Toad Time

Top Photo: American toad calling from wetlands. American toads have begun their annual breeding frenzy. The large toads’ loud trill can be heard across the wetlands as they vie for mates. Once coupled, the toads move along in the water trailing behind strings of thousands of eggs, fertilized by the male as they emerge from the female. The eggs should hatch in about a week, the tadpoles becoming miniature toads in about two months, that is, if the pond inRead more

Springtime 2

Top Photo: Female mallard pauses to look me over while preening. Mallards stop into our wetlands often. They’ve nested here off and on over the years, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Mallards are one of the most recognizable duck species in the world occurring to some extent on every continent except Antartica. Blue violets are in bloom. Yellow-bellied sliders are out taking advantage of the sunlight, basking on every available surface to warm and perhaps help rid themselves of parasites. Buckeye,Read more

Springtime

Top Photo: Following mating these two red-shouldered hawks spend several minutes preening and looking about before splitting off to hunt for frogs and brown snakes. It’s spring and the local fauna and flora are responding to the mild temperatures and extended periods of daylight each new day brings. Here’s some resident species and how the season affects them. A pair of red-shouldered hawks respond to the season by courting and hunting for emerging pickerel and other early season frogs andRead more

Awakenings

Top Photo: Adeyha and Oak (front) sticking close. It’s February and the season for procreation begins. Red wolf Oak is in estrus, Canada geese have arrived, hawks are soaring above screaming out their intentions, and songbirds are ramping up their melodious twitterings. Oak and Adeyha have been much more attached to one another over the past week, estrus has arrived. As of yet, I’ve not witnessed a tie, which is required for the female to become pregnant. Each year inRead more

Wormsnake Ahead

Top Photo: Eastern wormsnake (Carphophis amoenus) making its way slowly across path. While walking past the Lemur Exhibit in Explore the Wild, someone ahead exclaimed, “Is that a snake?” I rushed over to where a small group of people had gathered to see if it was indeed a snake. It was, without a doubt, a snake. There on the path was an adult wormsnake wriggling slowly towards the far side of the path, its brown and pink scales glistening inRead more

Seeds, Leaves, Two Volunteers, and a Flower

Top Photo: Tiny seeds from pod of wingleaf primrose-willow in wetlands. Wingleaf primrose-willow (Ludwigia decurrens) is sometimes called seedbox because of its seed pod shape, square in cross section. Other names include, wingstem water primrose, willow primrose, upright primrose-willow. The alternate leaves of Ludwigia decurrens are “decurrent” – the leaf base extends down the plant’s stem as “wings.” This herb grows in wet or marshy areas, and is sometimes aquatic. Fragments of the plant will root in a day or twoRead more

Another Stinkhorn, 4 Butterflies, 2 Wasps, Young Anoles, a Groundhog, and a Blooming Redbud

Top Photo: Devil’s stinkhorn. The spreading of mulch is a common chore here at the museum. What with new plants going in, exhibits being installed or altered and multiple other projects going on, mulch is a common sight. Following the mulch, sometimes months later, comes fungus. Various mushrooms rise up out of the decaying organic material in the mulch. Pictured, we have what looks like devil’s stinkhorn (Phallus rubicundus) which is not a North American species. It’s similar to nativeRead more

Turtles and Persimmons

Top Photo: Persimmon ripening on tree. It’s well known among catfish aficionados that persimmons will catch a bucketful of the opportunistic, gill breathing, bony fish. In the fall, if there’s a persimmon tree next to the pond there’s probably a catfish hovering nearby. I was surprised to learn this past week that besides catfish, aquatic turtles seek out persimmons. Not surprised so much by what they were eating (the persimmons) but by the length in which they’d go to doRead more

Tussocks and Other Summer Treats

Top Photo: Sycamore tussock moth caterpillar crawls along railing. If there are sycamore trees in the area you’re likely to run into one or more of these fuzzy, tufted caterpillars. The adult sycamore tussock moth has tan wings crossed with slightly darker bands on translucent membranes. More common and widespread than the sycamore tussock moth caterpillar, is the white-marked tussock moth caterpillar. It’s been reported munching on over 140 host plants including conifers. White-marked tussock moth’s adult form is aRead more