Joann Merritt's Essays

Joann Merritt is the best ambassador for West Texas wildlife in Midland, Texas. For almost 30 years she has contributed stories to the Midnat’s (Midland Naturalists) newsletter, The Phalarope. For many years she and husband Don volunteered at the Sibley Nature Center, leading kids down the trail. She has given hundreds of programs about her passions to civic groups and schools in Midland and other towns. She intimately knows the birds, butterflies, dragonflies, horny toads, and wildflowers of Midland County. Husband Don has produced a superb collection of photographs of the butterflies of Midland County. Now that she is retired from giving presentations, the Sibley Nature Center would like to honor her for her many years of sharing her love of West Texas with others. We are placing almost 150 of her stories from The Phalarope on the Sibley Website.

Index to Stories

Observations of an amateur naturalist

The first stories are about the activities of an amateur naturalist. Joann’s joy in observing all that is around her is far-reaching. Most people would say that Midland County (and a few other nearby places) are harsh desert landscapes with little to see, but Joann shows that when a person opens their heart the eyes see more than can be imagined.

• Frances Williams writes about the Merritts
• I wonder (what can be found)
• A Naturalist’s Christmas tree
• Nothing new under the sun? An admonition to Ecclesiastes
• Perfect lifetime gift – a backyard pond
• Two weeks on the Trail; Volunteering at the Sibley Nature Center
• A fun thing happened on the way to…
• Signatures in the sand (tracks)
• The joys of autumn
• Midnat’s project (sightings at a Keep Midland Beautiful cleanup)
• Celebrating President’s Day by picking up trash
• You find it – you name it (Naturalists’ word play)
• Thunderstorms
• This, that, and t’other (sightings in the spring)
• Midnight Midnats (wildlife at a star party)
• Stars in your Eyes (star party)

Invertebrates (Other than Butterflies)

The second set of stories are about invertebrates other than butterflies (which get their own section!) When a person becomes interested in the out-of-doors there is always something to be observed, even a tiny creepy-crawling can provide many hours of fascination and something new to be learned.

• Spiders
• A Midnat spin-off – Argiope Spider
• A spider and a wasp
• Redwinged crackers – grasshoppers
• Septemberfest – dragonflies
• Dragonfly myths
• Dragonflies

Butterflies

The third set of stories are about butterflies. Joann led the Midnats (the local naturalist group Midland Naturalists) in their exploration of learning the habits and habitats of butterflies for over 20 years. Over the years she and husband Don gave hundred of programs about butterflies to schools and civic groups.

• Winston Churchill Butterfliers – Never giving up, even in bad weather
• Swat team rescues monarch butterfly caterpillars
• The magic of butterflies in the spring
• Native plant gardening and where butterflies spend the night
• Collective nouns for butterflies – more wordplay by naturalists
• Cake is good enough for me – studying the Bordered Patch Butterfly’s life cycle
• Butterfly Walks
• Butterflies of August
• Mile High – south Texas butterflies and migrating hummingbirds
• Midnats follow the leader – rain brings butterflies
• Little things mean a lot – tiny butterflies on a 4th of July butterfly count
• Monarch Migration and tagging
• Tagged Monarch recovered
• Butterflies south of Sheffield in the spring
• Winter butterfly report
• Butterflies R’ us – 4th of July butterfly count
• A grand finale – a chrysalis splits in front of a class
• Violets and variegated fritillaries

Midland County Flora

Joann loves to try to find a new species of plant for the Midland County checklist every year. Her discerning eye notices the subtle differences in plants. For over 15 years she and her husband walked a mile or more (for exercise) every morning somewhere along a road in Midland County. As they walked, Joann often found something new.

• Patriotic Pods – Milkweeds
• Last Hurrah on the prairie – Fall plant attractions
• Glory in the Morning – Bush Morning Glories
• A fall advertisement – more fall plants
• Dedication speech for a wildflower garden
• Conversing with plants – Joann’s conversations with new plants for Midland County
• Consider the lilies of the field – June wildflowers
• Bindweed
• Wild withywinds – morning glories and honeysuckle
• Dodder
• Here we go around the mulberry bush – birds at fruiting mulberries
• The sweet smell of spring – Selenia

Fauna

When someone is in the field as much as the Merritts are, unusual sightings of wild animals will occur.

