Category: Nature

Blue Bell, Buzzards, and a Band: Labor Day in the Texas Hill Country

Our long national nightmare has ended Our Labor Day weekend had a definite theme: Hills, Heat, and Humidity. Three consecutive days of 100°+ temperatures were bad enough, but when you factored in the humidity levels (~90% in the mornings; >70% in the evenings), even the slightest physical activity entailed copious sweating. Fortunately, we had plenty… Continue reading Blue Bell, Buzzards, and a Band: Labor Day in the Texas Hill Country

“Our Desired Future” website launches

Texas has 500 times more water underground than anything you see above the surface.  The question is, how much do we pump and how fast? Late last year I reported on a project called Our Desired Future that focuses on issues surrounding groundwater conservation in Texas. I’m now happy to report that the new ODF… Continue reading “Our Desired Future” website launches

Desert Willow: Destruction & Rehab

Alert Gazette readers may recall my report on the Great Ice Storm of 2015, in which I chronicled the apparent destruction of the beautiful desert willow in our back yard. That event was heartbreaking, and it even made the cover (with accompanying article) [PDF] of the newsletter for the Texas chapter of the International Society of… Continue reading Desert Willow: Destruction & Rehab

More Texas wildflower action (with 17% more bugs, too!)

The bluebonnets are thinning out in the Texas Hill Country, but wildflower season is far from over. The amazing fields of blue are giving way to even more vivid arrays of yellow, red, and white blooms, and not just from the typical flowering plants. Cacti are busy putting out their own displays of color. And,… Continue reading More Texas wildflower action (with 17% more bugs, too!)

Ice Storm 2015: Aftermath

The sun came out this morning, after four days of being missing in action, and the damage caused by yesterday’s ice storm is all too obvious. We drove to the airport and back (that’s another story) and saw a depressing number of broken tree limbs throughout the city. It’s going to take weeks to clean… Continue reading Ice Storm 2015: Aftermath

“Our Desired Future”: Exploring the water dilemma in Texas

Alert Gazette readers may recall this post from almost two years ago, where I tracked down and photographed the elusive flow of Comanche Springs in Fort Stockton. To my knowledge, that was the last time the springs flowed, thanks to a combination of drought and continued heavy irrigation in the Belding Draw area just west… Continue reading “Our Desired Future”: Exploring the water dilemma in Texas

Winter is Coming

No, this isn’t a Game of Thrones post. But we are anticipating our first freezing temperatures of the season this week, so preparations are underway at Casa Fire Ant. It’s slightly ironic that our landscape is looking better than it has all year, just in time for a killing frost. Here’s a sample of some… Continue reading Winter is Coming

Camera Sunday

I spent some time last Sunday afternoon wandering around the grounds, camera in hand, looking for photo ops. As usual, once I focused on the trees instead of the forest*, a number of interesting details emerged, most of which involved flying creatures of the six-legged variety. This insect goes by the rather unappealing name of… Continue reading Camera Sunday