South Dallas County parks project -- species surveys in 10 parks!
Hey all,
We have an intern at the TPWD DFW office for this summer, and one of her projects will involve looking at 10 public parks in south Dallas county (locations around Duncanville, DeSoto, Lancaster, Dallas, etc...). At each park, we'll do some flora and fauna surveys -- lots of bug chasing, plant observing, and bird watching. :) We'll also do some 'human dimensions' study -- asking some of the fellow park visitors about their experiences with nature. We'll also have a little 'station' with some skins and skulls to maybe get some traction on folks coming to see what we're doing. We're working on a little survey/conversation piece to see how folks in south Dallas county engage with nature.
At the end of the project, we'll compare the size, management style, and human uses to the biodiversity that we document.
It should be loads of fun, and we'd love some help, if you want. We're also planning to use this data to highlight the biodiversity at our local parks -- these green places act as refuges to so many organisms!
Here are the 10 parks:
Herndon Park - Dallas 1901-1999 Alabama Ave, Dallas, TX 75216
Wonderview Park - Dallas 2400 Very, Cleaves St, Dallas, TX 75216
Glendale Park - Dallas 1515 E Ledbetter Dr, Dallas, TX 75216
Briar Gate Park - Dallas 3215 W Pentagon Pkwy, Dallas, TX 75233
Chris Paris Park - Duncanville 1223 Caravan Trail, Duncanville, TX 75116
Lakeside Park - Duncanville 500 Steger Dr, Duncanville, TX 75116
Waterview Park - Duncanville 1701-1799 Whitecliff Dr, Duncanville, TX 75137
Ernie Roberts Park - DeSoto 515 Pleasant Run Rd, DeSoto, TX 75115
Heritage Park - Lancaster 250 N Dallas Ave, Lancaster, TX 75146
Ten Mile Creek Preserve - Lancaster 900 Nokomis Road, Lancaster, TX 75146
If you're interested in helping, let me know! :) Oh, and I'll update this post with details as we get them.
Here's my cell: 214 215 5605
Again -- the main point of this is to convince/guide public land managers to manage their parks (at least partly) for wildlife. Wildlife is there -- people are there that engage with it -- so, manage for it!
Comments
Tagging a few folks that have made obs in south Dallas -- you may want to participate -- tag others if you know them!
@tadamcochran @sehnature @annikaml @galactic_bug_man @cgritz @atassin @melissa_duron @justkate @bruce14 @kimberlietx @wildcarrot @samantha_knight @amandalbs @northcut1 @bruce14 @lindadntmn @geishen @sbetzen @bsandifer @lulubelle @cameralenswrangler @scotthudson @chandlerdavis @eli_rinker @inhat83 @oddfitz @assmann @rangertreaty50 @carol308 @sahi2018 @david_gwin @haleydaniels @madisong @itmndeborah @sam_moore_ @jcat @miscelaineous @raisedbywolves @cholmesphoto @sydneydragon
Yes! :-)
Also, Yes! :)
If I'm free I'll be interested in helping out!
Sounds great
Absolutely! Count me in!
ok
Sounds fun. Keep us posted.
I'd be interested. I need to learn more about those parks, trails, and waterways, and this is a great excuse to make the drive south.
Sam, while you are in South Dallas, I suggest that you visit Bonton Farms Extension, a non-profit with the goal of improving life for the residents there. They are have an apiary, and want to add trees and wildflowers for their Italian cordovan bees. Also they grow vegetables, and rotate pigs, chickens and goats on fields there. I hope you can direct them to knowledgeable gardening people in the area. I don't think there is a master naturalist program there, but there could be!
I think this is an excellent project and area to make a presence.
im interested!
I am interested!
I am interested!
I'm interested!
I might be interested, depending on the date (sometimes work gets in the way of iNatting). I'd like to venture more outside of the Denton county area.
Interested!!
"and maybe have a summer's end party at one (with pizza and mothing involved, of course!)"
@annikaml ...and moth pie!!
@tadamcochran Of course! ;-)
I'm definitely interested!
Count me in
Yes I am interested! Thank you for the tag Sam!!
I'm interested, but have limited time.... If the time works out, I am there.
Count me in.
Please send the list of parks, when you decide, for this project.
Thanks!
