.

SUMMER is officially here! You can take theexclamation point following that statement howeveryou wish. To some it means Yaaayy, time for swimming,picnics, and fireworks. For some it means ughhh, how am Igoing to keep the kids busy for three months. For others it meansday upon day of ever increasing heat and corresponding electric bills.For me it means evaporation. Evaporation of that most precious of all naturalresources, water. We are in the midst of an ongoing drought that will have farreaching implications for our state and local area. I intend to highlight some ofthese points in this quarter’s issue. For many of you I know that I”m preachingto the choir, but for others perhaps a bit of enlightenment may occur.. It’s notall doom and gloom however, there are many good things going on with ourchapter and many things coming up in the near future. So peruse this issue,earn some things, be entertained, and get out in this infernal heat and put insome volunteer hours!!! See you outside (I’ll be the one paddling a canoe in apuddle!!)

Chad EtheridgeCross Timbers Chapter Vice-Presidentcwetheridge@sbcglobal.net

C R O S S T I M B E R SC H A P T E R

N E W S L E T T E R

V O L U M E 2N U M B E R 4

J U L - S E P 2 0 1 3

HESTER SHWARZER

CHAD ETHERIDGE

ALICE MOFFIT

SANDY FOUNTAIN

RICK SHEPHERD

BILL SHAW

GINGER BASON-BOWDEN

GEORGE MCBRIDE

KIM STEVENS-GUNNLAUGSSON

CHAD ETHERIDGE

Josephine Keeney

Flower of the Quarter

Western Ironweed, Vernonia baldwinii andWooly Ironweed, Vernonia lindheimeri(Family Asteraceae)

is a hardy perennial with lovely leaves and large clusters ofgorgeous, bright, deep purple, ray flowers that are a magnet for butterflies. It formsclumps up to five feet tall and has a non branching habit.

The bloom period ranges from July to September and if the plant is cut back afterblooming it will bloom again in the Fall. It likes to grow in open woods and low placesand is usually not browsed by cattle, because of its bitter taste.

Very few of the seeds are fertile, so it is best to sow thickly, but root division in late falland tip cuttings in Spring are the best propagation methods.This plant is a must have for butterfly gardens.

grows up to three feet, with very narrow grey wooly leaves and has aclumping habit.The ray flowers form large clusters and are very showy, blooming for along period. This plant is great for butterflies and should be used more in the homegarden. It can be propagated by seed, cuttings, and root division.

Both plants are drought resistant and cold hardy.

by Josephine Keeney

By Sandy Fountain

I have lived in Lakeside, Texas, 32 of the last 34 years. I also lived there several years as asmall child. In those years, I have noticed Cicada Killers from time to time. I have always triedto steer clear. I always thought that anything that large had to have a powerful sting. However,in the summer of 2011, I found several of their holes in my front yard right next to where I muststand to turn the water faucet on and off. Every time I tried to turn the water on they wouldstart acting aggressive, flying rapidly and approaching really close. I started thinking that some-thing has got to give, either me or the Cicada Killers. Before I went off half cocked to get somewasp spray I decided to do some research. As it turns out I was quite pleased with what Ilearned.

These particular Cicada Killers are known as the Eastern Cicada Killers or, Sphecius Speciosus.They have a rust colored head and thorax, rust colored wings and a black and yellow striped ab-domen. They range from 1.5 inches to 2 inches in length. The females are larger than themales. The colors of the abdomen are quite pretty if you are into insect beauty. They are some-times confused with the European Hornet.

The females emerge in mid-summer and start digging burrows. Their burrows are 6 to 10inches deep but do not go straight down. They slant downward. The burrow is about the widthof a quarter. They have perpendicular cells off of the main burrow. The female digs the burrowwith her jaws and uses her hind legs to remove the soil as she backs out. When she is ready,

she starts breeding and hunting for Cicadas. You might encounter a large female outpatrolling for Cicadas near her burrows. She will get 10 to 30 Cicadas in one summer.She locates a live Cicada, stings it, which paralyzes it, then flies/drags it back to theburrow. She places each Cicada in a cell and lays an egg on it. Female eggs get twoCicadas because they are larger and need more food. Next, she seals off the cell. Theeggs hatch within 1 or 2 days and start eating the Cicada. The larvae mature in 2weeks. In the fall the larvae spin a silken case to overwinter. It pupates in the springover a 25 to 30 day period to emerge in mid-summer. The adults do not overwinter.

