What you might see

Top Photo: “New” frogs huddled together on floating log. All are bullfrogs recently morphed from tadpoles. Some still have tails. Here are photos of things you might see on our outdoor loop through Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind. Each fall there’s a flurry of Cape May warbler activity in the trees on the north side of the wetlands, whichever trees are infested with insects. This year, it’s the mimosas. The insect? Mimosa web worms. Grasshoppers become more evidentRead more

Golden Afternoon

Top Photo: Common buckeye on goldenrod. Positioning oneself next to a stand of goldenrod on a sunny fall afternoon is a wise choice for a naturalist interested in getting a quick inventory of the local flying insects. The insects are attracted to the yellow flowers for their nectar and accessibility. There are no long tubular flowers requiring a lengthy proboscis to reach the sweet liquid. No hovering necessary either, the flowers are right there on top of the plant. SmallRead more

Nothing But Cape May

At the end of the day Wednesday (10/12/11), a handful of Cape May Warblers were again foraging in the elms and willows of Explore the Wild. Are they the same warblers as reported last week? I don’t know, but they very well could be, seems to be the same number of birds. There was a Magnolia and a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in with the group. But here, are photos of the Cape Mays only as theyRead more

Cape May and the aphids

What do aphids have to do with Cape May? Well, if you’ve been down in Explore the Wild lately, especially in late afternoon when the sun hangs low in the sky, you may have noticed a swarm of tiny insects buzzing along the path. They are very small, but backlit against the low sun they’re quite visible. You may have walked right through them, waving your hand in front of your face to brush them aside as you walked. InRead more