Nature Notes

Written by: Sherrie Ripple, Director of Education

The weather’s warming up, flowers are blooming, and animals are becoming more active. It’s the perfect time to gather your family, go outside and enjoy the best classroom of all – NATURE!

We know playing outside in nature is good for us physically, mentally, and socially. According to one study published in 2019, spending just two hours a week in nature is correlated with significant increases in health and well-being (White et al., 2019). So, imagine if you spent even more time outdoors! Here are some fun family activities to plan for the next time you are outside and there’s even a bonus – these activities all promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) concepts:

● In your backyard, put some water in a plastic container to let your children explore with different materials (a penny, foil, a Lego, a cup, a plastic spoon, a metal spoon, or a leaf). What makes some materials sink in water and others float? Ask them to make a prediction about some of the
materials, then follow up with questions about what happened and why? Most children, and even some adults, are often surprised by the outcome!
● Start a garden. Discuss what you are going to plant and why. What do plants need to grow? Encourage your child to keep a journal along the way. Does it look, smell, feel or taste different?
● Go on a nature scavenger hunt (you can find some on our @riverlegacynatureschool Instagram Story Highlight – Activities). This is such a fun way to explore STEM concepts!

• Look for a bird’s nest. Birds are expert engineers. Their ability to build nests that support and protect their eggs and chicks is an adaptation that has helped them survive and thrive within their habitat.
• If your hunt leads you near a playground, look for a see-saw (a simple machine called a lever) or a ramp (a simple machine called an inclined plane). Both are very basic mechanical devices used to multiply force. If you ride bikes during your scavenger hunt, you can also mention gears and how they help you get to where you’re going faster and easier.
• Make sure to add rocks to your scavenger hunt. Stop and examine them. They are one of the first known technological inventions!
• Lastly, clouds! Find a great place to lie down in the grass and observe them. What are clouds? Discuss the water cycle and how water is essential to every living creature. Relax for a while and let nature take its course.

If you enjoy these ideas and want more, stop by the Nature Center from 9 am-5 pm Monday through Saturday. Our wonderful group of educators is happy to help you discover more ways to spend time in nature!

White, M.P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J. et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Sci Rep 9, 7730 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3

Written by: Jorge Garcia, Naturalist

Life list? eBird? Birding? Bird count? Citizen scientist? What in the world do any of these terms mean? It’s very possible that you have heard of some or all of these terms before. But, if you don’t know what they mean, that’s ok. Here at River Legacy Nature Center, we will be taking part in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count – an annual, global event that will help shed light on some of these terms. The GBBC, shorthand for the Great Backyard Bird Count, is one of the largest citizen science projects in the world.

During a 4-day period in mid-February, thousands of regular people around the world observe, count, appreciate, and celebrate our feathered friends. Data collected is then submitted to a database and, eventually, is used to help guide conservation efforts and to help ornithologists better understand all facets of the avian world.

The GBBC has a fascinating history and powerful impact. It started 25 years ago, back in 1998, as an initiative by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, one of the world’s leading ornithological research institutions and the National Audubon Society, one of the largest and most-renowned bird and nature conservation organizations in the world. They coordinated one of the first ever internet-based citizen science projects. In 2009, Birds Canada joined the effort as the event took on greater popularity and spread across the North American continent. By 2013, the effort went global and has steadily grown in many countries over the years. In 2022, nearly 400,000 birders in 192 countries were able to observe and count 7,099 bird species – representing an astounding 3/4ths of all bird species currently known to science. River Legacy Park and the River Legacy Nature Center are considered to be one of the largest hotspots of bird diversity in Tarrant County and one of the largest in the Dallas-Ft. Worth region. Birders from all over the world, including well-known individual birders within the birding community, have visited River Legacy to enjoy its avian diversity.

So, how can you participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count? The count runs from February 17th through the 20th. You can participate from the comfort of your own backyard for at least 15 minutes throughout that weekend. However, we invite you to participate in person with us and other like-minded citizen scientists. On February 18th, 2023, we will be hosting the Great Backyard Bird Count event here at River Legacy Nature Center from 10 AM to 2 PM. There will be designated areas where you will be able to participate in counting and observing birds. Master naturalists will be on-site to help explain the event, help ID birds, and answer questions you may have. If you’ve never participated in an event like this and don’t know where or how to start, this is a perfect learning opportunity for you! Our master naturalist will help introduce you to the world of birding!

