Willowbrook Reach

More Plants Blooming Now

2011-05-16T20:03:00.003-05:00

Indian blanket, Mexican hat and Purple horsemint in the Willowbrook Reach prairie

The native wildflowers are in full swing this year, aided no doubt by the extra irrigation that we're giving everything as part of the Phase I restoration project.

Mexican hat stands tall in the Willowbrook Reach prairie

We had the pleasure of hosting a field trip this past Saturday for the Native Plant Society of Texas - Austin Chapter. It was so great to have such an esteemed group of native plant lovers walking through our greenbelt. Many thanks to Matt Turner and his friends for the great conversation and helping us to identify many previously unknown plants. Here are few below (all native to Central Texas!!):

Cainagre dock

Texas vervain

Silver bluestem

Dayflower

American germander

Coma

Poverty weed or false willow

Prairie verbena

Hierba de Zizotes or Longhorn milkweed

American basketflower

Purple horsemint

Remember: Nature is all around us and all we have to do is stand still for a bit and watch it unfold before us!

Recommended reading:

Remarkable Plants of Texas: Uncommon Accounts of Our Common Natives. Matt Turner. UT Press.
Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country. Marshall Enquist.

What's Blooming Now

2011-04-14T21:55:00.003-05:00

Mid-spring is a great time to be walking the Reach, which is full of blooming perennials. Almost every day, there is something new to see. Here are a few of the things you can see blooming right now:

Blue-eye Grass

Indian paintbrush (red) and pink evening primrose (pink)

Indian blanket

Rain lilly

Greenthread (Thelesperma filifolium)

Texas lantana (red and yellow) blooms among the sensitive briar (purple)

Sensitive briar

Engelmann's or cutleaf daisy

Leaves of the cutleaf daisy

Columbine

Pink variety of rain lilly

Pink evening primrose

Phlox

Bordered patch butterfly (Chlosyne lacinia) on the zexmenia (Wedelia texana) in the butterfly garden. This butterfly's larvae host on ragweed (of which we have plenty) and sunflowers (of which we just planted).

Seed Sharing

2011-02-25T16:10:00.002-06:00

There is an exciting to development and potential future partnership that is shaping up at the Willowbrook Reach. Yesterday, a few of us met with Minnette Marr from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Minnette is a plant biologist and seed conservationist, and collects seeds from native plants from around Central Texas.

Minnette has begun the process of providing us with wild, native seeds that have been collected from just around Central Texas - from within our "seed shed" - that are appropriate for a habitat like the Reach. Some of them are even relatively rare plants.

The Wildflower Center has an enormous bank of native seeds, and Minnette said they would like to begin sharing those with groups like ours that are committed to restoring native plants back to their place within our ecosystems. This is just a very beginning.

We will likely spread a few of these seeds on our forthcoming workday and Clean Sweep Day, Apr 8.

This is very exciting, and another step forward in our mission to bring even greater numbers of pollinators, birds, flowers and native fruits and plants to our neighborhood!

invasives: AYW Removes Ligustrum and Chinaberry

2011-01-25T08:58:00.000-06:00

Austin Youth Works was out yesterday at the Reach helping to further an invasive plant removal project that we began in December at our workday. They cut down a number of ligustrum trees and seedlines, some chinaberry and others, including pyracantha (I think).

We will always be dealing with these non-native invasive species, but removing them now provides a good opportunity to replace them with similar natives. Cherry laurel, for example, is a good native alternative to ligustrum, since it provides winter berries for birds and its evergreen nature is good habitat.

So, you'll see some piles of plants that were cut down until they are removed by the City, and perhaps that the Reach looks a bit different without those evergreens dotting the banks...for now, that is...

birds: We Have an Owl!

2011-01-03T18:21:00.001-06:00

The past couple of days, an Eastern Screech Owl has been calling our new owl box home! Check him out:

Look for him poking his head out of the box during the day, and listen for his call at night. It sounds a lot like a horse whinnying. Here's a great recording of their calls.

The box is in a high traffic area, so it's possible the owl might not make this a permanent home and raise a brood with a female, but we can cross our fingers!

Installing more owl boxes around the Reach might be a project to consider in the future. And if you've got the perfect tree, definitely think about installing an owl box at your own home. Here's an article about building and placing nest boxes.

Workday Photos

2010-12-19T11:28:00.000-06:00

We had a fantastic turnout for the workday on Saturday, and accomplished many of the goals, from mulching trees and trails to removal of invasive species. Special thanks to all of those who came to lend a hand, including the I-CERV youth group and Keep Austin Beautiful (for lending us tools).

Neighbor Dolly snapped some great photos of the event:

Snakes Among Us

2010-12-15T10:21:00.003-06:00

A really nice video about the harmless water snakes that call Austin's creeks and streams home. Highly recommend watching this video!

Here's the permalink to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdFq5Y6zSV4

Workday and Coffee Clutch This Saturday!!

2010-12-14T10:29:00.000-06:00

There's a Coffee Clutch and Workday this Saturday, Dec. 18 at the Willowbrook Reach! Come meet your neighbors and see what is happening down at our neighborhood green belt.

Coffee and pastries will be on sale courtesy of Elixer Coffee! (And you won't have to walk all the way up to Mueller to get some for this one day only.)

When: Saturday December 18th. 9:00-1:00

Where: The general plan is to meet at Sycamore and Half Penny to sign in and divide up into work teams. If you don't feel like working, just come and visit.

What we're doing: Spreading mulch on newly planted trees and shrubs and on the trail. Removing invasive trees, like ligustrum.

What to Bring: Wheelbarrows, shovels, rakes (especially hard tine rakes), five gallon buckets. Rubber boots are recommended for those doing invasive plant removal and creek clean up. Everyone one else dress for a cool mourning warming later in the day.

Details: There will be two to four piles of mulch and two groups of loaders and wheel borrowers. Once enough piles of mulch are dumped, teams for raking will go where needed. Smaller plants will be mulched by hand with five gallon buckets. With enough people the Butterfly Garden will be mulched as well.

The number of volunteers will determine how much of the trail is mulched. If we have a really good turn out then some creek clean up will be done as well.

Staryn Wagner and Mark Smolen will head up the invasive plant removal. Ligustrum and Japanese Privet will be the main targets as they are still in leaf. Some additional plants were marked with green paint to be removed as well. Weed wrenches will be used wherever practical as they can remove the roots on smaller shrubs and trees. Weed wrenching will be followed up with loppers and hand saws.

There will be some seed to be spread towards the end of the day, a perfect exercise for kids!

We will have some extra tools so come anyway even if you do not have any tools. If you bring tools please mark them.

If someone has a medium sized grill that they could bring then David Boston has said he'll provide the fixings for making sausage wraps for the noon to one phases of the workday. Also it would be nice to take the chill off in the mourning.

We hope to see you there, and many thanks to David Boston for organizing this huge effort.

Owl Box Installed

2010-11-26T13:57:00.001-06:00

I just finished installing an owl box for the Eastern Screech Owls. Look for it in the tall cedar elm at the intersection of Sycamore and Half Penny. Males have probably already begun looking for their new homes and I've heard them calling around the neighborhood. If they find a home they like, and they are able to attract a lady friend that likes them (and their house), they'll raise some young together It's possible that this location is too close to the street and/or street light, but I figure we'll give it a shot this year and see what happens. It's facing south, so that it warms up during the day, and is positioned above a branch, which apparently is preferable because the young owls can bop along on the branch below their nest.

Keep an eye out for any owl residents!

Joe Pearce's New Live Oak

2010-09-27T20:54:00.000-05:00

David Boston and a representative from Home Depot unload this huge 45 gallon live oak tree in front of Joe Pearce's house. Home Depot graciously donated the tree for our Reach, and we planted it for Joe, a neighbor who has lived by the Reach and planted many trees there over the years

The Reach Makes Baby Turtles

2010-09-17T10:20:00.000-05:00

Just found this baby turtle on the Reach last night. Cutest thing ever. I rescued him to the yard because the mowers were coming today. But he'll make a return. It's so great to know that turtles are there, mating, laying eggs, reproducing and then growing up and old. Ecology!

Plant List is Here

2010-09-17T10:05:00.003-05:00

The plant list is here! These are the plants that American Youth Works will be planting at the end of the month along the upper portion of the greenbelt. All natives, all great for wildlife and humans!

Large-growing Trees

Mexican Sycamore
Pecan
Cedar Elm
Live Oak
Chinquapin Oak
Bur Oak
Huisache
Bald Cypress
Carolina Buckthorn

Small-growing Trees

Possumhaw Holly
Yaupon Holly
Hop Tree
Mexican Plum
Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum
Redbud
Texas Persimon
Texas Mountain Laurel

Shrubbier Stuff

American Beautyberry
Coralberry
Fragrant Mimosa
Flameleaf Sumac
Fragrant Sumac
Spineless Prickly Pear
Chile Petin

Perennials

Texas Gold Columbine
Fall Obedient Plant
Frog Fruit
Texas Lantana
Gregg's Mist Flower
Pigeonberry
Turks Cap
Orange Zexmenia
Horseherb

Grass and Grass-like plants

Gulf Coast Muhly
Webberville Sedge
Lindheimer's Nolina

Seeds from Native American Seed

7 lbs Midway Mix
1 lb Shade friendly Grass
1 lb Prairie Starter Mix
2 lb Butterfly Retreat
2 lb Hummers and Singers
5 lb Shade Friendly Wildflower Mix
Upland Switchgrass
Texas Wintergrass

Restoration Begins Last Week of September

2010-08-30T08:34:00.001-05:00

Habitat restoration begins!!

