CDRI presents Urban Gardening Seminar on September 25

CDRI presents Lecturer  Dr. Ken Mix on September 25, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. at Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Lawrence Hall, Room 300.

Dr. Ken Mix owned and operated Sown By Hand, a produce farm just outside of Indianapolis, IN from 1989-1996. Sown By Hand supplied more than 10 grocery stores of  a local large chain and top restaurant chefs in the region. Depending on the season and year, the farm had up to 20 acres in cultivation with crops including heirlooms, tomatoes, zucchini and pumpkins. The farm was innovative for the early 90′s, utilizing a European style intensive planting scheme and applying a single herbicide for grass control once a year. Only once in the history of the farm was and insecticide applied. At the time, this type of maintenance was known as ‘low input agriculture’, and would be more akin to the familiar ‘sustainable agriculture’ system of today. This lecture will be valuable to all interested in gardening.

Hummingbird Happiness at CDRI

Master Naturalist Jack Dunaway in Waxahachie snapped this pic of hummingbirds at CDRI and had this to say:

"Let me tell you what a great time I had visiting CDRI last week. I had not been to the Davis Mountains for over 40 years, but will not let that happen again! I did not remember how intriguing the Trans Pecos is. I will be back to explore some more."

So glad you feel this way, Jack! Great pics! 

Hummingbird banding at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center

From our friends at Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center:

"These little girls were very interested in a hummingbird banding being conducted by our local expert bander, Kelly Bryan.  The banding at CDRI was a part of last weekend’s Annual Hummingbird Festival held in Fort Davis (Hummingbird Capital of Texas).   During the banding, Kelly mentioned that a hummingbird he banded here in West Texas was recorded at a banding station just south of Anchorage, Alaska in July of ’13 and then again (at the same location in Alaska) in June of ’14.  That’s a long way for such a little bird to fly..."

Yesterday in the cactus greenhouse

Yesterday, CDRI's cactus greenhouse was abloom with Escobaria hesteri!  Don't miss the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens (CDRI) and don't forget to walk to the back of the property to visit the cactus greenhouse!

Great Horned Owl

From our friends at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center in Fort Davis:

Normally expected to be active at night, this great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) was out during daylight hours hiding in plain sight. One of CDRI’s wildlife cameras—provided by a grant from the El Paso Zoo—caught the bird foraging in the camouflaging leaf litter. Its mottled plumage allows this species to blend into a wide variety of habitat types.

It is the most common and widely dispersed owl in North America, as well as one of the largest. CDRI has a resident pair nesting in the cliffs bordering our rhyolite quarry. The great horned owl is one of a multitude of species that can be observed at the nature center.

Fort Davis Hummingbird Festival...registration closes August 15!

Photos from banding demonstrations by Kelly Bryan

Thursday, August 21st:
1:00pm - 6:00pm       Registration: Fort Davis Chamber of Commerce
3:00pm - 5:00pm       Banding Demonstration w/Kelly Bryan - CDRI
6:00pm - 8:00pm       Opening Reception: Hotel Limpia Ballroom
                                      Meet and Greet with the speakers
Friday, August 22nd:
6:00am                     Mountain Trails Lodge Field Trip - Christmas Mountains Oasis
8:00am-9:00am         Late Registration: Fort Davis Chamber of Commerce
8:00am-11:00am       Banding Demonstration w/Kelly Bryan - Nature Conservancy
8:00am-12:00noon    Local viewing locations open
3:00pm-5:00pm         Banding Demonstration w/Kelly Bryan - Mountain Trails Lodge
3:00pm                     Lecture - TBA
4:00pm                     Lecture - Chris Pipes "Sky Island Ecology in the Trans-Pecos of  
                                                                    Texas"
6:30pm                     Lecture - Mark Lockwood "Amazing Tropical Hummingbirds"
4:00pm - 8:00pm       Local viewing locations open
Saturday, August 23rd:
8:00am-11:00am        Banding Demonstration w/Kelly Bryan - Nature Conservancy
8:00am-12:00noon     Local viewing locations open
3:00pm                      Hummingbird Feeder Workshop
4:00pm                      Lecture - Kelly Bryan "Lucifer Hummingbirds"
6:00pm                      Festival Dinner with Keynote speaker Fred Bassett
                                  (additional fee applies for the dinner)

 

REGISTRATION
Registration Cost: $75.00 per person
        Includes: Ticket to Opening Reception
                           Booklet "Hummingbirds of West Texas" by Kelly Bryan
                           Map of local viewing areas
                           Hummingbird "Goodie Bag"
                           Admission to :
                                                     CDRI Botanical Gardens
                                                     Davis Mountains State Park

Festival Dinner with Keynote Speaker: $35.00 per person
         Includes: Downhome Texas Pit BBQ Dinner with all the trimmings                           
                             Fill out and mail your registration form today!
                                 Early Registration ends August 15th.
                                             REGISTRATION FORM
                                             FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Hummers!

Click on the images to get a closer view!

