Author: Anita Westervelt
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Olive Trees
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Two olive tree species grow in the Valley By Anita Westervelt, Rio Grande Valley Chapter, Texas Master Naturalist The Rio Grande Valley boasts two species of olive trees; one is native to Texas and the other has been adapted to our native footprint. Native wild olive, Cordia boissieri, is popular in home and public landscaping.…
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Old Man’s Beard
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The many stages of Old Man’s Beard By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist. An interesting late summer sight along city fences, fields and roadsides may seem like a fluffy mass of colorless fuzz. Something to ignore as uninteresting and messy. Don’t disregard it. If the opportunity arises, it’s a native plant worthy of closer inspection.…
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Nature Gifts
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Gifts of the Seasons By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Gifts come in many forms. To Texas Master Naturalists it might be a “life” bird or a surprise “first ever” sighting of an uncommon butterfly. A butterfly that’s created quite a stir recently at a couple of local nature parks is the Isabella’s Heliconian, Eueides…
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Hummingbirds
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Bring on the Hummingbirds By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist If you want to see hummingbirds, there’s a tree for that. Several native trees and shrubs, as a matter of fact. The Buff-bellied Hummingbird is our only year-round resident hummer. One of the larger hummingbird species, it is identified by its red bill and green…
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Anita’s Blog — More than Bargained for at Butterfly Center
If you’re on the Rio Grande Valley Butterflies Facebook page, you’ll know how enticing it is to see what’s happening at the National Butterfly Center south of Mission. I’d last visited the center 10 years ago when it consisted of little more than a tiny house, large palapa-pavilion, a few-dozen host plants and two picnic…
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Anita’s Blog — So Many Birds!
The Christmas Bird Count has come and gone but there’s still plenty of fun birding activity to be had during the Valley’s winter migratory bird season. For last week’s Harlingen Christmas Bird Count, all the usual suspects were around our yard. I counted 236 birds in 34 species during the morning hours while I sat…