmas Bird Count for Hagerman NWR will be held Saturday, December 18; for details and to participate, see the December edition of the Featherless Flyer, http://www.friendsofhagerman.com/images/articles/20101201124109_foh_flyer_dec__2010.pdf

The official site for Hagerman NWR is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html ; for information about activities and programs of the Friends, please visit http://www.friendsofhagerman.com .

This week's post contributed by blog editor, Sue Malnory. Photo of Carolina Wren at feeder, by Dick Malnory

Name That Goose

2010-12-02T05:44:00.000-08:00

Ten thousand or so geese spend the winter at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge and are a popular sight for visitors to the refuge. Here are two questions frequently asked by visitors, related to the geese, and answers to help identify the various species.

“What do you mean, Snow Goose or Ross’s Goose? They all look the same to me!”

That’s true, until you start looking more closely. Ross’s Geese are smaller than Snow Geese, but the relative size can be hard to distinguish when you are looking at a flock of a thousand or more white geese. Instead, look at the shape of the head and bill.

The Ross’s head is more rounded, with a stubby bill which appears thicker at the base. The border at the base of the bill is straight and vertical.

The head of the Snow Goose is more wedge-shaped, with a longer appearing bill. There is a black line between the upper and lower mandibles, or bill, known as a “grin patch”; the base of the bill is more curved that on the Ross’s.

“Okay, but what are those dark colored geese in with ‘Snow Geese’”?

The dark colored geese with white heads are dark phase Snow Geese. These were once called the Blue Goose. They will not become white over time, but are a variation. Dark phase is rare with Ross’s Geese.

Next time you go out to see the geese, take your binoculars, or borrow some from the Refuge Headquarters, so that you can take a close look at the head and bill shape and you will find that you can identify the different species!

This week's post written by Dick Malnory.

AND - on Saturday, December 11, Dr. Wayne Meyer and Rick Cantu will give a presentation for Second Saturday on Wintering Waterfowl at Hagerman, then accompany you on a guided tour, aboard a TAPS bus, along Wildlife Drive. The bus will hold 29 passengers, so for those who are awaiting their turn, a special slide presentation of pix from the Fall 2010 Photo Safari will be shown and Derek Miller will demo use of the new handheld GPS that can be checked out at Refuge HQ for use on the Refuge.

For more information about activities at the Refuge, please check our website, http://www.friendsofhagerman.com . The official site for Hagerman NWR is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html.

A Message to Friends of Wildlife Refuges

2010-11-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

Planning for the "Conserving the Future, Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation" conference is underway. The National Wildlife Refuge Association has stepped up and created a web site and social network to help get everyone actively engaged in this effort.

This is an opportunity for members of the Friends of Hagerman NWR to get involved by creating an account and joining in the conversations taking place. The collective vision for the future of the NWRS will only be as good as the effort we all put into it. . Some folks may be a little hesitant to use social media and some of the other media tools but it really is simple. Just go to http://americaswildlife.org/ and on the right side of the home page you can create an account and start getting involved. If you are already on Facebook you can log in with that account as well. Thank you for all your efforts and best wishes for a very happy Thanksgiving. .

Adopt-a-Nest-Box at Refuge

2010-11-18T05:07:00.000-08:00

How would you like to help expand the Bluebird Trail at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge? The Friends of Hagerman NWR are offering the opportunity to adopt a nest box at the Refuge for one nesting season, for a donation of $25. to the Friends. There are currently three Bluebird trails at the refuge and more boxes being added. All the boxes will be monitored weekly by volunteers once nesting begins for the season. These boxes may host Bluebirds, Warblers, Chickadees or Titmice.

To adopt a box for yourself or as a gift for others, go to http://www.friendsofhagerman.com/images/articles/20101118071550_adopt_a_nest_box_form.pdf When your adoption form is received, you will receive an acknowledgement, and if the adoption is made as a gift, the recipient will also receive notification. Before the 2011 nesting season begins, a box will be tagged with your name or that of the gift recipient. Those with e-mail will be notified of the box location, and regular updates, including photos, will be sent about nesting activity in your box. If you do not have e-mail, you will receive a letter summarizing nesting activity for your box, at the end of the season.

The adoption period for 2011 begins November 1, 2010, and ends February 1, 2011.

For more information, please send a request by way of the Comment page at http://www.friendsofhagerman.com. To view the official Hagerman NWR website, go to http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html.

Photo by Grace Haight.

Tale of a White-tailed and a Bob-tail

2010-11-11T05:25:00.000-08:00

By Kathy Whaley

This is one of those stories where you would almost have to had been there to believe it… so I will understand if you’re skeptical.

