Biologist Fred Collins joins us to discuss:
-his background and his interest in nature
-Kleb Nature Preserve
-what he does at the Preserve
-Cypress Top Historic Park
-surprising local Houston-Galveston history
-programs that Kleb offers like a history book club, birding, and festivals
-ancient history of our area
-Native American history of our area
-early European history of our area
-and more.


Fred's bio: "Fred Collins is a life member of Texas Ornithological Society and the Southwestern Association of Naturalists. He was a long-time member of the American Ornithologists’ Union, the Wilson Ornithological Society, and the Association of Field Ornithologists and banded over 20,000 birds during his career. He served on the Houston Audubon Society Board for 17 years and was president from 1982-85 and is on their advisory board. He was the Director of the Nature Discovery Center from 1994-2002. He is a member of the Katy Prairie Conservancy advisory board. Since 2002 he has been Regional Park Manager for Harris County Precinct 3, where he developed Kleb Woods Nature Center as well as Cypress Top Historic Park. He is the director of both parks. Fred has retired from wildlife biologist consulting. He has published more than 100 articles on birds, nature and history. He and his wife live on 100 acres of the Katy prairie with 3 dogs, 8 horses, about 100 free-ranging chickens, and about 40 parrots. While the nest isn't exactly empty, their two sons have long since fledged."


Contact Michael:
1. ccerppodcast@aol.com
2. http://www.goldams.com
3. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gold-2883921/
4. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1152144714995033/

Join us at CCERP on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1152144714995033/



Show notes (more to come)
1. Kleb Woods Nature Preserve
a. https://www.pct3.com/Parks/Kleb-Woods-Nature-Preserve-Center
b. https://www.yelp.com/biz/kleb-woods-nature-preserve-hockley
c. https://communityimpact.com/news/2012/12/05/kleb-woods-nature-preserve/

2. Cypress Top Historic Park
a. https://www.pct3.com/Parks/Cypress-Top-Historic-Park
b. https://www.yelp.com/biz/cypress-top-historic-park-cypress
c. https://blog.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2008/11/the-rebirth-of-cypress-top/
d. https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/cyfair-news/article/Cypress-Top-Historical-Park-offers-window-to-the-1630259.php

3. Kleb Family
a. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=140289
b. https://texashistoricalmarkers.weebly.com/kleb-family-house.html

4. Brazos Bend State Park: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/brazos-bend

5. Desert Massasauga
a. https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/778222
b. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massasauga
c. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistrurus_catenatus_edwardsii
d. https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona/Documents/SpeciesDocs/Massasauga/final%20NR%20desert%20massasauga%2090%20day%208-2-12.pdf

6. Timbar Rattler
a. https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/776632
b. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_rattlesnake
c. https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/timberrattlesnake/

7. Nature Discovery Center in Bellaire
a. https://naturediscoverycenter.org/contact-us/
b. https://www.yelp.com/biz/nature-discovery-center-bellaire
c. https://www.chron.com/bellaire/news/article/Bellaire-nature-center-spruces-up-4196081.php

8. Snipe
a. https://www.birds-of-north-america.net/snipes.html
b. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe

9. Maceo Family
a. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Maceo
b . https://yesterdaysamerica.com/the-maceos-of-galveston-crime-in-the-island-city/
c. The Maceos and The Free State of Galveston: An Authorized History by Kimber Fountain
https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467143530

10. Figs in Houston
a. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=98447
b. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/columnists/native-texan/article/A-hundred-years-ago-a-little-bayside-town-was-12242230.php

11. Diamondback Terrapin
a. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/d/diamondback-terrapins/
b. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamondback_terrapin
c. http://srelherp.uga.edu/turtles/malter.htm

12. Cin-Ty Lee
a. https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/cin-ty-lee
b. http://www.cintylee.org/birds

13. eBird: https://ebird.org/home

14. iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org

15. Katy Prairie
a. https://www.katyprairie.org
b. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Prairie_Conservancy
c. https://restorationsystems.com/projects/katy-prairie-mitigation-bank-stream-wetland-credits-houston-texas/

16. Atascosito Trail
a. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/atascosito-road
b. http://www.hkatexas.com/2014/03/atascocita-trail/

17. Francois Simars de Bellisle
a. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bellisle-francois-simars-de
b. https://karankawas.com/2018/12/02/the-marooning-of-francois-simars-de-bellisle-on-the-texas-gulf-coast-part-1/
c. https://karankawas.com/2019/01/26/who-rescued-and-enslaved-simars-de-bellisle-part-two/
d. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941 Page: 204: https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146052/m1/224/

18. Karankawa diet, FYI: https://karan