My mouth was agape in a most un-lady-like fashion the first time I spied a blue tree. Yes, blue! And again, the other evening, an audible gasp escaped my lips as I exited a fast-food strip mall in San Benito. The distant visage of the blue-in-the-sky tree reminded me of a giant Easter egg piñata…

This is about one of those plants you suddenly find in your garden. When I found my first surprise-it-looks-like-a-tomato-plant vine in an obscure portion of our yard a couple of years ago, I left it to do its own thing, hoping to eventually identify it. Yes, it looked like a tomato vine, smelled like a…

Tony Henehan is our local Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologist and now a licensed hummingbird bander — Yay, Tony! Congratulations. Tony and the Ramsey Hummingbird Brigade are asking for help with hummingbird feeders in Harlingen’s Hugh Ramsey Nature Park to attract more hummers — where Tony has recently held bird-banding sessions. Norma Friedrich,…

I attended a fun and interesting lecture at Quinta Mazatlán, in McAllen, about Bird-friendly Urban Habitat Design. The lecture, presented by the park’s Urban Ecologist, John Brush, may be offered again in April. You’ll want to get on Quinta’s mailing list for event notifications: http://www.quintamazatlan.com/support/newsletter.aspx During the lecture, John noted that feeding birds with seed,…

It’s tree planting time — the annual winter mantra here in the Valley. Lately, it’s been perfect to be outdoors — except maybe for those 50-mile-an-hour gusts and high winds the other day! Winter here is mainly for the birds. January was busy with the Christmas Bird Count and backyard feeder count. Read to the…