Top Photo: A new world opens up to the red wolf pups. Born on May 5, our three male and two female red wolf pups are now freely moving around their enclosure. They’re staying fairly close to the security of the den, but moving further each day. The photos here deal with a brief few minutes when Carolina, the pups’ mother, called the pups out for a feeding and brief play period. Jacques, for unknown reasons, asserted his dominance overRead more
Spring to Summer and Little Water
Top Photo: Wetlands losing water to evaporation. As spring rolls into summer, meteorologically speaking, drought hangs over us, the wetlands are drying up exposing more and more of its muddy substrate. But life goes on. Here are some photos of the past few week’s sights and more. As you can see above and below the wetlands is becoming a mud flat. If rain doesn’t appear soon it’ll become a meadow. You can see numerous tracks in the mud of turtlesRead more
Nest Box Update 5.30.26
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird, male. There has been only one change since last week, the house wrens that were bickering over the nest in one of the boxes (PKW) have added to their nest. ——————————— The Cow Pasture, Explore the Wild, Sailboat Pond, Into the Mist, and Parking Deck East boxes are all inactive. They all have been left alone for weeks. The only nest box that has seen progress is the Parking Deck West (PKW) box. As I walkedRead more
Nest Box Updates 5.16.26 and 5.23.26
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird, male. Both last week’s inspection and this week’s inspection are included here. There were no changes in the status of the nests within the boxes over the past several weeks. However, this week’s inspection revealed a take-over of one of the nests. ———————— The Cow Pasture nest box has been empty from the start of the season, no activity. The Explore the Wild nest box at one time held a full chickadee nest. Unfortunately, the nestRead more
Fox, and a lot More
Top Photo: Gray fox pup. Things are moving fast out on the outdoor loop through Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind. New life, travelers, and old friends are all making the scene. A gray fox has decided to den in a rocky depression between the Red Wolf Overlook and the Lemur House (the red wolves themselves have put out 5 young this spring). I’ve counted 3 fox pups but may have missed one, confirmation on the three. A coupleRead more
Nest Box Update 5.9.26
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird, male. None of our six nest boxes are occupied, though there is one complete bluebird nest in one box. There’s the start of a bluebird nest in another box but the grass and pine straw in the nest box hasn’t moved since it was placed in the structure. One box has the start of a chickadee nest, but it too hasn’t been worked on for several weeks. The Cow Pasture nest box is empty. The ExploreRead more
Nest Box Update 5.2.26
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird, male. We have no nestlings in any of the nest boxes. Two are empty, one has a partial chickadee nest inside, another has a new bluebird nest under construction. Still another has a bluebird nest being built over an old chickadee’s nest. One nest box has just fledged their chickadees. The Cow Pasture nest box is empty, no activity. Explore the Wild nest box, after having lost 5 nestlings, is currently empty. Four chickadees fledged fromRead more
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Top Photo: Yellow-crowned night heron, adult. I’ve only seen a yellow-crowned night heron (YCNH) here in our wetlands four times (2011, 2018, 2023, and now, 2026). On April 3rd I received a radio call from sharp-eyed Exhibits Tech Dakota. He was on the Floating Walkway in the wetlands and was looking at a yellow-crowned night heron. “I’ll be right there,” was my reply. In my experience, yellow-crowned night herons are essentially coastal. I’ve watched them for hours, slowly stalking fiddlerRead more
Nest Box Update 4.25.26
Top Photo: Eastern Bluebird, male. Five chickadee nestlings were found dead in their nest. Five chickadees were alive and well in their nest. Five chickadees have fledged and left their nest. Two nest boxes are empty. One box had the beginning of a nest, but hasn’t been worked on for two weeks. The Cow Pasture nest box has been, and remains, empty. There is no nest material in the box. The Explore the Wild nest box contained 5 dead chickadeeRead more