Turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) are wonderful and lots of folks agree. The little town of Bisbee in the Mule Mountains of Cochise County, Arizona celebrates the return of the turkey vultures with a festival and parade every March. If you have hankering to go to Ohio where turkey vultures are called buzzards, the town of Hinckley has been celebrating the return of buzzards in March since the mid-1950s. The common name buzzard, by the way, came across the ocean with early colonists who thought the huge birds resembled the hawks (buzzards) of their home country.
I can’t think of anything really wonderful to say about the invasive plant buffalo bur (Solanum rostratum)…well, it is interesting, like lots of plants in the genus Solanum… it is a North American native (Great Plains) …cool star shaped flowers that display heteranthery (homework!)…well, it’s here to stay, so may as well learn it.
The photos are mine. The little black dots in the tree are vultures. 
The scientific name for our gopher snake (or gophersnake. I’ve seen it written both ways) is Pituophis catenifer. The genus looks like a combination...
Doing an episode about desert broom (Baccharis sarothroides) is a November tradition. And, so is singing a verse of an old hymn that I...
Petey is saddened by the loss of local flora and fauna, but can still find moments of joy in creatures like the Texas Horned...