Prairie Notes #227 -
Prairie Notes are monthly photo/journal observations from Tandy Hills Natural Area by Founder/Director, Don Young. They include field reports, flora and fauna sightings, and more, mixed with a scoop of dry humor and a bit of philosophy.
They are available free to all who get on the FOTHNA email list.
As The Crow Flies
Prairie Notes #227
November 1, 2025
1) As The Crow Flies
2) Field Report - October
3) New Species Report - October
4) Newsworthy & Noteworthy
5) PrairieSky / StarParty Report
6) Prairie Proverb - Nathaniel Hawthorne
An American Crow perched on a trail marker on October 28th.
1) As The Crow Flies
In times like these . . . with uncertainty and bad news daily occurrences, it helps to re-connect with nature. For me, immersing myself in Tandy Hills has always been a therapeutic exercise, whether I was troubled about something or just exhausted from the craziness in this world. Or maybe I just needed a re-connection and didn’t know it at the time.
Yes, I have been beating that drum for a few decades now but I feel a need to remind you and urge you to take advantage of the beauty and meaningfulness that awaits you. The bottomland Oak trees will soon be wearing their fall colors of yellow, orange and red. But, year-round, there is always something magical happening here. Breathtaking sights and sounds that can help ease your anxieties and re-set your focus. The possibilities are endless.
Just last week, I had a minor episode of profound joy. I observed an American Crow perched atop one of the trail markers, which was a bit odd and quite poignant. It looked like it was lost or lost in thought, staring straight ahead as the wind ruffled through its feathers. This was after the clouds blew away and a strong north wind was barreling down. Apparently, the Crow did not hear or see me at first, due to the wind noise. I approached slowly hoping to get as close as possible. (Crows are one of my totem animals.)
When it finally saw me it majestically lifted off to the nearby trees where its companions awaited, cawing away. That may seem like a less than meaningful experience but it lifted my spirits. After days being stuck inside the house, ducking the rain storms for a few days, I felt connected with the natural world again.
This past summer the Friends have spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars eradicating invasive species, clearing trails, installing signage, and confronting lawbreakers who damage and vandalize the natural area. The prairies, filled with mature, native grasses, have not looked this good in years.
We invite you to come on in and explore some of these 225 acres of native habitat. The price is simply to follow the few basic rules. The rewards you will find on the fall prairie can be profound. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, understood the need to “get out”. (See #6 below) See you soon, I hope!
> Thanks for reading Prairie Notes and supporting Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area. Your donations are welcome HERE.
DY
Moments later, it was floating on the strong north wind. October 28, 2025. See a short video of this encounter, HERE.
2) Field Report - October
Until October 24th, Tandy Hills had received only 1/4” of rain for the month. But on the 24th, a major storm brought nearly 5” to the bone-dry prairie. As you can see below, the prairies were looking pretty good before the rain! So much color amidst the fall landscape. When hiking I usually take a photo and then put away my camera. But in October I had to keep it in my hands constantly. Every step revealed something interesting and sometimes, arresting.
On October 31st, just before this newsletter went to press, two members of our work crew were interrupted by a Coyote hunting in the tall grass. See the vid below.
Click photos to see them uncropped.
Dotted Gayfeather (Liatris punctata) is a fall prairie superstar. They are perennial and long-lived. This one was huge, with 3' long spikes, standing alone in a grassy meadow. Many others are scattered around Tandy Hills.
Up until October 18, Tandy Hills was dry as a bone and cloudless, as it was on this beautiful fall day. Nat Hawthorne would like this. (see #6 below)
We were sitting on our tree swing across from Tandy Hills on October 1st, when this magnificent creature landed in our birdbath, less than 8' in front of us. This is the same Cooper's Hawk that follows me around on my hikes. He/she must be very thirsty to not be concerned with our presence.
I was greeted by this enchanting sunset in mid-October while surrounded by Maximilian Sunflowers.
A Coyote was spotted on Halloween morning by our work crew, Olivia and Deandre. Video by Olivia.
3) New Species - October
We ended the month of October with 22 new species, bringing the new total to, 2518 species. Notables include, a very rare species, Cottontail Rabbit Botfly (Cuterebra lepusculi). So named because Cottontail Rabbits are its host. Only about 60 have been observed, worldwide. Photo by, Daric Rogers. Another notable is the, Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), observed in late October. And who can resist the Charlie Brown Blister Beetle? Check out all 2518 species at the Tandy Hills iNat Project Page HERE.