If you are an experienced birder and just want to do your count at River Legacy, you can come too and bond with other birders! Birders of all ages, knowledge, and backgrounds are welcome. In addition to the designated counting and observing areas, we will also have naturalist-led bird walks where you can partake in counting while moving along a designated trail plus a few other activities to celebrate the avian world. We hope to see you at the Nature Center as you spot a northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), a ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula), Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis), or pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), among many other species!

Sources:

www.birdcount.org

www.ebird.org

Written by: Shannon Porter, Executive Director

It’s a fact that modern childhood has moved indoors. Neighborhood kids no longer adventure outside to climb trees, catch insects or create outdoor games. On average, American children spend between four to seven minutes a day engaged in unstructured outdoor play (not including organized sports) and as many as nine hours a day in front of an electronic screen.

Many of our youth are tuned out, stressed out and over-scheduled. Last Child in the Woods author Richard Louv calls this Nature-Deficit Disorder. And this is not just limited to kids, as it also affects adults, families, and whole communities. However, youth and adults who regularly spend time in nature enjoy priceless benefits to mind, body and spirit. These include improved physical health as well as professional or academic success through greater capacity for leadership, self-awareness, self-confidence, critical thinking and creativity.

With the shrinking amount of time young people and their families spend outdoors, there has also been a growing concern about who will carry forward the legacy of stewardship handed down to us by Bob Marshall, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Sigurd Olson, and others. Jacques Cousteau, taking Leopold’s lead, reminded us that we “protect what we love.” If a generation slowly pulls too far indoors, away from backyard forts, mud puddles, bike paths, lakes, and the wildlife and plants, how will they, too, fall in love with wild places? Further, every generation decides what to protect. If we raise a generation of youth who are disconnected from nature, how can we ensure both their good health and the health of the natural world that sustains us all?

At River Legacy Foundation we are working to rebuild a culture of nature connection in our community. While spending time in nature is an important habit, rebuilding a lasting culture of nature connection in ourselves, our families and our communities requires a longer view and deeper commitment. We think seven generations ahead. We ask: What can we do today for the benefit of future generations?

All of our programs provide time to explore the natural world because this is where the taproot of deep connection to the earth takes hold. We intentionally create time for youth to follow their curiosity. They catch damselfly nymphs and water bugs in the pond. Watch squirrels play in the trees. Listen to birds singing. Get muddy. Run wild. Build forts or tree cookie towers. Explore under fallen logs for decomposers. Dig for worms or slugs. Catch spiders and insects. Play in the creek.

While youth believe they are “just playing outside,” recent studies have proven that childhood experiences such as these, and not the more traditional forms of environmental education, directly lead to adults who are active stewards of the earth.

Here at River Legacy, we are committed to guiding learning in nature that fosters empathy, resilience and a deep connection to the environment for the benefit of raising a strong generation of youth, healthy families and communities, and a flourishing planet.

The movie and television industry has been around for decades, showing many sides of fiction, non-fiction, documentaries, etc., to the public. Many movies use animals of all kinds for references, ideas for creatures, and to enhance entertainment. For example, Jurassic Park is a well-known movie that helped increase the popularity of dinosaurs for about 30 years. In this movie, we see a dilophosaurus which was a genus of Theropod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago.  For the Hollywood version of this creature, the frilled lizard was used as an inspiration to embellish the Jurassic Park dilophosaurus which had extra skin that flared out as it does in the picture to the right. In the movie, this dinosaur was large, scary, and could spit out venom to attack its predators and prey and was also one of the dinosaurs that could roam freely around the park. This adaptation of spitting venom out came in handy later in the movie!

Another example of frilled lizards being used as an inspiration can be seen in the early 2000s movie Holes. In Holes, this lizard was known as the “Yellow Spotted Lizard,” a venomous creature inhabiting the arid wasteland of Green Lake and terrifying the campers. The Yellow Spotted Lizard had yellow eyes, red eyelids, and 11 yellow spots on its back… the legend said that if you got close enough to count the spots, you could get bitten and die. Campers at camp Green Lake were quite scared of these reptiles, but at the end of the movie, when Stanley and his pal Zero find the buried treasure, they are covered head to toe with the Yellow Spotted Lizards, yet unharmed

In both of these movies, the frilled lizard (aka frilled dragon) was used as inspiration, but it was portrayed as a scary venomous creature.

