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PODCAST

Nature Notes

Marfa Public Radio

Why do rattlesnakes rattle and hummingbirds hum? How do flowers market themselves to pollinators? Why do tarantulas cross the road? Nature Notes investigates questions like these about the natural world of the Chihuahuan Desert region and the Llano Estacado. Through interviews with scientists and field recordings, this Marfa Public Radio original series reveals the secrets of desert life. Join host Dallas Baxter for new episodes on each week on Thursdays. Episodes are written and produced by Andrew

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All Episodes

4:00

River Revelations: Archeologists Make Surprising...

Nature Notes ·

2025/11/13

Big Bend Ranch State Park is promoted as “the Other Side of Nowhere,” and the park’s River Road – FM 170 between Lajitas and Redford – fits that billing. It’s a breathtaking landscape of volcanic badlands and imposing canyons, and it can seem like a timeless wilderness, untouched by history.

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4:00

Big Bend Conservationists, Big Business Partner to...

Nature Notes ·

2025/11/07

Facilitated by the nonprofit Texan by Nature, and funded by oil giant ConocoPhillips, the Delaware River Basin Restoration project aims to revive an historic stream in Culberson County, 70 miles north of Van Horn.

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4:00

“Big Bend Bold” Rock Art Speaks of a Turning Point in...

Nature Notes ·

2025/10/30

Known only from sites in southern Presidio and Brewster counties, “Big Bend Bold” rock art is distinctive for the size and style of its imagery, which is painted in black or dark green. The style was named by archeologist Tim Roberts, who argues it was created by Indigenous Big Bend farmers and foragers at the time the Spanish first arrived here.

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4:00

Binational Team Fights to Save an Endangered...

Nature Notes ·

2025/10/23

It’s a fragile little grass, with a fragile future. Guadalupe fescue was first identified in the Guadalupe Mountains in 1932 – but hasn’t been seen in its namesake Texas range for decades.

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4:00

Tim Roberts Reflects on Preserving Prehistory at...

Nature Notes ·

2025/10/16

Texas state parks showcase a host of treasured resources – canyons and caverns, dinosaur tracks and hiking trails, waterfalls and whitewater rivers. The parks also preserve a remarkable archeological record, rich evidence of Texas’s Indigenous past.

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4:00

Long Live the Ocotillo: Tracking the Longevity of a...

Nature Notes ·

2025/09/11

Researchers have studied the iconic ocotillo plant extensively. Yet they didn’t know the answer to a basic question: how long do ocotillos live? Biologist Peter Scott sought the answer in Big Bend National Park.

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4:00

The Arizona Cypress: For this Big Bend Tree, Fire is...

Nature Notes ·

2025/09/04

Arizona cypress can grow 80 feet high, with blue-green to gray-green foliage. These Southwestern conifers are “obligate seeders” – they require fire to reproduce – and changing fire patterns have put them at risk.

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4:00

Bees and Blooms: The Hidden Dance of Ocotillo...

Nature Notes ·

2025/08/28

Carpenter bees are known to “rob” nectar – to take the sweet stuff without moving any pollen. But in Big Bend at least, carpenter bees and ocotillos have a mutualistic relationship, one that benefits both lifeforms.

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4:00

Comparing Today’s Photos with Historic Images Brings...

Nature Notes ·

2025/08/21

Ecologist James Cornett is using “repeat photography” to reveal environmental changes across the Southwest.

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4:00

Probing Primate Origins in Big Bend

Nature Notes ·

2025/08/14

Exposed in rugged outcrops in Big Bend National Park, rocks known as the Black Peaks and Hannold Hill formations preserve the fossils of ancient primates and their primate-like predecessors.

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4:00

A 20-Year Study of Ocotillos Reveals Desert...

Nature Notes ·

2025/08/08

Ocotillos are iconic Southwestern plants. With spiny, twisting limbs that can rise 20 feet, and vivid red flowers that bloom in even the driest spring, they distill the desert’s thorny allure.

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3:58

In the Prehistoric Story of Corn, Big Bend’s...

Nature Notes ·

2025/07/31

Maize, aka corn, was first domesticated in southern Mexico some 9,000 years ago. Much of today’s corn descends from varieties grown by Native farmers in the eastern U.S.

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4:00

To Avert the “Insect Apocalypse,” Dark Skies are Key

Nature Notes ·

2025/07/24

Moths that linger at artificial lights are easy prey for bats and birds, and they aren’t doing “moth stuff,” like pollinating night-blooming plants. But the impacts of artificial light extend far beyond this familiar example, and in fact pose a profound threat to insect populations worldwide.

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4:00

From Fort Stockton to Fort Worth, Dinosaur Footprints...

Nature Notes ·

2025/07/03

The Pecos County dinosaur prints are the most prominent in our region. But there are more than 50 such sites in Texas, from the Hill Country north to Fort Worth, and Dinosaur Valley State Park.

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4:00

Mountain Magic: The Hunt for the Mysterious Fireflies...

Nature Notes ·

2025/06/26

They’re irresistible to children, but their flashes can enchant an observer of any age. Fireflies seem like magic. They’re mostly associated with sultry summer nights in the eastern U.S. But they are found in the arid West, including in our region.

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4:00

Texas T-Rex? Big Bend Dinosaur Fossils are an Enigma

Nature Notes ·

2025/06/19

Though it’s certainly the most famous dinosaur, much about T-Rex, and its broader tyrannosaur lineage, remain a mystery. Now, scientists are taking a fresh look at tyrannosaur fossils from Big Bend National Park.

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4:00

In Big Bend’s Boquillas Formation, Geologists Trace...

Nature Notes ·

2025/06/12

Visible in the park’s southeastern corner, near the hot springs and Boquillas Canyon, the Boquillas Formation is a series of limestones and shales, in white, tan, yellow and brown. These rocks were laid down in shallow ocean waters across 10 million years, and they abound in fossils, which capture the emergence and extinction of countless creatures.

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4:00

Hearing Songbird Culture in Mountain Chickadee...

Nature Notes ·

2025/06/05

Chickadees are found across North America. Their “chickadee-dee-dee” call is an alarm – the more “dee-dee-dees,” the more serious the threat – and it’s only one element in their vocal repertoire.

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4:00

Along with Stargazers and Astronomers, Wildlife Needs...

Nature Notes ·

2025/05/29

Around the world, advocates are fighting to preserve dark skies, as a vital asset for humankind. But there’s also new research showing the importance of dark skies for nonhuman creatures.

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4:00

Mammoth Find: A Tusk Discovery Points to Big Bend’s...

Nature Notes ·

2025/05/08

In March, a hunter on the O2 Ranch south of Alpine found what appeared to be an ivory tusk in an arroyo bottom. Ranch Manager Will Juett contacted archeologists at Alpine’s Center for Big Bend Studies. They confirmed the find: this was a mammoth tusk.

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