A cry of “Mwee! Mwee!” sends an earnest cat-lover, shouting, “Here, kitty, kitty!” scrambling into bushes after a lost, forlorn kitten. But, no, it’s a
Tag: Creatures Among Us
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Harlequin-Flower-Beetle-672x600.jpg)
The ornate creature in the soil-filled crotch of our ash tree appeared to be a decorated rock or a lost jewel, a pendant perhaps. Never
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/sand-dollar-800x600.jpg)
Our local sand dollar is the keyhole urchin (Mellita quinquiesperforata), which Spanish-speakers sometimes call galeta de mar (sea cookie) or dólar de arena (sand dollar).
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Silver-garden-spider-this-year-800x600.jpg)
Like a bejeweled gymnast, the Silver Garden Spider lay with paired legs forming an upside down “x”, its web hammocked between pads of a prickly
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DSC_0618-800x600.jpg)
Conk-la-ree! Conk-la-ree! The shrill, liquid burbling of migrating male red-wings—scarlet epaulets aflame—fills the air from mid-March to early May, ushering in the many delights of
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Yellow-headed-black-bird-2-Chuck-Lorenz-.jpg)
Throngs of noisy, migrating male yellow-headed blackbirds, heads and chests aglow in the setting sun, descended upon limbs and open swaths of lawn to forage