Jester - February 2022 by Peel, Inc.

Jester Estates

Official Publication of Jester Homeowners Association, Inc. January 2022

President's Corner Season Greetings Jester Neighbors, Many thanks to our neighbors who decorated their houses for the holidays. The bright lights and colorful decorations were enjoyed by all and provided a cheery contrast to the dark days of winter. There was a constant stream of deliveries to the neighborhood during December. Please be on the alert for "porch pirates". Also besure not to leave valuables in cars parked outside your homes, as there has been an influx of vehicle burglaries in the neighborhood. Neighbors posting of thefts on Nextdoor provide reminders to everyoneto be ever vigilant. The recent emergence and concerns about the new covid variant caused the Santa and Fire Truck December event to not be held this year. The Board regrets that our social activities have been severely curtailed during the pandemic, and we hope that things will return to normal in the near future. An urgent reminder that our speeds are being monitored by the City of Austin. We must keep our speeds at 30mph or below to keep from having those awful, ugly and inconvenient speed bumps reinstalled. One issue is that we have workman and delivery vehicles routinely speeding on Jester Blvd, and thus residents need to be extra careful to drive at or below the speed limit to prevent our average from being too high. The JHOB continues to meet online through Google Meet. Notice of dates and times are posted on the Jester Facebook page. The next meeting is tentatively set for January 19, 2022 at 7 pm. Eric Cohan at ericcohan@gmail.com can provide a link to anyone interested in attending. Early next year every household in Jester Estates will receive Jester Homeowner Association notice of the Annual Meeting and election of Board members, plus a dues statement. Included in the mailout will be a letter from JHOB to mandatory and nonmandatory residents asking nonmandatory residents to please join the JHOA. Annual dues are a very modest $85 annually. Barely, more than half of the 911 Jester homes are mandatory members, this means the Homeowners Association has limited means to improve and beautify Jester Estates. If you are a nonmandatory member please seriously consider joining the HOA and contributing to keeping Jester Estates a wonderful and secure neighborhood.

Volume 17, Issue 1

A Water Dance of Grebes by Jim and Lynne Weber Winter is one of the best times to observe waterfowl in central Texas. Several species spend the colder months on our quiet lakes, reservoirs, and ponds, searching for food in the open, unfrozen waters. One interesting family that can be seen this time of year are the grebes, aquatic diving birds known for their strong swimming, but not often seen on land or in flight. Grebes are not ducks, although both are considered to be waterfowl. They lack webbed feet like ducks, and instead have lobed toes. Their legs attach further back on their bodies than ducks, making it supremely awkward for them to walk on land. Combined with their lobed toes, however, these attributes make them powerful swimmers and divers for their size. In our area, there are three species of grebe that can be observed, the Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), the Least Grebe (Tachybaptus dominicus), and the Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis). The Pied-billed Grebe is a small but chunky waterbird 13.5 inches long that is brownish overall with a blocky head, short thick bill, and almost no tail. During breeding season, its pale bill has a vertical black stripe, which gives it its name as ‘pied’ means having two or more different colors. These grebes can trap water in their feathers, giving them control over their buoyancy, sinking deeply or exposing as much or as little of their body as they wish. The Piedbilled Grebe is present year-round, but are more abundant from mid-September to mid-May. They are not gregarious, so they are often solitary or found in very small groups. Continued on Page 4

Welcome to Jester Estates!

Continued on Page 3 The Jester Warbler - January 2022

Jester Estates

The Jester Warbler - January 2022

Board of Directors www.JesterHOA.com

President

Jester Estates Continued from the cover

Eva Wisser.................................................................. eva@jesterhoa.com Vice President Eric Cohan.................................................................eric@jesterhoa.com Treasurer Phil Ponebshek.......................................................... phil@jesterhoa.com Landscape Committee Chair Margaret Hutchinson.........................................margaret@jesterhoa.com Social Committee Chair Teresa Gouldie........................................................teresa@jesterhoa.com Safety Officers Carol Philipson........................................................carol@jesterhoa.com Phil Ponebshek.......................................................... phil@jesterhoa.com Architectural Control Committee Chair Ron Herzfeld............................................................. ron@jesterhoa.com Firewise Officer Carol Philipson....................................................... carol@jesterhoa.com Board of Directors Charles Wolchansky............................................. charles@jesterhoa.com Restrictions Violations Committee Chair Cyndi Means ........................................... cyndi.means@goodwintx.com Jester Club....................................................................... 512-794-8867 ................................ jesterclubmanager@yahoo.com, www.jesterclub.org Homeowner's Association Mgmt - Goodwin Mgmt Cyndi Means............................................. cyndi.means@goodwintx.com Office: 11149 Research Blvd, Suite 100 Austin, TX 78759

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 203310 Austin, TX 78720-3310

Newsletter Information

Editor Hope Teel........................................................... hopeteel@gmail.com Publisher Peel, Inc.......................................www.PEELinc.com, 512-263-9181 Advertising........................advertising@PEELinc.com, 512-263-9181

ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS

Welcome to Jester Estates! By Carol Philipson

I’m sure you’ve all noticed the many For Sale signs throughout Jester. Well, four new families turned those For Sale signs to “Sold” signs recently. The Segal’s and Fernandez families moved from the Big Apple to enjoy a smaller community with more green space to raise their children. The Leake’s and Wood families were already living in Austin, but decided they needed larger homes and better schools, and they choose Jester for its unique one-way-in benefit. No through traffic means less noise, less cars and safer streets. It’s exciting to see young, fresh families moving into Jester keeping our neighborhood active. After all, it is the best place in Austin to live.

