Montezuma Quail

Yesterday, we were treated to a BEAUTIFUL Sunday in the Texas Mountains, crisp and cold early rising to the 40s and 50s in Fort Davis.  We headed north 10 miles past McDonald Observatory (24 miles north of Fort Davis) to the Nature Conservancy's Madera Canyon Trail, since it is open to the public every day of the week, and has easy (and free) access at the Lawrence E. Wood Picnic Area off Hwy 118.

The Madera Canyon Trail is 2.4 miles (rated moderate) and is a site on the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail, a collaborative project between our own Texas Mountain Trail and Texas Parks and Wildlife.  Would you like your own map?  Click here for purchase information.

Owned and maintained by the Nature Conservancy's Davis Mountains Preserve, it is open to foot traffic 365 days a week. (To protect the sensitive landscape, pets are not allowed on the trail.)

The Nature Conservancy offers this description of the trail:

"A moderately difficult hike, the trail offers views of Madera Canyon, Pine Peak, Mount Livermore (the highest peak in the Davis Mountains), Sawtooth Mountain and the whole of the upper watershed for Madera Creek.  At one point, the trail drops down into Chico Canyon, where it follows the creek and takes hikers past a historic stock tank.

Hikers traverse stands of stately ponderosa pines, pinion-juniper woodlands and grassy meadows.  Wildlife that may be present, particularly at dawn or dusk, includes gray foxes, ringtails, western scrub jays, acorn woodpeckers, Montezuma quail, golden eagles, Davis Mountains cottontails, javelina, white-tail and mule deer, mountain short-horned lizards and, rarely, mountain lions.  At dawn, visitors may listen for the bugling of elk in the fall or the chorus of coyotes any time of year.

 

We were lucky enough to see Montezuma Quail...first one, then two, then several right at the trailhead, and later in the hike at elevation, we saw many more.  The wonderful birding website from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says this about the Montezuma Quail:

"The Montezuma Quail usually crouches and stays still when danger threatens, and then explodes into flight from a leaping start if the danger comes too close."

That's EXACTLY what happened to us...as we hiked along we never saw them in the grass, then as we approached....all of a sudden, there was an "explosion" of birds taking to flight.  What fun!

More views of the trail:

Could YOU be a Master Naturalist?

Tierra Grande Chapter Master Naturalists climb
Mt. Livermore as part of their training in the
Davis Mountains Preserve

Now Accepting Applications!!

The Tierra Grande Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Program is accepting applications for its 2013 new member training program. Training this year will begin with a July evening “Kick Off” session in Alpine followed by four weekends starting in August and ending in October.

Juvenile Shorthorned Lizard examined as part of
Texas Master Naturalist training

Training weekends will be held at Davis Mountains Preserve,

Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute, Balmorhea State Park, Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area and Big Bend Ranch State Park.



Master Naturalists in Training consult a topo
map of Big Bend Ranch State Park with park
interpreter, Blaine Hall

The Tierra Grande Chapter is a non-profit volunteer organization serving Brewster, Jeff Davis, Presidio counties and the greater Big Bend Region. Their mission is to develop a corps of well-educated master volunteers to provide 

Class of 2011, Tierra Grande Texas Master Naturalists

education, outreach and service dedicated toward the beneficial management of natural resources within our communities.

Application deadline is May 15, 2013 with class size limited to 14 new

members. For applications and further information contact:

Sandy Lynch

Training Committee

Tierra Grande Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists

http://txmn.org/tierra/


713-412-1833

Mount Livermore Hike View

The trail to Mount Livermore offers terrific views of the Davis Mountains and the desert below.  Access is limited to special groups and public Open Days and Open Weekends.  The Nature Conservancy protects the Davis Mountains Preserve; read about their work here.

From the Nature Conservancy's website:

"The 33,000-acre Davis Mountains Preserve (with conservation easements on 65,830 acres of adjoining property) includes Mount Livermore, the summit of the Davis Mountains. It encompasses the heart of a functioning landscape with intact watersheds and a unique assemblage of animals and plants."

Would you like to see it yourself?  The calendar for open days and open weeks is here.

Thanks to our friend, Monte Riggs, for sharing his photo from the trail!

Tomorrow is Open Day at Davis Mountains Preserve

Tomorrow, the Nature Conservancy opens its Davis Mountains Preserve to visitors for hiking, picnicking, bird and wildlife watching for one of its Open Weekends.

Click here for more information about visiting the Preserve during its public days.  More photos of our visit to the Preserve last year are here.