The Willowbrook Reach is about to get its first installment of trees, shrubs and seeds to begin the habitat restoration process. Beginning on Sept 27 2010 and lasting through Oct 8 (two weeks), the Watershed Protection Department and Austin Youth Works will begin planting native shrubs and trees along the upper 1/3 of the Reach. This coincides roughly with the area from the the intersection of Half Penny and Sycamore upstream to Cherrywood. The restoration project will occur on both sides of the greenbelt. We're calling this Phase I of the restoration.

WPD will reseed the entire Phase I area with native wildflowers and grasses. And, they will be installing a temporary sprinkler system (temporary meaning two to three years) to water all these new plants. Watering will occur in the wee hours of the morning, probably from 2 - 5 am in order to minimize evaporation and interference with human activities (like enjoying the Reach). Sprinklers will probably cycle on in intervals of about 5 minutes on and 15 minutes off. This is so no water builds up and causes erosion. Small amounts of water will be applied in pulses over the several hour period.

The lower 2/3 of the Reach will continue to be mown 2-3 times per year (details are still being worked out) from the street to the trail. So they will come and mow that area during this time as well. (So long Johnson grass!)

A plan is emerging!

CLICK HERE to view a map of the Phase I Restoration planting and mowing regime.

Legend for the map above:

PZ1 - ground cover, upper canopy
PZ2 - ground cover, understory, upper canopy
PZ3 - riparian
PZ4 - ground cover
PZ5 - ground cover, understory

WPD has not yet generated plant lists for these zones, but they are on the way.

The Snakes Among Us

2010-08-15T17:52:00.000-05:00

Snakes: for some people, the reptiles constitute one of the joys of living near a Texas stream. For others, they are hair raising, slithering creatures that must be dealt with using a shovel with a long handle. Off with their heads!

Personally, I'm one of the former. I love seeing snakes around the Reach and the neighborhood. That doesn't mean that they don't give me the heebie-jeebies when I come across one. We must be pre-programmed genetically to give fright at their sight.

Knowing more about snakes is one way to fear them less. We should be particularly grateful that we aren't likely to find any of the poisonous snakes native to our area at the Reach. Everything's possible of course, but cottonmouths tend to like shallow, stagnant stretches of water that we don't have. Think big pools and ponds. Rattlesnakes aren't likely to find their way past all the roads and freeways, and they generally prefer rockier areas. Coral snakes are very rare.

Around the Reach, we have two very common snakes, both non-poisonous. There's the blotched water snake and the Texas rate snake.

All snakes provide good food for the hawks and owls, and are predators of frogs and rodents. Just one part of the important food chain here.

The Blotched Water Snake

These snakes are quite common down in the stream, though during drought they can be found wandering about on land. When scared, they can flatten their heads, which makes them look a bit more like the cottonmouth. One way to tell the difference is that cottonmouths float across the surface when swimming. When the water snakes swim, only their head is above water.

The Texas Rat Snake

These snakes are great consumers of all our nastiest little rodents, but they love chicken eggs too (just ask the Choates). They can get large (4 to 6 feet long) and climb vertical surfaces. That means they can be found lounging vertically on your house wall. And of course, craziness will then ensue! Mostly, we see the young snakes around the hood, and often they are found squashed in the road, but larger ones are about. These snakes can be aggressive when cornered, they may even hiss and bite. It'll hurt, but remember: no poison. Best just to give them some respect as they move on their way to find a meal.

All of this information and these photos come from the Austin Area Snake Identification Pages.

Wastewater Plan Option 4 Supported by FLWR/CNA

2010-08-11T09:42:00.000-05:00

Neighbors,

We had a very informative meeting last night with City reps about the various wastewater pipe realignment proposals for the Willowbrook Reach-Sycamore-Willowbrook St. area. (http://flwr.blogspot.com/2010/07/wasterwater-relocation-your-input.html)

Here's a summary of what we learned:

- Alternative 3 is not an option, and has been pulled off the table.
- Alternative 1 does not have any support and was voted out.
- Alternative 2 would result in a pipe crossing the creek that is about 6 inches above the bottom of the creek.
- Alternative 4 would result in a pipe crossing the creek that is about 2 feet above the bottom of the creek.
- In either 2 or 4, the pipe will be encased in cement and covered in rocks ("rip rap") to look more natural. There will be a gentle slope over the pipe, so wildlife will still have the ability to move up and down stream.
- The height of the reinforced pipe in Alternative 4 could result in a deeper pool. It's possible that this kind of crossing will not be permitted after review, because the height could effect water flow too greatly for Watershed to approve of the crossing.

At our meeting with City representatives last night, a motion was issued that the we support Alternative 4, and that we will support Alternative 2 if Alternative 4 is not viable due to permitting issues. The vote at the meeting was unanimous in support of this recommendation, with 9 attendees and voters. The results from the online survey also largely support this view. A majority of respondents (61%) supported either Alternative 2 or 4.

The Steering Committee will take up this issue tomorrow (Wed), and it will be presented again at next Wednesday CNA Quarterly General Meeting. City representatives will be on hand. If you have any detailed questions about any of the above, I recommend that you attend the Cherrywood Quarterly!

UPDATE: The CNA also expressed support for Alternative 4 at the neighborhood quarterly meeting.

Upper Boggy Creek Before Us

2010-08-04T08:23:00.002-05:00

[Click photo to enlarge]

WPD environmental scientist Staryn Wagner sifted through old photos and found this cool aerial shot from the 1940s of how the Upper Boggy Creek and surrounding area looked before the neighborhood was built. He then carefully overlaid the current street grid, for perspective.

All the old timers in the neighborhood say that this area used to be a big dairy farm. They are faint, but you can cattle trails (the cattle and deer were making trails before we were!).

Neat perspective.

Wasterwater Relocation: Four Alternative Plans

2010-07-16T08:35:00.004-05:00

The City of Austin will be replacing 3 exposed wastewater pipes that cross over the Willowbrook Reach, which runs along Willowbrook and Sycamore streets. Members of the neighborhood met recently with CoA staff to view 4 alternative designs for the wastewater pipe relocation.

Summary of the plans
Each of the four alternatives results in one new wastewater pipe crossing the creek, generally at a very low point. The location of the crossing differs with each alternative. There is an option for a pedestrian bridge that crosses the creek. You should be aware that the bridge cannot be placed inside the 100 year floodplain, and it will require ADA accessible entrance and exit points (at present, this is designed to be cement sidewalks, but CoA staff implies this could be negotiable).

Two of the alternatives call for relocating the wasterwater pipes within the greenbelt itself. The other two alternatives propose relocating the wastewater pipes below the surface of the streets. The costs of the alternatives are largely dependent on whether the relocation occurs within the greenbelt (cheaper) versus within the street (more expensive). Any new manhole covers in the greenbelt will be slightly above grade by a few inches.

By clicking on the links below, you can check out the 4 alternatives. These plans show the relocated wastewater pipes as dark lines, new manhole covers as circles and the old lines as dashed grey.

Alternative 1) Pipe relocation within greenbelt with one pipe crossing at southernmost bend in the creek. Requires trenching in greenbelt. Cost: $685,000. View the Alternative 1 plan.
Alternative 2) Pipe relocation within the street with pipe crossing at the southernmost bend in the creek. Requires street construction. Cost: $982,000. View the Alternative 2 plan.
Alternative 3) Pipe relocation within the greenbelt with pipe crossing upstream off Sycamore Dr. Requires trenching in greenbelt. This alternative has been scoped out with a pedestrian bridge. But a ped bridge could be possible with any alternative. Cost: $627,000. Bridge: $137,000. View the Alternative 3 plan.
Alternative 4) Pipe relocation in the street with one pipe crossing at the bottom of the greenbelt near 38.5 Street and Brookview. Requires street construction. Cost: $1,023,000. View the Alternative 4 plan.

Read the full proposal document that outlines the details and pros and cons of each plan.

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK: Click here to take a very short online survey that will help us know your preferred plan.

Don't worry, the survey is totally anonymous. Representatives from the CNA and FLWR will compile these results, and use this information to begin to make a recommendation on our preferred alternative to the City. We meet with the city every second Tuesday of the month (next meeting: August 10, 6:30pm) at Cherrywood Coffeehouse, so please come to those meetings and have your voice heard as well!

Wasterwater Relocation: SURVEY

2010-07-16T08:00:00.001-05:00

This survey has been closed. Original questions follow.

