Normally dragonflies perch with their tails lying perpendicular to the ground as seen on the left.  The dragonfly on the right has its tail pointing straight up.  Why?  This is one of the ways that dragonflies stay cool, especially during our hot Southeast Texas summers.  With its tail pointing upward it reduces the amount of surface area exposed to the sun thereby reducing body temperature ..read more

  While the wife and I were relaxing outside on the patio, this male green darner came crashing to the ground in front of us.  The first thing that was obvious about it was its missing tail or what is really known as the abdomen.  (Note that a portion of the abdomen left behind is violet in color- this indicates a juvenile male.)  I'm pretty sure I know what happened.  As I have stated before I have a purple martin colony and these birds love dragonflies (as do many other birds) and there was a few martins flying above us.   I'm thinking that poss ..read more

  Back in September of 2020 I set up a Stratus Precision Rain Gauge (built to U.S Weather Bureau Standards) to begin recording daily precipitation data to be contributed to the grassroot volunteer network CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network).  Each day at 7 a.m., I record the amount of precipitation, or lack thereof, into the organization’s app on my phone, which is then used by a variety of organizations and individuals including the National Weather Service.  Anyway, I went out this morning to check my gauge and found something unusual- the 0.02” o ..read more

Known around these parts of Southeast Texas as an “asp”, the caterpillar of the Southern flannel moth (Megalopyge opercularis) hides poisonous spines within the pelt of hairs that cover it.  Labeled as the most venomous caterpillar in the US, this harmless looking caterpillar has a sting from that packs a wallop, which I have experienced personally. If I were to try and describe its severity- it's akin to placing the business end of a lit cigarette against your skin.  I’ve read that a good way to ease the pain is to remove any spines that were left behind in your skin with a piece ..read more

Here is a cool TED Talk on pollination and pollinators. Enjoy ..read more

https://youtu.be/yjJL9DGU7Gg ..read more

   My wife, grand-daughter and I were sitting on the front porch when we began to hear a large group of great-tailed grackles mobbing something.  Out of nowhere a copper's hawkdropped out of the sky and landed in the center of the road.  It laid there in what appeared to me a submissive posture as the grackles paced around it squawking loudly.    Why was it being submissive?  This hawk could’ve tore through these “weaponless” tormentors if it wanted to, but decided instead to lie there motionless.  Seconds later it took off with the grackles close behind ..read more