The males hang out in groups and grapple with each other for dominance. Theywill eventually pick a territory to defend while trying to locate females for breeding. Ithink that when I approached the water faucet I encountered a grappling group ofmales. I thought they were getting aggressive with me but I think they were justchecking me out because I was a new entity entering the area where they were strug-gling to achieve dominance. Males can’t even sting! Females can sting, but they arenot easily provoked. You must grab them and hold them or get them caught in yourclothing to be stung. If you do get stung, the sting is described as a very mild pinprick. It rates very low on the pain scale of wasp and hornet stings. On the otherhand, the European Hornet sting is quite painful.

Now I know that I really don’t have to worry about Cicada Killers. In fact, I’m gladto have them in my yard. The love song of the Cicada can be very loud and obnoxiousin the summer. If you have tall trees in or near your yard, I am sure you can relate.It’s nice to know that I have a natural control on their populations on my property.Most likely it benefits the deciduous trees in my yard as well since Cicadas lay theireggs in the small branches. It shouldn’t harm mature trees as long as the Cicadanumbers don’t get excessive. So the next time you have friends over and a CicadaKiller the size of a Hummingbird flies by, you can impress them by standing yourground and acting like it’s no big deal.

No kidding, there I was. .....

Enjoying my surroundings, contemplating deep thoughts, trying to forget the overfilledcalendar on my desk, the traffic I had to fight to get to the put-in, and the stresses of everydayhurry up life, when suddenly...it happened! I ran aground. Now this was due in absolutely nopart to a bit of poor navigation, or a tad too much deep thinking, or even a distraction by oneof the amazing river critters that I usually write about. No, this was due to a fundamental law ofphysics. It takes a proportionate amount of water to raise a floating object high enough to nothit the bottom. In other words, I ran out of water! This is an occurrence that has beenhappening to me more and more frequently as of late and it's getting to be quite concerning.Water levels throughout north Texas, and Texas in general, have been in rapid decline in recentyears. A fact that we have to recognize and a reality that we may have to live with for manyyears to come.

Don't let the rain showers we've had scattered throughout the Spring fool you. We havebeen and still are in an ongoing drought. The North Texas Municipal Water District will beginthis summer with 28% of its water supply missing. Even if we get the normal rate of rainfall weshould through September, and forecasts predict that we won't, many of the districts reservoirsmay still fall below 50% of conservation storage capacity. So depending on your philosophicalstate of mind the reservoir is either half empty or half full right? But, let's take a look at thiswith an historical perspective. Conservation storage capacity, also known as conservation levelor conservation pool, means the water held below the maximum level of the reservoir.Statewide, Texas is presently around 66% of conservation storage capacity. Last year it wasaround 78% and the historical low for this period was around 72%! So, the north Texasreservoirs that could fall at or below the 50% level would be drastically below the statewidehistoric low average. 2011 was the driest year on record in north Texas and that put a major

CHAD ETHERIDGE

draw on our local reservoirs and rivers. Unfortunately, the drought trend persists. From April2012 to March 2013 D/FW International Airport (the official station of record) rainfallamounts were over 10 inches below normal. Over the past ten years (2003-2012) averageannual rainfall amounts were 3.37 inches below normal. Close to three feet over the span of adecade! These numbers are eerily close to the devastating “Great Drought” of the 1950's whichwas the worst on record in north Texas. It is yet to be determined if this event will surpass the1950's event, but it is predicted by some that this will be a multi-year event that could last until2020. Our rainfall pattern is affected to a great deal by the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific DecadalOscillation (PDO) is the pattern of change in the Pacific’s climate from warm to cold. Thisfluctuation creates what is known as el nino and la nina years. The el nino years are the onesthat cause Texas to have above average precipitation years. The current models for the PDOdo not show an el nino year developing for the next two to three years. If this comes to passthis drought will probably become the drought of record for Texas. It is also estimated thatwater shortages combined with increasing population could cost Texas 5.4 billion dollars.Current conditions are certainly going to have long reaching effects. Fights over water aredefinitely nothing new and they seem to be on the increase. In April of this year attorneys forTexas and Oklahoma presented their arguments regarding water rights concerning the RedRiver watershed before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court quickly ruled in June(Unanimously in fact!) that Texas had stepped way beyond the scope of the Red River Compactwhen they sued Oklahoma to begin removal of water from a tributary to the Red River that wasentirely within the stae of Oklahoma. Is that what it’s coming to? Removing water from otherstates? The current boom in hydraulic fracturing or fracking, is also putting a tremendousstrain our water supplies. Especially in Texas where drilling companies use the most water inthe U.S. for this process, more than three times that of Pennsylvania, which is second. The sadpart is, according to a Ceres (non-profit that identifies environmental risks in business models)report, almost half (47%) of drilling sites in the U.S. are placed in river basins with a high orextremely high risk of water stress.