Willowbrook Reach - Wastewater Line Relocation Survey

The City of Austin (COA) must relocate the wastewater lines that are currently exposed at three stream crossing locations along the Willowbrook Reach. At the request of COA, Raymond Chan & Associates prepared preliminary designs of FOUR wastewater relocation alternatives. Please review the four alternatives and the pros and cons of each at URL before participating in this survey. Please be aware that all four alternatives result in one wastewater line crossing the creek, rather than three.

NOTE: The information we collect from this survey will be used to support ONE of these alternatives. The COA will move forward with the recommendation that we make as a neighborhood.

YOUR INPUT IS EXTREMELY VALUABLE! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION!
* Required

1) Two of the alternative designs call for placing the new wasterwater lines within the Reach greenbelt. This would require trenching of the greenbelt itself. These two options are cheaper. *

I would support these option, even though it will require trenching and potential tree removal in the Reach.
I do not support these options.

2) Two of the alternatives call for placing the new wasterwater lines under Willowbrook and Sycamore streets, meaning the COA would tear up the streets. These two options are more expensive. *

I support these options, even though there may be inconvenience due to greater street work.
I do not support these options.

3) Would you support the construction of a pedestrian bridge on over the Reach? * Note: It's possible that a bridge could be build over the Reach. This bridge must be constructed outside of the 100 year floodplain, and may require ADA accessible entrance sidewalks. These qualities may be negotiable.

I support the idea of a bridge.
I do not support the idea of a bridge.

4) Please indicate which alternative you prefer. *

Alternative 1. Pipe relocation in greenbelt with one pipe crossing at southernmost bend in the creek.
Alternative 2. Pipe relocation in the street with pipe crossing at the southernmost bend in the creek.
Alternative 3. Pipe relocation within the greenbelt with pipe crossing upstream off Sycamore Dr. (This alternative has been scoped out with a pedestrian bridge.)
Alternative 4. Pipe relocation in the streets with one pipe crossing at the bottom of the greenbelt near 38.5 Street and Brookview.

Red-shouldered Hawk

2010-07-07T11:39:00.001-05:00

This beautiful photo of one of our resident Red-shouldered hawks was taken recently by Rachelle Joseph. Keep an eye out for these beautiful raptors, and their cousins, the Cooper's hawks. You'll probably hear their loud screeching as well...

We're Certifiable!

2010-06-17T08:25:00.001-05:00

Have you noticed the new sign posted at the Reach? That's our brand spanking new certification by the National Wildlife Federation as an official Wildlife Habitat. Of course, we've known for some time that the Reach has the following qualities that support wildlife: water sources, food sources, places for cover and places to rear young. The Reach is full of it.

Thanks goes out to our neighbor David B. for sponsoring the Reach's certification!

Also, did you know that you can certify your own yard? If you provide all of the necessary requirements to support wildlife, your yard too can become a wildlife habitat. The more habitat we have spread across the neighborhood, the better we'll be able to support our local biodiversity. (It's easier for them to hop from one habitat to another without having to cross deserts of lawn.)

There's even a City of Austin-NWF Neighborhood Habitat Challenge. If Cherrywood can certify the largest number of backyards by November, we get prizes! But more importantly, we help the birds and the bees...

Summer Watering Tips

2010-05-27T15:27:00.001-05:00

It's summer time, which is tough on plants in our home gardens. Here's some great advice from Merredith Giles of the Great Outdoors on how to water wisely.

A few high points:

First, get your plants on a sensible watering schedule. Most plants, even newly planted, should not need to be watered every day, if watered properly. A good watering is long and slow, allowing water to permeate the soil on multiple levels and reach deep into the root ball and surrounding soil. I am often amazed as I watch my neighbors shoot a hose at their flower beds for 20-30 seconds and then tell me they are “watering”. I spend at least 5 minutes watering areas that need it.

If you have a sprinkler system, it should run at least 20-30 minutes per zone, but no more than twice a week. When it gets really hot, I would like to see a short cycle, maybe 5 minutes, to “prepare” the soil to accept water, then a longer, 15-20 minute cycle, to soak in.

If your plant is watered well and still wilts to a full droop every day, perhaps it is not the right plant for the area.

Don't forget, Cherrywood hoodies, that we're under Stage 1 watering restrictions in Austin.

Why are we talking about home landscapes in a blog about a greenbelt? Well, conserving water in our home gardens keeps water in our aquifers and lakes, and watering wisely can lead to less run-off and protects our creeks. It can also keep plants alive better (and more efficiently) to support wildlife that is shared with the Reach.

Cabbage Whites

2010-05-21T13:04:00.001-05:00

Folks, the cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae) are all over the butterfly garden and the Reach today. Flitter flitter flitter.

This is an awful photo I took with an iPhone of one of them sipping nectar from our new Zexmenia flowers. Caterpillars of this species host on plants in the cabbage and mustard families.

The Reach in 1997

2010-05-10T14:49:00.000-05:00

At last week's meeting with the city, we were shown photos of what the Reach looked like in 1997. Oh wow, it looked awful - almost like a scar.

Now, it's a lush wildlife wonderland, and that's thanks in every part to the hard work and dedication of vocal neighbors who have advocated for the Reach over the last decade or so. THANK you to all!

What's happened is that the banks are now filled with willows, sycamores, cottonwoods, mulberries and tons of other plants (native and non), because neighbors advocated for the city to stop mowing and chopping them down. Those branches and roots are now providing habitat for wildlife and holding the banks together to prevent further erosion.

Great News: City Project Will Not Proceed As Planned

2010-05-05T09:54:00.000-05:00

Neighborhood representatives met with City Staff (Mike Kelly, Chris Calvery, George Walker, Mateo Scoggins, and Roxanne Jackson) last night to discuss the planned Watershed Department project.

The City team explained that the Reach - through the determined efforts of neighbors and Nature over the years - is already much more healthy that it was when they originally assessed it in 1997. After performing some comparative measurements and a new assessment, they also found that very little to no new erosion has occurred since 1997. (Pictures and more to come soon.)

To make a long story short, the City Staff reassessed the condition of the creek and have determined that there's no need to proceed with the current plan!

That is not the end of the story, of course!

The two waste water lines crossing the creek must be dealt with, and there are other possible outcomes for the project. City Staff will be present at the CNA Quarterly on May 19 to update the hood. That will also officially begin our NEW process for looking at changes to the Reach, primarily related to the waste water lines. The neighborhood will begin meeting with the City on a monthly basis in July to talk about how they will deal with the waster water lines, how we might decrease pollution in the creek my installing rainwater swales, how we might increase wildlife habitat, and etc.

There will be lots of opportunity for neighborhood involvement and input, and I'm positive that this new direction will be very good for the Reach!

Thanks to the folks who attended last nights meeting and thanks to the City Staff for their willingness to reassess their proposed plan and stop it from moving forward.

Mowed Again: Before and After

2010-05-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

Before and after photos of the Reach, which was just mowed down again by the Watershed Department. One of these years, we're going to figure this maintenance thing out and have healthy wildflower meadows...

Mulberries!

2010-05-03T19:00:00.000-05:00

The mulberries are completely off the hook this year. The trees along the banks of the creek are just dripping with ripe berries. Most of the mulberry trees produce deep black berries when ripe, but keep an eye out for the white mulberries whose ripe berries are just a shade pink of white.

I've seen tons of people out there picking berries.

Neighbors: What are you doing with your berries? Leave your response as a comment.

Myself? I made a big ol' mulberry cobbler. YUM.

City Plans Major Project for Neighborhood Greenbelt

2010-04-30T15:53:00.000-05:00

The city's Watershed Protection department has proposed a major project that will alter the environment on the Willowbrook Reach, our large neighborhood greenbelt that snakes along the Upper Boggy Creek from Cherrywood Rd. to 38 1/2 Street.

The Reach is beloved by neighbors, herons, turtles, frogs, butterflies and many more. The property is home to over 100 trees, wildflowers (many blooming now), fossils, yellow-crowned night herons, Coopers hawks, and myriad other birds, insects, fish and amphibians. It's also where we neighbors go to walk our dogs, run for exercise, and generally find relief from our urban environment. It's an oasis, and if you haven't discovered it yet, I highly recommend walking down and checking it out.

Mike Kelly, project leader with the Watershed department, says that his department assessed conditions at the Reach 8 or 9 years ago. At the time, they found our greenbelt with steeply eroding banks, exposed water and wastewater lines, and potential flooding dangers, among other issues. That assessment formed the basis for funding that was approved by City of Austin voters in the 2006 Bond Election for projects on the Upper Boggy Creek, including the Willowbrook Reach.

The City has now been working on the project for 3 years with contracted engineers and landscape architects. The Friends and Lovers of Willowbrook Reach (FLWR) recently learned that the design phase of the Watershed project is now 90% complete.

The current City plan proposes to regrade the banks of the creek to a gentler slope and realign the flow of the water. As a result of that regrading and realignment, the City will have to remove almost all trees - from large mature pecans to small willows - within the creek bed and an area just surrounding the creek. Trees and plantings further from the creek and nearer the streets will be left alone. Some steeper creek banks may be left intact in the plan, but they are likely to be reinforced to prevent erosion. Some portions of the creek bed will be raised and new riffles and pools will be created. Plans call for replanting the area with native and non-invasive trees and perennials, and for installing several rainwater swales planted with perennials in an effort to filter runoff. It is probable that most wildlife will be displaced and may keep a clear distance from the greenbelt for at least a year or two, if not longer. The regrading and realignment will also result in two exposed wastewater pipes becoming unexposed.*

The city expects to start digging in March 2011.

