I'm Volunteering Again at Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge

Twenty twenty was hard for me because I couldn't work and didn't have a home. So I bought Dora the van and am converting it. (More later.). This year I got my 2019 volunteer job back at Monta Vista and Alamosa National Wildlife Refuges. There I hauled off recyclables for the first week - no one seemed to have done it in 2020, and then kept up with taking them over to Alamosa recycling as needed. I also took back over keeping the vault toilets clean and stocked. I got a new assignment - to take down three miles of barb wire fencing, some three wire and part four wire. My boss also wanted me to pull the T-posts with a hand jack. I quickly found out that I could pull one in five and could get knocked down if the chain didn't stay attached. So I gave that part of the job back and just cut the wire, pulled it off the posts, rolled it up, and hauled it to the wire pile.  My boss replaced me with two guys and a tractor  to get the posts pulled - best fail ever. 

But soon it was time to spray our invasives, and I spent about 35 hours a week on spraying filling up my tank with the herbicide and adjuvant and water and heading off to spray. Then I emptied the tank and repeated. For the first part the year, I got the little spray system of a 50 gallon tank on a utility vehicle with a spray wand.  But when the summer maintence guy had to move into a full maintenance position, he no longer had time to spray so I took over his 100 gallon rig that had both a boom and a hand sprayer and upped my war from using 150 gallons on a good day to often spraying 400 gallons a day. I ended the summer with having treated 510 acres and working 898 hours. (Actually I listened to at least three books a week, while enjoying the outdoors.) And I still have two miles of fence to take down and half the refuge to spray. That ought to give me job security. 

I had to get off the rig to spray the sides of a dry canaland stopped to take a selfie - 
this was the coldest day - first time I wore a jacket all day while spraying

I lucked out and got a winter job only an hour away from my best friend's house in Houston, where I stay when I'm not working. Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge is one of the Coastal Refuges and serves as winter refuge for shorebirds,wading birds, and ducks. It also has a huge program to help monarchs numbers increase and another program raising American beauty caterpillars to give to teachers so the class can see them pupate and then become adults, before they release them. I'm still learning about all this. More later.  

I'm living in my van, but have cooking, washing, and showering privileges. I worked to get a comfortable set up in the van and got everything packed except my clothes for the day.  I got up the morning I would report for work, and put on my bra, then realized my underpants were missing.  So were my socks. Upon further inspection, I found I had acquired two balls.  That meant that Willie, Natalie's golden retriever, had "traded" one ball for my underpants, and another for the socks.  This is first dog I've met who is both moral and understands a one to one relationship. I did finally find my clothes and got myself ready and started out. 

Willie's trades

I came over a hill, aka overpass, and saw a beautiful little sunrise.  My next turn was at base of the overpass, and I was able to find a good place to stop and get a picture - only took two U-turns. 

Sunrise on the way to check in to my winter volunteer job

Not long after, I was turning to go under the high bridge over Bastrop Bayou. A few hundred yards later, I was at the Volunteer Village, meeting Stan and his dog, Oreo, who immediately offered to become my new best friend. Stan has worked here for six years, with little time off, raising thousands of milkweeds and butterflies. He and his wife were the only ones here during COVID and he still works fifty or more hours a week. He was hard at work, bumping up milkweed he had started from seed, from four inch pots to gallon containers. Within ten minutes of arriving, I had taken over that job, and he moved on to clear the garden the volunteers grow crops in.  

My first view of Stan - after bailing out of Dora

Dora in my yard

Then I started  my work here - bathroom, kitchen,
butterfly lab and plant nursery

 

Butterflies in their habitats - little net cubes

My new best friend, Oreo

Since then, I've learned the routines for managing the Discovery Center, helped deep clean it after being closed for eighteen months, helped weed the gardens around the Center, and planted cuttings of milkweed. Last Saturday, I got to go to an Open House, at our sister refuge, San Bernard NWR. I'll post about that later - pictures are on my Facebook page. 

I'm looking forward to the rest of my winter assignment. One of the best parts is getting to visit with friends. So far I've had a pair of friends visit me and take me out for supper.  And I got to go paddling with four women friends on a beautiful, swampy lake. This week, I'll get to go to the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Houston Botanic Garden with friends.  

And I'm looking forward to visiting with you, dear readers.  Please leave me a comment or question below. How and what are you doing, as we get back into the world? There is a free campground/fishing/crabbing spot across the road from me.  So bring your rig and come visit.

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It's Building Time.... For the birds

If you love bluebirds and have a place for them, consider building some bluebird boxes. You may be able to start and maintain a whole bluebird trail on public lands or on a friend's farm.

