Top Photo: Late flowering boneset blooms in late summer to early fall. It’s early fall and many creatures and plants are prepping for the cooler, leaner months ahead. A walk around the museum’s outdoor loop always brings a surprise or two. Here’s a handful of subjects you might encounter out there during early fall. Late boneset (Eupatorium serotinum) blooms in August through October. Common boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), or just plain boneset, blooms a bit earlier in the season. The biggestRead more
Posts filed in: Fall
Off To New Digs
Top Photo: Two of five pups born on April 21, 2024 at Museum of Life and Science. The five red wolf pups, Cedar, Juniper, Maple, Sassafras and Tupelo and two adults Oak and Adeyha, that we now house will soon be transferred to the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY. Come by to see them. Wish them well. Good luck!Read more
Monarch Migrants
Top Photo: Migrant monarch butterfly lays egg on one of the last remaining leaves of common milkweed in the Butterfly House Garden. It’s September and monarch butterflies are moving through. In fact, September through early October is peak time for the long distance migrants to cut across our state. Sure, you’d see many more if you were in the mountains or along the coast due to the concentration factor. A combination of geographic features (physical barriers) and regional wind conditionsRead more
Stinkhorn and Flies
Top Photo: Fruit flies feed upon the sporogenous gleba of a Ravenel’s stinkhorn on the Dinosaur Trail. While gazing down at the Ravenel’s stinkhorn next to the Alamosaurus on the back side of the Dinosaur Trail, I noticed one large fly, a flesh fly, and many more much smaller Diptera (about 2mm in length). The little flies had red eyes and looked to be fruit flies. The first thing that came to mind was indeed, fruit fly. But I couldn’tRead more
Approaching Fall
Top Photo: Larva of larger elm leaf beetle skeletonizing elm leaf in Catch the Wind. We’re fast approaching fall. It has cooled some but not overwhelmingly so. There’s been a break in the barrage of high 90 degree days and stifling humidity. The tropical heat and humidity are temporarily on hold. But a break, no matter how small or short-lived, is a break. You can feel a difference. I’m mostly happy with it. So, here are a group of animals,Read more
Looking for Adeyha
Top Photo: Taking a peek at Adeyha on the in-den camera at Red Wolf Enclosure. If you’ve visited the red wolf exhibit lately you might have had a difficult time finding both of our wolves. Oak, our female is usually not too hard to locate. She may be walking along the fence at the top of the enclosure, or trotting by at ground level, or lately, reclining behind a pair of mahonia shrubs near the kennel area of the enclosure.Read more
Squirrels, Kinglets, and Sapsuckers
Top Photo: Eastern gray squirrel stares from railing. Gray squirrels are all over the campus of the Museum of Life and Science, and they’re quite tame. If you have a bird feeder in your yard you’re probably all too familiar with gray squirrels. Despite their frustrating ability to eat most of what you put out for the birds, you have to hand it to them, they’re crafty beasts and can be fun to watch. Small, frenetic and always on theRead more
Frontal Arrivals
Top Photo: Yellow-bellied sapsucker. November 11, was overcast and cool, weather conducive to photography with saturated colors and no harsh light. A front moved through the area bringing in migrating birds. Here are images of just a few of what I saw that day. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers arrived earlier in the month, in fact the previous month, but it seemed additional sapsuckers rode in on the front. Hermit thrushes, like the sapsucker, have been in place here at the museum forRead more
Fall Color
Top Photo: Ginko, just begining to turn. Fall colors. Who needs the mountains for color! As far as the crunchability of the leaves once they hit the ground, check out my assessment of certain species and the quality of their crunch here. Of course, it’s mostly my personal opinion, you may have different favorites. But do check it out.Read more