One of the problems with all of this is that these plans have has come to 90% completion without the input of the Cherrywood Neighborhood at large. Many of you may be hearing about this for the first time. Thus, members of the Cherrywood Neighborhood Association and FLWR have requested that the City put a hold on its project until they can present their ideas to the Cherrywood Neighborhood.

As of this writing, Mike Kelly has agreed to place a temporary hold on the project, to step back and re-approach. He and his team will be re-assessing the condition of the Reach over the next week or two. He says that conditions along the greenbelt have changed since their initial assessment years ago, and that it's possible that their current plan needs revising. We believe that this reassessment must include neighborhood input. This is a huge project, and it's imperative that ALL neighbors have a say in its direction.

Neighbors, this project could change the Willowbrook Reach greenbelt forever. We at FLWR urge you to become involved in the process and will be updating the neighborhood at the May CNA Quarterly Meeting.

For further information about the Watershed project, please contact the project mangers: George Walker (974-3376, george.walker@ci.austin.tx.us) and Christina Calvery (974-7094, christina.calvery@ci.austin.tx.us).

If you would like to become involved with the Friends and Lovers of Willowbrook Reach (FLWR), email flwr78722@gmail.comor find us at the upcoming CNA Quarterly!

* There is a third exposed pipe in the creek that is a water supply pipe. That pipe will be dysfunctional and removed after a water pipe replacement project along Sycamore St. Note that the Austin Water Utility project along Sycamore is not the same as the Watershed project described here. The orange fencing you will see go up at the Reach this month is to protect the property from the water pipe project along Sycamore. The water pipe project is expected to be complete this July 2010.

Fenced In

2010-04-28T08:55:00.001-05:00

As the Austin Water Utility begins its job replacing water lines on Sycamore and Cherrywood this week, they were kind enough to fence off the butterfly garden. Hopefully that will protect it from any roving trucks and workers.

The butterflies won't mind at all - you can't fence them in! Unfortunately, it will make viewing and watering plants challenging. Too bad, because this Spring the butterfly garden is finally blooming away!

More details on the AWU project:
Dolly, Girard and Lee met with the Austin Water Utility to discuss what impact, if any, their project would have on the Willowbrook Reach greenbelt. Here's what we learned:

- First, the managers and crew for this project are really responsive. I give them big points for wanting to speak with us and all coming out to the reach to hear and respond to our concerns.

- The current water lines under the roads are only 2 inches in diameter and filled with gunk. The new lines will be 6 or 8 inches wide. This project should decrease the pipe breaks that are always happening around Sycamore.

- The project will happen in 4 phases, starting the week of Apri25. 1) Water line replacement on Cherrywood from 38.5 to Sycamore. 2) Replacement on Sycamore from Cherrywood to 38.5. 3) Intersection work at Cherrywood and 38.5. 4) Intersection work at Sycamore and 38.5. The whole project should take about 90 days.

- They will be installing a silt fence about three feet into the grass all along the length of Sycamore. They will install a fence around the butterfly garden for protection. They will place stakes and fence around the small trees recently planted by FLWR along Sycamore.

- They will need to store some gravel and pipes and park some vehicles along this three foot swath of grass. It will get messed up. Thus, at the end of the project they will be reseeding that 3 foot swath of grass with some grass mix (called hydro-mulch). The resulting grass will be comparable to what's there now.

- Once the project is finished they will be moving the silt fence to the outer edge of the greenbelt, right at the pavement, to protect this new growing grass from car parkers.

- As part of the project (the only part that goes into the greenbelt area), they will be removing one of the water pipes crossing the creek. It's the western most pipe. They will saw it off on both ends and simply lift it away, as it will no longer be in use after this project. There should not be any significant digging or other destruction of the banks. (The other two pipe crossings, by the way, are wastewater!)

All in all, this is a low impact project on the Reach. It will be ugly to have that orange fencing up there. As the project proceeds, they will notify neighbors 48 hours in advance of any water shut offs.

If there are any environmental problems that arise during the project, and there is a threat to the reach and the creek, please contact me. More importantly, contact Joe Davila, project coordinator, at 972-0737.

Historic photos: The Reach after a Water Main Break

2010-04-26T21:18:00.002-05:00

Water flowing along Huisache Bend in June 2003. Taken by neighbor Dianne Sullivan.

The photo above was taken on the south side just east of Half Penny on Sycamore. Looking northwest. Note how different the banks look without vegetation. I'm told that this was not caused by rain, but a water main break.

A Window into the Past: Geology & Paleontology of Willowbrook Reach

2010-04-21T10:24:00.003-05:00

By Erich Rose

Austin, and the entire Central Texas region are well known for its readily accessible geology. From the time of the earliest European settlers people have been collecting and commenting on the abundance of fossils and other evidence of ancient life to be found in our streams, road cuts and wherever the bedrock becomes exposed.

We all know Austin is divided into basically two halves. The uplifted, western "Hill Country" side and the low-lying relatively flat eastern half. The rocks and fossils are easily found to the west in the big road cuts and quarries. But to the east where the rocks are both less disturbed and often softer, we need to look in streams and the occasional construction site. Willowbrook Reach is one of those spots.

I first visited the stream in the mid 90's. My in-laws live in the neighborhood and, knowing my interest, it was suggested that I check out the creek bed. Well to my pleasant surprise fossils were present, and in certain spots, abundant. Now there are fossil collectors who bring picks and shovels and feel certain the best stuff must be below the surface.

That's not my style.

The first thing I did was scramble down to a gravel bar, got down on my knees and started scanning for specimens. Quickly I spotted chunks of oyster shell. Those oysters, all of the genus Exogyra, along with the light tan marl, quickly let me know I was probably in the Austin Chalk Group. The Austin Chalk is the name given to a large group of formations of Upper Cretaceous age (approx. 82 - 85 million years old). These rocks were deposited in a quite warm sea that covered much of Texas at that time. This body of water was known as the Western Interior Seaway and at points reached all the way north to the arctic. It teamed with life.

Most of the fauna would have seemed quite familiar: oysters, clams, snails, corals, fish, sharks, etc. But there were some exceptions, big and small. And the big ones would have been rather awesome. Mososaurs and plesiosaurs many meters in length swam through these waters. And there were strange reef-like areas not made up of corals but instead huge tube-shaped clams, known as rudists. And probably one of the most interesting groups would have been the ammonites. These now extinct relatives of squid and octopi came in all sorts of shapes from the coiled forms whose remains we see in the creek bed today, to strangely twisted and distorted shells, but all defined by the tentacled creatures that lived within.

As I continued to pick up oyster shells of various sizes I also came across other fossils: a few shark teeth, sea urchin spines, some interesting small worm tubes and eventually fragments of ammonites. All this stuff in the gravel bars was pointing to what might be found in the actual bedrock itself. And sure enough as I explored and found the scattered spots where the tan chalk was exposed I started to see shells and other fossils "in situa." Now I had collected the Austin Chalk at other locations and knew a bit about what to expect but what made my day was coming across one rather large ammonite exposed in the bottom of the creek bed. Ammonites are not uncommon in the Austin Chalk but this one was large and although it was not collectible it was fun to find.

As I identified the fossils I was finding I did a bit more research on the geology and quickly realized the stream exposed a rather specific section of stratigraphy. There is a hard layer rich with two species of the oyster Exogyra that typically indicates the top of the Dessau Formation and its contact with the overlying Burditt Formation. The two species are easily identified: Exogyra tigrina has a wrinkled surface and often shows stripes while Exogyra laeviuscula is rather smooth. They only occur together in the Austin Chalk at the top of the Dessau. The hard layer represents a "reef" that these oysters formed over a wide area. In amongst those oysters I found several other oysters and bivalves (clams & scallops), a few gastropods (snails), several ammonites and one well-preserved sea urchin. To this day I go back to that spot and look for newly exposed specimens.

But the streambed holds more than Cretaceous fossils. The thick layer of rounded stones, gravels and caliche we see just above the tan limestone is still plenty old. One of my favorite days at the reach was punctuated by my nephew Henry's question "Hey uncle Erich, what’s this?" Well the "this" he handed me was a rather large tooth. Not a shark or reptile tooth I might expect from the creek's bedrock but a horse's molar.

When asked where exactly he found it he pointed to a spot just above the tan limestone. Now this was no farm animal, it was much older, not millions of years but ice age, maybe 10 thousand years or more. Horses evolved in North America migrated into Asia and beyond, but then went extinct here. This was a fossil tooth. These gravels and sediments that lie above the bedrock are known as the Upper Colorado River Terrace Deposits. They were set down long before the Spanish or any other westerner brought horses back to Texas.

My nephew had a real cool fossil.

Henry went on to find another one but I have yet to find one myself. So maybe one day Willowbrook Reach will share another secret of it's past with me. Every time I go back cross my fingers.