Teenage Job Seekers

Baby Pet House Yard Name Sit Sit Sit Work Phone Anderson, Layla*+..............•........... •..................................................512-496-6536 Anderson, River.............................. •................................. • ..............512-502-2073 Beach, Annika.....................•........... •.......... •......................................512-839-0387 Ferrens, Ashley ...................•........... •..................................................512-767-3003 Fricke, Samantha+ .............•........... •.......... •......................................512-948-2717 Gerrie, Jack.........................•........... •.......... •......................................210-290-3842 Gerwels, Emily............................... •..................................................512-795-9270 Gilliam, Ava*+....................•........... •.......... •......................................512-633-3664 Hayes, Alice.................................... •.......... •......................................512-952-0512 Hull, Carter*+.....................•........... •.......... •......................................512-963-3254 Kellar, Allison.....................•........... •..................................................512-909-1009 Moore, Kaitlin....................•....................... •......................................512-739-7652 Orton, Claire......................•........... •..................................................512-346-0434 O'Toole, Emily...................•........... •..................................................512-917-9397 Pantaleoni, Nicholas...........•........... •.......... •......................................310-200-6006 Parouty, Ava........................•........... •.......... •......................................512-298-9160 Popps, Adrian................................. •.......... •...................... • .............512-960-7305 Reed, Emery.......................•...............................................................512-592-2141 Shafer, Owen.................................. •.......... •......................................512-786-2378 Schoffler, Isabella* .............•........... •..................................................512-804-8047 Thibodeaux, Medeline........•........... •..................................................512-619-0291 Trautman, Colin.................•........... •.......... •......................................512-342-2422 Ware, Sonoma....................•...............................................................512-796-4013 Werth, Amanda* +.............•........... •.......... •......................................217-398-2833

NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE *-CPR Training +-First Aid Training

If you would like to add your name, send email to tgouldie@gmail.com with the jobs that interest you,your age and phone number (MUST be a teenager).

Interested in submitting an article? You can do so by emailing hopeteel@gmail.com or by going to: www.peelinc.com/articleSubmit.php. All news must be received by the 12th of the month prior to the issue.

The Jester Warbler - January 2022

Jester Estates

A Water Dance of Grebes by Jim and Lynne Weber

"Nature Watch" Continued from Cover

Least Grebes arrive in central Texas in mid-September, but become scarce by early February. As the smallest grebe in North America at 9.75 inches long, they have golden yellow eyes, a slim dark bill, are purplish gray in summer, and overall gray brown with a whitish throat and paler bill in winter. Rather uncommon or local, they can sometimes hide by submerging their entire body under water with only their bill visible. The Least Grebe is light and has large wings relative to its size, so it can take flight from the water more easily than most other grebe species. Unlike the previous two grebes, the Eared Grebe is the most abundant grebe species in the world, but it is largely a winter resident in Texas, typically appearing by October and disappearing by May. It is also a small waterbird at 12.5 inches in length with a bright red eye, very thin bill, and overall dusky brown with white. In their summer range further north and west, they are black with chestnut sides, and sport golden ‘ears’ or wispy feathers that fan out noticeably from their cheeks behind their eyes. Eared Grebes migrate only at night, and their southward migration in the fall is the latest of any bird species in North America. The collective noun for a group of grebes is a ‘water dance’, which refers to the fact that they have some of the most elaborate courtship displays of all birds. Often described as ballet-like, these displays can include bowing, feather fluffing, and rising up nearly out of the water, extending their necks and appearing to run across the water’s surface. Displays vary and can occur between mated pairs or two competing males, suggesting that they have multiple functions. Get out this winter and scan the open waters for these beautiful little birds. While they are not particularly common, nor do we normally see them in the height of their breeding plumage, they are still standouts among the typical rafts of ducks that overwinter in our area. 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 our blog at naturewatchaustin.blogspot.com. 4

The Jester Warbler - January 2022

Eared Grebe

Least Grebe

Jester Estates Don’t Wait! Schedule Your FireWise Evaluation TODAY! By Carol Philipson

Only 229 out of over 900 Jester homeowners have had their FireWise Evaluation. In 2021, 30 evaluations were conducted. Remember Austin is the 5th highest risk city for wildfire "in the Nation". Considering Jester is at the top of the list in Austin for WildFire Risk, this low number is concerning and disappointing. Knowledge is power— what you will learn during the evaluation could be life and property saving. Not knowing how to prepare and protect will cause panic and unnecessary, costly mistakes. Some insurance companies will even give a discount for completing your evaluation. The year of 2020 saw 34 evaluations recorded. Let's surpass that number in the new year. It’s easy Only takes about 45 minutes to an hour, and it’s FREE! Register on the Jester HOA at www.jesterhoa.com.

Fire at a home in Steiner Ranch

The Jester Warbler - January 2022

Jester Estates

The Jester Warbler - January 2022

Jester Estates

The Jester Warbler - January 2022

Jester Estates PO Box 1148 Round Rock, Texas 78680

The Jester Warbler - January 2022