• Soda Lake Fisherman –Coyote catching fish
• Fight of the Century – Coyote vs. Turkey
• Rock the Desert – Lizards
• Snakes alive – Blind Snakes and Prairie Ringneck Snakes
• New Life from the dust of the earth – Horny toads
• Nocturnal field trips – Toads
• Christmas Squirrels – Antelope squirrels on the Pecos River

Field Trips

The Midnats and Joann visit many local ranches for their field trips. Some of the places visited became immortalized within the group – Joann’s enthusiastic reporting help make the places special.

• As viewed from the back door – Joann’s two acre backyard
• After the rain – a drive through Midland County
• I-20’s update – a trail around a flood impoundment
• Wild things – Salt Lake Road
• Golladay Grove Field Trip – a pocket forest in a draw
• Destination Crawford’s ridge – a rocky hill and fulvia checkerspot butterflies
• Flock of Bushtits at Crawford’s Ridge
• Mustang Draw field trip
• Not quite gone with the wind -- blue barns sewage facility
• Here! Mulberry Lakes – a caliche pit full of water
• Birding Rocky Sock ridge – a caliche pit
• Memories of Rocky Sock ridge
• Aaah! Happiness in the Pits (caliche pit)
• Migration in the Pits
• More Native Plants in the Pits
• The Pits
• Remembering the Pits and Mulberry Lakes
• Harris’ Tanks (Ranch with pond and pecan grove)
• Harris’ Orchard revisited
• Harris’ Tank ad infinitum
• Harris’ Ranch
• “Tanks” for the Memories
• Even a river runs through it – the draw at Harris’ Ranch
• Harris’ Tank 1984-2004
• Nature exchanges gift certificate – Mountain bluebirds east of Sheffield
• Joe Chandler ranch – Independence Creek
• October Big Spring Field trip (Big Spring State Park)
• Midnats get cooking (Big Spring State Park)
• Toenail Trail (Christoval to Ft. McKavett)
• Letter to Midnats (Sweetwater Lake)
• The wearing of the green (Sweetwater Lake)

Birds

Joann began her involvement in being an amateur naturalist by learning the birds of Midland County. She has watched birds at her two acre patch of mesquite for almost 30 years. She feeds and water the birds, and the Midnats know that The Merritts’ is the place to go during migration. Their house at been the site of many wonderful gatherings of like-minded souls, and every Midnat has wonderful memories of their cheerful hospitality.

• Feathers that tickle my fancy – mourning doves
• Home in a live oak tree – mourning doves
• The mourning dove’s dilemma
• Something sticks in my craw – the content of a dove’s craw
• Stay alert! You can observe a lot by watching – bird behavior
• December 7th – Harrier attacks a coot in the water
• Do quail have a drinking problem?
• Birder she wrote – the mystery of the Lark Buntings sleeping pits
• The joys of a cold weekend in February
• That good old country music – bird song
• Whoo-Whoo-dunit -- Long eared owl pellets
• Up with the birds – birds at the I-20 pond in the winter
• The Whistlers – Mississippi Kites
• The Rapturous raptors
• We had a quail of a good time
• Meaner than a junkyard dog – Bronzed cowbird
• Lesser Prairie Chickens at Dr. Adam’s Ranch
• Bad weather cancels a trip to see prairie chickens
• House with a Wrental Unit
• Just looking for a home -- Bewick’s Wren
• JoAnn’s Journal – Scissortails and Kingbirds
• Drought relief for barn swallows
• Sandhill cranes revisited
• Chestnut-sided warbler
• Bird Behavior – Bittern
• An American bittern displays for two midnats
• Bird of the Month – Whitebreasted Nuthatch
• A presentation in Black and White -- Black and white warbler
• Bird of the Month – Verdin
• Well I Never – Verdin and other bird behavior
• Shopping is for the birds – birds in parking lots
• Mystery at Midland College – unknown bird
• Parking Lot Mystery Bird
• I know a warbler when I see one – Swainson’s Warbler
• Bird of the Month Swainson’s thrush
• Never say never – Longspurs
• Naked nose blueheads – Pinyon Jays
• A Midnat resorts to name calling – Sprague's Pipit
• It’s all relatives – family members see birds that Joann does not
• Joann’s jottings – birds at Mother’s Day
• A thousand points of flight – Anna’s Hummingbird
• Godwit birding
• Super Bowl Sunday
• Summer hummers
• Grape jelly feeding station
• Shenanigans at the syrup service station
• Water sports unlimited -- water spray in the backyard
• Our ten birds of Christmas – bird Christmas tree
• Feats of Feet
• Hearing is believing—bird song
• On identifying birds by sound
• Quantum leaps of a weight watcher – bird weights
• Filmy finery of mating season – egrets
• Spring migration at the Merritts'