So what are the REAL facts about this influential creature?

The frilled lizard can reach lengths of 2-3 feet with a weight of 1-2 pounds. And while the frilled lizard is non-venomous and may not seem nearly as intimidating as what we see in Jurassic Park, the frilled lizard actually has one of the most creative defense mechanisms. This lizard will open a frill around its neck, reaching 12 inches in diameter to make itself look big and scary, it might even open its mouth and hiss. If these defenses fail the lizard runs to safety, moving its legs in a wide circular motion and not looking back until they reach a tree. This peculiar motion landed them the nickname of “Bicycle Lizard”. 

The frilled lizard is an impressive and eye-catching reptile to observe, and did you know we have one at the Nature Center right now? If you’d like to see a frilled lizard in real life make sure to check out our visiting exhibit Here Be Dragons: From Lizards to Legends. This exhibit will only be here until February 11, 2023 so stop by soon!

Can you imagine all the things we could do if we had a tail? Well, we once did have a tail. In utero, babies start with a tail; tails get smaller and fuse into our vertebrae, creating our “tail-bone” around eight weeks. We miss out on some extraordinary abilities once we no longer have a tail. For animals, having a tail can provide balance, navigation, communication, mating rituals, marking territory, and defense. 

Let’s talk about defense.  Some lizards are notorious for losing their tails (autotomy) when humans or other animals attempt to catch them.  I remember catching a green anole in my backyard as a kid. I was so excited to catch it but saw its tail come off as I grabbed it. The tail was then on the ground, still kind of wiggling around. As a child, that can seem pretty scary or even creepy, but it’s interesting that the lizard has this ability. Lizards have learned that they can save themselves from predators through the art of distraction. 

When predators chase lizards, their tails can detach from their bodies; as the tail wiggles around on the ground, it directs the predator’s attention to the tail instead of them. Juvenile skinks (as pictured on the left) have a bright blue tail that is easily noticeable to predators. Although that might sound counteractive, luckily for skinks, their tail is expendable, and the skink can walk away unharmed. Once the tail has dropped, the lizard can regenerate its tail. However, the regenerated tail isn’t a replica of the original. 

Now, if lizards can release their tails when faced with a predator, what happens when they encounter another one? How many times can a lizard release and regenerate its tail? Regeneration requires cells that will develop into tissues that become new muscles, cartilage, tendons, and eventually a regrown tail. Most lizards can live about 4 years or so, depending on the food, water, shelter, and predators. Depending on how big the lizard is and how healthy they are, it can take anywhere from a month to over a year to have a tail regenerate. So, if the lizard survives those months without a tail as it goes through the regeneration process, one single lizard can potentially drop and regenerate a few tails in its lifetime. 

Next time you visit the River Legacy Nature Center and walk the trails, look for lizards like the ones in the images below. If you notice a brown patchy tail that doesn’t seem to match the rest of the body, or just looks like they’re missing a tail, they are in the regeneration process, and a new tail is on the way. 

There is so much more to learn about lizards! Our upcoming visiting exhibit Here Be Dragons: From Lizards to Legends will feature 6 live lizards so visitors can learn about these legendary creatures up close and personal. Mark your calendars for November 19th and get ready to explore different realms, encounter living legends, and discover unique artifacts at the River Legacy Nature Center.

Visit our website for more details www.riverlegacy.org/here-be-dragons

Written by Sarah Morris, Naturalist.

Around this time of the year, the woods of River Legacy start producing a very peculiar sound. It is loud and generally described as a high-pitched buzzing sound. The origin of this sound is one of the most intriguing and well-known inhabitants of River Legacy: the cicada. It is quite likely that you have heard this sound before. It forms an integral part of the summer experience in North America. Let’s delve more into cicadas and the sound they produce.

Cicadas are insects that belong to the order Hemiptera, a very big and diverse order of insects known collectively as the “true bugs and relatives.” This makes cicadas distant relatives to insects such as aphids, stink bugs, shield bugs, leafhoppers, and bed bugs–yes, those bed bugs! There are roughly 3,000 species of cicadas and they inhabit every continent except Antarctica. In North America, there are about 200 species of cicadas. The most common species of cicadas belong to the genera Tibicen, Megatibicen, Hadoa, and Diceroprocta and are known as the dog-day cicadas. These are considered to be annual cicadas.

