Blog – Page 35 – Louisiana Master Naturalists

2nd Quarter Mtg: Upland Forests

I am more than excited! We have been invited to see the upland forest that surrounds the home of Kelby and Amy Ouchley and learn about this particular ecological niche. It’s scheduled Sunday, May 20, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.

You might recall that our 2nd quarter meeting was to be the BioBlitz that had to be postponed until fall due to flooding of the ULM Biological Station. Today I have found a wonderful replacement.

Growing up I thought a forest was a forest was a forest. Now I understand that forests differ dramatically. After Kelby posted his edition of Bayou Diversity today about upland oaks, I asked him where we could go to see a remnant of an upland forest.

Turns out, our options are extremely limited for seeing one in its completely natural state, but the Ouchley home is surrounded by a managed/restored one that is 140 years old. That works for me!

So get this on your calendar now. We will spend time hiking, and Kelby will teach us about the upland forest and all the relevant issues. Then we’ll spend a few minutes on the porch having a short “business meeting” while watching for fire-flies and listening to the chuck-will’s widows!

BTWs: 1) We have members who cannot attend Saturday events. That, and my own rather crazed schedule, is why I scheduled this on Sunday afternoon. 2) I will get directions or a GPS address from the Ouchleys and post that later.

Louisiana Master Naturalists Rendezvous 2018 — Amy Ouchley teaches “Observe, Record, Reflect” (photo by Charles Paxton)

Upcoming Events

Come, hike with us!

Important announcements at the bottom of this post!

This coming Saturday, May 5, we’re hiking just for the fun of it. We will meet at 10 a.m. at the Short Stop Food Mart and gas station that sits in the median between south- and north-bound lanes of Highway 425/15 in Sicily Island. You can’t miss it!

No later than 10:10 a.m., we will caravan west on Highway 8 to the J.C. “Sonny” Gilbert WMA to hike. Because this is a WMA, everyone must carry a license or permit. The quickest, least expensive is a “hook and line” fishing license, available on the LDWF website for $4.50.

We will hike one of the two trails to see the waterfalls, take a break either at the park or back at the station, and then the diehards will hike the other trail to see the other waterfalls.

We will observe and record species–just for the practice and fun of it. Since Suzanne Laird is the leader of this hike, we will pay particular attention to birds. I will be hoping to add to my collection of bird photographs!

All welcome! Here’s a map of where we’re going: jcsonnygilbert map

Now, important announcements: a) We had a great plant workshop today; species list to come. b) I have added an “Observe…” page to the website to permanently hold our species lists so that you can refer to them easily. c) I have updated the “First Class Roster” on the Certification page with the attendees at today’s workshop.

IMGP5265 adj 25" — The reservoir at Georgetown, one of several locations at which we identified plants today. (photo by Bette J. Kauffman)

Partner Organizations

Earth Day Saturday

Join us this Saturday, April 21, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Black Bayou Lake NWR to celebrate Earth Day! This is a free event for the entire family.

Ouachita Green and BBLNWR have teamed up to plan this special day. Louisiana Master Naturalists – Northeast will be on hand to share information, sign up new members and join in the fun.

Current members, if you can drop by and spend a little time at our LMN-NE table, that would be a great help.

And here, just for good measure: I arrived at Lake Martin in south Louisiana Monday night just as the sun was setting. What a gorgeous reminder of #EarthDayEveryday and our need to #CreatABetterEarth by protecting Louisiana’s extraordinary beauty!

Certification

Aquatic Life with Dr. Anna Hill

I am super excited to announce that our Aquatic Life workshop is scheduled June 16, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. I can’t give you all of the details yet, but put it on your calendar!

What I can tell you is that Dr. Anna Hill will be the workshop leader. She is a retired professor and former department head of biology at ULM, and has long been active in Friends of Black Bayou Lake NWR.

We will use Black Bayou Lake to make field observations and collect specimens. Where we will take those specimens to examine them and do lab/classroom work is yet to be decided. For now, reserve the date!

*Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicolis) (male) (photo by Bette Kauffman)*

And.., why an eyeball to eyeball shot of an Easter Pondhawk with this post? Because dragonflies are one of the many critters that lay their eggs in water. Not this particular one, actually, because… a) it’s a male, and b) it’s too far from the water to be ovipositing. But, as a dragonfly stalker, I’ll be hoping to see dragonfly eggs and/or nymphs in our workshop.

Certification

Plants of Louisiana

Our second certification workshop will be Plants of Louisiana, with Dr. Charles Allen, who has literally written the books on Louisiana plants!

We will meet at the Chevron gas station and Excel Mart on Hwy 165 in Georgetown at 9 a.m. April 28, have class under their canopy, then caravan into the Kisatchie to look at plants. We’ll come back to the station for lunch and a pit stop, go back into the Forest for more plants, then wrap up back at the station no later than 3 p.m.

Here is a link to the agenda for the day (also uploaded to Certification page):

Workshop 2 Flyer

Folks, please read the agenda/flyer carefully. It contains important instructions. Everything you need to know to be prepared for the day is there.

The link to pay for this workshop is on the certification page. If you want to pay on site, please be sure to make arrangements with me in advance via email.

It would be extremely helpful if you would print the registration form that is linked to the Certification page, fill it out, and bring it with you. (It cannot be completed online.) I will have some blank forms with me, but the more that can be done in advance, the more time we’ll get to spend in the field looking at plants!

Now for good measure, here’s a plant we saw at Rendezvous:

This plant is in a distinct minority of plants with this type of leaf attachment to the stem. You will learn about this, as well as terminology for describing everything you can see in the photo–plus the name of the plant. So I’m not going to spill the beans now!

See you the 28th.