January 2025 Chapter Meeting / First Day Hike
The January NTMN Chapter Meeting will take place at John Wilt’s Farm at 1127 Stacks Rd near Ennis, TX as a First Day Hikes with AT opportunities and a Pot Luck Lunch. Bring Food to share! Sign Up HERE.
Chapter Meeting Field Trips
March 6, 2024 Chapter Meeting & March 10th Birding Opportunity at TRAC
Discovering the Joy of Birding
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Spending time in nature is essential for our well-being and we are genetically inclined to prefer nature, having spent thousands of years of evolution before the development of modern cities. Humans have evolved with birds and their songs and seeing birds in nature makes us happy because when they are thriving, we are reassured that we can also thrive.
In north Texas, we are lucky in that we live within a major migration flyway and we have lots of opportunities to see unique migrating birds. We will discuss nearby locations excellent for birding and the best times to see migrating birds.
Birding is a social act and gateway to a deeper connection to nature. To be a birder is to engage with birds and people to create a shared experience of being present in the moment. Through birding, we find stillness and a connection between the natural world and each other. Birding can bring us a sense of awe and humility, greater self-awareness and a sense of attachment and responsibility as advocates for the natural world.
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_W12k0cdCQbqb6m3-77LsIA
Schedule:
- 6:30 Camera Roll and Socializing
- 7:00 Introduction and Announcements
- 7:20 Featured Presentation
- 8:45 Adjournment
Join us at Dallas College Brookhaven Campus, Building H, Room 125. Campus map. Or participate via Zoom — register here. (If you are attending in person, you don’t need to register for Zoom.)
Or join us in south Dallas at Dallas College Mountain View Campus, Building S (Administrative offices), Room 1029. (Mountain View Campus map).
Note: It is best to enter the Mountain View campus from Duncanville Road; there is construction but you can park directly in front of the S building. Room 1029 is on the lower level, continue down past the administration areas and turn left once you see a Subway and go down short hallway.
Please bring snacks at 6:30 p.m. to share with others! (at both locations)
Green Jay (Cyanocoraxync as seen in south Texas)
Field Trip – Birding Opportunity, Sunday, March 10th at TRAC
Enjoy Birding at Trinity River Audubon Center on Sunday, March 10th, 6500 S Great Trinity Forest Way, Dallas, TX 75217. Meet at 8:00 am in the Audubon Center lobby. Bring binoculars and dress for the weather.
We will have a short talk and small group bird walks with tour leaders, Caleb Hinojos, Karen Carpenter, Nathan May, Natha Taylor and Reba Collins. Sign up at https://volunteersignup.org/FAJ3X
Speakers:
Karen Carpenter:
Karen’s love of birds and birding led her to pursue Master Naturalist designation in the NTMN class of 2023. She is passionate about bird conservation and outreach to create a safer world for the birds that she loves.
Natha Taylor:
Natha Taylor has been a NTMN since 2001, serving as president for the chapter in 2008-2009. Served as Chapter Historian/ Archivist, 2003-2017, producing State Conference award-winning scrapbooks from 2013-2017. Began Birding 101 in 2005 with 4 other birder enthusiasts from the class of 2001. Birding 101 has introduced over 300 people to the joys of birding.
Nathan May:
Nathan May is an educator at the Trinity River Audubon Center and a member of NTMN, class of 2023. Nathan has also worked with Texas Conservation Alliance leading bird collision surveys downtown for the Lights Out Dallas program. He’s a Blackland Prairie devotee through and through, but he must confess that it was a trip to the Gulf Coast Prairie that first set him on this path, introducing him to his “spark bird,” the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken. Nathan is excited to share in the thrills and excitement that birding in DFW provides.
Camera Roll: As usual, show up or tune in between 6:30 and 7 pm for an array of photos by TMNs & socialize with all.
August 2, 2023 Chapter Meeting
Beyond our Backyards: An Introduction to Wilderness Navigation
In this overview, Arthur Kuehne will share tips and techniques that will enable you to feel confident when you travel beyond your backyard to study and enjoy nature. While he won’t go into great detail on the technical aspects of map, compass, gps, etc., he will share practical advice from his many years of backpacking. Join us and learn about the key tools and techniques of wilderness navigation, and the most common navigation mistakes hikers make and how to avoid them.
Join us in person at Dallas College Brookhaven Campus (map), or online via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jAFqdz_oRxW-pK5OVlQiwQ
Schedule:
6:30 Camera Roll and Socializing
7:00 Introduction and Announcements
7:20 Featured Presentation
8:45 Adjournment
Supplemental Activity: Hands on Navigation at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve – August 5, 2023
We will meet at 8/5/23 at 7:30AM at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve (on the sidewalk near the Parker Road parking) for some fun hands-on practice with wilderness navigation tools. Arthur will bring supplies (maps, compasses, etc). Please sign up so we can make sure to have enough supplies for everyone.