This means that they have a life cycle that lasts anywhere from 2 to 5 years, in general. On the other hand, species belonging to the genus Magicicada are known as the periodic cicadas, because their life cycle is very different from the others. These cicadas have either a 13-year or 17-year life cycle, so broods can remain underground for years until it is time for them to emerge. The vast majority of these cicadas can be found east of the Mississippi River. Most of the cicadas in Texas are annual cicadas though there are some members of Magicicada found in counties along the Red River, bordering Oklahoma.

The cicada sound is essentially a mating call produced by the males in order to attract a female cicada. The sound can also be used to announce an individual’s territory. The origin of this sound can be traced back to a special organ that few insects have: the tymbal organ. The male cicadas possess 2 of these, which are circle-shaped ridged membranes found on the back and side of the 1st abdominal segment of the cicada. The muscle that attaches to the tymbals contracts and bends the tymbals, which creates a clicking sound. When the muscle relaxes, they go back to their previous form. The tymbals contract so frequently (120 to 480 times a second) that it appears as a long, continuous sound to the human ear. There are air sacs in Cicadas that amplify the sound to produce the iconic cicada buzzing sound!

Cicadas are very special insects with an amazing adaptation that has made them world famous. As you take a walk through the River Legacy this summer, remember how the cicada sounds are being made as they graciously cover the woods.

Sources:

• Bauer, Patricia. “Why are cicadas so noisy?”. Encyclopedia Britannica, Invalid Date, https://www.britannica.com/story/why-are-cicadas-so-noisy. Accessed 9 May 2022.
• Evans, Arthur. Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America. 1st ed., New York, Sterling Publishing Company, 2008.
• Abbott, John, and Kendra Abbott. Common Insects of Texas and Surrounding States: A Field Guide. 1st ed., Austin, University of Texas Press, 2020.
• Drees, Bastiaan, and John Jackman. A Field Guide to Common Texas Insects. 1st ed., Houston, Gulf Publishing Company, 1998.
• Liebhold, A. M., Bohne, M. J., and R. L. Lilja. 2013. Active Periodical Cicada Broods of the United States. USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry.

Have we been duped about dinosaur extinction? Well, it turns out that we pretty much have been. Since the very first time that paleontologists have found dinosaur fossils, people have known about the existence of these prehistoric, mesmerizing, and typically large creatures. Dinosaurs dominated the biosphere of our planet during what is called the Mesozoic Era, which spanned from roughly 250 million years ago to 66 million years ago. Dinosaurs especially thrived during the Jurassic (201 million years ago to about 145 million years ago) and Cretaceous (145 million years ago to about 65 million years ago) periods of this era until they all went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, about 65 millions years ago, very likely due to an asteroid impact. With this tragedy, the impressive reign of the once mighty dinosaurs came to a close. Or, so we thought…

However, it turns out that not all dinosaurs went extinct! Around 150 millions years ago, during the Jurassic period, a group of small, feathered theropod dinosaurs (dinosaurs that are characterized by hollow bones and three toes and includes famous dinosaurs such as members of the genera Tyrannosaurus, Carnotaurus, Spinosaurus, and Velociraptor) evolved into a group of animals we are very much familiar with, the birds. That is exactly right. Your backyard northern cardinal, the woodpecker you saw on your last hike through River Legacy, and your pet parakeet are all very distant cousins of the T-Rex and raptors from those ancient times! The similarities between these enigmatic animals of the past and our feathered friends abound. For instance, the presence of feathers, a key feature of birds, in dinosaurs such as members of the genus Archaeopteryx has been long documented. Research has also shown similarities between dinosaur and bird skeletons, particularly in the neck, pelvic, and pectoral areas. Behavioral similarities between birds and dinosaurs have been documented as well, ranging from brooding and caring for offspring, to similar sleeping posture, to the ingestion of gizzard stones which are stones that aid in digestion in birds and other animals. In 2008, another proof of the link between dinosaurs and birds emerged: the discovery pointing to the presence of air sacs, another key characteristic of birds, in the genus Aerosteon, a theropod dinosaur from Argentina.

Even as the mighty dinosaurs took their last breath in the aftermath of the late Cretaceous impact event, a small but persistent group of theropod dinosaurs managed to escape catastrophe, survived the extinction event, and eventually flourished and evolved into an amazing diversity of roughly 10,000 bird species found today, from the wild turkey to the turkey vulture, from the hummingbird to the ostrich, from the blue jay to the mallard duck.

