Top Photo: Male common whitetail. Common whitetails are everywhere. Ponds, lakes, even slow moving rivers and streams are home to this ubiquitous skimmer. The standout white/blue abdomen and dark marks on the wings lend to the easy recognizability of the male. The female too, is easily recognized by the three dark markings on each of her four wings. They both tend to perch low to, or directly on, the ground. Another early season dragonfly making an appearance is the blueRead more
Posts filed in: Season
Nest Box Update 4.16.24
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. There are currently 10 eggs (chickadees), 7 nestlings (bluebirds) and at least one unhatched egg (bluebird) in our six nest boxes. One nest has been destroyed by house wrens. — The nest at the Cow Pasture held 5 bluebird eggs at last week’s nest box inspection. The box was empty of eggs this morning (4/16/24). Looking around, there were 5 eggs on the ground directly in front of the next box, all punctured. While IRead more
Red Wolf Play
Top Photo: Oak in the grass. Oak, our female red wolf on display in Explore the Wild, is the more active of the two wolves in the enclosure. You’re more likely to see the sleek Oak trotting about the enclosure than the big lumbering male Adeyha. Here, in true Oak fashion, she romps in the tall grass of the compound. On the other side of the enclosure… The object of Oak’s attention is a deer pelt given her by theRead more
Nest Box Update 4.9.24
Top Photo: Eastern bluebirds eggs. All six of our nest boxes are occupied. Two contain chickadee nests and four are bluebird made. There are 18 eggs (5 chickadee, 13 bluebird) and 6 nestlings (all bluebird). —- The female bluebird who sits in the nest box in the Cow Pasture is incubating 5 eggs. There are 5 Carolina chickadee eggs in the nest box at Explore the Wild. An incubating bird flushed as we approached the nest box. One of theRead more
Spring Appearances
Top Photo: Fatsia japonica or Japanese Fatsia, fruit. Not native but planted on the Dinosaur Trail to enhance the sense of a long ago tropical realm, fatsia is in fruit, but going fast. The plant’s name is derived from the fact that fatsia, in an old Japanese language, means eight, presumably referring to the number of lobes on the plant’s large palmate leaves. This, even though the leaves never have an even number of lobes, or points. I’ve consistently countedRead more
Nest Box Update 4.2.24
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. All but one of our six nest boxes are occupied. There are four bluebird nests and one chickadee nest. There are five nestlings and at least thirteen eggs waiting to hatch, all bluebirds. — Last week the Cow Pasture nest held 2 bluebird eggs. The female has deposited another 3 in the cupped grass and pine needle nest. After remaining empty for the past six weeks, chickadees have finally taken over the nest box onRead more
Nest Box Update 3.27.24
Top Photo: Eastern bluebirds eggs. We have four active nests. Three nests hold a total of nine eggs and one contains five nestlings. All are bluebirds. —— The Cow Pasture nest box held an empty bluebird nest last week. Today it contains two bluebird eggs. The Explore the Wild nest box is empty, only a 1/2 pint berry basket inside. With a complete bluebird nest in the box last week, we now have four bluebird eggs to monitor at theRead more
Lemurs Eat, Tree Swallow Inspects, and Chickadee Nests
Top Photo: Lemur relishes redbud flowers. As you all know, or should know, redbud flowers are edible. To me, they have a sweet, crispy taste. They make a nice topping on a salad. Lemurs eat redbud flowers too. They seem to enjoy the colorful flowers with uncommon delight, as recently displayed by our resident ring-tailed lemurs. The flowers were placed in their enclosure by the Animal Care Team (ACT) and were quickly pounced upon by the primates. Here’s a fewRead more