Unlike the rest of the Preserve, the Madera Canyon Trail is open 365 days a year and is ready for your visit!  Read more about it here.

From the Nature Conservancy's website:

"The wild and remote Davis Mountains is considered one of the most scenic areas of Texas.  Indeed it is one of the most biologically diverse.  Rising above the Chihuahuan desert, the range forms a unique “sky island” surrounded by the lowland desert. Animals and plants living above 5,000 feet are isolated from other similar mountain ranges by vast distances. These are true ecological islands, preserving living remnants that occur otherwise nowhere else in Texas.
The 33,000-acre Davis Mountains Preserve (with conservation easements on 65,830 acres of adjoining property) includes Mount Livermore, the summit of the Davis Mountains. It encompasses the heart of a functioning landscape with intact watersheds and a unique assemblage of animals and plants."

Two-tailed Swallowtail at Madera Canyon Trail

Yesterday, we hiked the 2.5 mile trail on Nature Conservancy land just a short distance from McDonald Observatory north of Fort Davis.  We found this Two-tailed Swallowtail in the muddy area by Chico Tank along the trail.

The trail offers a  moderate hike through pinyon-oak-juniper woodlands to offer views of Mount Livermore.

The trail is easy to follow and beautifully maintained.

Though it received fire in last April's wildfire, there are signs of regrowth.  We saw birds, lizards, butterflies on the trail yesterday.

Tree lizard on a rock on the Madera Canyon Trail

The trail is open from dawn to dusk, 365 days a year.  To find it, head north from Fort Davis on Hwy 118.  As the sign indicates, the trail is a part of the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail.  The trail's map says this about the site:

"Proceed northwest from Ft. Davis on Hwy 118 for approximately 24 miles to the Lawrence E. Wood picnic area adjacent to the highway on the left (about 10 miles past the McDonald Observatory.) The 2.5-mile trail is a loop that begins and ends at the picnic area’s east side and is marked by a sign and wooden split-rail fence.
Hikers will walk through stands of stately ponderosa pines, pinion-juniper woodlands and grassy meadows. Wildlife that may be present, particularly at dawn or dusk, includes gray fox, ringtail, Western Scrub Jay, Acorn Woodpecker, Montezuma Quail, Golden Eagle, Davis Mountains cottontail, javelina, white-tailed and mule deer, mountain short-horned lizard and, rarely, mountain lion. At dawn, visitors may listen for the bugeling of elk in the fall or the chorus of coyotes any time of year. The Williamson's Sapsucker has been sighted along the trail in winter."

Read more about the Davis Mountains Preserve in Far West Texas  here.

Here's the link to the rest of the Davis Mountains loop on the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail. 

Mount Livermore, 1914.

More from the 1914 journal of UT Botany instructor, Mary Sophie Young.
From August 14, 1914:

"We finally lost the trail and, as we had no idea which was Mt. Livermore, aimed for the most attractive looking mountain.  We certainly did some climbing, and Carey with the two canteens must have had a hard time.  We went up a very steep long slope, then around the top of that small mountain, only to find ourselves cut off from the next mountain, the one with high rock bluffs topping it, by deep ravines.  We made our way partly around the canyons them where they were not so very deep."

"Of course, there are no trails in these mountains, but what makes them so hard to climb is the fact that long grass and shrubby plants cover the rocks and loose stones in many places so that one is very much impeded.."

Young's journal selection comes from this book, published by Texas A&M Press.

Visit Mount Livermore in The Nature Conservancy's Davis Mountains Preserve during Open Days and Open Weekends.  We'll post the 2012 schedule as soon as we receive it on our events calendar.

Mount Livermore, 1914

Lunch on Mount Livermore

This week we're featuring current photos of Mount Livermore with the 1914 journal entries of Mary Sophie Young.

 August 21, 1914

"Friday I started shortly after eight o'clock for another tramp to Livermore.  The only available lunch was one huge pancake and some bacon.  It was not an attractive lunch and I did not in the least enjoy eating it.  Cold pancake is not, at best, very appetizing, nor could bacon either.  O, for one grocery store!"


"I went up the canyon by way of the bed of the stream and found it much better than our first climb.  There are many rock falls that help one out, like staircases.  It was on one of these slopes that I found my rattlesnake.  He was lying in a crack between two rocks, taking a nap with his head and upper part of his body sticking out.  I thought, from the cross stripes on his body, that he might be a rattler.  I thought at first of shooting him, but decided that, as rocks were bigger than bullets, the chances of hitting him were greater with rocks, so I gathered an armful and opened fire."

