Category: Sept2023
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Baileys Ball Moss
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…
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Changes
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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Dance of the Male-Bronzed Cowbird
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…
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Eastern Oyster
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…