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

Jul 02

Rule Breaker

When I started this blog a few years ago, I made a few rules for myself; a few other rules made themselves apparent to me as I got further into the project. The first rule I made is that while this blog is personal, it is not about me. It is about the natural world… Read more »

Jun 17

World’s Best Dad

Cardinals have a special place in my heart. They are ubiquitous. Everywhere I have traveled in the U.S., I have been awoken by cardinal song. It is the same song I listened to in bed as a child and every time I hear it, I get a warm cozy feeling. Also, and I can’t really… Read more »

Jun 10

The case for happy bees

Fifty years ago, any suggestion that an animal was more than a stimulus-response machine would be met with accusations of anthropomorphism — ascribing to animals some attribute that could only belong to humans. Pavlov rang his bell each time he fed the dogs and eventually, the dogs so associated the bell with the food that… Read more »

Jun 03

Point of view is everything

On television, we watch a show about lions. We watch a lioness raise her cubs. They are cute. But the narrator says in his slightly hushed narrator voice, “If she doesn’t find food soon, she will be forced to abandon her cubs.” Then, we see footage of a lioness taking down a young antelope. We… Read more »

May 20

Flight Patterns

Flycatchers sew buttons. Their flight pattern is so distinctive that you often know it’s a flycatcher before you have seen a single field mark. Flycatchers sit on a perch, usually high up, with a commanding view. They take flight abruptly, flying up, up, up and then back down to the same perch or one very… Read more »

May 12

Meet the fam

Our red-shouldered hawk pair has raised three chicks this year. The chicks have fledged, but so far, they have’t strayed very far from the nest. Look for everyone on dead trees north of the nest. Definitely use the viewing spot nearest Memorial (click the link). The dead trees they hang out in are best seen… Read more »

Apr 29

Exquisite timing of migration

Plants can predict the arrival of birds. Blooming and fruiting Mulberries forecast the appearance of orioles, tanagers and grosbeaks. Their disappearance presages the departure of waxwings. My enormous acacia tree that was taken by Ike could forecast the appearance of magnolia warblers. It was always magnolia warblers. Other warblers hopped through the pecan trees, probing… Read more »

Apr 21

Houston Naturama Reboot. Week 1 redux.

Houston Naturama has been a huge source of amusement for me, however, I sense that the rest of you are not swept up in the excitement. That’s on me, let me explain. I am a nature nerd. No surprise there, you don’t end up writing a nature blog for fame and fortune. My greatest joy… Read more »

Apr 11

Houston Naturama Challenge Week 2

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 »

Apr 09

Homey

I am thrilled to see the Park so well used during our coronavirus lockdown. Sanity can be found on those paths. The blog, however, requires quiet, empty spaces that are not as easily found in the Park nowadays. However, I do still have access to a secret (not really) nature preserve a half-mile north of… Read more »

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“[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.

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