South Texas Border Chapter
Texas Master Naturalist

White Ibis and Snowy Egret. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) Published January 3, 2026 in the McAllen Monitor Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Wading birds are unique in that many different species can be lined up in shallow water, all feeding together. Whereas we’d be hard pressed to find raccoons, opossums, nutria and armadillos on the bank co-dining, although individually they pass through the same feeding grounds as a nightly routine. Different spe

The attractive Coprophanaeus pluto , a dung beetle. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) It was getting deep into November. I still had my moth sheet/black lights going to see if a certain firefly was still in the neighborhood. If it was, it didn’t stop by. Instead, gazelle scarabs, Digitonthophagus gazella , were nightly visitors, a bit late in the season, I thought. Gazelle Scarab. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) Another interesting late-night November visitor attracted to the black l

Cuetlaxochitl , Euphorbia pulcherrimo. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) It was called cuetlaxochitl , Euphorbia pulcherrimo , long before specimens were collected by Joel Roberts Poinsett while he was the first U.S. Minister to Mexico. This was pointed out to me by a friend and fellow Texas Master Naturalist who avidly supports the transformation movement taking place in Mexico – which includes the restitution of indigenous cultural beliefs and values, including the nomenclature o

Tiny white flowers of Wild Poinsettia. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) Published December 20, 2025, in the McAllen Monitor Story and photos by Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist Sometime in November, there was more to do than keep the yard as neat as the neighbors. In our defense, the grass wasn’t growing much. What was popping up all over the yard was wild poinsettia, Euphorbia heterophylla . I began photographing their development in hopes of writing a Christmas article.

Professor Gregory A. Sword, Locust Watch presentation. (Photo by Anita Westervelt) Two of my favorite things – warning about invasive species and promoting citizen scientist projects. The new project: South Texas Locust Watch has been set up to track a nonnative locust that might soon be crossing into south Texas. Citizens are being asked to keep an eye out for it, photograph it, note its location and report it – a citizen scientist opportunity. A big thank you goes to Ashle