Now's a GREAT time to watch hummingbirds who vie for space at feeders...where are some good places to view them?  Try Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center, and Mountain Trails Lodge in Fort Davis, Dog Canyon Visitor Center in Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  All are sites on the Far West Texas Wildlife Trail, a project of Texas Mountain Trail, TPWD, and Texas Pecos Trail!

Juniper Hairstreak

One of the Desert Rat campers at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center took this photo, and their Education Coordinator wrote us with this:

"Desert Rat campers found this Juniper hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus) on one
of the beargrass flower stalks."

We're seeing more butterflies in the region....have you seen any? 

Blooming cacti!

Coryphantha macromeris blooming
at the Cactus Greenhouse at
Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center in Fort Davis!

Beetles on a Buffalo Gourd

From our friends at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center in Fort Davis!

Black Hawk

For all you birders, from our friends at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center:

"One of our remote wildlife cameras caught what appears to be an adult common black hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus) drinking or fishing in the perennial Modesta Spring. It is a stocky black bird of prey with very broad wings and a broad white tail band. The bare skin of the legs and cere (the featherless part of the face at the base of the bill) is yellow. Black hawks inhabit wooded canyons and riverside habitats throughout the southwest and migrate south of the U.S. border during the winter. They feed mainly on aquatic creatures such as frogs, small fish, crabs, and crayfish, thus the importance of the spring in attracting this individual. Although active nests are known in the Fort Davis area, this individual might represent a previously unknown nesting pair. The species is vulnerable to disturbance near its nesting sites and seems to be declining in the United States."

What's blooming in our desert?

A native plant in our desert, Wislizenus senna, in bloom at CDRI

A great place to see the desert in bloom is Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center.  In bloom this week is the Wislizenus senna, a native plant with brilliant yellow flowers.

The pollinator garden is greening up with all the rain we've had lately, with lots of plants showing their color!

CDRI's pollinator garden

Clayton's Overlook Trail at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center

One of our favorite trails at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center offers 360 degree views of the Davis Mountains, with full interpretive panels explaining the geology, history and natural history of the area.  Learn how the mountains were formed, how the area was settled, and where Wild Rose Pass REALLY is! 

Our Impossibly Blue Skies

Last Friday, we captured the clear blue skies over Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center in Fort Davis. 

Pollinator Garden at CDRI

Plan to visit Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and their Pollinator Garden this season...lots of blooms there this week! 

Celebrate National Trails Day with us!

If you post photos and stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Flickr with the two hashtags, #txmountaintrail and #nationaltrailsday, we'll be able to find them online...and we'll select our favorites to include on stories and features about the Texas Mountains all summer long!  Join in the fun and hashtag to your heart's content!

Keeping the pollinators busy!

Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center's botanical garden plants are sporting blossoms and the pollinators are busy!  Plan a visit there on your next trip out here!

Adventures in the Texas Mountains presentation tonight!

Join us at 7pm in Lawrence Hall on the campus of Sul Ross State University in Alpine for a presentation by our Executive Director on "Adventures in Far West Texas." Even if you're a resident or a frequent traveler to the region, we think you'll discover something new!  Click here for details.

Pictured here, the pollinators are active in the botanical garden at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center, just outside Fort Davis...one of the adventures we'll discuss tonight!

Watching cacti bloom at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center

Echinocactus parryi at 10 am this Monday

We are having fun this spring watching what happens in the Cactus Greenhouse at Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center.  On Monday, we watched a Echinocactus parryi bloom!

Echinocactus parryi at noon

View from above at noon

Cactus Candies from British Pathe (1930)

This time of year, our Chihuahuan Desert is treated to the glory of blooming cactus (and many of them can be seen at Fort Davis' Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center), so it was especially delightful to find this collection of Texas-based video's in British Pathe's YouTube channel.

Enjoy this brief look from 1930 at the process of making cactus candy in Texas, in the Mexican tradition!  

Red Flag Warnings and Mountain Biking Festival!

Photo by Luke Stewart Billingsley

Our friends at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center is flying a new red flag at their entrance on Hwy 118 just outside Fort Davis. The red flag denotes that we are in a Red Flag Warning. 

So what is a Red Flag Warning? The National Weather Service issues Red Flag Warnings to help alert people to the potential danger of critical weather and low fuel moisture conditions that could lead to wildfire. This could be due to low humidity, high winds, dry fuels, or any combination of these. CDRI hopes that flying the red flag will help remind people that Jeff Davis County remains under a Red Flag Warning.   And they thank friend, Stewart Billingsley, CDRI member and Jeff Davis County Fire Marshall, for the photo and for all you do for the area!

#30DaysofBiking

Save the date for one of the best mountain biking festivals just about anywhere, the Chihuahuan Desert Bike Fest, February 12-14, 2015 in Big Bend Ranch State Park, and West Texas trails.  This festival is a benefit for trail development in Big Bend.  There's always something for everyone, experienced riders, beginners, even kids!  Click here for more information!