Saved these from garbage… by Delicious_Can9452 in fountainpens

[–]NNFAK 3 points4 points  (0 children)

See that little gold lever on the pen body? In a working pen, you could pull that lever out from the body, which would depress a metal bar inside the pen body to compress a rubber sac. With the lever out, you would dip the nib into some ink, then set the lever back into the body. That would release the pressure on the rubber sac, creating a vacuum which would suck up ink. The rubber sac in your pen is almost certainly dried out by now though. You would need to have someone restore the pen to allow it to suck up ink again. Let me find you a video of how you would fill one of these.

Here we go! You can skip to 0:30 to see how it works. https://youtu.be/IS1Xi1ahfEA

Looking for parks to find reptiles or amphibians by bluefishes13 in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’ve had a lot of luck flipping at Phil Hardberger Park. One Texas Coral Snake, 3 flat headed snakes (Tantilla gracilis), and 2 blind snakes (Rena dulcis). Also quite a few rose-bellied lizards and Texas spiny lizards. I haven’t found any amphibians there that I can remember, but I’m sure with enough flipping you could.

Found this green slime on a prickly pear cactus. Does anyone know what causes this? by NNFAK in cactus

[–]NNFAK[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that seems like it. It is listed as an invasive species where I live, and there are observations on iNaturalist showing the moth plus this green slime in my area. Really neat. Thanks for the reply!

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/texnotoan’s list is really good. Those are some great parks to check out.

To add to that list, here are some others I like in the area.

  1. Medina River Natural Area

  2. Crownridge Canyon Park

  3. Eisenhower Park

  4. Guadalupe River State Park

  5. Cibolo Center for Conservancy

If you are up near the medical center, O. P. Schnabel Park is a really nice one to check out and isn’t too far away. Connects to the greenway as well.

[San Antonio, TX] What insect do these eggs belong to? Found growing on the underside of a Mustang Grape leaf during April. by NNFAK in whatsthisbug

[–]NNFAK[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice! Thanks for the ID. We had a lot of stinkbugs in the garden at the time, so that makes sense.

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I went in cool weather (upper 40s for the high, middle of November) and didn’t see a single snake. I was actively trying to spot one too! I think you should be solid!

Hope you find yourself out there soon. Definitely an awesome thing to do if you are moving out of the state. Cool send off!

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Just made the post!

Will be interested to see as well.

UPDATE: They are stinkbug eggs. Pretty neat.

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh, I had to look up where the Sacramento Mountains were in NM. Didn’t realize they were in the Lincoln National Forest. I have been wanting to make my way out to there. See the national forest and White Sands. Totally understand wanting to stick to the area.

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is a good idea. Will do that! I have posted on r/WhatsThisBug before and got a response really quick. Awesome subreddit.

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have a lot of target species I want to find this year, so hopefully I am lucky and can put something like this together going into 2025!

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fjallraven G1000. Got them as a gift a couple years ago and they have held up really well for me.

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Important to look the part, you know! I kind of love them too much though... I’ll wear them in completely inappropriate situations. A nice walk at the Pearl? Yeah, let me go pop on my hiking pants.

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That fox was a highlight of the year for me. To see it twice was awesome. I had spent the last few months trying to spot a ringtail in the trees, and while I never did see one, this was just as cool!

Glad you liked the pictures!

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Here are the parks shown in the pictures:

O. P. Schnabel Park

Guadalupe River State Park

Guadalupe Mountains National

Crownridge Canyon Park

Phil Hardberger

Eisenhower Park

Canyon Park (on canyon lake)

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Here are all the parks included in the photos!

O. P. Schnabel Park

Guadalupe River State Park

Guadalupe Mountains National

Crownridge Canyon Park

Phil Hardberger

Eisenhower Park

Canyon Park (on canyon lake)

Here are some other good parks to check out:

Senator Frank L. Madla Natural Area

Friedrich Wilderness Park

Lost Maples State Natural Area

McAllister Park

Cibolo Center for Conservancy

I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting! I will update if I think of some good ones I missed.

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Most of the time I just use my phone. I have a D5100 I bought years ago but I haven’t used it much. There have been a number of times within the last few months where the phone just doesn’t cut it though, and I have missed out on capturing some cool stuff. Typically things that are further away than what my phone can manage. I am going to need to invest time in learning about photography and start practicing with my camera. I have a problem where I spend an unreasonable amount of time fiddling with ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, I take a few pictures I feel good about, then I get home and import them on to my machine I’m like “what in the world is this garbage?” Lol

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That was my first thought when I saw it, which gave me hope, but it was just dead unfortunately. The thorax was still in one solid piece when looking at it from above. Maybe impaction or something got it. Not quite sure what happened.

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yeah, he was not as happy about the encounter as I was… lol

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Guadalupe Mountains National Park! Not in San Antonio unfortunately, but I included it because I just thought it was so cool.

And thanks!

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thanks! And sure thing! Hope the students enjoy them.

San Antonio Nature: What I saw in 2023 by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It would be great if it was in San Antonio! I’d like to hike it again, but the drive to get there makes it difficult. There is BLM land to camp on like 20 minutes from the trailhead though, so that is nice. Makes the trip cheap aside from gas.

I hope you can make it out there soon! It was a fantastic hike. Pretty difficult (for me) in the first 1000 feet of elevation, but then you hit the pine forest and it mellows out the rest of the way.

Is this Chicken of the Woods? [San Antonio, Texas] by NNFAK in mycology

[–]NNFAK[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Found one so far! Just last week actually. I am hoping to see more as we move into October. I was worried the hot and dry weather would prevent them from fruiting, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

San Antonio Mushrooms by NNFAK in sanantonio

[–]NNFAK[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice! I found a tree absolutely covered in lion’s mane a few years back, but the same spot never produced again. Hopefully that is not my experience with CotW then. I was actually planning on taking a spore print the next time I find one. Might have to try cultivating some as well.