“Where birds thrive, people prosper.”—Chloe Crumley, Audubon Texas

With special pride, HCMN members and many of the spring 2024 Training Class gathered for a 25th Anniversary Celebration.

20th Annual Photography Contest
Make it the best one yet! Deadline June 24. Spread the word!

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?