× For the latest information on trail and area closures, click here.
  • Visit
  • Cistern
  • Events & Tours
  • Support
  • Donate
  • Plans & Programs
  • About Us
  • Public Art
  • Rentals & Permits
  • Calendar
Menu
donate trail map
Buffalo Bayou Partnership
  • Visit
    • Buffalo Bayou Park
    • Cistern
    • Sabine Promenade
    • Sesquicentennial Park
    • Allen’s Landing
    • Buffalo Bend Nature Park
    • Public Art along Buffalo Bayou
  • Events & Tours
    • Calendar
    • Cistern Tours
    • Boat Tours
    • Walking Tours
    • Underground Sounds
    • Summer Species: Bees
  • Rentals & Permits
    • Sunset Coffee Building
    • The Water Works in Buffalo Bayou Park
    • Eleanor Tinsley Park
    • Barbara Fish Daniel Picnic Pavilion
    • Permits
  • Support
    • Join as a Member
    • Become a BBP Patron
    • Volunteer with Buffalo Bayou Partnership
    • Donate
    • The Currents
    • Buffalo Bayou Boutique
  • Plans & Programs
    • Buffalo Bayou East
    • “Deeper Dive” Virtual Presentation Series
    • Waterway Clean Up
  • About Us
  • News
    • Press
    • Newsletters

Other Nations: A Naturalist’s Blog about Buffalo Bayou
by Alisa Kline

Posts Tagged: Houston green space

Jul 03

Which end is which?

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 »

Jun 27

A dark and quiet magic

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 »

Jun 20

Snaaaaaakes!

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 »

Jun 13

Drama and Mystery in the Cliff Swallow Colony

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 »

Jun 05

Seeds of a blog post

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 »

May 30

One Hour @: The Base of McGovern Cascade

We live in a world divided. Inside and outside. Everything inside is ours and we try very hard to share inside with only invited guests. We try that outside as well, making decisions about what plants to put into our ground and which insects we will tolerate in proximity.  The park is outside, but it… Read more »

May 23

What’s this dragonfly doing?

When I’m out walking on the bayou, my two most frequent thoughts are: 1) what is that? and 2) what’s that critter doing? As to the first question, I knew this was a dragon fly because that’s easy. Although you should pause a moment when you’ve got a really slender dragonfly because it may be… Read more »

May 14

Starlings and all that racket

There are a ton of mulberry trees along the bayou. They bear sweet black berries (that look kind of like blackberries) in the spring. They are a very important food source for wild critters. They are also a decent food source for us more civilized critters, too. Right now, the European Starlings are feasting on… Read more »

Apr 30

Swallows return to Buffalo Bayou

For the next few weeks, there is a spectacle of nature taking place right under the Waugh Drive Bridge. Not the bats, although they live there, too, but the Cliff Swallows. The colony has almost 100 birds. Each Spring, the colony returns from South America and refurbishes their mud nests that are built on the… Read more »

  • ←
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7

“[Animals] are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”

—Henry Beston, The Outermost House

 

For sightings, questions or comments email blog@alisakline.com.

Blog Categories

  • Bats
  • Beavers
  • Birds
  • Buffalo Bayou Birds
  • Fish
  • Flora
  • Galveston
  • Houston Naturama
  • Hurricane Harvey
  • Insects
  • Reptiles

Blog Tags

Beavers in Houston bee bees bees in houston Birding Bird Watching Buffalo Bayou Houston Buffalo Bayou Park Buffalo Bayou Wildlife butterflies butterfly carpenter bee Cliff Swallows Cormorants Dragonfly european honey bee European Starlings Green Tree Nature Trail Herons honeybee Houston Houston Animals Houston Beavers Houston Birds Houston butterfly Houston flora Houston flowers Houston green space Houston insects Houston Parks Houston Wildlife Master Naturalist Native Birds Other Nations Blog pollinators Starlings texas bees Texas Birds Texas flora Texas Master Naturalist Texas Parks Texas reptiles Urban beavers Wildlife blog wildlife houston

Get Involved

There are plenty of ways to get involved with keeping our parks and trails growing and the bayou flowing! Check out our Volunteer Opportunities or become a Buffalo Bayou Partnership Member today.

Membership Volunteer

Stay Connected

Buffalo Bayou Boutique

Looking for a unique gift? Shop our Buffalo Bayou Boutique!
Shop Now
  • Home
  • Visit
  • Support
  • Plans & Programs
  • About Us
  • News

1019 Commerce Street, Suite 200
Houston, TX 77002

t : 713.752.0314    f : 713.223.3500
info@buffalobayou.org

© 2022 Buffalo Bayou Partnership.
website by CORE Design Studio. Log in

Back to Top Events & Tours