Tarrytown - September 2021 by Peel, Inc.

TARRYTOWN

SEPTEMBER 2021

VOLUME 9 ISSUE 09

Tarrytown - August 2021

TARRYTOWN

Tarrytown - August 2021

IMPORTANT NUMBERS EMERGENCY NUMBERS EMERGENCY.................................................................... 911 Fire....................................................................................... 911 Ambulance........................................................................... 911 Police Department...............................................512-975-5000 Sheriff – Non-Emergency.....................................512-974-0845 Animal Services Office......................................................... 311 SCHOOLS Austin ISD...........................................................512-533-6000 Casis Elementary School......................................512-414-2062 O. Henry Middle School......................................512-414-3229 Austin High School..............................................512-414-2505 UTILITIES City of Austin......................................................512-494-9400 Texas Gas Service Custom Service..............................................1-800-700-2443 Emergencies......................................................512-370-8609 Call Before You Dig..........................................512-472-2822 Grande Communications.....................................512-220-4600 AT&T New Service...................................................1-800-464-7928 Repair............................................................1-800-246-8464 Billing............................................................1-800-858-7928 Time Warner Cable Customer Service..............................................512-485-5555 Repairs.............................................................512-485-5080 Austin/Travis County Hazardous Waste...............512-974-4343 OTHER NUMBERS Ausitn City Hall...................................................512-974-7849 Ausitn City Manager............................................512-974-2200 Austin Police Dept (Non Emergency)...................512-974-5000 Austin Fire Dept (Non Emergency)......................512-974-0130 Austin Parks and Recreation Dept........................512-974-6700 Austin Resources Recoovery.................................512-494-9400 Austin Transportation Dept..................................512-974-1150 Municipal Court..................................................512-974-4800 Post Office..........................................................512-2478-7043 City of Austin...........................................www.AustinTexas.gov

TARRYTOWN The Tarrytown Newsletter is a private publication published by Peel, Inc. It is not sanctioned by any homeowners association or organization, nor is it subject to the approval of any homeowners association or organization, nor is it intended, nor implied to replace any publication that may be published by or on behalf of any homeowners association or organization. At no time will any source be allowed to use the Tarrytown Newsletter's contents, or loan said contents, to others in anyway, shape or form, nor in any media, website, print, film, e-mail, electrostatic copy, fax, or etc. for the purpose of solicitation, commercial use, or any use for profit, political campaigns, or other self amplification, under penalty of law without written or expressed permission from Peel, Inc. The information in the newsletter is exclusively for the private use of Peel, Inc. DISCLAIMER: Articles and ads in this newsletter express the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Peel, Inc. or its employees. Peel, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of any facts stated in articles submitted by others. The publisher also assumes no responsibility for the advertising content with this publication. All warranties and representations made in the advertising content are solely that of the advertiser and any such claims regarding its content should be taken up with the advertiser. * The publisher assumes no liability with regard to its advertisers for misprints or failure to place advertising in this publication except for the actual cost of such advertising. * Although every effort is taken to avoid mistakes and/or misprints, the publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors of information or typographical mistakes, except as limited to the cost of advertising as stated above or in the case of misinformation, a printed retraction/correction. * Under no circumstances shall the publisher be held liable for incidental or consequential damages, inconvenience, loss of business or services, or any other liabilities from failure to publish, or from failure to publish in a timely manner, except as limited to liabilities stated above.

NEWSLETTER PUBLISHER Peel, Inc...............................................................512-263-9181 Editor.................................................... tarrytown@peelinc.com Advertising...........................................advertising@peelinc.com

Tarrytown - August 2021

TARRYTOWN

Lettuce Recycle! by Dena Houston

RECYCLING CHALLENGES

Not the prettiest of birds but vultures serve a very important purpose. They eat the carcasses of dead animals. Driving along our roads, you may see a vulture feasting on roadkill. You may see a black vulture, turkey vulture or both. The easiest way to tell them apart is by their heads. The black vulture has a black head with a thin bill. The turkey vulture has a red head with a white bill. The wingspan of the black vulture is about 4.7 feet while the turkey vulture has a wingspan of about 5.7 feet. Black vultures are more likely to be seen around humans. The turkey vulture is shy and tends to shy away from heavily populated areas. The turkey vulture has an acute sense of smell and uses this to locate the whereabouts of carrion. They can smell the gases coming off of a dead animal up to 5 miles away. Black vultures must rely more on their eyesight to locate carrion but will sometimes follow turkey vultures to get their next meal. Vultures use their hooked bills to tear their food from the carcass. Sometimes they will stick their entire head inside of a carcass so the fact that they lack feathers on their heads helps to keep them clean. They may also step inside of a contaminated carcass which can cover their feet and legs with bacteria. To kill the bacteria, they will defecate on their legs which acts as an antiseptic wash. Vultures will often sit with their wings completely stretched out, especially in the morning. This is called the “horaltic pose”. They do this for several reasons. In the morning, it’s to help warm them since their body temperature drops at night. They also strike this pose to dry their wings or to bake off bacteria. Here are some other interesting facts about vultures: • There is a structure just above the bill that looks like a large nostril. It’s actually a bony structure that protects the nostrils from getting food in them. • Vultures don’t have a voice box so they don’t make much noise other than a hiss or a grunt. • During hot weather, vultures will urinate down their legs. This cools the blood vessels in the feet and lowers the overall temperature of the bird. It also helps kill bacteria. • If a vulture feels threatened, it will projectile vomit. • Both males and females incubate the eggs and help raise the young. • Vultures have their own holiday. International Vulture Awareness Day is celebrated the first Saturday of each September. The next time you see a vulture, remember that beauty is only skin deep. They should be appreciated for controlling bacteria in our environment. If dead animals were left to rot, bacteria that causes swine flu, botulism, leprosy and anthrax, can flourish. The bacteria can then be spread into human populations by animals and through the air. Cheryl Conley 4

