Nature Happenings

  • NABA National Butterfly count.*

  • Prothonotary Warblers start to leave for Central and South America in late July after nesting here.

  • First brood of immature hummingbirds begin to show up at nectar feeders early in the month.

  • Mississippi Kites begin fledging their young.

  • Except for goldfinches and late bluebirds, bird breeding and nesting season ends this month.

  • Garter snakes give birth to live young.

  • Mallards and Wood Ducks molt into their "eclipse" plumage and are unable to fly for several weeks.

  • Fall migration starts this month with returning shorebirds.

  • Blackbirds begin to flock and appear at feeders.

  • Katydids and Cicadas are in full chorus by the mid-month.

  • Listen for the feeding screeches of young Barred and Great Horned Owls.

  • Butterfly and Dragonfly diversity peaks.

  • Butterfly milkweed in bloom. Look for Monarch Butterfly adults, eggs and larva.

  • Delta Aquarids Meteor shower peaks in late-July.

*Texas
NABA-Butterfly Enthusiasts of Southeast Texas (Houston)
Farrar Stockton - President
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.naba.org/chapters/nababest/

 Monarch Butterfly, the state butterfly of Texas

 Prothonotary Warblers building a nest in tree c

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Immature Ruby-throated Hummingbird on nectar feeder → Order your hummingbird feeder NOW!

 Mississippi Kites

 Immature Texas Garter Snake

Molting Mallard Duck

Male Wood Duck with eclipse plumage. 

Eclipse plumage, typical of ducks but found in other birds as well, is dull, female-like plumage worn by the male for a month or more in summer after breeding.

Flock of Red-winged Blackbirds

 Texas Bush Katydid

 Immature Barred Owl

 Immature Great-horned Owl

Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower