This post was prompted by a comment/question in a previous post about a green heron preening in our Wetlands. The question concerns the existence of a relationship between bill shape and feather shape, “I only thought about beak shape in terms of feeding, but I wonder if there’s a beak shape/feather shape relationship too?” The short answer is, no. But read on. Any question that stimulates the thought process is a good question. This question started me thinking long and hard.Read more
Bluebird Update 6.9.15
We are now hosting two bluebird nests with a total of seven eggs. The Cow Pasture nest box remains empty. There’s still time, and this box typically does well, so I’m hoping for some activity soon. The nest box next to the Bungee (Take Off) looks like it did last week when I inspected the nest boxes, it has an unfinished bluebird nest inside. I wasn’t sure the bluebirds would follow through on this nest because of its less thanRead more
Quick Update; Egrets and Toads.
Ranger Rock called me on the radio this morning about an egret in the Wetlands. We’ve only had a handful of egret visits over the years so I went down to the Wetlands to have a look. The egret was obviously people shy, it didn’t stay long. After just a brief time it flew off to a tall loblolly pine, surveyed the situation from above, and took off for parts unknown. Last week I mentioned seeingRead more
Great Blue and Other Interesting Sightings
Great blue heron (GBH) has been a common sight here at the Museum for the past eight years. Most of that time there was one present on a daily basis in the Wetlands. I’m afraid, though, our long time resident GBH has left us. I don’t know why our local GBH has moved on or whether or not it has expired, but I have not seen it. I keep a weekly checklist of all the birds I see here at the Museum, check it offRead more
Bluebird Update 6.3.15
I can happily report that, where last week there were six empty nest boxes, there are now only three. The Cow Pasture, Sailboat Pond, and Picnic Dome nest boxes remain untouched, nothing but an empty berry basket inside each. The Bungee Jump, Amphimeadow, and Butterfly House nests are all active, each for the second time this season! The nest box next to the Bungee Jump has the beginnings of a bluebird nest inside its cedar walls. This nest box hasRead more
Preening Green
Pausing to rest, the green heron in the above photo is performing an extremely important job for a bird, preening. Most birds have a preen gland, or uropygial gland, on their back, at the base of the tail just forward of where the tail feathers enter the body. You can’t see it unless you move the feathers aside, but its there. The gland contains an oily substance used to clean and coat the bird’s feathers. The bird reaches back with itsRead more
Looking Down
Sometimes, it pays to look down. There are many creatures going about their lives at ground level. So, while you’re not looking up at the trees or the skies for birds or at the flowers for butterflies and other nectaring insects, keep at least one eye down where you walk, the ground, you might see something interesting. At first, I wasn’t quite sure what the caterpillar in the above photo was. I thought it might be one of theRead more
Bluebird Update 5.26.15
After the excitement of the last few months, all is quiet on the bluebird front. All six of our nest boxes are empty. We’ve had nests started by one species and finished off by another. Two nests were well on their way (with eggs) and subsequently destroyed by a competing species of bird. One nest was begun by one species (chickadee), completed by another (bluebird) and destroyed by yet another (house wren). That same nest was cleaned out of its 6 eggs by what wasRead more
A Trapped Turtle
Top photo: common snapping turtle below the surface. It was morning on the 12th of May. I received a call from Animal Keepers, Autumn and Sarah about a snapping turtle seen near the entrance to the bear compound. When I arrived on the scene the snapper had entered a small swamp between the compound and the open water of the Wetlands and was heading towards the water. The turtle had probably been out laying eggs and was now headed back toRead more