I’m too tired to write much. It was the only full day of sessions for this year’s conference. I really like how the convention center in McAllen is laid out. It’s easy to find things. And it’s very pretty.
Weeds in the vacant lot across the street were also pretty. This is Alamo vine.
All my sessions were good, though I must say the one on flies was my favorite. Wow that lady liked flies. I learned so much!
Extra cool fly
I escaped to an empty lot for a while and managed to find some new plants, plus finally found the climbing milk vine that’s everywhere in bloom. It’s seed pods are also pretty.
Climbing milkweed (Funastrum cynanchoides)
I took a bunch more pictures of the tributes to Frida Kahlo that are in the hallways. They are fascinating. These got cropped, so click to see the whole images.
I’ve enjoyed hanging out with my friends and our Texas Parks and Wildlife friends, Sam and Mike. Great conversations! I even get to speak Spanish a lot!
Ooh. Today was fun. It started out with a trip to the National Butterfly Center, which is beautiful and exciting. There were wonderful plantings of plants that attract pollinators as well as lots of unmanicured areas teeming with birds. I got LOTS of new birds on my life list! I really enjoyed the greater kiskadees.
Best I can do for a photo.
The woods were very different and had all kinds of new trees and bushes for me to explore. I definitely fell in love with the woods, the wetlands, and the river.
Beautiful part of the world
I had only seen the Rio Grande in El Paso, where it’s not pretty. Here, it’s wide and lush and gives you an idea of what this part of south Texas used to be like.
US left, Mexico rightIt’s so pretty
Unfortunately you can’t forget what South Texas is like now. We came upon the news in action: progress on the border wall. It really hit all of us hard. Nature can’t pass through, either. Luckily the Center property will not have a wall through it.
Building That Wall
Oh yeah. There were butterflies. And bees.
Ok, after many photos and much listening to new birds (green Jay, two kinds of kingfisher, golden-fronted woodpecker, Wilson’s warbler), we headed to lunch, after which the conference started.
Beautiful ofrenda in the conference center
All four sessions I attended were interesting. I learned about the geology of this region, burrowing owls, reforestation down here, and changing coastal marshes due to climate change. Quite a variety.
Sessions
The dinner was nothing to write home about, but we had good conversations and had fun waiting for the hotel shuttle and enjoying the día de los muertos decorations.
Spectacular!Photo opThe windblown look. Click to see her head
When we got to the hotel there were more reminders of how weird things are in south Texas. We wondered why the cleaning staff was cleaning at night. Then a young man came out of the door to his room. He told us they clean the rooms for him and his colleagues at night because they sleep during the day. We looked at his Army fatigues and he said, “you can guess why I’m here.” He’s been on this job a year. Wow. Very nice guy, as were the others we met in the lobby.
The Hermits' Rest 