The Texas Ecology class trip was one of my favorite college experiences. Visiting and learning about a new state and all the different habitats it had to offer was amazing. From staying on an island in the Gulf, to walking through the forest of South Llano River State Park, then finishing off in the desert of Independence Creek Preserve, we hit almost everything Texas had to offer. Every day was a new adventure, not knowing what we were about to experience. Although everyday brought something special, there were two days that stood out to me.
The first day on Matagorda Island. Getting to camp and sleep in a tent right next to the water was a different experience I had never had camping in the mountains of the North. I woke up to a gorgeous sunrise and got to walk around and explore before it got too hot. I’m not complaining because we just came from 20 degrees North Dakota with lots of snow on the ground.
After lunch, some of us set off to the beach that was on the other side of the island. Once we cooled off in the water after the long hike, we walked along the beach admiring the shells and little crabs that scurried to their holes, once they saw us. There was a bunch of jellyfish that were washed onto shore, some of them being the Portuguese Man O’ War which were the first ones I had ever seen, even after living in Florida for 7 years. While sitting on the beach, we got to watch as the Brown Pelicans dove into the ocean and the Willets ran across the shore.
Once back from our beach adventures, we quickly ate dinner and set out on the boat to find some Whooping cranes. While out on the boat we saw a bunch of birds and group of Dolphins. Cooper taught us about the area and the history. I learned that there are many different types of mangroves but only black ones around Texas. He told me about how they tried to grow the white mangrove with the black ones already there, but the white mangrove quickly died away. They believe it has to do with the climate and it getting to the cooler temperatures, but there can always be other leading factors. We did end up seeing a group of Whooping cranes, so I guess I can now check that off my list of birds to see. We ended the night with some gecko hunting in the dark. We used our head lamps and modified poles to sneak up on a bunch of Mediterranean House Geckos and catch them. It took a while to learn the trick with the poles, but I finally got my first one!
The second day that stood out to me was the day at Independence Creek. I got to do a lot of snake and skink hunting. We found around five snakes that day: the Ring-Necked Snake and Red-Striped Ribbon Snake being two of my favorites. Later that day we also got to do some seining. Which was cool to see all the different types of fish they have in their rivers.
Going on this trip has given me many new life and professional skills I hope I can use in the future. My excitement and knowledge of herping grew on this trip and has encouraged me to continue to learn and get out in the field I feel more confident in seining and fish identification from all the times we went out. We got to seine in salt and fresh water, so I learned quickly where fish like to hide in both environments. We got to hear from a Ranger at South Llano River State Park and hear about all the different job opportunities in Texas, opening our eyes to many opportunities down in Texas. Although birding was not included much on my favorite days, we still did a lot of birding throughout the trip, and I learned many new species and tricks. I am very grateful for the experiences I had while on the Texas Ecology Trip and would do it again in a heartbeat.