Rio Grande Valley Chapter

Author: Anita Westervelt

  • Anita’s Blog — L.A.N.D.S. Alive!

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    Anita Westervelt
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    L.A.N.D.S. workshops are back for the summer More than 25 Valley teachers and a couple of Texas Master Naturalists attended the first interactive workshop this week at Resaca de la Palma State Park, in Brownsville. I arrived early enough to snag a few photos to upload onto iNaturalist. What greeted me was a row of…

  • Anita’s Blog — Basket Flower Fan Club

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    Anita Westervelt
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    You’ll have been having a daily show for the past three months if you’re a fan of Basket Flower, Plectocephalus americanus, page 117, Dr. Al Richardson and Ken King book, “Plants of Deep South Texas.” It’s really fun to spy the first leaves poking out of the earth in early March. Each year I wonder…

  • Anita’s Blog — Lazy Daisy Daze

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    Anita Westervelt
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    It’s always fun to fall in love with a new flower. During the last day of the 2019 City Nature Challenge, fellow Texas Master Naturalist Frances Barrera and I spent a couple of hours around the dunes next to the Texas A&M Coastal Studies Lab at the Isla Blanca County Park beachfront. We were really…

  • Anita’s Blog — Take Your Best Shot!

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    Anita Westervelt
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    Phew! The Mexican Black-bellied Whistling Ducks made it back for the City Nature Challenge. Remember the dates: Friday, April 26 through Monday, April 29, this year! We have a new addition to our yard — a Screech-owl, holed up in cavity of a mesquite tree. It flies when I get the mower close to its…

  • Anita’s Blog — Training for the Challenge

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    Anita Westervelt
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    It’s easy! It’s fun! It’s important! Sunday’s training resulted in a lot of info and a lot of fun with Texas Master Naturalists and trainees from both Valley chapters. If you missed the iNaturalist training in Pharr (in preparation for the City Nature Challenge that takes place between 26 and 29 April) with the most…

  • Anita’s Blog — Swoop of Swallows & Other Eaters

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    Anita Westervelt
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    For all of you who joined the 2019 Great Backyard Bird Count — the many results categories are available at the below link! It’s a pretty exciting world-wide look at birds! https://gbbc.birdcount.org/all-summaries/2019-gbbc-summary/?utm_source=Cornell+Lab+eNews&utm_campaign=5221942c5d-GBBC_eNewsletter_Feb2017_1_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47588b5758-5221942c5d-303444081 Closer to home: The Barn Swallows are back! Too late to include in my GBBC list, but fun all the same! They’re in…