Do you and your family want to experience more of the world of dinosaurs, birds’ long-extinct distant cousins? River Legacy Nature Center is excited to present Dinosaur Safari, a traveling exhibit that is open NOW and will run through February 12th, 2022. Come immerse yourself back in the Mesozoic as you learn more about our prehistoric past and experience life-sized dinosaur models, while children get hands-on experience in investigating the clues these animals left behind. Click here to learn more about this limited time exhibit.

Dinosaur Safari is created by Omaha Children’s Museum.

We all know how tricky and expensive it can be to alter your daily routine and make changes to reduce your environmental impact. While making those big changes are great, we all need an easy place to start! Here’s what you can do right now to help our planet:

1. Delete those old emails! That email sitting in your spam folder for an expired 20% off coupon to a store you shopped at once surprisingly has a negative impact on the environment. While emails may seem like an eco-friendly alternative to traditional mail since there is no physical waste of paper, the process of sending and storing emails on servers uses electricity, and oftentimes that electricity is created with fossil fuels that release carbon emissions into the atmosphere. It is estimated that just one email can create 0.3 to 50 grams of carbon dioxide. To put that in perspective a paper clip is about 1 gram, so while 0.3 of that may seem like a small number those emails add up!

2.Cut the strings on your disposable masks when you throw them away. A lot of us have heard about cutting up the plastic soda can holders and this same practice can be used on the ear loops of the single-use face masks. When these strings are left uncut and they find their way into the environment,  animals can get stuck and tied up in the strings. This can really hurt that animal as it may limit their movement if they need to search for food or make a quick escape from a predator. 

3. Stop idling your car in drive through lanes. The next time you’re in the drive-through lane picking up your coffee consider turning your car off in between moving forward. Some newer cars already do this on their own! If you speculate that you will be idling your car in a drive through lane for longer than 10 seconds, you are saving yourself gas and reducing carbon emissions by turning your car off and then restarting before pulling forward. An alternative to this would simply be parking and going in to place your order so that your car can be completely shut off while you make your purchases. 

The idea behind this blog post is to inform the reader on ways that they can make small changes in their life to make an impact. If you have more suggestions please comment on one of our posts we’d love to hear your ideas!

Samantha King
Naturalist

After a week stuck indoors from the snowstorm that hit us mid February, we are all excited to see some first glimpses of spring. While some plants may have suffered from the cold, we are seeing a lot of plants that benefited from the precipitation. Come to River Legacy and see if you can find these 5 plants that are blooming NOW!

1. Redbud. This plant is a member of the legume family which means it grows bean pods. The flowers that are blooming now will bloom for a total of 2-3 weeks and are a bright magenta color that becomes a light pink over time. When the red bud’s leaves emerge they are heart shaped, look reddish and slowly change to a dark green and are about 2- 6 inches long. If you plant this tree in your yard you can attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and honey bees!

2. Wood Violet. This small flower can be seen directly off of the trail and comes in many different shades of purple, blue, and even white. Wood violets have heart shaped leaves that are a good source of vitamins A and C. However, don’t eat the wood violets you see in the park because eating the wrong plant can cause some serious illnesses!  

3. Bedstraw. This plant is very abundant and is in the same family as coffee! Bedstraw, commonly called catchweed, has tiny hooks that act like Velcro. If you get close enough to this plant while walking by it may hitch a ride on your pant leg or your dog’s hair. 

4. Mexican Plum. This tree has snowy white flowers that appear in clusters before the leaves develop. While the flowers resemble snow, the blooming of this tree in March has traditionally meant that for Texans winter is over! Phew, that’s good news! *wipes sweat off brow* Like the name of this tree suggests, there are plums that ripen in late summer that are great for attracting birds and fruit eating mammals.

5. Golden groundsel. This plant is one of the earliest bloomers of the year. If you come to River Legacy Living Science Center you will notice plenty of these yellow flowers in our parking lot now! When this plant goes to seed it forms a white fluff that helps disperse the seeds, like dandelions. Because of this, it is said that the botanist who named this flower was reminded of their grandpa and so the golden groundsel is often referred to as “Old Man.”

Some of these gorgeous blooms can only be seen for a few weeks so make sure to get out and stop by River Legacy to experience these spring blooms!

Samantha King
Naturalist