Trees and shrubs serve many purposes – food for insects, butterflies, birds and other critters; housing for things in the form of cocoons, chrysalises and nests; and shelter for countless critters. Trees can even modify local climate, reduce air pollution, and reduce soil and wind erosion. Something not ordinarily conceptualized is that trees and…

  In a July blog about Mexican Black Bellied Whistling-Ducks, I wrote that when one bows its neck and hisses, the other duck backs away. Well! That’s apparently not always true. The other morning we had a rumble like a scene from “West Side Story” between opposing duck-gangs on the banks of the Resaca. It…

  Our faithful crew of Ramsey Park volunteers take precautions against the worst of the summer heat. Here’s how: taking plenty of water breaks working less strenuously planning shaded ventures heading for the breeziest spots working less hours wearing hats Watering some of the heat-stressed specialty gardens around Harlingen’s Huge Ramsey Nature Park’s Ebony Loop…

  The Valley newspapers are regularly filled with local nature articles. From fish to plants to birds. The South Padre Parade weekly last weekend had an outstanding article on Mexican Black-Bellied Whistling-Ducks, Dendrocygna autumnalis, written by Texas Master Naturalist and Arroyo Colorado Audubon Society member, Marilyn Lorenz, who is a regular birding columnist in local…

  Neptune is in retrograde. Generally I don’t read horoscopes but I do love a catchy headline. Neptune retrograde is a usual headline for mid June. Neptune is the planet that gives us the desire to unveil mysteries. Most of nature is a mystery to me. Fortunately, others have studied and explained what I see.…

  Those not born in the Rio Grande Valley probably think the trees here aren’t very big. If you were to put one of our gorgeous Honey Mesquite, Prospis glandulosa, trees up in an old-growth hardwood forest in New York, yeah, it would be dwarfed. Put that same mesquite tree next to a single-story house…