Our Speaker
Arthur Kuehne has been a volunteer for environmental and social justice issues his entire adult life. After college, he spent years volunteering on campaigns to register voters, get out the vote, and support progressive candidates. He also developed a love of the outdoors and the environment. These passions led him to the Sierra Club where he has been an active volunteer for over 40 years.
Arthur has served the Sierra Club in many capacities, including as chair of the Dallas Group and Chair of the Lone Star Chapter. He has also chaired the Dallas Group’s Outings Committee and has served on the executive committee several times over the years.
Arthur has been active with the Dallas Group outings program for many years and has led numerous backpacking, canoeing, and day hiking trips in Texas and throughout the Southwest. Arthur has a passion for outdoor education. He helped develop the acclaimed outdoor education classes provided by the Dallas Sierra Club, including Beginner Backpacking and Wilderness Navigation.
Arthur’s other interests include photography, green/energy-efficient building, woodworking and metalworking, computers, and nature study.
Map/Compass Image: Braden Van Dragt courtesy of REI
June 7, 2023 Chapter Meeting
A Beekeeper’s Exploration of Bees and Invasion Ecology
Born into a cattle family with a childhood split between the urban life in Dallas and running wild in the Texas Hill Country, Ryan Giesecke grew up and enrolled in Master Beekeeper training & Master Naturalist training, and then continued his education with an expansive personal exploration of ecological topics. All of these experiences are reflected in this effort to organize his thoughts on human transport of species and associated impacts, to examine conservation efforts and wildlife management through the lens of agricultural knowledge, and to understand humanity’s role in food webs and our place in nature. This is an ecology talk, based in bees but ultimately asking the question “where do we all belong?”
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_f1Chx42sTb64qJBdMwtQAw
Schedule:
- 6:30 Camera Roll and Socializing
- 7:00 Introduction and Announcements
- 7:20 Featured Presentation
- 8:45 Adjournment
Join us at Dallas College Brookhaven Campus, Building H, Room 125. Campus map. Or participate via Zoom — register here. If you are attending in person, you don’t need to register for Zoom.
Supplemental Activity: Tour of a Dallas Urban Homestead Project, Saturday, June 10th at 10 a.m.
Please join Ryan for a tour of G-Bar Naturals, his family’s home, agricultural project, and a space for urban nature. Alongside their bee hives, they raise free-range chickens and ducks with a focus on food production, as well as registered Kune Kune pigs, all overseen by his family and their livestock guardian dogs. They make a distinct effort to balance space between domesticates and such unmanaged flora and fauna as life in the middle of Dallas provides. Wild neighbors with whom they’ve achieved a tentative balance include the local coyote population, hawks and owls, aquatic predators, and the ever-present privet. A branch of Ash Creek runs through the property, dammed twice to create ponds where ducks dodge turtles and occasional otters, and periodic beavers munch on privet and tallow. Here you will find neither backyard garden nor native restoration project, but nature as it exists on a small urban farm of sorts.
The tour will be Saturday, June 10 at 10:00 a.m. at Ryan’s property in East Dallas. Please sign up at volunteersignup.org/WD7WC
Information about the location and access will be provided to those who register.
Our Speaker
Ryan owns and operates G-Bar Naturals, an urban homestead project located in East Dallas. From there he periodically offers homegrown products and learning opportunities, as well as performing bee-friendly removals of honey bees and bumblebees as “Honey Bee Relocation Services.” Ryan loves to talk bees, and has done so all across the state. He is president of Texas Association of Professional Bee Removers, past president of Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association in Dallas, past president of Metro Beekeepers Association in Fort Worth, and is a Texas Master Beekeeper. He has taught classes on bees at area colleges, and is currently at work on a first book about bees.
April 5, 2023 Chapter Meeting
The Importance of Private Land Conservation in Texas
Amber Arseneaux, North Texas Program Director for the Texas Land Conservancy (TLC), will speak about protecting land for future generations and the use of tools such as conservation easements. TLC is a nonprofit land trust, founded by Ned Fritz in 1982. The mission of the TLC is to conserve natural areas in Texas and to protect the physical and ecological integrity of their wildlife habitat, native plant communities, and scenic landscapes for the benefit of present and future generations. TLC protects more than 146,000 acres of land in Texas.
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kR9icnOmTW2Me519BHPCww
Oak Cliff Nature Preserve photo courtesy of Texas Land Conservancy
Schedule:
- 6:30 Socializing
- 7:00 Introduction and Announcements
- 7:20 Featured Presentation
- 8:45 Adjournment
Join us at Dallas College Brookhaven Campus, Building H, Room 125. Campus map, Or participate via Zoom — register here. (If you are attending in person, you don’t need to register for Zoom.)
Pre Meeting Volunteer Activity: April 1st 8:45-noon Volunteer Workday and NTMN Outreach at Oak Cliff Nature Preserve
Join Texas Land Conservancy volunteers to improve Oak Cliff Nature Preserve. We will be doing more trail trimming – so get ready to see some of the beautiful parts of the preserve.