Bluebirds like open fields.  If you place the box near trees, they will have to compete with other cavity builders like chickadees, wrens, and nuthatches. In the open, where tree swallows are present, they will compete with them.  All of these species can use housing, especially given the loss of habitat for them. If you put up paired boxes about five to twenty feet apart, or even mounted on the same post, bluebirds will share with another species and the four parents will be more successful at repelling enemies. A single box or the pair of boxes should be about 300 yards apart. Eastern bluebirds are put at least 100 to 150 yards apart. e

This bluebird box plan is based on the boxes for mountain bluebirds at Red Rock Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  We collect data from the boxes each week, documenting whether a nest has been started or finished, how many eggs are present, whether the mother is sitting on eggs,  and the number and age of the hatchlings.  Our boxes are top opening, so we are less likely to cause the young to fledge early, than if we opened a front opening box. We have to make sure we have a little space at the bottom of the box to fully clean out the debris after we remove the old nest. That is why the corners are cut off.  (We clean out the boxes  on the visit when we document that the birds have fledged to prevent parasite buildup.)

Our boxes are on the large side because larger boxes have been associated with bigger clutches and they also help prevent overheating. We make them of cedar.  The roofs tend to crack, so we make extra roofs to repair as needed.  Using another material for the roof, could be another option.  But I just move the wire from one roof to the next.

For more information and more plans, check out the Mountain Bluebird Society if you have them. Or the Eastern Bluebird Society or Western Bluebird Society, if you have those species.  All of  them offer plans for nest boxes. North American Bluebird society has information on all three species.

Our target species 

A bluebird box being contested by a male mountain bluebird and a tree swallow.

These eggs are either ready to incubate or the female is  already incubating them.

Caught this nest on hatch day.  We record the age of the nestlings as zero. 

Tree Swallow Pair

The nest of a tree swallow - the female covers the eggs with feathers when she leaves. 

Pieces cut out for twelve new boxes

Screwing them together. 

The finished pile is growing

The open corners in the floor lets us brush out the small pieces left after the nest is pulled out

This is the bluebird box I took apart to show the pieces.  The little 1" X 2" strip that is screwed to the back board is missing.  This strip is put just on top of where the roof is so the roof is slotted into it in the back, Then a heavy wire is loosely stapled to the top of the box, the ends are bent in and pushed into holes drilled into the box sides.  The hole should be 1 & 9/16".  You can also add three slanted holes, slanting from bottom to top on the tops of the sides, to add ventilation. Some plans don't show the cut corners, but they really facilitate thoroughly cleaning the boxes between nestings, thus keeping the mite numbers down. 

The dimensions of the pieces. 

A bluebird box in place showing the little strip  and the wires that hold the roof on. 

I'm being lazy and spending the first day of my three days off laying around watching it rain. Hopefully, I'll get to go birding tomorrow, but I think I may have to wait until next Monday.

A Fishy Assignment

It's been a long time since I last blogged.  But my computer was broken most of the summer and I had lots of work to do.   I finished my summer job September 30 and left October 3.  Since then I have had several adventures as well as several visits with friends and family, and I may eventually get around to telling you about them.

A year ago, I decided I wanted to get a job at a fish hatchery and started searching for one with housing.  Most hatcheries don't do much in the winter, so I didn't think I would get a job. But I got one in the tiny town of Warm Springs, GA.  This hatchery raises lake sturgeon, bluegill, stripped bass, and I think some other species of bass. They just raise catfish for kids fishing day, when the children can catch up to five fish and take them home.

My first landing spot

I had to take this picture before I called to report in.  This is our display area and those trees in the background are cypress.

I arrived mid afternoon on this past Monday after a twelve hour drive from my friend, Hulin's house in Louisiana. I pulled into the road that was signed National Fish Hatchery, only to find I was at the Aquarium and the only living things around were fishes. I called the Hatchery and found I was one driveway away.  Soon I was meeting my new bosses and co-workers. They mostly pointed me to my house, another driveway down the road.  I spent the rest of the day moving most of my stuff out of my car and finding bedding, towels and the clothes I would need for Tuesday.

I remembered to take a few pictures, before I trashed the place.  It is dated but functional and comfortable to live in.  (And I have guest bedrooms.)

Half my house - I was in too much of a rush to walk up to the road

You come in the side door to the dining area

The kitchen is part of the same room

The living room - the door I usually come in is behind the lamp on the left -
the front door is at my right in front of the bookcase

I had already junked up my room but things are mostly put away

My guest room - and I have lots of bedding

On Tuesday, Trent, the biotech, was assigned to show me around and start training me for some of my jobs. I've spent the most of my learning time with him this week and have had great fun with him.  He taught me how to open the Aquarium, how to clean it, and how to feed the fish.  He also took me to his main interest, the fresh water mussel lab, where I helped him clean out a bunch of aquariums where he maintains fish that he will use in his mussel breeding program.

Trent showing me around the lab and letting me take his picture to show a mutual friend - what a small world.

Trent has two tanks of baby lake sturgeon which he is raising to use to breed mussels on. They often swim around vertically with their heads out of the water. 

Ain't he cute - a baby white lake sturgeon

In the afternoon, I helped Trent clean out aquariums where he houses the fish he uses in his mussel program.