Just an update of the 10 selected parks -- we visited a whole slew, and it was difficult to narrow it down, but we did! Here's the list:
Here are the 10 parks:
Herndon Park - Dallas 1901-1999 Alabama Ave, Dallas, TX 75216
Wonderview Park - Dallas 2400 Very, Cleaves St, Dallas, TX 75216
Glendale Park - Dallas 1515 E Ledbetter Dr, Dallas, TX 75216
Briar Gate Park - Dallas 3215 W Pentagon Pkwy, Dallas, TX 75233
Chris Paris Park - Duncanville 1223 Caravan Trail, Duncanville, TX 75116
Lakeside Park - Duncanville 500 Steger Dr, Duncanville, TX 75116
Waterview Park - Duncanville 1701-1799 Whitecliff Dr, Duncanville, TX 75137
Ernie Roberts Park - DeSoto 515 Pleasant Run Rd, DeSoto, TX 75115
Heritage Park - Lancaster 250 N Dallas Ave, Lancaster, TX 75146
Ten Mile Creek Preserve - Lancaster 900 Nokomis Road, Lancaster, TX 75146
Now, we'll work on some dates on when we'll go and survey for bugs and plants and birds and fungi and stuff... When we get dates, we'll toss those on this post as well! :)
We've got some dates and times!!! :) Sorry for the somewhat sort notice -- but we'll still have other days that folks can come later on.
Monday, July 5, 9 - noon at Herndon Park, Dallas
Monday, July 5, 1 - 4 PM at Wonderview Park, Dallas
Tuesday, July 6, 9 - noon at Glendale Park, Dallas
Tuesday, July 6, 1 - 4 PM at Briar Gate Park, Dallas
Still working on the other times for the other parks. And we'll re-visit most of these later on too!
If you would, toss me a text if you're able to come to any of these: 214 215 5605
A few of these are in 'high' crime areas, so it's best that we stay in groups. Not to scare anyone away or anything... But I do know that wildlife is abundant at these parks -- that's what we want to highlight!
@sambiology Do you have addresses for where to meet up for each of these parks. Some are so small that both Bing and Google maps seem to have problems with their locations.
Hey all,
Just FYI -- I updated the locations with their google map addresses. You'll hopefully see where the gray TPWD truck is at each spot. Some parks are smaller than others, so if at any time, you say "Ok, I've seen pretty much every inch of this place," you can come and go as you'd like! :) We'll bring some bug nets and other collecting stuff too, so we'll focus on some of the itty bitty bugs that use these parks as refuges. And of course, all other organisms -- plants, birds, fungi, slime molds, EVERYTHING -- we want to document.
At almost each park, there are water sources (creeks, ponds, drainage ditches), so you may want to bring some 'mudding' boots if you want to wade in the water.
Be sure to bring some drinking water, bug spray, and of course, cameras and extra batteries!!! :)
Again, save my cell: 214 215 5605
Hey all -- just a quick update -- tomorrow's (Friday) parks will have to be rescheduled... So, stay tuned for when we get those on the calendar! Sorry for any inconvenience.
What a great project! All these parks are little arks, a bag we pack with species to bring with us to the future.
Dang, I just saw this appeal. It appeared in the messages on my laptop version, but I never saw it on my phone version which is what I use mostly... I'll help in the next round!
Hey all -- next Friday evening (Friday the 13th!!!) we'll be doing some black-lighting at Ten Mile Creek Preserve (900 Nokomis Road Lancaster, TX 75146)!
Let me know if you're interested: 214 215 5605
We'll meet at Ten Mile Creek Preserve in Lancaster at around 6 or so. That gives a bit of light to document some of the plants and birds and stuff, and then we'll blacklight there until...late! The management says it's pretty loaded with copperheads, sooo.... bring a flashlight. :)
Again, toss me a text if you can make it. :)
Hey all -- if you wouldn't mind, please toss me a text (214 215 5605) if you'll be coming tomorrow (Friday) evening to the black-lighting event at Ten Mile Creek Preserve in Lancaster.
We'll show up there at 6:30 PM, but we'll also stay pretty late -- at least until 11 or so. Don't feel like you have to stay that long though! :)
Just FYI -- this project will be spoken about just briefly Tuesday at noon virtually:
https://txmn.tamu.edu/bethechange/
We're also going to be presenting this project at Southwest Association of Naturalist conference in April and the Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society in January! :)
If you want to look at the data from ALL of the parks, here it is:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2021-06-01&d2=2021-08-31&place_id=174517,174070,174518,174519,164777,164774,174520,174521,174523,174524&subview=map
Wow, not bad!
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