This is an archive of articles written by Anita Westervelt between 2015 and 2021 for the Rio Grande Valley Chapter, Texas Master Naturalist. To focus on the most current information, these earlier articles were retired from the original site. We are pleased to provide a permanent home for them here. Please note that the articles are preserved mainly in their original form and may contain outdated information or links. For Anita’s current work, please visit the South Texas Border Chapter’s blog: stbctmn.org/blog.
-
Winter mantra: A time to plant
Story and photo by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Winter may seem mainly for the birds. January was busy with the Christmas Bird Count and backyard feeder count — which brings us to a list of the best native trees for attracting birds. Honey Mesquite is the best all-round tree for wildlife. Seeds are eaten…
-
Plant now for October butterflies
Story and photo by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist It’s tree planting time in the Valley! An annual theme that means cooler temps in January and February make it more pleasant to dig in the garden. It also means it’s a good time to plant trees and shrubs. They establish better without the stress of…
-
Anita’s Blog — Feeding the Tiny Birds
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,…
-
Anita’s Blog — Urban Bird Habitat from an Expert
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. During the lecture, John noted that feeding birds with seed, suet, and sugar water should be viewed as a supplement, but there…
-
Anita’s Blog — But it’s So Pretty
I should have listened to Sylvia. I knew the beautiful, hot-pink queen’s wreath, AKA corona de reina, (Antigonon leptopus) vine was invasive when I planted it. But it’s so pretty! And then last year, a friend had told Sylvia — who told me — that he had watched caterpillars eat the leaves of the queen’s…
-
Anita’s Blog — A Time to Plant
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…
-
Native plants are the true survivors
Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist If you ask the Internet what is the definition of a native plant, you are afforded a multitude of answers from a wide range of federal and state agencies and state and local plant groups. As Texas Master Naturalists, here in the Deep South of Texas,…
-
The Great Valley Challenge of 2018
By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist SAN BENITO, TEXAS–This is big! Mark your calendars for April 27 – 30. It’s the great international City Nature Challenge. Some call it a Bio-Blitz, and it’s worldwide for the first time. Given the Valley’s plant and animal diversity, the Valley’s Texas Master Naturalist chapters want the Valley to…
-
A banner year for Texas mountain laurel
By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist The calendar may not say it’s spring just yet, but the trees are talking with the news that winter’s over in the Deep South of Texas. The planets must have come into perfect alignment this year because the persnickety purple clusters of highly fragrant, early-spring-blooming Texas mountain laurel (Sophora…