For the last month we’ve had a trio of mallards staying with us. Mallards are nothing unusual anywhere in North America but we haven’t attracted many here in our wetland over the past several years. The current trio, two drakes and a duck, have been foraging heavily. One day I noticed them intently digging and mucky around in the swamp across from the Main Wetlands Overlook, between the overlook and the Black Bear Compound. The mallards were probing the mud and leavesRead more
Posts filed in: Spring
The Eagle and the Hawk
The following URL was passed along to me by Jennifer here at the Museum. It’s a live Eagle Cam from Duke Farms in New Jersey. The live feed is of an eagle’s nest in a sycamore tree. More interesting is a previously recorded video that is linked to on the right side of the web page (click on “2013-03-24 Red-tailed hawk Fight“ in the right hand column when you get to the main page). That particular video shows a brief battleRead more
Bluebird Update 4.2.13
There are only two changes in the status of our six nest boxes since the last Bluebird Update. First, the nest in the Cow Pasture near the Train Tunnel has been completed. It was started by a bluebird, worked on by a chickadee and finished by a bluebird. Notice that the nest has pine needles as a base (bluebird), moss on top of the pine needles (chickadee), and finally it’s topped off with pine needles (bluebird). There were no eggsRead more
Colors, Fleas, Rocks, and a Mint
A short while ago my daughter asked me how to spell puce. She had asked her mother what her least favorite color was to which her mother replied “puce.” I had heard the word before and thought it a color residing somehwere in the red part of the spectrum. As far as the spelling of the word, I told her that it sounded as though it was spelled either p-u-e-s-e, or p-u-e-c-e, but I had to look it up to be sure.Read more
Bluebird Update 3.26.13
As you can see in the above photo one our bluebird nests has eggs. We’ll have to wait to see if the female lays more eggs or starts incubating right away. I didn’t see a bird in the vicinity when I inspected the box so maybe she intends to add to the clutch. In other words, she wasn’t incubating when I inspected the box on Tuesday (3/26) and they typically don’t start incubating until all the eggs are laid, soRead more
Spring Update
Although at times it doesn’t feel like it, it really is spring. And, this is an update as to some of what has been going on outside here at the Museum during the past spring-like week. I saw the first of the year Falcate Orangetip on 16 March. They, like the mild spring temperatures, are a bit behind schedule. Last year the first sighting was March 6, the year before it was March 8 before I spied one. On TuesdayRead more
Bluebirds!!
Well, it’s that time of year again when the wild creatures of our little world here at the Museum begin to procreate, to bring more wild creatures into the world (actually, there’s probably not a month out of the year when there is not some sort of procreation going on out in the wild). Our bluebirds have begun to build nests in at least four of the six nest boxes placed out for them. One of the nest boxes holdsRead more
FLASH! Marked Turtle Seen In Wetlands
On Friday (3/15), a Yellow-bellied Slider bearing a notch in her shell was seen basking on a log next to the Main Wetlands Overlook. This turtle was marked last year by myself as part of a turtle survey. It could not be determined which of some dozen turtles it was since only one notch was visible (some of the turtles have notches on both sides of their shells, left and right), however, it was clearly one of last year’s subjects.Read more
Jordan Lake EagleCam
For anyone wanting to check up on the progress of an eagle nestling at Jordan Lake, here’s the link: EagleCam You’ll have to sit through a brief ad but it’s worth it. It’s streaming live video, but it’s educational, work related (if you work here at the Museum) and much better than watching the ACC or whatever that basketball thing is that’s going on now. Of course, I’d rather watch frogs lay eggs than most sports. I must admit though,Read more