4) Newsworthy & Noteworthy
>>>>>>> In this photo, the Assistant Director of FW Park & Rec and two other PARD staffers are meeting with Friends group founders, Don & Debora Young, to lay out plans to help us stop or better manage the out-of-control commercial / portrait photography businesses that are wreaking havoc on large sections of Tandy Hills. We met with the new head Director, Dave Lewis, back in July to get the ball rolling. So this is a huge step forward to have had both men present to see the damage I've been reporting for about a decade now. Once the new plans are in place we can begin the tedious and expensive job of restoring dead zones. Hope springs eternal!
>>>>>>> Love and romance are beautiful things. I'm a romantic myself, but. . . this is simply inappropriate at Tandy Hills. The parents of a young couple set up this huge layout right next to the trail which was creating a dead zone and blocking the trail. I asked them to go to another park but they resisted so I asked them to move it and themselves onto the trail. I came back later and the parents were gone but their hired photographer was there. She asked if the could PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE pose her clients off-trail. I replied, "NO-NO-NO” and mentioned that there will be a fine if she did. She then asked if she could just pay the fine. I said that would be an even bigger fine and that I would be watching for violations. <sigh>
>>>>>>> Check this out from the Cornell Lab birding website:
“A record-breaking night of bird migration was detected on, September 25, 2025, by BirdCast, a platform that uses the same weather radar technology behind daily forecasts to track migrating birds.
On its live migration map, BirdCast tracked more than 1.2 billion birds streaming south to their wintering grounds after sunset Thursday—the largest single-night total ever recorded since the collaborative research project began mapping live migrations in 2018. This surge surpasses the previous milestone of one billion birds, first observed in October 2023.”
>>>>>>> When Suzanne Tuttle retired as Manager of the Fort Worth Nature Center in 2016, her first project was to explore our beautiful state and visit every Texas State Park and State Natural Area. The COVID pandemic slowed her progress, but she joyfully completed her quest on October 29, 2022 at Palmetto State Park near San Antonio.
She will be delivering a presentation of her multi-year quest at the November 10th meeting of the Fort Worth chapter of the Native Prairies Association of Texas (NPAT). This will be an in person and zoom meeting! It will take place at the lovely Master Gardeners' training room for this special meeting. The zoom link will be sent to those who register.
Register and get all the details, HERE: https://texasprairie.org/event/fw-chapter-miles-and-miles-nov2025/
>>>>>>> Speaking of Suzanne, after a summer break, she and two other members of the Cross Timbers Master Naturalists are back for their 4th Saturday work day at Tandy Hills. Big Big Thanks to Cindy Paquette and Robbie Crawford.
5) Prairie Sky / Star Party report
The October star party was cancelled due to clouds and rain. The final star party of the year will be November 29th. See the full schedule on the website HERE. Come out and observe amazing things in the night sky with experts from FWAS. 2025 is their 10th straight year at Tandy Hills.
Here is the November sky-watching commentary from FWAS rep, John McCrea:
November 29th FWAS / Tandy Hills star party will be our last scheduled star party until March 2026.
For our November 29th FWAS/Tandy Hills star party, we will have most of our familiar winter constellations. Some of the more familiar summer constellations remaining are Lyra (the Lyre) and Cygnus (the Swan). Among the fall/winter constellations visible will be, Cassiopeia (Queen of Ethiopia), Pegasus (the Winged Horse), Andromeda (daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus), Cepheus (Husband of Cassiopeia and noted for a pulsating type of star known as a Cepheid variable, which is a standard candle for measuring distances, discovered in 1912 by Henrietta Leavitt). Perseus (Rescuer of Andromeda), Pisces (the Fish), Taurus (the Bull) and our friend the Pleiades (the seven sisters). The summer triangle (Vega (25 LY), Deneb (1,411 LY), and Altair (17 LY)) will still be visible, but low in the west. Our circumpolar friend Ursa Major (the Great Bear) will be low over the northern horizon.
The sun will set at 5:31 PM CST on November 29th. The moon will be an 8-day old waxing gibbous at 69.1% illumination in the constellation Pisces. The “Lord of the Rings” of our solar system, Saturn (♄), about 855 million miles away, will be in Aquarius (the water carrier), and will be up all evening. Jupiter, at 416 million miles, will rise at 9:00 PM CST and will be in Gemini (the twins). Neptune (Ψ), at 2.8 billion miles away, will be in Pisces. Uranus (♅), at 1.76 billion miles away, will be in Taurus.
6) Prairie Proverb - Nathaniel Hawthorne
“I can not endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all daylight hours in the open air.”
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Prairie Notes© is the official newsletter of Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. All content by Don Young except where otherwise noted.