TLC recommends long pants, closed-toe shoes, sunscreen and insect repellent. Please bring a refillable water bottle and your favorite pair of work gloves or pruning tools (loppers or handsaws), if you have them. We will have gloves and tools to use as well! Children are welcome, if accompanied by an adult. Remember there are no bathroom facilities at the preserve, so please make a quick stop before you arrive.
The Dallas Police Department Community Engagement Unit will also be at OCNP to host the Earth Month kickoff. This event includes an opportunity for NTMN volunteers to show the forest trunk and meet with the public.
Location: 2875 Pierce Street, Dallas, TX 75233 map
Time: 8:45 to noon
Sign up here
Members: Post VH Hours to Oak Cliff Nature Preserve: Wildscape and Facility Maintenance
Our Speaker
Amber Arseneaux holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Leadership and Development and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management, both from Texas A&M University. She is a proud native Texan and is passionate about our state’s open space, diverse culture, and agricultural heritage. She enjoys hiking, volunteering as a Texas Master Naturalist, and exploring Texas’s natural wonders. As TLC’s North Texas Program Director, Amber is working with volunteers, building community around TLC protected properties, and spending time connecting with landowners who want to protect their land.
Nature at Night
November 2, 2022 Chapter Meeting
Nature at Night
A raccoon at night. Photo by Jack Bulmer – Pixabay
On Wednesday, November 2nd, our speakers Sam Kieschnick, Rachel Richter, Michael Smith, and Jake Poinsett will explore how nocturnal wildlife species are adapted to nocturnal living and what the impact of light (or noise) pollution has on them. These initial inquiries will spark an extended discussion and Q&A session.
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zUM2naAzRj6MuK1iwJA3Pw
Schedule:
- 6:30 Camera Roll and Socializing
- 7:00 Introduction and Announcements
- 7:20 Featured Presentation
- 8:45 Adjournment
Join us at Dallas College Brookhaven Campus, Building H, Room 126. Campus map, Or participate via Zoom — register here. (If you are attending in person, you don’t need to register for Zoom.)
Nature at Night Field Trip:
On Saturday, November 5th, we will have a night hike/exploration with Sam at Harry Moss Park in Dallas. We hope to find lots of nocturnal critters. Detailed information about this gathering will be discussed at the chapter meeting.
Our Speakers
Sam Kieschnick is an Urban Wildlife Biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, serving the east side of the DFW metroplex. Sam holds a Master’s Degree from Tarleton State University and has previously worked as a nature educator for the City of Mansfield, a naturalist at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge, a science interpreter with the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, a biologist with BRIT, and as an instructor at Weatherford College. 
Rachel Richter is an Urban Wildlife Biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife in DFW. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Texas A&M and a Master’s Degree in Wildlife Ecology from Texas State University. As an Urban Wildlife Biologist, she focuses on making our communities more wildlife friendly through educational outreach and providing technical guidance.
Michael Smith is a licensed Psychological Associate who has always had a strong interest in nature and has interests in ecotherapy and mindfulness in nature. He has some museum and zoo experience and authored two books on reptiles and amphibians. He teaches herpetology to Master Naturalists and maintains a blog and website at www.livesinnature.com.
Jake Poinsett is the Program Manager for the Trinity River Audubon Center. Before working for the National Audubon Society, he was a park ranger for Texas Parks and Wildlife, South Carolina Park Service, and the National Park Service. When he’s not birding at work, he’s birding on his days off.
Camera Roll:
As usual, show up or tune in between 6:30 and 7 pm for an array of photos by TMNs. Send your favorite photos to the Camera Roll.
TEAMgo Practical and Hike at Piedmont Ridge and Beeman
When & Where
March 5, 2022
Piedmont Ridge and Beeman Trail
If you remember from our January Program the area around Piedmont Ridge and Beeman Trail was shown and talked about as a great place to hike in Dallas. In March, we are learning about the TEAMgo tool from TPWD. In an effort to give people a chance to experience this area and use the TEAMGo tool in the field, the Programs Committee is hosting an event on Saturday, March 5, 2022 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. During the hike we will be collecting data that we will enter into the TEAMgo tool and submit it for verification by TPWD to update the Ground Truther database. Hike leaders will be Scott Hudson, Bob Ritchie, and Sam Kieschnick.
Please bring your own water, snack and lunch. Picnic tables are available near the parking lot.
This event is open to members and family.
The event will kick off from:
Scyene Overlook Trail Piedmont Ridge (see the green marker in the picture)
Dallas, TX 75227
32.759694, -96.702186
Note – If you know Dallas then you know this area is not far from Fair Park and March 5 is also the same day as the North Texas Irish Festival. Maybe some of you will use this an opportunity to walk in the morning and volunteer at the festival for the afternoon.
Satellite View of Scyene Overlook / Piedmont Trail in TEAMgo App