Blooming now in the butterfly factory

2010-04-18T18:33:00.001-05:00

The Butterfly Garden Comes Back

2009-12-14T11:59:00.007-06:00

This fall, after 2 years of awful drought and lots of plant attrition in the FLWR Butterfly garden (a.k.a. Lepidoptera Lounge), the garden bounced back with an amazing amount of flowers. And with them, came the butterflies.

Anyone who walked by the butterfly garden toward the end of November likely saw swarms and swarms of butterflies getting nectar from the white mistflower, Gregg's mistflower, tropical milkweed and lantana (see photo above). All great natives for fall butterflies.

Here are some photos of a few of the butterfly species that so happily stopped by our lounge.

Queen (Danaus gilippus) - related to the monarch - on the mistflower. Larvae feed on milkweeds, and we got 'em.

A beautiful yellow skipper sips from the Gregg's mistflower. I'm pretty sure this is a Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus) which is pretty common. It's larval hostplant is bermuda grass, which is also pretty darn common!

A Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) on the white mistflower

A Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia) on the white mistflower

I think this pretty little thing is a Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis), also on the Gregg's mistflower. Larval feed on mallows (like turk's cap).

This is the caterpillar of the Queen butterfly, feeding on the butterfly weed (Asclepius tuberosa).

If you know what any of these are better than I do, feel free to leave the names in the comments section of this post!

City Watershed Project: Overview

2009-09-25T08:20:00.005-05:00

Here's a summary and history of the City of Austin Watershed Protection and Development Review's (WPDR) plans (or what I know of them) for the Willowbrook Reach.

In 2007, FLWR received a grant from Keep Austin Beautiful for plants and a butterfly garden. As part of this process, we learned that WPDR had plans to work on the reach.
WPDR had decided to deal with the erosion, flood control and water movement issues in the Reach. Another goal of their work is to deal with the exposed water and sewer pipes crossing the Reach.
Over the subsequent two years, WPDR contracted engineers and landscape architects to draw up plans for the Reach Project. WPDR's Mike Kelly is the overall project lead and George Walker is the project manager.
In September 2009, WPDR presented preliminary plans for their project at a meeting with the greater Rosewood neighborhood association. (This is because they are also planning to do similar work on a downstream section of Boggy Creek at Rosewood Park.) Members of FLWR were present at the meeting. We also learned at that time from Christina Calvery at Public Works that they will be updating the water infrastructure underneath E. 40th and Willowbrook Reach streets as well.
Preliminary plans call for: small realignments of the creek bed from Cherrywood Road to 381/2 Street. The creek bed will be raised. All vegetation will be cleared from the creek and replanted with native shrubs and perennials. The banks of the creek will be widened. New trees will be planted on the outskirts of the Reach near the streets. New systems will be put in place for filtering runoff from the streets. At this time, there are no immediate plans for work upstream of Cherrywood Rd or downstream from 381/2 (until you get to Rosewood Park). No other projects are in the budget.

It’s All in the Sauce

2008-08-01T14:52:00.006-05:00

One of the trees that you can see growing all up and down the Willowbrook Reach is black willow (Salix nigra). It droops over the trails, swaying gracefully in the warm summer breezes moving up from the Gulf of Mexico.

Bees drop in on the trees when flowering in spring and use the nectar to make honey. Viceroy caterpillars munch on the leaves before transforming into beautiful orange and black butterflies that mimic the famous migrating monarchs. (You can tell the difference between the two butterflies by size—the viceroy is slightly smaller—and by wing pattern—the viceroy has a black line crossing it’s hind wing).

Willowbrook Drive and the Reach are, in fact, namesakes of this great native tree that grows along streams throughout much of eastern North America.

Willows are fast growers, and you can find many young trees sprouting along our creek bed and banks. Bendable and posable, willows are often used to make fences and arbors, and they stabilize the creek banks and slow the flow of water. When big flows come racing through the Reach, watch for the tops of the willows dipping in and out of the churning surface.

Mature willows can get pretty tall, and the big, multi-trunked trees often fall over. But if any portions of the stem or roots are hanging on in the soil, new willow shoots will sprout and quickly grow into branches and new trunks, completing the natural cycle of birth, death and renewal.

The Spanish word for the willow tree is sauce—the word we use in English for condiments dribbled over food. Of course, the Spanish word for the same sweet, spicy or savory relish is salsa.

And that’s how I like to think of the Willowbrook Reach itself, a crazy mix of ingredients, from native and introduced plants to people, birds, bacteria, frogs and fish. The willows anchor that sauce and are but one ingredient in the bigger pot of salsa that makes our Cherrywood neighborhood worth living in, all the while supporting our urban ecosystem and ultimately, planet Earth.

Cosmos: A defense

2008-07-24T14:36:00.003-05:00

Our neighbor Mary sent this information to me about cosmos:

Cosmos is regarded as an excellent nectar plant for butterflies (see Geyata Ajilvsgi's book Butterfly Gardening for the South, 1990; and Scott Shalaway's Butterflies in the Backyard, 2004.) The commonly cultivated species (Cosmos sulphureus) is widespread in the American tropics; it is thought to have originated in Mexico (see Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas, D.S. Correll and M.C. Johnston, 1970). According to C & J, it occasionally escapes but probably doesn't persist anywhere in Texas; however, a later compilation (see Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Texas by S. Hatch et al., 1990) indicates that it occurs out of cultivation ("in the wild") in southern Texas. We have a native Cosmos (C. parviflora) in the Trans-Pecos of Texas, with a range extending north to Colorado and far into Mexico. All members of this small genus are annuals.

Willowbrook Reach Update: July 2008

2008-07-17T11:30:00.015-05:00

Plants

It was a banner year for wildflowers, like horsemint, bluebonnets, and Indian blanket, at the Reach. The City mowers left several large areas of flowers and grass unmown, which has allowed for the plants to reach maturity and set seed for next year. You can see several of these unmown patches now, with brown stems and seed heads waving in the hot summer wind.

As we all know too well, when it rains it pours and when it doesn't, it's as dry as a bone. This year, most everything is brown and crackly at the Reach, but look close and you'll still see many adapted perennials and annuals making a go of it. Mexican petunia is blooming heavily right now, as is silverleaf nightshade. The dry weather has served as a bit of a control for our bad infestation of Johnson grass, but you can still see it sending up flowers and seeding even in our harshest of times. Proof that this plant is a survivor.

The 34 trees we planted this spring are having various levels of success. Some, especially those that generous people have adopted and are watering regularly, are doing great. In particular, check out Yin and Yang--two yaupons on the south side that are happy enough to be producing berries for the winter birds. The Mexican plums on that side of the Reach are also doing great. Trees on the north side aren't faring as well. (If you have the gumption, please help us water these trees!)

Plants in the new butterfly garden are doing fabulously. Blooming now are: purple coneflowers, blackfoot daisy, mistflower, tropical milkweed, woolly ironweed, lantana and nightshade. We had planned this garden to be "native plants only," but someone snuck in some cosmos. Perhaps we should thank them! The cosmos are providing a great amount of color to the garden and probably nectar too (see below).

Animals

Speaking of the butterfly garden, you may have noticed that there are very few butterflies this year, especially compared to last year's bumper crop. Last year you couldn't spit without hitting a swallowtail. I hate to speculate too much, but I imagine this has something to do with the hot, dry temperatures. It's possible that there aren't as many host and nectar plants available for them. Still, there are some butterflies to be seen, so keep an eye out. Recent sitings include long-tailed skippers.

On Monday morning, I watched two enormous snapping turtles mating about mid-Reach. I've seen baby turtles for two springs in a row, and this fully confirms that we have at least one breeding pair of snappers on the Reach, if not more. It would be interesting to know where the females are laying their eggs.

On a sadder note, I saw one snapping turtle in the Bathtub that has gone on to the Great Creek in the Sky.

Adult and juvenile yellow-crowned night herons continue to feed at the Reach. Be careful when driving at night! A heron was recently spotted ambling slowly across Cherrywood Rd. Other birds around include grackles, starlings, cardinals, blue jays, swallows, mockingbirds and more.

A neighbor up the creek recently spotted a large beautiful, perfectly harmless Texas rat snake crossing Wilshire at the bridge over the creek.

Humans

The City of Austin Watershed Department is in recon phase for their rather large project to "re-design" the creek bed at the Reach. They recently identified a design and engineering firm to draw up plans, and you may have seen them wandering the creek, marking trees and painting stripes. They've assured me that they will include the neighborhood as part of the design process, and I'll let everyone know what I know as soon as I know.

Trash continues to be a problem at the Reach, particularly along 38.5 street. Please offer your hand to nature and the neighborhood by picking up stray garbage and not littering.

The Reach is a wonderful place for dogs, but not for dog poop! Remember that this poop holds billions of E. coli bacteria (among other things) and that those bacteria get washed into our creek and into our drinking water. Gross, right? It's interesting to consider what our neighborhood might be like if we weren't here. Surely, there would be a healthy population of coyotes and foxes scatting about with no one to pick up after them (aside from dung beetles, which can do an amazing job of clearing away animal scat). In fact, the poop could be good fertilizer. So, if poop's natural, why pick it up and stick in an unnatural plastic bag? The answer is one of scale and abundance. Natural populations of coyotes and foxes would not be anywhere near as dense as our dog (and feral cat) populations. Their numbers would be lower and their range would be much larger. In an urban ecosystem, we squeeze a lot into a little.

