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 Please note that the articles are preserved mainly in their original form and may contain outdated information or links.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.
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Anita’s Blog — Nattering Gnats & Devastating Whitefly
In the deathly stillness of a hot, breezeless, cloudless August afternoon, humidity reaching the limits, anyone with a tan might see their skin glow — and that, my friends, is a recipe for a gnat attack! No tan? No sweat — gnats are attracted to moisture — eyes, nose and ears. There’s no escaping. “Gnat”…
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Anita’s Blog — Superb Dog-Days
Not the weather — the cicada — Superb Dog-day Cicada, Neotibicen superbus Listening to night songs was a wonderful aspect of growing up Kansas. Prior to the onslaught of air conditioning, old, two-and-a-half-story wooden homes had huge attic fans that pulled a breeze into upper-story bedroom windows — most nights. Other nights, especially airless nights…
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Anita’s Blog — Identifying the Unknown
You’re doing your morning rounds and all’s right with your summer world when suddenly, your eye catches something the color of a perfectly roasted marshmallow — WHAT-T-T-T-T? But it’s bigger — much bigger — than a marshmallow, and upon closer inspection, not something you’d want on a S’more. The glob has swamped some southern coastal…
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Anita’s Blog — Sunflower — More than Meets the Eye
Garden chores, like watering a garden, are excellent opportunities for mind-drifts. Thoughts are all over the place, but these mental leaps and bounds often provide impressive insight — especially when pen and paper is reached before the elusive thoughts dissipate. On a dreadfully hot June morning — before news of last week’s forthcoming Valley storms…
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Anita’s Blog — L.A.N.D.S. Alive!
L.A.N.D.S. workshops are back for the summer More than 25 Valley teachers and a couple of Texas Master Naturalists attended the first interactive workshop this week at Resaca de la Palma State Park, in Brownsville. I arrived early enough to snag a few photos to upload onto iNaturalist. What greeted me was a row of…
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Anita’s Blog — Basket Flower Fan Club
You’ll have been having a daily show for the past three months if you’re a fan of Basket Flower, Plectocephalus americanus, page 117, Dr. Al Richardson and Ken King book, “Plants of Deep South Texas.” It’s really fun to spy the first leaves poking out of the earth in early March. Each year I wonder…
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Anita’s Blog — Lazy Daisy Daze
It’s always fun to fall in love with a new flower. During the last day of the 2019 City Nature Challenge, fellow Texas Master Naturalist Frances Barrera and I spent a couple of hours around the dunes next to the Texas A&M Coastal Studies Lab at the Isla Blanca County Park beachfront. We were really…
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Anita’s Blog — Take Your Best Shot!
Phew! The Mexican Black-bellied Whistling Ducks made it back for the City Nature Challenge. Remember the dates: Friday, April 26 through Monday, April 29, this year! We have a new addition to our yard — a Screech-owl, holed up in cavity of a mesquite tree. It flies when I get the mower close to its…
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Anita’s Blog — Training for the Challenge
It’s easy! It’s fun! It’s important! Sunday’s training resulted in a lot of info and a lot of fun with Texas Master Naturalists and trainees from both Valley chapters. If you missed the iNaturalist training in Pharr (in preparation for the City Nature Challenge that takes place between 26 and 29 April) with the most…