HISTORY OF THE RESTORATION PROJECT

At long last, and thanks to Tess Sherman, we now have a clear written narrative of the history of the Commons Ford Prairie Restoration Project.  Check out this beautifully prepared and illustrated document by clicking of the following link History of the Commons Ford Prairie

Vegetation Survey Analysis

At long last, thanks to our new data analyst volunteer, Lilli Johnson, we are now able to present some concrete results of the prairie restoration efforts.  Essentially, we have been conducting annual spring/summer vegetation surveys, beginning with the year prior to commencement of the restoration project.  

The survey consists of approximately 10 static transect lines of 20 meters in length. The vegetation is catalogued out for one meter in alternative directions on every other meter of the transect.

While it was possible to simply look at the prairie and gauge the impact, it is comforting to see these actual comparisons of native and non-native species over the surveys.

Bird Poker 2015

The first annual Bird Poker event at Commons Ford was a big success.  Nine teams participated in absolutely beautiful weather.  Thanks to all who participated.

So many birders in the park turned up two new species:  Long-billed Curlew and Barn Owl.  A total of (roughly) 98 species was tallied for the day which is a single day park record.  The full list is below. Most interesting misses were Greater Roadrunner and Eastern Screech Owl.  

The winning team, Crakes of Wrath, scored 53 points and also the most species (78).  Congratulations to Byron Stone, Noreen Baker, Christian Walker and Arman Moreno.

Birding the Hardway (Bryce and Rob Hardway) were only one point behind while the third place team, the Old Crows (Trent Miller, Fred Dalbey and Robin Doughty) had 39 points.

Thanks to all of our donors:  Native American Seed Company, Diane Sherrill of Native EarthScapes, artist Gail Woods, Brush Freeman and Barton Springs Nursery for their kind donations and support. All funds raised from this event will go toward continuing the Commons Ford Prairie Restoration Project.  Our expanded efforts include placing some education signs around the prairie this year.  

Mark your calendars and join us for Bird Poker 2016 during the last week of March.

The species list as submitted by participating teams follows:

Wood Duck       

American Wigeon      

Mallard     

Blue-winged Teal                        

Northern Bobwhite    

Wild Turkey      

Pied-billed Grebe     

Neotropic Cormorant         

Double-crested Cormorant        

American White Pelican     

Great Blue Heron      

Great Egret      

Snowy Egret     

Green Heron     

Black Vulture    

Turkey Vulture 

Osprey     

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper's Hawk          

Red-shouldered Hawk                

Swainson's Hawk      

Red-tailed Hawk       

American Coot 

Killdeer    

Long-billed Curlew   

Rock Pigeon     

Eurasian Collared-Dove    

Common Ground-Dove      

White-winged Dove   

Mourning Dove 

Barn Owl  

Great Horned Owl     

Common Poorwill      

Black-chinned Hummingbird                       

Ringed Kingfisher     

Belted Kingfisher      

Golden-fronted Woodpecker      

Red-bellied Woodpecker   

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 

Ladder-backed Woodpecker     

Downy Woodpecker  

American Kestrel      

Merlin       

Eastern Phoebe

Vermilion Flycatcher 

Ash-throated Flycatcher   

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher  

White-eyed Vireo       

Blue Jay   

Western Scrub-Jay   

American Crow

Common Raven

Purple Martin    

Barn Swallow   

Cliff Swallow    

Carolina Chickadee  

Black-crested Titmouse    

Canyon Wren    

House Wren      

Carolina Wren   

Bewick's Wren 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher      

Ruby-crowned Kinglet       

Eastern Bluebird                

Northern Mockingbird       

European Starling     

Cedar Waxwing

Black-and-white Warbler   

Orange-crowned Warbler  

Nashville Warbler     

Common Yellowthroat        

Northern Parula

Yellow-rumped Warbler              

Golden-cheeked Warbler  

Spotted Towhee        

Rufous-crowned Sparrow 

Chipping Sparrow     

Field Sparrow   

Vesper Sparrow        

Lark Sparrow   

Savannah Sparrow    

Grasshopper Sparrow       

Le Conte's Sparrow  

Song Sparrow  

Lincoln's Sparrow     

White-throated Sparrow    

White-crowned Sparrow    

Northern Cardinal     

Red-winged Blackbird      

Western Meadowlark

Eastern Meadowlark                   

Common Grackle      

Great-tailed Grackle 

Brown-headed Cowbird    

House Finch      

Lesser Goldfinch      

American Goldfinch  

House Sparrow