The Reach provides a great "air conditioning" service in a hot City with its urban heat island. Take a walk down by the creek in the early evening and you can feel the cool air seeping out from the creek, especially those places with a high density of trees and underground springs. A reminder of the power of small amounts of water and nature in a city.

Remember, nature happens everywhere!

Willowbrook Reach Wildflower List

2008-05-08T10:19:00.004-05:00

The following list of wildflowers was compiled by Gale Greenleaf (with a few additions by me).

May 2008 Inventory
Alamo vine
Angel’s trumpet (vine)
Baby blue eyes
Beebalm**
Blackfoot Daisy**
Bluebonnet
Blue-eyed grass
Boneset (mistflower)**
Buttercup
Butterflyweed (Asclepius tuberosa)**
Chickweed
Cornflower*
Damianita
Engleman’s daisy
Frog fruit
Gaillardia/Indian blanket
Greenthread
Gregg’s Mistflower**
Lantana (Texas)**
Larkspur (many colors)*
Later: pentstemon, wild petunia, sneezeweed
Mexican hats (just coming on)
Pennywort (in water)
Peppergrass
Pink evening primrose
Poppies*
Prairie verbena
Purple Coneflower**
Rain lily
Scarlet guara
Sensitive-briar
Silver-leaf nightshade
Small red flower may be an annual phlox*
Spearmint
Spiderwort
Texas dandelion
Texas vervain
Toad-flax
Tropical Milkweed**
Venus’ looking glass
Woolly Ironweed**
Wild onion and garlic (gone by)
Straggler daisy (horseherb)

* new this year
** in butterfly garden

2008 updates

Oxalis
Ruellia/Mexican Petunia
Umbrella Sedge
Sunflowers
Dandelions
Prickly Pear
Portulaca Grandiflora/Moss Rose
Elephant Ears
Banana Tree
Coral Honeysuckle
Japanese Honeysuckle
Horsemint

2000 Inventory
Alamo vine
Aster
Bee balm
Blue phacelia
Blue-eyed grass
Broomweed
Buttercup
Chickweed
Columbine
Dayflower
Dewberry
Dog’s ear
Engleman’s daisy
Fleabane
Frog-fruit
Gentian
Golden wave
Green milkweed
Guara
Hedge parsley
Loosestrife
Meadow flax
Mexican hat
Morning glory
Nightshade
Parralena
Pennywort
Poverty weed
Prairie verbena
Primrose
Purslane
Rock daisy
Roesmer’s spurge
Scarlet pea
Scarlet spiderling
Scurf-pea
Sensitive briar
Spearmint
Speedwell
Spiderwort
Straggler daisy
Sunflower
Tansy mustard
Texas thistle
Toad-flax
Turk’s cap

Poor Blotchy

2008-03-28T10:19:00.005-06:00

People, please, pretty please THINK about it--do some research for heaven's sake--before you kill a snake in the creek!!

This morning, I was walking around the Reach and saw a beautiful blotched water snake hunting for critters in the Bathtub. It's a native, non-poisonous snake that's often confused with water moccasins and cottonmouths. Chances are EXTREMELY LOW that we would ever, ever have a moccasin on the Reach. (That doesn't mean we shouldn't take precautions when encountering a snake, it just means we should THINK before we kill.)

Poor, poor Blotchy the Water Snake. Happily nibbling on our pesty little rats, mice and mega-roaches. Now succumbed to the wanton power of human insecurities, chopped into bits by the (damned) Easter Seals (who meant well, but still).

Clean Sweep 2008

2008-03-25T10:04:00.001-06:00

Help clean garbage from the creek during CLEAN SWEEP on Saturday, April 5.

Equinox Tree Planting

2008-03-11T07:34:00.003-06:00

Saturday, March 22
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Join FLWR to plant 33 new trees and shrubs around Willowbrook Reach! We’ll be planting yaupons, mountain laurels, Mexican plums, bur oaks, pecans and many others.

Want to know the best part? You’ll be contributing to the future of this city and neighborhood as a green, healthy place to live, and there will be NO DIGGING!

HOW IT WILL WORK

Austin Parks & Recreation will dig the holes for the trees using their fancy machines
We will place the trees in the holes, fill the holes with soil and cover them with mulch. Easy as pie.
Meet at the corner of Sycamore and Half Penny

WHAT TO BRING

Shovels and gloves
Trucks – If you have a pick-up truck, please bring it! We need trucks to cart trees and mulch around the park

WATERING

Watering the trees will help them survive the upcoming harsh summer months. We’re looking for neighbors of the Reach, anyone who lives on E 40th, Sycamore, Willowbrook or Cherrywood, to volunteer to water new trees in front of their houses. Please let us know if you can help!

[RAIN date: March 29]

Butterfly Plants Planted

2007-10-14T21:02:00.000-05:00

We had beautiful weather this past Saturday for our first garden planting at the reach! Thanks to all who came out and lent a hand--it was a big weekend for Cherrywood. Mike Damal and volunteers were planting trees, garden geeks were trading plants at the Cherrywood Plant Swap, we planted the butterfly garden, and Burners Without Borders fixed up the Cherrywood Green. Sweet!

Lepidoptera Lounge Takes Shape

2007-10-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful workday this past weekend, with many neighbors and friends coming out to help (including volunteers from Westlake and Steiner Ranch!). Everything went very smoothly. We now have a trail (which is also a mowing buffer) and a well-mulched bed just begging for butterfly flowers. Plans are still to plant on October 13, so come out and join the fun. In the meantime, here are a few photos from the day...

Thanks to everyone for all of their hard work!!

Workday this Saturday 9/29!!

2007-09-26T08:22:00.000-05:00

It's time to prepare the neighborhood's new butterfly garden!

When: Sept. 29, Saturday, 8am – 4pm
What we'll do: till the soil, lay edging, fill the beds with compost and mulch, and fill the trail with crushed granite.
What to bring: work gloves, hat, sunscreen, water, bug spray (extra wheelbarrows, shovels, and rakes may also come in handy)
Where: Corner of Cherrywood and Sycamore Roads (about one block north of 38.5)

This garden is made possible by CHULA (http://www.chulaleague.org/) and Keep Austin Beautiful.

Native Butterfly Garden Plan

2007-09-13T16:18:00.001-05:00

The plan ya'll!:

Click here to view a larger version.

So, here's my plan! I've filled our garden space up with native plants for attracting butterflies for both nectar and places to lay eggs for caterpillars. There are a few spaces for adding plants in the future and the lay-out is actually pretty flexible. We'll likely make some decisions the day of planting and beyond. Anyway, this will help us lay out the beds appropriately.

Comments welcome!

Butterfly Garden Schedule

2007-09-04T08:45:00.001-05:00

The process has begun for installation of the new Native Butterfly Garden at the corner of Sycamore and Cherrywood! This weekend, I pulled more Johnson grass (it grows back darn fast) and lay down a piddly amount of black plastic to try and fry some of the grass and weeds. (This is more of a gesture than anything.)

Fall approacheth and that means it's time to plant plants!

There will be 2 workdays coming up, and I really hope that neighbors will come out and help. Here's the potential schedule for the butterfly garden prep and installation:

9/29 (all day); Saturday

Rototill/scrape planting area (I'll try to get a Rototiller on loan from KAB)
Install steel edging for beds and paths (I'll buy this the day before)
Have soil, decomposed granite and mulch delivered (ordered the week before)
Install the above trio

10/13 (half day); Saturday

purchase plants at Wildflower Center fall plant sale (on Friday)
install and water new plants!
wait for the plants to grow and the butterflies to come forth....

I'm working up a planting plan, which I'll share ASAP. Until then, here are a few of the native perennials and etc. that I'm considering so far:

lantana
zexmenia
blazing star/gayfeather (Liatris)
butterfly weed (various species)
purple coneflower
mistflower
blackfoot daisy
indian blanket
standing cypress
verbena
monarda (bee balm, lemon balm)
rock rose
purple prairie clover
woolly ironweed
mexican plum (tree, but host for Cercropia moths and the monarchs LOVE the flowers in spring)

Red Dragon(fly)

2007-08-27T11:45:00.001-05:00

Some folks have been noticing these red dragonflies zooming around the reach, with a nice discussion on the NeighborNet about them (includes links to UT's Odonata Central and A&M's Dragonfly Museum). The beautiful photo appears to be taken by neighbor "jdlink," and there are a few more beautiful fauna photos where those came from on flickr.

Water Watchdog

2007-08-03T08:27:00.000-05:00

Interested in keeping an eye on the quality of our water in Willowbrook Reach? Seeking for that something that will nuture your inner science nerd?

This cool City of Austin program, Water Watchdog, is a way for citizen enviro-scientists to sample our water and learn how to analyze it in the lab.