Trent siphoning out the aquariums

I'm scrubbing out the aquariums, after he siphons them, then letting most of the water drain out

On Wednesday, I was assigned my own personal golf cart and then Hale, another biologist taught me how to feed all the fish we are feeding in the ponds. Trent also taught me a lot about our water system, which consists of two springs which we have to treat to bring up the pH.  And I learned how to feed the goldfish we have in huge tanks and which will become food for other fish.

Self portrait, taken from my kitchen door deck

One of our springs provides most of our water and also supplies the town of Warm Springs with their water. We use two-thirds of it and the town gets one-third.  That spring is hidden inside a building but used to be a gathering spot where people came to wade and collect water.

This is the spring and the little wall build around it in 1933. Trent is holding a light while Alex tries to see the spring bubbling up in the sand

The pool continues down a channel and then through a small and large opening where it splits out for us and the town. 

Thursday I didn't have a lot of work so I decided to work a project to plan for a pollinator garden. The hatchery doesn't have wi-fi in the office but gave me wonderful 5G wi-fi at my house, so I came home to work on that and wait for a promised visit of Rosal, a former administrative assistant, and a member of the friend's group.

I have to fill buckets from 50 pound bags. and in some cases, mix two feeds Then I head out with a map of the ponds and a list of what to feed each pond. 

These are the catfish of pond 7.  They are the only ones that come to the surface and feed so they are my favorites.

When I answered a knock, Alex, our administrative assistant, and another man were at the door.  The man turned out to be the manager of our Fish Health group, a separate entity that is just across the road. He had read my resume and wanted to see if I could also do work for him.  I agreed to do a test designed to see if the frozen heads of fishes show the signs of whirling disease.   I'll find out the details on Monday, but I'm excited to use my degree again. Apparently I can work from four to many hours a week, depending on how much I can stand.

Friday I was mostly on my own, feeding fish, except I learned how to harvest goldfish and feed them to the fish in our display pond.  I also did heavy cleaning at the Aquarium and a little feeding.


I think I'll be real happy here and am looking forward to visiting Roosevelt's Little White House.  This is where he came for his polio therapy. And there are several state parks within less than a two hour's drive so I think I'll find lots to do.  But my first weekend is cold, cloudy and rainy so I may have to wait to get started on outdoor stuff.

Best Christmas Gifts- Adventure Two

December 20, 2016

I continued my first day with Steve and Chari, with a drive to Thibodaux to visit the another of the six Jean Lafitte National Park sites, the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center. Since we finished out Chalmette tour in late morning, we figured we could easily drive the eighty mile drive. We enjoyed the little museum while waiting a few minutes to join a tour.  Actually, we WERE the tour. A ranger took us around several blocks of the town to discuss the history of the town as expressed through its architure.

Just across the corner from the Visiter Center was an Acadian cottage.  The cajuns had brought the steep roofed cottage from a land where houses needed to shed snow.  The young men of the family lived upstairs an most of the houses had a separate entrance to the top floor.

The style of house the Acadians built, when they first arrived

Around the corner, we passed the cemetery, and stopped to hear stories about some of the important movers and shakers buried there.

The graves are above ground, in most cases,  because of frequent flooding

 Then we passed Victorian homes, a bunch of different arts and crafts homes, and Beaux Arts Building. We also stopped to admire a church that incorporated several styles. We ended the tour at one of only two Second French Empire homes in Louisiana.

This dress shop was in what once was a bank.  The safe was too large to remove so it forms part of the beautiful decor. 

St. Joseph Co-Cathedral

The Thibodaux courthouse is a Beaux Arts building. 

A closer view of the courthouse

Close up of some of the fancy work on the courthouse

A beautiful topping

I think this was the first instance of the Louisiana State Seal. It is a picture of a brown pelican feeding here three babies from her own flesh. Birders and biologists know that pelicans only lay two eggs, and usually only one bird fledges. And they are fed fish.

Loved the ornateness of this building

Second French Empire House - belonged to a doctor

Detail of the Second French Empire house

We ended the day with supper at Fremins, which started life as a pharmacy but now is is beautiful, upscale restaurant. Loved the smoked oysters. And the rest of our entrees were also delicious.

This was on our tour but I took the picture as we stopped at our restaurant 

I loved how the evening lights had brought out the detail in the plaques 

A tour I hope to take another time is the boat tour on Bayou Lafourche.  The bayous were the first highways, so all the houses were built to face the bayous. But this tour is only offered in fall and spring. 

We were full, tired, and happy when we arrived back at the RV.  We only had time for a cup of hot chocolate before going to bed. We planned to go to New Orleans the following day. 

I spent Christmas in Louisiana and then went back to Galveston for parties, a Christmas bird count - another Christmas gift. Now I'm back in Louisiana and getting Physical Therapy for my shoulder.


Happy New Year to all of you.  I hope you achieve your goals and find it the best year ever.

PS.  I intended to get this out a week ago but had various computer and operator troubles. Computer is fixed.  Now working on fixing the operator.