Author: Anita Westervelt
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Leaping frogs and hopping toads
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Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Distinct features can help you identify whether you’re looking at a frog or a toad. A prominent one is that frogs have smooth, slimy skin, while toads are warty looking and have rough, dry skin. Another quick tell is the legs. A frog’s legs are longer;…
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A rose is a rose — unless it’s a hibiscus
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Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist You could say, “a rose by any other name is” changeable — and if you’re talking about Hibiscus mutabilis, one of its common names is changeable rose-mallow. This giant of a flower has other names, cotton rose, cotton rosemallow and its most common name, Confederate rose.…
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Climbing hemp weed — a favorite for the honey bees and butterflies
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Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Climbing hemp weed (Mikania scandens) competes with all-time butterfly-attracting Valley favorite, Crucita — fall-blooming mistflower (Chromolaena odorata) — during the annual fall butterfly season. While mistflower grows as a small shrub in a multitude of soils and growing conditions, climbing hemp weed is generally found growing…
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Anita’s Blog — Road Tripping through Texas
We often don’t know what sort of journey our chapter FaceBook posts or ListServe notices will offer, but most guarantee interesting learning experiences. I was recently intrigued with a workshop notice that talked about interpretive writing. If the words writing and workshop are in the same notice, my attention is usually piqued. Think back to…
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Anita’s Blog — Important Events Wrap Up
It was the last day of the 17-day 4th Annual Texas Pollinator BioBlitz. I’d just spent an hour searching for something I hadn’t already uploaded to iNaturalist.org, when I looked up beneath the security light on the utility pole and VOILA! A most unique sighting! A pink-spotted hawkmoth! And cleverly camouflaged it was in the…
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Anita’s Blog — BioBlitz Fun Week 1
Check out this link as we head into Week 2 of the 4th Annual Texas Pollinator BioBlitz! https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/TXPWD/bulletins/263c397 I challenged myself to the “Something Blue” from the Daily Challenges last week and found a Red-Shouldered Bug — what’s not red is blue, in real life — a startling bug color to come upon. Track minute-by-minute…