Top Photo: Redbud lights up the spring forest. It’s when the redbud trees bloom that you realize just how many of the small trees there actually are in and along the forest edge. It blooms well before many other flowering trees, even before it sends out its own leaves. The tree’s leguminous magenta flowers brighten up the spring, and are so much more pleasing than the white, and stinky, Bradford pear blossoms. The pears are planted everywhere you look alongRead more
Posts filed in: Birds
Nest Box Update 3.14.26
Top Photo: Male eastern bluebird surveys his domain. Things are looking up, three of our nest boxes have activity, one which had a bluebird nest last week now has four bluebird eggs. Two nest boxes contain nest material placed inside their walls by Carolina chickadees. The Cow Pasture nest box, located near the Train Tunnel is empty, no takers yet. The Explore the Wild nest box is also empty. This box is usually occupied by chickadees. We’ll have to waitRead more
Bluebird Nest Box Season
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird, (male). This is the first nest box inspection of the season on our 6 nest box Bluebird Trail. All the boxes had been previously cleaned and readied for occupation. Only one of the boxes showed activity. The Cow Pasture nest box is empty, no activity. The Explore the Wild nest box too, is empty. The nest box on the service road to Into the Mist has an empty berry basket inside. Not surprisingly, the nest boxRead more
Geese, Opossum, Pollen and Turtle
Top Photo: Canada geese return to wetland. As they do every February, a pair of Canada geese have arrived to stake a claim on a piece of our wetland. More will likely show up as we roll into spring (last year we had six pair vying for space in our three acre wetland). An opossum spent the entire day some twelve feet up a vine that wrapped itself around a tree next to the Dinosaur Trail. It’s not unusual toRead more
Insects(?) On Ice
Top Photo: Yellow-rumped warbler forages on frozen pond ice. I was standing on the boardwalk looking down at an ice star a dozen feet or more below me. Something else caught my eye. A handful of small birds were hopping along on the ice of the pond pecking at some unseen, to my eyes, objects on the ice. The birds were warblers, yellow-rumped warblers (butter-butts), a species that can take the winter cold far more readily than most other warbler species.Read more
Squirrel Sounds
Top Photo: Eastern gray squirrel. I was walking the outdoor loop as I do each day. In several places along the path from Catch the Wind to Explore the Wild they were singing. Or should I say, calling. Squirrels! I stopped to watch two of the songsters which happened to be next to the ramp leading to the Black Bear Overlook. They were about thirty feet apart between the diabase wall (the rock you see all around you when inRead more
Great Blue Heron
Top Photo: Great blue heron relaxes alongside Floating Walkway in wetlands. Over time, I’ve seen six different species of heron in our 3 acre wetland at the Museum of Life and Science. They include great blue heron, great egret, little blue heron, green heron, black-crowned night heron, and yellow-crowned night heron. By far, the most often observed species is the great blue heron (GBH). GBHs are year round residents, they nest locally and they’re used to sharing their habitat withRead more
Berries in Winter
Top Photo: American robin forages for worms and grubs. Many birds rely on insects and other invertebrates for food especially in the nesting season when protein is a priority. But what do they eat in the cooler months when insects are less active and not readily available? Though many insects are still preyed upon in winter, mostly as eggs or grubs, some birds often rely on various fruits for nourishment during the slow winter period. Fruits like beauty berry, hollyRead more
Finally!
Top Photo: A pair of hooded mergansers in the museum’s wetlands. Finally, a pair of hooded mergansers dropped into the wetlands. This is the latest arrival date in my time here at the museum (I spotted the pair on Tuesday, December 2, but they may have been here Sunday [11/30] or Monday [12/1] and not reported. I was present neither day). I traditionally get a peek at them by mid-November. I’m anxious to see how long they stick around. RangerRead more