Browsing: Environment

This time of year, I almost always get asked the same question: where have all the pelicans gone? For many of us that frequent beaches and coastal bayous, we enjoy watching pelicans and the many other coastal birds that live there. It wouldn’t be the coast without the sounds and sights of Brown Pelicans and Laughing Gulls that are hard to miss most of the time.  

Spring brings a flush of new green leaves to our landscape, in every shade and hue. But these young leaves do not keep their pristine shapes for long, because an army of hungry caterpillars race to eat them as fast as they can. The timing is no accident. It is an ongoing tit for tat between plants and insects that has driven evolution of both groups for millennia. 

Ten years ago, The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) purchased the R/V Point Sur from San Jose State University with a $1 million grant provided by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. The ship embarked on a long journey down the California coast, through the Panama Canal, and arrived on the Mississippi Gulf Coast on March 29, 2015. This milestone opened the door for USM to provide life-changing research opportunities and tell countless stories.

 Growing up, fishing was one of my favorite hobbies to do with my dad during the spring and summer months. Loading up our fishing gear on his grey Chevy Silverado, swinging by the bait shop, and coming home to clean and fry fish are reminders of simpler times and good, southern living. As the days stretch longer, and the temperatures start their rapid climb, there’s no better time to grab your fishing gear and head out for a day on the water. Mississippi offers no shortage of beautiful places to cast a line— whether you’re after a quiet afternoon or a cooler full of fresh catch. Here are five spots (plus a couple of bonus picks) worth visiting this spring and summer.

Easter egg hunts are lots of fun for children during this spring holiday. And if you do it right, those eggs are scattered in the thick grass of an un-mowed lawn that inevitably has a variety of spring wildflowers. The flowers are as much a treat as the eggs and can be part of an Easter nature hunt for adults and kids alike. 

We all learned about the food chain in grade school and have even seen the drama unfold in a nature documentary. But witnessing a critter eating another critter up close is another level of experience – it makes it real.  

Late winter in the deep south doesn’t last long, but it does try our patience. We long for the coming spring when it is safe to plant our gardens and replace the brown colors of winter with colors of spring. But it always seems to take forever until the spring greening happens, in what seems like an instant. One day the world is dreary, the next it is covered in every shade of green and other colors of the rainbow. 

Some plants add a certain kind of pizazz or elegance to our world. Such is the case for Green Dragons, Arisaema dracontium. Although not commonly seen, unless you frequent moist woodlands in early spring, this forest floor plant has a wide distribution across the eastern U.S. and Canada. As for the name, well, the person that described it apparently saw a long, flickering lizard’s tongue under a multi-lobed dragon’s mane.

Mississippi State University officially broke ground today [March 10] on the Northern Gulf Aquatic Food Research Center, a first-of-its kind facility in Mississippi dedicated to aquatic food safety, quality assessment, processing and product development.

The nighttime sky offers Mississippians a great show this week in the form of a total lunar eclipse.

Sometimes the tiniest of organisms in our world evoke memories we hold dear. Such was the case when I recently shared a few photos of one of the smallest of our regional flowering plants, a Tiny Bluet, Houstonia pusilla. As many of you know, I share tidbits about nature daily, through my Cajun Daily Dose of Nature post on Instagram and Facebook. The post about the Tiny Bluet reminded me that many of my friends also share my passion for nature, big and small. 

Making waves in marine research is what motivates Dr. Jerry Wiggert of The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Ocean Science and Engineering (SOSE) to pursue his passions. Wiggert was appointed to the Ocean Studies Board (OSB), a unit of the Division on Earth and Life Studies of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. OSB explores the science, policies and infrastructure needed to understand, manage and conserve coastal and marine environments and resources.

It has been three months or so since the last of our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds flew south for the winter. A few do seem to stay with us along the northern Gulf Coast, but most of our winter hummers are western species. Ruby-throated hummers are intrepid birds that fly a long way each year between their breeding grounds across the eastern U.S. and Canada and their winter homes in Central America. 

Mississippi State University administration, faculty and students are planting 225 trees at the Partnership Middle School today [Feb. 21] in celebration of Arbor Day.

The middle of February in coastal Mississippi is early spring. OK, late winter, but that’s if you are looking backward, not forward. We deep southerners are not fond of cold. So yes, spring it is! It is also when our earliest blooming trees and shrubs begin to break their dormancy and flower – including the most dramatic of them – Swamp Red Maple, Acer rubrum.

Late winter and spring along the coastal areas of the northern Gulf can be pleasant – until the no-see-ums start to bite. Aptly named, these tiny little demons can become so numerous, they can make a sane person scream, holler, and use bad words. Of course, only the females bite – just saying.