Tarrytown - August 2021

A study done by the City of Austin found that 44% of all items that end up in the City’s landfill could have been recycled. There are many reasons we don’t recycle. In our hearts, most of us want to help maintain the health of our planet by recycling. We know it’s the right thing to do, but our lives are busy and it’s not always easy. Some challenges to recycling are as follows: o Inconvenient to collect items at home o Some jars are difficult to clean out o Don’t know how to recycle unusual items SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE HOME COLLECTION MORE CONVENIENT • For curbside recycling pick-up: Put small containers in the areas where recycling accumulates, such as the kitchen and office. • For curbside compost collection: Keep a collection container on the kitchen counter, lined with a compostable bag. • For plastic bags that go to collection bins at the grocery store: Place a bag somewhere convenient to collect plastic bags, bubble wrap, etc. When it’s full, take it to the plastic bag recycling bin. • For items that need to go to the Recycling and Reuse Drop-Off Center: Keep boxes in the garage for items headed for the RRDOC. SUGGESTIONS FOR CLEANING OUT PROBLEM CONTAINERS We need to rinse our jars and bottles so that jars that might get broken in the recycling trucks don’t contaminate paper with food product and make the paper unable to be recycled. The City of Austin recommends a light rinse to the jars, but has anyone ever “lightly rinsed” a peanut butter jar? Here’s what works - add some detergent and very hot water to the jar, shake well, and that’s good enough. This also works with mayonnaise jars.

RECYCLE VARIOUS ITEMS IS CONFUSING It’s difficult to know or remember which items go into which cart or to which location. The following City of Austin website is a great resource to learn where various items should go: www.austintexas.gov/ what-do-i-do. I will research any recycling questions you have. Just email your recycling questions to recycling@hpwbana.org.

FLUFF – DON’T STUFF Recently, I noticed that a compost collection truck’s automatic arm kept shaking a green can. Finally, the driver set the can down, got out of the truck, reached into the can, and pulled out pizza boxes that had been stuffed in it. He then was able to re-engage the auto arm and empty the can. Please don’t stuff things into any of your cans. Copyright © 2021 Peel, Inc.

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Tarrytown - August 2021

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Tarrytown - August 2021

Sun trackers TARRYTOWN by Jim and Lynne Weber

This time of year, the most notable family of plants are the Heilianthus, or sunflowers. From the Greek helios or ‘sun’ and anthos or ‘flower’, these plants are usually tall annuals or perennials that during their growth phase exhibit a subtle behavior in the daylight h o u r s . T h i s b e h a v i o r, called heliotropism or solar tracking, is the ability for the young flower buds and leaves to gently tilt toward the sun, following it as it Maximilian Sunflower moves across the sky. By the time the flower heads mature, they are stationary but generally facing east to greet the rising sun. Sunflowers are typically tall plants with one to multiple flower heads, consisting of bright yellow ray florets or flowers, surrounding yellow or maroon disc florets. In wild or native species, the rough and hairy stems are normally branched, and the leaves are often sticky and lance or heart-shaped. Sunflowers also exhibit phyllotaxis, or the arrangement of leaves on a stem that forms a distinct pattern, in this case a repeating spiral. Additionally, the disc florets also display a phyllotactic pattern, one that creates the optical effect of criss-crossing spirals in the flower’s center. In our area, the two most abundant sunflowers are the Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and the Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani). Blooming from May to October, the Common Sunflower grows on dry soils, especially in disturbed areas. It can reach 1.5 to 8 feet tall, and various parts of the branched stems can be either green or dark purple. The heart-shaped leaves are coarse and covered in rough hairs, and grow from 2.5 to 10 inches long. Up to 4 inches across, the flower heads have yellow ray flowers and reddish-brown disc flowers. As their scientific name suggests, these plants are annuals. Maximilian Sunflowers, on the other hand, are perennials that bloom in September and October. They grow 1 to 6 feet tall in colonies on both the dry ground of prairies and the moist ground of roadside ditches and other low places. Shorter, rough hairs cover the narrow lance-shaped leaves, which average 2 to 4 inches long. The 1.5 to 3 inch wide flower heads have yellow ray flowers surrounding yellow disc flowers in the center, Copyright © 2021 Peel, Inc.

with numerous flower heads growing along the unbranched stems. As a side note, the similarlooking Plateau Goldeneye (Viguiera dentata), sometimes called Sunflower Goldeneye, also WatchCommon Sunflower blooms along our roadsides and in woodland edges and openings from September to November, but it belongs to the Aster Family and is not a sunflower. Multi-branched, bushy, and 3 to 5 feet high, it can be identified by 1.5 inch wide yellow daisy-like flowers at the ends of long, branching stalks, and triangular green leaves with toothed edges. Aside from their aesthetic value to humans, sunflowers are generally palatable to deer and numerous species of birds eat their seeds. Their flower heads provide nectar for pollinators such as bees, and they are the food plants for several butterfly species such as the Bordered Patch and Silvery Checkerspot. When mixed with other native annuals, these sun trackers provide g o o d c ov e r f o r many species of wildlife, and would be a great addition to your Plateau Goldeneye native wildscape. Send your nature-related questions to naturewatch@austin. rr.com and we’ll do our best to answer them. If you enjoy reading these articles, check out our books, Nature Watch Austin, Nature Watch Big Bend, and Native Host Plants for Texas Butterflies, all published by Texas A&M University Press, and subscribe to our blog at naturewatchaustin. blogspot.com. Tarrytown - August 2021

TARRYTOWN PO Box 1148 Round Rock, Texas 78680

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Tarrytown - August 2021