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Late Spring 2003 Events at Oxley Nature Center
Wildflowers Ferns TreesButterflies Other Insects & Arthropods
Fish Reptiles & Amphibians (Herps) Birds Mammals
Sky
| What's blooming? Lots of wildflowers! Spiderworts are members of the lily family, one of the monocots, as indicated by their three-petaled flowers. An old-fashioned name for spiderwort is "slobber lily" because of all the gooey juice that drips out of the stem if you pick one. Several species of evening primrose are in bloom, the white-fading-to-pink showy evening primrose, the big lemon petals of stemless evening primrose, and the bright yellow clusters of cutleaf evening primrose. Evening primroses belong to one of the plant families whose flowers have four petals. Columbine is in full bloom now. Each one of its 5 petals is rolled into a cone shape. To identify what's in the photo, run the cursor over the picture (this should work on all the photos) and a label will appear. | |||||||||
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| Redbud Valley's ferns
are nearly all in fruit during this season. Look for powdery cloakfern
and purple cliffbrake along the top of the bluff where the trail goes
up from the parking lot. Ebony spleenwort may be found where the trail
goes through the ravine. Woodsia sprouts out of the bluffs near the
springs and caves. Engelmann's adders'-tongue fern is finishing its
season in the prairie areas. Rattlesnake fern can be found in the
forest areas. |
    Trees, Shrubs, and Woody
Vines: The honey locusts began blooming in April, and may
still be found on wooded hillsides by the masses of white flowers.
Rough-leaved dogwood and rusty black haw will display clusters of
flowers along the roadsides and trails of Redbud Valley during May and
June. Soapweed, or yucca (yes, it is a tree, and the sword-like leaves
may be growing out of a good-sized trunk!) buds and blooms now. You
may smell the tiny, fragrant flowers of chittamwood and of wild grape
species before you see them. |
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| Butterflies: This is a busy time for butterflies! Spring fliers might still be seen, and newly emerged summer flying species are appearing daily. Caterpillars are everywhere! The second Saturday of each month from spring until fall, Oxley Nature Center hosts a free Butterfly ID program and/or hike, weather permitting, starting at 10 am and ending by noon. Pre-registration is not required. | ||
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| Memorial Day weekend, keep a record of what species of butterflies you see, and how many of each species. Go to the North American Butterfly Association's website and click on the "Butterflies I've Seen" database. Log on (it's free), and post your observations, to be tallied in the North American Butterfly Associations's Memorial Day Count. |  |
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| Then, join the Oxley Nature Center staff and other butterfly counters on Tuesday, July 1st for the third annual Tulsa Count. Even if you don't know every kind of butterfly out there, we need help spotting them and tallying them. At the 2002 count, the Juniper Hairstreak was one of the most spectacular finds. | ||
| Other insects and arthropods: Every evening this time of year, it seems there is a new species of insect perched on the back porch screen, attracted by the light. Most are harmless, although you should be respectful of large pincher-like jaws on some of the beetles, and the possibility that some insects could produce terrific stinks or could sting or bite, if provoked. Some insects, like ladybugs and lacewings, are such busy predators of aphids and other garden pests that gardeners welcome them gladly. Stay calm if you see what looks like a two- or three-inch mosquito; crane flies do not bite! Dragonflies also look ferocious, but they only eat other insects (especially mosquitoes!) and cannot bite people. | ||
| Speaking of mosquitoes, remember that when insecticide is used, many species other than mosquitoes may be affected. To control mosquitoes in your area, make sure you have eliminated potential breeding places, such as stagnant water in birdbaths, saucers under flowerpots, and clogged gutters. Abandoned tires are one of the worst sources of mosquito breeding places since they hold water so persistently. For more information about West Nile Virus, check out this article from the North American Butterfly Association. |  |
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| Chiggers, the larvae of a small red mite, become active when the temperature goes above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Ticks are also plentiful now. Both chiggers and ticks are more likely to be encountered if you go off-trail and brush against, sit upon, or push through tall grass and thick vegetation. Repellents help, but it's best to bathe and then change clothes from the skin outward as soon as possible after your hike. By the time your chigger bite begins to itch, the chigger itself is long gone. It will take your skin about 10 days to heal, longer if you scratch the bite and get it infected. | ||
| Fish: At the
water's edge, look for gambusia, also known as mosquitofish.
Mosquitofish are much like guppies: they do not grow very big, and
instead of laying eggs they give birth to live young. The mosquitofish
that are more than an inch long and look very lumpy in the belly are
probably pregnant females. Mosquitofish are predators, eating other
aquatic creatures that will fit in their mouths; they do eat mosquito
larvae. Earlier in the spring, carp and gar came thrashing into the shallows to spawn. Now the shallows are teeming with tiny fish. A little farther out are the young sunfish, both bluegills and green sunfish. In the deeper water are the biggest fish, carp and gar and catfish. |
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| Herps: Warm weather has brought out both amphibians and reptiles. Frogs are singing in the wetlands, and tadpoles may be found in pond and marsh. Turtles of all makes and models are to be found along area roads and trails. A brief rustle in the leaves at the side of the trail tells you there was a lizard that just whisked itself away. The wetlands are good places to look for water snakes (non-venomous), and you may be able to observe the reason the Cherokee word for black rat snake means "climber." Redbud Valley has had an occasional copperhead or rattlesnake reported, so be sure to wear closed-toe shoes when you hike there. |  |
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| Birds: Migration season is in full swing, and many summer residents are nesting. Some, like the Canada geese, have already left the nest with their young ones in tow. Oxley Nature Center hosts a free bird-watching hike jointly with the Tulsa Audubon Society on the first Saturday of each month, from 8:00 am to about 9:45 am. There is no registration, just bring your binoculars, if you have them, and join us. Also, the Tulsa Audubon Society goes birding every Tuesday morning. They depart from the Tulsa Garden Center's parking lot (2435 South Peoria) at 7:30 am. The morning's observations end with a potluck picnic. New birders are welcome. |  |
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| May and June are normally rainy months in Tulsa, but at this writing we are 5+ inches behind on rainfall for 2003, following 2 very dry years. Drought conditions are cured by steady soaking rains; storms that dump the entire month's allotment in a single day do not help if the rest of the month is sunny and dry. During hot dry weather, providing fresh water for drinking and bathing is more important to wildlife than putting out food. |  |
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| This is the time of year when the Nature Center gets many phone calls from people who have found injured or orphan birds. If you decide to assist an injured bird or other wildlife, please be careful and sensible so that you do not get injured, also. And be very sure the nestling or other wildlife baby is truly orphaned before you try to help it. In most cases, keeping curious fingers and excited pets away is the best thing you can do. | ||
| Mammals: Now is the season to watch for baby mammals. The Oxley Nature Center staff and visitors have already found baby squirrels and baby groundhogs and baby raccoons this spring. New fawns could appear at any time. |  |
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Sky: May's Full Moon will rise already eclipsed at 8:07 pm Central Standard Time (CST) on the 15th. Observers in Tulsa can watch the last half of the total eclipse until the moon leaves the earth's shadow at 10:15 pm.
| New Moon | First Quarter | Full Moon | Last Quarter |
| May 1 | May 9 | May 15 "Flower Moon" | May 22 |
| May 30 | June 7 | June 14 "Strawberry Moon" | June 21 |
| June 29 | July 6 | July 13 "Buck Moon" | July 21 |
Summer begins with the solstice at 2:10 pm CDT on Saturday, June 21st, the longest day of the year.
Butterflies Other Insects & Arthropods
Fish Reptiles & Amphibians (Herps) Birds Mammals
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