The first Friday morning in November I was riding north on Oil Field Road when ahead of me I saw the bright flash of a white tail swishing profoundly back and forth, back and forth. As I got closer, I could see that the bushy tail was attached to a very alert deer. Ignoring me, she jumped around, up and down, back and forth, into the weeds, and back out to the road for about 30 seconds. I was quite amused at her antics then came the real surprise: she had a playmate. Out of the weeds beside the road popped a young bobcat. It looked to be about 15-20 pounds and probably a 2010 model. The deer lunged playfully at the bobcat, tail still swishing, and the bobcat just watched as if to say “oh yeah? Well now what cha' gonna do?” They stopped in their tracks about 10 feet apart and stared at each other for about 7-8 seconds before the bobkitty darted back into the weeds…then out again… then in again. The doe looked my direction briefly, then bolted into the woods where her buddy had gone. I thought to myself how cool it was to see such an interesting mixed-species, herbivore/carnivore encounter. When you visit Hagerman, keep your eyes open! You never know what might just be around the next bend.

For more information about what to see and do at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, the official website, including a species list, is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and the website for the Friends of Hagerman is http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Photo by Kathy Whaley

Editor's Note: Want to share your "tales" of adventure at Hagerman NWR? Email to friendsofhagerman@gmail.com. There is no renumeration for any submissions.

Winter Van Tours at Refuge Begin November 17

2010-11-04T04:23:00.000-07:00

Here is your opportunity to tour Hagerman NWR with the experts! Huge flocks of geese will soon be arriving to spend the winter at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, and, starting this month, visitors to the Refuge can take a free van tour to view the geese as well as other wildlife at the Refuge . This will be the second year for this popular program. Two-hour tours will be conducted by Refuge staff every Wednesday from November 17, 2010, through January 12, 2011.

During the tour, you will learn the process of creating and maintaining the more than 11,000 acre habitat for resident and migratory wildlife, particularly birds. Visitors can expect to see pelicans, numerous species of ducks, four species of geese, several species of sparrows, as well as white-tailed deer and wild turkeys.

Each trip will be limited to twelve people, so reservations are necessary for the tours. Simply call the Refuge, 903 786 2826. The tours will depart from the temporary Refuge Headquarters at Hagerman at 9 a.m. on the designated days. Binoculars will be available on a free loan-basis.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is located at 6465 Refuge Road, Sherman, on the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma. A map and additional information about activities at the Refuge are available at www.friendsofhagerman.com. The official Refuge website is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html.

Make it a tradition to enjoy nature by taking the Winter Van Tour at Hagerman!

Woo-Hoo - Housing Project at Refuge - Part II

2010-10-28T04:03:00.000-07:00

Byron Rushing and a Techline crew, subcontractors with Grayson Collin Electric Co-op, “light” -ened the task of installing owl nest boxes at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge this week. This summer, a Friends of Hagerman volunteer built nest boxes for Screech Owls, Barn Owls and Barred Owls with materials provided by the Refuge. Four Screech Owl boxes and four Barn/Barred Owl boxes were built. Now, thanks to GCEC, all the owl boxes have been placed from 12’ to 14’ off the ground, to meet the owls' nesting needs and allow for monitoring. On Monday of this week, Bryan Fish, Bryan Fish, Jr., Dwyane (Hoot) Jones, Jr., and Ron Griffin from Techline moved poles taken down in the process of re-routing power lines for the new Visitor Center/Administration complex at the Refuge, drilled holes and set the poles in place with the owl nest boxes attached (shown in photo), at the recommended heights.

Visitors to the Refuge will probably not see the owl boxes, as most of them are placed away from public use areas. In order for the Barred Owls to use the nest box, the boxes must be placed at least a mile apart, and in a wooded area. The Barn Owl’s territorial size is just the area around the nest box, and their boxes are placed in open prairie at the Refuge, their preferred habitat. Screech Owls’ habitat is at the edge of woods, and their territory, like that of the Barn Owl, is the area around the nest. Whether the nest boxes are visible to visitors or not, be assured that thanks to GCEC and Techline’s support for the Refuge and the Friends, this project will encourage growth in the owl population of the area.

The official site for information about Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html and for information about activities and events, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

New Trail Signs at Refuge

2010-10-21T15:09:00.001-07:00

The next few weeks promise great weather for walking the trails at HagermanNational Wildlife Refuge and the Refuge staff and volunteers are making it easier to enjoy your hike. Workkamper Bill Powell (shown at left in photo), volunteer Barry Bell (shown at right in photo) and Refuge Manager Kathy Whaley just completed installation of three trailhead signs today - at Harris Creek, Crow Hill, and Meadow Pond Trail. Each sign has a map that shows the trail layout and gives general information about that trail. Refuge Manager Whaley stated that the sign for HallersHaven is being fabricated at this time.

In addition, maps showing directions from the Refuge Headquarters to the trailhead have been added to the trail guide series that is available on the Friends website,http://www.friendsofhagerman.com and in print in the Refuge office. Additional work is being done to increase the information in the trail guides and in the wildlife guides, information about where various wildlife might be seen and when, to help visitors have the best possible experience at the Refuge.