So, combine drought, high evaporation rates, population increase, fracking, unnecessaryconsumer waste, along with various other factors, and what you end up with are two verysuccinct lines: Infinite needs.

FINITE Water.

Which lead us to the precarious position of reservoirs reaching a frightening storage capacitylevel of below 50%, and dropping river levels that cause me to keep bumping my butt (albeitwith a thin layer of kayak between) on the river bottom. Hopefully, the rains will return soon.So everyone please go out and do whatever type of rain dance you may know of so that I won'thave to start writing a column called, Somewhere On A River !!! So, until we meet again,I'll be out, as usual, Somewhere On A River...

Chad Etheridge Water Programs Coordinator

VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF TEXAS RESERVOIR LEVELS

The dreaded Eurasian invaders have arrived in North Texas and are spreading with a vengeance.Unlike most mussel species, this one does not need a host. The beneficial native freshwater mussels usedifferent species of fish to act as host to their larvae, called veligers. The zebra mussel has free floatingmicroscopic veligers that adhere to almost any surface and grow incredibly fast. They can even attach toliving organisms. Veligers have now been detected by TPWD in Lake Bridgeport prompting TPWD toenact an emergency Zebra Mussel order which now includes the West fork of the Trinity. Eagle Mountainlake lies below Lake Bridgeport and Lake Worth lies below Eagle Mountain. They are getting closer andwill eventually be here, it’s just a matter of when. If you would like to read the Order the web site is listedbelow. Keep an eye out!!

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20130701b

TEXAS MASTER NATURALIST

Tuesday, 8/27/13 6-9 pm Intro/General Ecology Hardwicke Ctr - - - Derek BromanTuesday, 9/3/13 6-9 pm Aquatic Ecology Hardwicke Ctr- - - Chad EtheridgeTuesday, 9/10/13 6-9 pm Herps Hardwicke Ctr - - - Mark PyleSaturday, 9/14/13 10-4 pm Aquatic **Fieldtrip TBA - - - Chad EtheridgeTuesday, 9/17/13 6-9 pm Forest Ecology Hardwicke Ctr- - - Robert DenkhausTuesday, 9/24/13 6-9 pm Birds/Mammals Hardwicke Ctr- - - Mike Perez/Sam KieschnickSaturday, 9/28/13 10-4 pm Forest **Fieldtrip TBA- - - Robert DenkhausTuesday, 10/1/13 6-9 pm Prairie Ecology Hardwicke Ctr- - - Michelle VillafrancaTuesday, 10/8/13 6-9 pm Invertebrates Hardwicke Ctr - - -Omar Bocanegra/Laura VelozSaturday, 10/12/13 10-4 pm Prairie **Fieldtrip TBA- - - Michelle VillanfrancaTuesday, 10/15/13 6-9 pm Urban Ecology Hardwicke Ctr- - - Derek BromanSaturday, 10/19/13 10-4 pm Urban **Fieldtrip TBA- - Derek BromanTuesday, 10/22/13 6-9 pm *Final Class Hardwicke Ctr- - FWNC Staff/CTMN Officers/ Volunteer Coordinators

*The final class and wrap-up includes volunteer opportunities in the Cross Timbers Chapter

2013CROSS TIMBERS MASTER

NATURALIST TRAINING CLASS

PROJECT WETWORKSHOP

PROJECT WET WORKSHOPAUGUST 17, 2013 9:00-4:00FORT WORTH NATURE CENTER & REFUGE

Project WET Educators Workshop: The goal of Project WET (WaterEducation for Teachers) is to promote the awareness, appreciation, andknowledge of water resources.

