Category: The Chachalaca

  • RGVC Leadership Team 2022

    RGVC Leadership Team 2022

    Officers President: Roberto Gaitan 1st Vice President: Robin Gelston 2nd Vice President: Barbara Peet Secretary: Carolyn Cardile Treasurer: Betsy Hosick Directors Membership: Joni Gillis New Class: Barbara Peet Communications: Diane Hall Advanced Training: Teresa Du Bois Volunteer Service: Alejandra Gomez New Class Rep: Dan Martin At Large – Winter Texans: Carolyn Woughter Committees Membership: Adrian Ramos, Norma Trevino  Training: Robin Gelston, Barbara Peterson,…

  • Listen, Look, and Learn–A lesson in observation

    Listen, Look, and Learn–A lesson in observation

    by Diana Lehmann Have any of you taken First Aid training? I am sure many of you have. For those of you who haven’t, let me educate you in one of the first things people are taught in this training–how to recognize an emergency or dangerous situation.  So what does that have to do with…

  • Our Visiting Sharp-shinned Hawk

    Our Visiting Sharp-shinned Hawk

    by M. Kathy Raines “Where are our birds?” I cried. Last winter, Cardinals and Green Jays joined our usual customers—House Sparrows, Curve-billed Thrashers, Black-crested Titmice, various doves — on the lawn or branches, at the feeder and among papery bamboo leaves. I opened my window so my cat and I could enjoy their morning calls and chatter. Now, I gazed upon eerily silent, bare…

  • Butterflies are in the pink – pink mint, that is!

    Butterflies are in the pink – pink mint, that is!

    Several years ago, a pink mint plant (Stachys drummondii) popped up in front of the tropical sage patch in my yard. Our weekly volunteer team had just found them all abloom in various gardens in Harlingen’s Hugh Ramsey Nature Park, so I knew what it was. Pink mint was our harbinger of spring, foretelling warmer…

  • 2022 Winter Outdoor Wildlife Expo (WOWE) – a great success!

    2022 Winter Outdoor Wildlife Expo (WOWE) – a great success!

    by Caroline Cardile WOWE was held at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature and Alligator Rescue Center from Tuesday, February 8 through Saturday, February 12. More than 1600 visitors, over 40 Texas Mater Naturalist (TMN) volunteers, and numerous members of Arroyo Colorado Audubon Society (ACAS), our TMN chapter, and other nature organizations helped make…

  • My WOWE Experience

    My WOWE Experience

    by Michelle Cano The 26th annual Winter Outdoor Wildlife Expo (W.O.W.E.) was held from Feb 8-12, 2022, at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center and Alligator Sanctuary. A special appearance from some feathered guests were one of the main attractions.  Jonathan Wood, wildlife rehabilitator and master falconer, brought his entourage of eagles, hawks, falcons…