In case you found your way here without knowing the rules, here’s a link to the Houston Naturama intro page. Find each of these plants Snap a photo Upload it to iNaturalist The easiest way is to take the photo from within the app itself. If you’re not sure if the plant you are looking… Read more »
Yesterday evening, a cardinal stuck himself at the top of a tree down the street and blasted the end of the day. His song was sparse. One descending note over and over. I don’t know if he knows only this much song or if he chose to give an abbreviated performance. Either way, it was… Read more »
Before you were born, kids listened to hot singles on small vinyl disks with a big chunky hole in the middle. They were played at a speed of 45 rpm rather than the usual 33 1/3 rpms that larger albums were played at. We called them 45s. On one side, they had the song you… Read more »
The processes of the natural world operate at all scales, from tiny to enormous. But however large or small, complex or simple, every living thing is pushed by two drives: stay alive and reproduce. Knowledge of the natural world is essentially the details of how each species manages these drives. The natural world in our… Read more »
I have a nemesis in the plant world. Dogfennel. This weed, in which apparently no one is interested, has blindsided me time and again. Dogfennel is the kind of weed you don’t even really notice. That’s a photo of it above and you can hardly find the outlines of the plant. The only reason I… Read more »
There are many lenses through which to view nature in general and our Park in particular. Recreation, tranquility, civic pride, aesthetic beauty. There’s a more prosaic lens as well. Nature, and our Park, can be seen as a collection of eaters and their food. Some organisms are always one or the other; some creatures can… Read more »
Between travel and an injured foot, it has been weeks since I’ve really spent time in the Park. The two hours I spent Monday felt like a great big hug. The prairie grasses are everywhere announcing themselves. Even pros (one of whom I’m not), can struggle to identify prairie grasses when they are not blooming…. Read more »
I love sycamore trees, especially in winter when all the leaves have left and the white branches shine like bones. As much as I love sycamores, I haven’t written about them much. We have an incredible one on the greentree path. I believe it to be one of the oldest trees in Houston. But I… Read more »
Heat be damned! I spent an hour sitting in the miracle prairie because I couldn’t wait to see what was going on in there. Lots. But I didn’t get any photos. No one stood still long enough. Everyone was looking for something to eat. And since almost everyone is also edible, everyone hustled. I positioned… Read more »
I am an enthusiastic birder and through the years, have picked up this and that. But there are always birds that simply mystify me. This week, I ran into three such birds. They were all on the high-tension power line that runs north from The Dunlavy. That tower and the line strung from it is… Read more »