This seminar is fun, hands-on, action-packed, and informational. WET isfor anyone interested in natural resources, especially public, private, andhome school K-8 teachers, informal educators, and Master Naturalists.The seminar offers educators exciting new activities to use in teachingscience, math, language arts, social studies, and environmental studies.

Each seminar participant will receive a copy of the Project WET 2.0 ActivityGuide. Registration deadline is July 26th. Cost is $35 per person and includesguide, park admission, and snacks.

July 2013

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7

ATTRACTINGBIRDS TO YOURYARDFWNC10A-NOONAT

8 9 10 11 12

EARLY BIRDSFWNC 7-9AMAT

13

KAYAK TOURFWNC8:30-NOON ATNATUREPHOTOGRAPHYFWNC 1-3PMAT

14

POISON IVYPERILSFWNC11A-NOONAT

15

CTMN Meeting7:00 BotanicGardensAT

16 17 18 19

FULL MOONPADDLEFWNC8-10:30 PMAT

20

Kayak TourFWNC&R8:30 amATSUMMERWILDFLOWERSFWNC 1-3PMAT

21 22

CTMN BoardMeeting6:30 Agrilife BldgFort Worth

23 24 25

Arlington OrganicGarden Club Mtg7:00pm Arlington

Trinity River: ALegacy Of LifeAT

26

PROJECT WETWORKSHOPREGISTRATIONDEADLINE

27

BIRDING THEBOARDWALKFWNC1-3PMAT

28

NATIVE BEESURVEYFWNC1:30-3:30PAT

29 30 31

August 2013

S M T W T F S

1 2

EARLY BIRDSFWNC7-9AMAT

3

CANOE TOURFWNC8:30-NOONATOPOSSUMMEET ANDGREET FWNC 1& 2P AT

4

FACTS ONFRESHWATERFWNC10-11AMAT

5 6 7 8 9 10

11

REFUGE QUIZPART 1FWNC1:30-3:30PAT

12 13 14 15 16 17

Project WETWorkshop9:30a-4:00pFWNC&RAT 6 Hrs

18 19

CTMN Meeting7:00 BotanicGardensAT

20 21

FULL MOONPADDLEFWNC8-10:30AT

22

EVENINGSTROLLFWNC8-9:30PAT

23 24

KAYAK TOURFWNC8:30-NOON ATGATOR TALESFWNC 1 & 2 PMAT

25

REFUGE QUIZPART 2FWNC1:30-3:30PMAT

26

CTMN BoardMeeting6:30p AgrilifeBldgFort Worth

27

CTMN FallTraining Class6-9pmFWNC&R

28 29 30 31

NATURE HIKEFWNC 10A-NOONATMONARCHSAND MILKWEEDFWNC 1-3PMAT

September 2013

S M T W T F S

1

GRASSHOPPERROUNDUPFWNC1:30-3:30AT

2

Labor Day3

CTMN FALLCLASSFWNC6-9PM

4 5 6

EARLY BIRDSFWNC7-9AMAT

7

CANOE TOURFWNC8:30-NOONAT

8 9 CTMN FALLCLASSFWNC6-9PM

11 12 13 14

GREER ISLANDDISCOVERYFWNC1-3PMAT

15

REFUGE QUIZPART 3FWNC1:30-3:30PAT

16

CTMN Meeting7:00 BotanicGardens FortWorthAT

CTMN FALLCLASSFWNC6-9PM

18 19

FULL MOONPADDLEFWNC7-9:30PAT

20 21

BIRDS ON THEMOVEFWNC1-3PMAT

22 23

CTMN BoardMeeting6:30 Agri LifeBldg Fort Worth

CTMN FALLCLASSFWNC6-9PM

25 26

EVENINGSTROLLFWNC7-8:30AT

27 28

KAYAK TOURFWNC8:30-NOON ATFALL DOCENTORIENTATION10-NOONAT

29

FALLWILDFLOWERSFWNC1:30-3:30PMAT

30

FWNC NATURAL GUARD EVERY THUR & SAT 9-NOON

MOLLY HOLLAR WILDSCAPE : SEE WEBSITE WWW.THEWILDSCAPE.ORG

O S GRAY NATURAL AREA: 2ND SATURDAY OF MONTH 9-NOON

NEW YORK AVE BLACKLAND PRAIRIE WORKDAY: 3RD SATURDAY OF MONTH

RIVER LEGACY : VARIOUS OPPORTUNITIES