Spring 2024 Butterfly Collection
Painted Lady, Reakirt’s Blue, Checkered White, Variegated Fritillaries, Monarch, and Common Checkered-Skipper

“Morning, Bob,” I’d say as I sipped my coffee from the other side of the window. Bob was busy. He didn’t have time for chitchat.

According to an article penned by HCMN Mary Dow Ross, the initial caterpillar count was 36 in 1999. Compare that to the 5,000 wrangled this year.

There are places called Sentinel Peak from Arizona to South Africa, but this woodsy slope in Hays County would be hard to beat.

About twenty Hays County Master Naturalist class members gathered in the parking lot for the Hornsby Bend site visit.

In my ninth year of CoCoRaHS reporting, I thought it was time to stand back and draw some conclusions and maybe make some predictions.

As Mary O’Hara so aptly described it, “What a fine, filthy day!”

Gathered in a far west corner of Hays County, we awaited a break in the clouds for a peek at the elusive dance between Sun and Moon.

I’d been watching the weather forecast for days. Who knows how to shoot a total solar eclipse? Even in a clear sky.

Are you ready? Western Hays County will be in the path of totality for the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse.

Remembering 2017. It seemed simple enough. We would arrive in plenty of time…

We learn about oak wilt and how to prevent its spread, but there are many other organisms which infect oaks.

Some years are better than others, and this year seems like one of the best in recent memory.

Just as ancient humans drew their natural world with charcoal and ochre on cave walls, we moderns rely on photography to enrich our experience of Nature.

Get to know the plants on your property. Why? It’s lots of fun. But that isn’t the only reason.

We know stuff. We’d like to share it. But arrrgh, that blank page!

I’ve seen more bluebirds in the last 3 weeks than I’ve seen in the last 3 years. What happened?

The condition of Jacob’s Well and its impact on this unique ecosystem has been dire for over a year now. But just this week, after 5 inches of rainfall, the spring began to flow again.

How can you protect what you have and restore what will be damaged by future weather extremes?

HCMNs and community birders took part in the 2023 Christmas Bird Count. Walk with Jesse Huth’s team to see a sample of the over 80 species documented in downtown San Marcos and across Zone 1.