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 Please note that the articles are preserved mainly in their original form and may contain outdated information or links.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 — Swoop of Swallows & Other Eaters
For all of you who joined the 2019 Great Backyard Bird Count — the many results categories are available at the below link! It’s a pretty exciting world-wide look at birds! https://gbbc.birdcount.org/all-summaries/2019-gbbc-summary/?utm_source=Cornell+Lab+eNews&utm_campaign=5221942c5d-GBBC_eNewsletter_Feb2017_1_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_47588b5758-5221942c5d-303444081 Closer to home: The Barn Swallows are back! Too late to include in my GBBC list, but fun all the same! They’re in…
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Anita’s Blog — That Time of Year
It’s That Time of Year — for the Harlingen Garden Show celebrating its Golden Anniversary. You don’t want to miss this two-day event! The flower show is at the Harlingen Cultural Arts Center — address: 576 ’76 Drive — next to the Harlingen Public Library. Exceptional horticulture specimens will be judged and displayed. Floral Designs,…
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Anita’s Blog — Egrets and Cormorants Team Up
March 1, the Great Backyard Bird Count data was due from participants around the world; exact tallies will soon be available. As of this posting, 201,153 checklists have been submitted, 6,588 species observed and 31,174,034 individual birds counted. Check out https://gbbc.birdcount.org/ for current submission tallies and link to Explore Data for regional information. This link…
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Anita’s Blog — Critter-A-Go-Go
Thanks to the cat, I finally captured a decent shot of one of our resident yard-fellows. During the recent Great Backyard Bird Count, I was out with the cats and camera just after sunrise on a foggy grey day, when suddenly, the cats did their something-wicked-this-way-comes pose: statue still, rigid side stance, arched back and…
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Anita’s Blog — The Yellows Have It
The Great Backyard Bird Count is Friday! Easy Peasy — you don’t even have to leave home. There’s still time to join this fun four-day event beginning Friday the 15th — https://gbbc.birdcount.org/ In other news, fellow TMN member and freelance travel writer Eileen Mattei and her trusty photographer (me) are again in pursuit of stories.…
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Rescued Rarities
Rescued rare native plants can thrive in cultivation By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Bailey’s ball moss is one of those dream plants that absolutely takes care of itself. It’s so self-sufficient it can be tossed into the crook of a tree and forgotten. The scientific name for Bailey’s ball moss is Tillandsia baileyi. The…
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Native Succulents
Succulents are popular and for good reasons! Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Succulents are fun, nearly care free and reproduce relatively easily on their own. They can make an excellent ground cover and are just as interesting and easy to care for in pots and containers. For the xeriscape gardener, native…
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Bat Habitat
Be kind to the palm trees; be kind to beneficial bats By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Torrents of rain come to the Rio Grande Valley once or twice a year. After a few days, hordes of mosquitoes emerge. There’s no escaping except to run screaming into a building swatting at bare skin. Nighttime comes;…
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Alamo Vine
Sound the trumpets for Alamo Vine By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist If you pass by irrigation ditches in your travels around the Lower Valley, you’re probably familiar with seeing a wash of white dotting the slopes that taper to the road. Chances are, you’re seeing Alamo vine flowers. Alamo vine (Merremia dissecta) is often…