So what are you waiting for, as the US Fish and Wildlife slogan for National Wildlife Refuge Week says, Let's Go Outside!

For more information about Hagerman NWR, the official website is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html.

Photo by Kathy Whaley

To Green Your Garden, Go Native

2010-10-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

From the US FWS Newswire

How ‘green’ is your garden? Well, now may be last chance this year to plant seeds of wildflowers native to your region that will give you low-maintenance blooms next spring and all summer long. Not only will they thrive — they’ll support native birds, insects and other pollinators that depend on familiar, home-grown species for a healthy ecosystem.

“Native species evolved in the local environment and have developed complex interrelationships with other area plant species as well as fine tuning to local climate and soil conditions,” says Kathleen Blair, an ecologist at Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. Exotic plant species — non-natives, including many commercially available garden flowers — haven’t. That means, she says, “If you plant non-native or exotic species, a whole lot of other local species cannot use them.”

It’s possible that going native might help save a local ecosystem, or at least parts of one. That’s what motivates Pauline Drobney, a biologist at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa, where the staff is working to restore the globally threatened tallgrass prairie savannah. Each year, says Drobney, staff and volunteers plant up to 250 species of native plants on the refuge.

Does planting native mean sacrificing flash and drama? No way, says Drobney, who won over a skeptical neighbor by showing him the butterfly milkweed and blazing star in her yard. “It was just knock-your-socks-off color,” she says.

Some non-natives or exotics have become ecological nightmares, escaping backyards to rampage across entire regions, choking out native species as they spread. Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria, native to Europe) is a prime example. “It’s a nightmare of a plant. It’s now clogging up the wetlands of the East Coast,” says Blair.

Beyond that, planting an appropriate species will improve your odds of success. Some wildflowers are highly site-specific in terms of rainfall, elevation and soil type.

Here are just a few examples of some native wildflower favorites by region:

Great Plains/Prairie: blazing star, cream gentian, fall sunflower, prairie phlox, prairie violet, heath aster, bird’s foot violet. (“Not only does it bloom profusely, but it’s the obligate host food for the rare regal fritillary butterfly,” says Drobney about the last plant species.)

Southwest: lupin, beard-tongue (or penstemon; a real hummingbird favorite)

Chesapeake Bay watershed: butterfly weed, Joe-Pye weed (also known as trumpet weed), eastern or willow bluestar

Southeast: bee balm, black-eyed Susan

Pacific Northwest: broad-leaf lupine, spreading phlox

Upper Plains: rigid goldenrod, wild lily

Northeast: blue flag iris, New England aster

For reliable information on plants native to your region, consult your local native plant society. For Texas see http://npsot.org/ Some other good sources are:

Department of Agriculture: http://plants.usda.gov/ or http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/nativegardening/index.shtml, which offers a variety of links and native plant information.
Native Plant Information Network http://www.wildflower.org/ – houses a native plant database and searchable image directory maintained by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Plant Conservation Alliance http://www.nps.gov/plants/ – contains links to plant guides by region.
U.S. National Arboretum http://www.usna.usda.gov/ – search “native plants”.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service http://www.fws.gov/ – search “native plants”.

ED Note: Source for Texas wildflower seeds: http://www.wildseedfarms.com/. For photos of wildflowers seen at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com/photos.asp?album=12. for more infomration about Hagerman NWR, the official site is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html

Bluebonnet photo by Callie Evans.

"Shoot ‘Em Up" at Refuge

2010-10-07T05:27:00.000-07:00

With over 8,000 acres of upland at Hagerman NWR, there will be plenty of room to roam for photographers who will be "shooting" away on Saturday, October 23, at the Fall 2010 Photo Safari. Sponsored by the Friends of Hagerman Nature Photo Club, this will be the fourth semi-annual event of this type, with small groups led by experienced photographers spending the morning recording wildlife, autumn landscapes and more.

The leaders are volunteers who are familiar with both the Refuge and cameras used by the participants. When asked, they can give tips on camera settings, setting up shots and more.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 8 a.m., and end between 11 - 11:30 a.m. Participants are invited to bring a brown bag and stay for a post-shoot discussion. Dessert will be provided.

To register for the photo safar, please send your name, contact information and camera make and model to fohphotoclub@gmail.com. You will receive confirmation of your registration.

Those participating will want to bring all their camera gear including fresh batteries, insect repellent and drinking water, and dress for walking through grass that may be wet with dew.

Participants will be informed as to the process for sharing photos for a special virtual gallery showing after the event. For more information about Hagerman National wildlife Refuge, the official website is http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/hagerman/index.html, and for Friends events and activities, see http://www.friendsofhagerman.com.

Photo - Playful Pelican, by Grace Haight, taken at the Fall 2009 Photo Safari at Hagerman NWR