I have some Bailey’s ball moss (Tillandsia baileyi) in my backyard that I enjoy tremendously. Some were given to me by friends while others I picked up at either festivals or events and meetings that were part of both the Texas Master Naturalist program and the Native Plant Project. I have had them for several…

I’ve hesitated to speak aloud the word drought, in case it would make it real, but without an abundance of water, things “they are a-changin,’” as Bob Dylan wrote in a 1963 folk song. The abnormally hot June and July temperatures, lack of rain and persistent wind have caused many water sources to dry up.…

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For many years, I have sought out opportunities to experience, firsthand, the dance of the male Bronzed Cowbird. His dance involves vocalizations and a series of postures, ruffling of feathers, and an impressive hovering and helicoptering flight pattern above a female Bronzed Cowbird. The sole purpose of all this is to catch the eye (and…

Have you ever heard the phrase, “The world is my oyster?” Well in a way, that applied to me in my childhood, as I grew up in a small town in Virginia that was heavily involved in the harvesting and processing of oysters. The shells of the processed oysters were often so plentiful that they…

September 2023 Chachalaca newsletter.