Quotes from American Women Afield by Marcia Myers Bonta and Texas A&M Press.

Today we let snakes be and give them a wide berth if they aren't threatening!

Mount Livermore is held by The Nature Conservancy and its Davis Mountains Preserve.

Mount Livermore, 1914

In the next few days, we're sharing photos of Mount Livermore in the Davis Mountains, with selections of a 1914 journal by University of Texas botany professor, Mary Sophie Young (1872-1919).

From the entry for August 18, 1914:

"It was a fine morning and we started on our trip at about 9 o'clock, with one canteen, two napsacks, and the botany can.  The first part was in the level through the canyon, but soon we began to climb and there the road changed to a trail.  It was a good deal like the Montana trails, except that they were through the open, or oak woods, instead of pine, fir, and spruce, and there was no mud."


"The mountains and canyons are very pretty--of course everything is on a small scale.  The mountains are pretty well wooded--oak on the summits and pretty well down.  A sprinkling of cedar and pine beginning on the high slopes and increasing toward the bottoms of the canyons where, in the high, moist valleys, they form the dominant part of the tree vegetation.  The trail is cut out of the side of the mountain, so one gets a good view.  In places it zigzags back and forth and once or twice goes down for some distance, then up, but most of the time it was a steady climb."

"We were homesick for our house that night.  If it had not been so late we would have come on home, but when I thought of leading Nebuchadnezzar (a mule) through the creek fifty-seven times in the dark, my courage gve out.  So we stayed another night.  It threatened rain some, but the morning was fair......"

From, American Women Afield, Writings by Pioneering Women Naturalists, by Marcia Myers Bonta

Would you like to visit Mount Livermore?  We're waiting for The Nature Conservancy to post their Open Days for 2012 when the Davis Mountains Preserve (and Mount Livermore) is open to visitors.  Check our Texas Mountain Trail web calendar for events in the region!

Watching the hummingbirds at the feeder

All over the region, the hummingbirds are still coming to the feeders!



Double-click on any of these to get a closer view!



The hummers are still visiting feeders in the region.  Here are a few of our favorite places to see them!
Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center, outside Fort Davis
Mountain Trails Lodge and Expedition Center outside Fort Davis (formerly Davis Mountains Education Center)
McIvor Center, Davis Mountains Preserve, outside Fort Davis
Dog Canyon Visitor Center, Guadalupe Mountains National Park
All these places are on the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail! 

Do you have a favorite places to see hummingbirds in Far West Texas in the Texas Mountain Trail region?  Let us know!

Baby Short-horned Lizard

Horned lizards (also known as horny toads, horned frogs, and horned toads) are not as common as they once were, with habitat destruction being the major factor in the decline of the population. This little guy is a short-horned lizard--the species has a range from Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, all the way south to Sonora, Chihuahua and Durango, Mexico. 

The species lives in short-grass communities of the the northern Great Plains, in sagebrush and greasewood of the Great Basin, and on mountain hillsides and valleys with pinyon-juniper (which is where we found this wee one), aspen and coniferous forests throughout the range.  This short-horned lizard was found at the Davis Mountains Preserve, part of The Nature Conservancy's preservation area in our region, north of Fort Davis.

The lizards are so cute, many folks are tempted to keep them as pets.  Howver the Horned Lizard Conservation Society warns that they're very difficult to keep in captivity, and taking one home will likely lead to the animal dying a slow death.  We put this one back in the grass where we found him on the side of the mountain, so others may enjoy him and his offspring.

Want to learn more?  Check out http://www.hornedlizards.org/ and consider becoming a member of the Horned Lizard Conservation Society, based in Austin.

Our thanks to the Tierra Grande chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist program, the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center, and the Davis Mountains Preserve!

View of the Davis Mountains, Hiking down from Mt Livermore

High in the Davis Mountains, hiking down from the summit of Mt Livermore we're treated to some of the best views anywhere.  Owned by The Nature Conservancy, this unique place is protected for us to enjoy.  From their website:  "Rising above the Chihuahuan desert, the range forms a unique “sky island” surrounded by the lowland desert. Animals and plants living above 5,000 feet are isolated from other similar mountain ranges by vast distances. These are true ecological islands, preserving living remnants that occur otherwise nowhere else in Texas."

Open public access is available on special days set aside by The Nature Conservancy.  Next on the schedule may be a few months away, but it is a special one....so plan ahead.  Why not come out to the mountains to select and cut your own Christmas Tree, December 3 or 10?