It's a bit of a commitment--1 day of sampling and 1 day of testing it in the lab--but if your an enviro-geek and have some time on your hands, this is the thing for you!

Hat tip to David G...

Mowing Today

2007-08-02T08:29:00.001-05:00

The mowers are right on schedule today...saw them starting the job this morning.

Johnson grass - tamed?

2007-07-29T18:15:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who came out and pulled, pulled and pulled the Johnson grass this past Saturday! We made great headway on the JG growing at the corner of Sycamore and Cherrywood, beginning to open up a space for the newly planned butterfly garden (to be installed this fall).

We didn't get it all, of course; that task is herculean in scope. But, the wet soil made it eas(ier) to pull it out and may help keep it at bay for longer. Just weakening a strong force, you know? This week's planned mowing by the city should help even more.

Here are some photos of the job:

Before:

During (Dave and Girard get some help from Boscoe):

After:

Next Mowing Day - Aug 2

2007-07-17T08:16:00.000-05:00

The next mowing day is scheduled for August 2nd, if you are wondering when that Johnson grass jungle will meet its maker. The Easter Seals and Watershed schedule has been mightily thrown off by all of our rain...

Like a Bad Crew Cut

2007-06-07T08:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, 06.05, was mowing day. The johnson grass and poison ivy will recede into the background (for a few weeks anyway).

Watershed and the Easter Seals, bless their hearts, tried to keep some patches of wildflowers un-mown. The effect is something akin to a kid who's given himself a buzz cut and missed a few sad patches of hair. At least one of the wildflower zones has some good diversity. It's large-ish and hiding amongst the indian blanket and mexican hat are some flowering antelope horns (a native milkweed). Some of the others leave a little to be desired. BUT, it's a good start and they tried.

Of course, they also completely destroyed the small oak tree that was planted by Mark and his daughter across from Joe's house, which was very visibly staked with a bright orange stake and waving fluorescent yellow ribbons at the top. How could anyone miss that? Also, the Seals mowed right up to most of the banks, leaving no tall grasses (even if they are invasive) to catch the nasty run-off. It's bad for the creeks to have a bunch of grass floating in them too--too much organic matter.

And, there are some people who are angry that they left any "weeds' (aka wildflowers) at all. It wouldn't surprise me if Watershed got some phone calls from both sides...

But, anyway, it's nice to walk around the reach now without having my pants soaked up to my knees (that would be the waist for some), and it's good that the johnson grass is largely removed. But beware, the ragweed is standing tall, ready and waiting to anoint us with its nasty pollen!

3 Snappers

2007-05-31T09:25:00.000-05:00

I saw THREE snapping turtles on the reach yesterday morning. I watched one of them struggle to climb over the cement shelf that creates "Cherrywood Falls." It succeeded, after some wince inducing slips. The other two were in the Bathtub. Cool.

Red Swing 026

2007-05-24T09:24:00.000-05:00

A new red swing appeared mysteriously on the Reach recently, courtesy the redswingproject.org. Their goal is to bring playfulness to an increasingly complicated urban environment. They install these swings in settings, like the Reach, that make sense. Places where you might expect to find such a thing. But they've also installed them amongst debris and industrial clutter in settings that surprise. For example, they swung through New Orleans recently and left behind a wake of random swings in badly hit neighborhoods.

Ah, to swing the day away! I highly recommend it.

Thanks go out to the Red Swing Project for bringing some love to the Reach.

Mayflowers

2007-05-18T11:43:00.000-05:00

Some photos of wildflowers along the Reach this may (oh, and one interloper heron that I finally captured on film):

Indian blanket

Look Gale! It's a winecup!

Mustang grapes-to-be?

Mexican hat

Leaves of three, let it be. Yikes. Poison ivy.

Silver-leaf Nightshade

Night heron

All along the Bathtub

2007-05-17T08:21:00.000-05:00

The latest and greatest wildlife report:

Spiderworts--with a name that evokes witchcraft and cauldrons boiling--are shade loving, early spring blooming plants that are on their way out. The flowers bloom once, but during bloom time the plant produces so many flowers that it remains in flower day after day. Now, I only see the drooping seed heads, which means that soon, the plants will go dormant for the summer.

Some kind of morning glory is starting to make an appearance. (I tried to snap a photo this morning, but my surprisingly unsustainable digital camera sucks through batteries like an aphid on cocaine. So the photo here is snagged from the Wildflower Center.)

Sensitive briar, coreopsis, Mexican hat and Indian blanket have all made a come back since the last mowing. (But so has the Johnson grass, whose pink blooming stalks are shooting up around the banks.)

A came across a snake in the Bathtub this morning. (That combination of words is probably enough to strike fear in many of you. Don't even think about making it into a bad movie.)

Snakes are frighteningly beautiful and always slightly startling. The fear response is clearly an evolutionarily adapted response, and rightly so, especially here in Texas, where there are quite a few snakes that you don't want to get into a tangle with. The Reach is unlikely to have any poisonous snakes, but it's always best to use caution. The one I saw this morning was clearly non-poisonous, and beautifully undulating through the deep waters of the Tub.

Speaking of the deep-water Bathtub, it supports quite a healthy little ecosystem. Dave W. reported a large owl there just the other day (could be a Great-horned owl, which I also saw at the Reach last fall). The snapping turtle(s) also call the Tub home, and in fact, I saw two mating there last summer. It's also where we've recently seen Great Blue Herons taking a pit-stop during migration and wood ducks. By the way, if you're looking for the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, it usually likes to hunt in more secluded areas with overgrowth down the creek.

Wouldn't it be cool to stumble upon a fish being eaten by a snake just before the snake is grabbed by one of our hawks or owls? Nature rocks.

CommuniTrees

2007-05-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

David B. brought the CommuniTrees program to my attention. This could be a really great way to get even more trees than that with the KAB grant!

Brainstorms from 5/1/2007 meeting

2007-05-08T21:20:00.000-05:00

Here are the brainstorm ideas from our meeting on 5/1/07. In attendance were Priscilla, Lee, Girard, David B (in absentia), Dolly, Dave W., John, Aaron and Gale. Numbers following items indicate independent mentions of the idea (remember, we were all given an open forum to throw out our ideas for the Reach and many of us touched on some of the same things). Items with no number means it was only mentioned once, but that doesn't mean the idea was or wasn't oohed and aahed by the others! I've tried to organize by category, but there is some inevitable crossover.

The BRAINSTORM:

Plants and Trees
open mown spaces, including for human use like Frisbee and croquet (4)
wildflowers (3)
woodland areas or groves (2)
no mow areas (2)
no mow area from path to creek (2)
planting plan (2)
completely wild
crape myrtles
more trees
trees concentrated along the creek (eg, riparian trees, bald cypress)
tree/plant inventory
adopt-a-tree program
more native plants
more native shrubs and small trees (fruiting and flowering)
removal of invasive species over time
poison ivy control

Wildlife
more wildlife (snakes, birds, amphibians) (4)
butterfly gardens (3)
purple martin propagator (2)
certified monarch butterfly habitat
wildlife habitat certification
bat houses
more pools of water for wildlife

Paths and Hardscape
bridge (5)
wider path (overall or at points) (4)
move path away from creek in sensitive areas (2)
spur trails connecting to street at midpoints
subtle, landscape level lighting at choice points

Creek and Water
deal with drainage problems
small dams to control flow, create pools
better erosion control
native erosion control
prevent water from going under pipes
pipes crossing creek hidden or removed

Human uses
better enforcement of poop pick-up, more poop bag containers (2)
more trash cans and trash pickup
not too many picnic tables
maintain as greenbelt with low impact human uses
picnic tables
benches
creek cleanups
regular maintenance plan
drinking fountain

Art, Education and Other Features
educational signs for trees, wildflowers and animals (3)
bulletin board or kiosk (2)
public art (2)
murals on bridge overpass
acknowledgement of the history of the area (ie, old dairy farm)
recycling dead trees for stuff in the park
community vegetable garden

Hurray for Us!

2007-05-01T09:19:00.000-05:00

I just heard that we've been awarded a Keep Austin Beautiful Neighborhood Beautification Grant for a tree planting and erosion control project at the Reach.

This is a great jumpstart for FLWR, and we're all very excited to be working with members of KAB, Austin Energy and the City of Austin Watershed Protection Department to enhance our greenbelt.

Go FLWR!

[Read this announcement in the Statesman.]

Trees of Willowbrook Reach

2007-04-23T20:40:00.000-05:00

Written by Paul Hagey.

This article is taken from the Nov. 2006 issue of The Flea. Photos in the original were taken by Jack Darby. Photos I include here were taken by Dolly.

I grew up along the stretch of Boggy Creek that is now called the Willowbrook Reach and have enjoyed the dynamism of its ecosystem. After identifying some of the trees on the Reach, I recognized that part of its dynamism is its biodiversity. I was surprised to discover more than 40 species of native and exotic trees on this quarter-mile greenbelt.

Here are 13 that stand out. Walking counter-clockwise from the Cherrywood Road bridge at Sycamore Road.

