Hidden Springs Preserve Bioblitz October 7th,8th, and 9th -2022
Hello Friends of Nature,
I would like to announce the upcoming bioblitz at Hidden Springs Preserve near Florence, Tx. The property is a 932 acre site purchased by Williamson County Conservation Foundation in in 2020. The land has a great potential as a GCWA habitat which has about 300-400 acres in Burnet, County while the southern portion is largely in north west Williamson, County. The northern half is a juniper oak woodland hill country and the southern half is an open prairie grassland and juniper with alkaline soil. The underlying geologic formation is the Keys valley Marl unit with Glen Rose exposures in the McDaniel Branch stream bed.
We have had the good fortune of being allowed to use game cameras and acoustic recording devices on the property since around April 2021. We participated in the SWCA Environmental GCWA assessment with acoustic devices to bolster their pedestrian survey for spring 2022.
We are planning on arrivals to the property beginning at noon on Friday the 7th. There will be sign in sheets and liability waivers for all to sign at check in. The base camp and check in will be at the house that is located in the middle of the property. The gravel road from CR 224 to the house is in good condition. There is a gate code lock on the property at CR 224. More than likely this code will be changed to something for this special weekend.
I would like to hold an orientation meeting on Friday around 5pm at the house for general safety and describing the property roads. The roads in the northern half will be limited to certain vehicles with greater clearance and or all wheel drive vehicles. It is possible there will be an all terrain vehicle there that weekend.
We are allowed to car camp and tent camp in the vicinity of the house where we will also set up blacklighting and MV lights. There are two electrical outlets outside. One on the south side of the house and another on a light pole on the north side. We will be allowed to use the restroom facilities in the house. There will be no bunking in the house. There is a refrigerator that can be used.
We were planning on grilling food outdoors for Saturday afternoon and evening. There is not a grill area there so we might perhaps bring in BBQ food from nearby establishments. Alternatives for vegan and vegetarians will be arranged. Jack Cochran will be assisting me with organizing this event.
There are a number of ponds located on the property. Only one of which maintained water during the summer drought. The springs, which are in fact hidden, were also not flowing during the summer. We are hopeful that plenty of rain will fall before October.
The weekend will finish up by noon on Sunday the 9th.
I will add more information to this post as we go.
Thanks
Mike Farley
Good Water Master Naturalist
