I am yet again going to write about herons. Do not blame me. Blame the juvenile Tricolored Heron that was standing, almost invisible, in the run-out of the McGovern Cascade. She was so well camouflaged that I noticed her only because I wanted a better look at two turtles with whom she shared the log… Read more »
I may have to rename this blog, “What do Herons Eat?” Last week, we discussed night herons. This week we turn to Green Herons. I didn’t plan to make August heron month, but I found this bird not too far from the Buffalo Bayou Partnership offices at Allen’s Landing. It was her idea to commandeer… Read more »
When you take a really close look at butterflies, there’s a lot more going on than gossamer wings toting a straw from flower to flower. For example, what’s up with those eyes? Each of our eyes has a single lens and both rods and cones. Rods allow us to perceive light and dark. Cones are specialized… Read more »
Baby birds behave in unexpected ways. This is because they are idiots. I have mentioned this before in passing, but this post will be almost entirely about the incompetence of juvenile birds and referring to two in particular: a Red-Shouldered Hawk and a Great-Tailed Grackle. It is a heroic tale of peril, escape, and maternal… Read more »
Vast swathes of Buffalo Bayou Park are a banquet for butterflies. Wildflowers spread across sunny hillsides. Yet, when I visit the shady Greentree Nature Trail, I always see bunches of butterflies. This is odd because I cannot think of a good reason for them to be there. Butterflies do not waste time. Their job is… Read more »
This little butterfly is a Hairstreak, probably a Red-Banded Hairstreak. There is a Dusky-Blue Hairstreak that looks a lot like its cousin and it is possible that they are really one species. They both employ the same little trick, which isn’t really apparent in a still photo, so I have posted a video below. Imagine… Read more »
You might never have noticed the sign pointing to the Green Tree Nature Trail on the north side of the bayou just east of the bat bridge. Or, if you did, you might have thought twice because the trail is dark and isolated. But, if you summon your courage (it is, by the way, absolutely… Read more »
According to a 1998 Gallup survey, more Americans were afraid of snakes than of anything else. In 2001, again, snakes led the way. In 2014, surprise, it was SNAKES! You can safely say that at almost any point in human history (I mean, it was a serpent in the Garden of Eden) humanity’s chief fear has… Read more »
Usually, when I’m on my Buffalo Bayou Park rambles, I will encounter something interesting, take bunches of photos and then use my nature library, knowledgeable fellow Master Naturalists and the Internet to figure out what the heck I saw and then write it up in an authoritative tone as though I had come armed with… Read more »
If you are in Buffalo Bayou Park looking for butterflies, find a stand of Bidens alba and stay there. Every butterfly in the park will stop by for a visit. Because of this, Bidens alba is one of my favorite plants. It’s no show-stopper. You’ve undoubtedly seen it; in summer months, it is ubiquitous. If… Read more »