1. Arborvitae. The small pinelooking tree on the right is a very young version of the coneshaped giants across the creek. They are in the Cypress family.
2. Shumard Oak. The next tree to the right of the path is a Shumard Oak. It is used in lumber and songbirds feed on its fruit. It has reddish-orange to orange fall coloring.

3. American Elm. The next really large tree on the right near the first big pool is an American Elm, a popular shade tree.
4. Black Willow. A little farther on the left of the trail, growing up from the bank, is a Black Willow. It has long slender leaves and is common along creeks. This section of the creek sports several willows, which are likely the source of the street name as well.
5. Cedar Elm. About 50 feet farther just before the sewer pipe, is a Cedar Elm. It has rough small leaves and is fast-growing.

6. Huisache. Another 50 feet ahead, as the creek begins to bend to the left, the trail pivots on a Huisache, or Sweet Acacia tree over 20 feet tall. It has multiple trunks with tiny leaves and small yellow flowers. Notice a Hackberry sprouting out of the trunk of a Mesquite up the hill on the right.

7. Bald Cypress. A ways down the path, past the second sewer pipe, is a fairly mature Bald
Cypress. It has a pine-like presence and is found on many Hill Country riverbanks.
8. Mesquite. About 30 feet farther to the right in front of a wooden fence is a rejuvenating
Mesquite. This new growth from a stump is typical of Mesquites. On the other side of the creek heading towards Cherrywood.
9. Redbud. Almost directly across the creek from the Bald Cypress stands a Redbud, about
12 feet tall with heart-shaped leaves. Flowers are rose-purple color.
10. Plateau Live Oak. Just ahead is a small version of this native. In the yard across the street at 3805 Willowbrook you can see some full-grown examples.

11. Chinese Tallow. About 150 feet down the trail, across the creek from the Huisache, stands a cluster of Chinese Tallows to the right of the trail. They have round, pointed leaves.
12. Sycamore. Along East 40th stand four Sycamores. They are relatively large trees, in the maple family, with grayish, peeling bark.
13. Mulberry/Hackberry. Past a rejuvenating Black Willow just before the bridge is a Mulberry/ Hackberry mixture. The Mulberry has large smooth leaves and produces edible fruit in late spring. The dominant Hackberry has smaller leaves and the trunk has a characteristic wart-like texture.

KAB: Creek Clean-up '07

2007-04-20T09:50:00.000-05:00

Keep Austin Beautiful Clean Sweep comes to Willowbrook Reach Saturday at the Reach, 9-11 am. Go Dave!

Sitings: Apr 20

2007-04-20T08:32:00.000-05:00

Despite the fact that most of the wildflowers were mown to the ground, there are still some resilient evening primroses blooming along the edge of the Reach (in the area where the Easter Seals folks left the vegetation taller). This morning, I still saw about 4-5 white-lined hawkmoths (at minimum) flitting around the banks. Whew!

Also ran into a yellow-crowned night heron perched on the mid-reach pipe just above a lurking snapping turtle. It swoooshed away and was later heard squawking from the tips of the branches of large elm tree on the south side by the picnic table. (Note, the photo above is not on the Reach...I only wish I could take such photos!)

Some fish are beginning to create breeding territories in The Bathtub - you can see the territories as circles along the creek bottom that are devoid of debris. The males clear these out, defend them, and await for females to choose their circle to lay eggs (well, that's generally how it goes). I don't know which species of fish this is, but I think it may be a type of sunfish.

Olmstedian

2007-04-17T12:59:00.000-05:00

All things seem much quieter at the Reach post-mow and minus the colorful flowers. With a fresh cut, the area takes on a much more "Olmstedian" look. Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for his design of New York's Central Park (at right), is considered the father of American landscape architecture. Olmsted drew inspiration from the British "pastoral" style. From the National Association of Olmsted Parks:

The epitome of pastoral landscape was the English deer park, with its sense of extended space and its gracefully modulated ground and smooth, close-cropped turf. This style he [Olmsted] found to be a special antidote to the ill effects of urban life.

Olmsted liked to reign nature in a bit--to reorder it in a way that makes the human experience most profound. I believe that many American parks follow this model, as well as many of our suburbs (including Wilshire Woods).

At any rate, a freshly mown Reach is more expansive, the palette simpler. It draws my attention outward, rather than a wild and woolly Reach that forces me to focus on smaller, hidden treasures.

I'm preferential to something in between. Simple and clean is good for the human psyche, but so is wild and woolly (not to mention that the latter is also better for the plants and the critters).

Mowing Day

2007-04-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

Today is a mowing day.

I saw the crew getting started as a peddled away to work. Goodbye sweet wildflowers. Many of them, including the bluebonnets, haven’t yet had an opportunity to set seed. (Mowing dates, times and places is something we seriously need to work out with the city.)

Without any flowers to gather nectar from, we can probably wave good-bye to the hawkmoths as well…

Zoom-Zoom-Zoom: Hawkmoths on the Banks

2007-04-12T08:53:00.000-05:00

Every morning on my walk with Libby (around 7:30 am) for the past few weeks, I’ve been seeing these hawkmoths. (I’m pretty sure they are the White-lined Sphinx, Hyles lineata, also captured in the photo at my porch light.) They zoom around the banks of the Reach, sipping nectar from the abundant pink evening primrose. I think they may also be hitting up the newly blooming gaura.

Hawkmoths are my favorite insect. Also called hummingbird moths for their habit of hovering in front of flowers with wings beating a mile-a-minute, there are about 77 species in Texas alone. A common one that many gardeners know well is the “tomato or tobacco hornworm,” Manduca sexta. Older caterpillars of this moth will munch down a tomato plant in an afternoon.

Many hawkmoths are nocturnal, and flowers they pollinate are generally white and sweetly smelling, like our native Datura. Others are active in the evenings or morning, when light is lower. Some of those active in the day have evolved to look like bumblebees, which may protect them from predators.

Bird sitings

2007-04-11T09:25:00.000-05:00

These, like the wildflowers, are lumped into one, since I just started this blog thingie.

What I’ve seen or heard this Spring (from memory): Great Blue Heron, pairs of Wood Ducks, woodpeckers (not id'ed yet), yellow-crowned night herons (they like to nest in the tall beautiful trees around our neighborhood), some various species of hawks, an owl or two, green heron, cedar waxwings, ruby-crowned kinglet, tufted titmouse, cardinals, starlings*, great-tailed grackles, rock pigeons, mourning doves, and white-winged doves.

*I’ve noticed that the starlings may be competing with the woodpeckers for their nesting holes. The woodpeckers clear out their holes (by the way, this is a GOOD reason to keep some trees and branches around that are standing dead) and then the starlings take over. In fact, I saw some starlings harassing one of the woodpeckers on the large elm tree (with several holes) and now I see starlings exiting that very hole. Some others have found that the starlings displace woodpeckers and other cavity nesters.

Other wildlife - The snapping turtles are back, and I saw a juvenile Texas rat snake in my front yard (Go get those damn rats, Mr. Snake!).

Spring Wildflowers 2007

2007-04-11T09:01:00.002-05:00

This isn’t exactly an accurate record of wildflower phenology on the Reach, as I’m lumping these photos all together in one date. (Hey, I just started this blog, okay?!). Actually, this is my first Spring on the Reach, so I also have nothing to compare it to. But the mowers haven’t been around in a while and so the flowers keep a bloomin’.

Bluebonnets

Prairie verbena

Greenthread (Thelesperma filifolium)

Cutleaf daisy

Gaura

Sensitive briar

Unknown (and bad picture)

Not pictured here are others that are still blooming: Pink evening primrose, huisache

FLWR meeting: April 3

2007-04-06T09:22:00.000-05:00

We had our first meeting last night for the newly invigorated FLWR. Girard Kinney, Priscilla and Dave Boston, Dolly and Dave and John Stott were in attendance. First and foremost we added the 'L' for 'Lovers' to the old name, Friends of Willowbrook Reach. As an acronym, FLWR has super fun potential.

Here are a few other things we talked about:

Erosion control - this is going to be an ongoing issue in an urban creek system confined to a small space by houses and roads. Creeks and rivers are born to meander--to change their paths by miles at a time. It’s a natural process, but if we let it happen in the city, the creeks and rivers would gulp houses and roads up into its gullet. So, we need to prepare.
More native plants - We’d like to plant more native trees, shrubs and wildflowers to attract butterflies and birds. This will also help with erosion
Mowing - we need to work with the city to come up with a good maintenance schedule. Mowing is important, as it helps keep back some of the nasties like poison ivy and Johnson grass.
Monarch Waystation - Dolly threw out the idea of a monarch waystation, which I think is a fabulous idea. Once we get some more flowering native plants in the ground, I think we can easily apply to become a waystation.
Martin house - the Reach is ripe for purple martin houses
Bridge - a longer term goal is to get a bridge mid-Reach.
More garbage cans and doggie bags - Enough said.
Master plan - We desperately need a master plan to guide everything we do on the Reach. It will not only help us develop, maintain and foster the Reach in a cohesive and appropriate way, but it will help our communications with the City of Austin and other stakeholders.

In the end, we quickly applied for an Keep Austin Beautiful grant to get us started.