A few weeks ago I was standing on the boardwalk leading to the Wetlands Overlook staring down at the water below me. I noticed something moving very slowly just below the water’s surface. It looked like a walking stick. It could only be one thing, a Water Scorpion (Ranatra fusca). Water Scorpions are not scorpions, they’re aquatic insects. They’re called scorpions because of a whip-like projection at the rear of their bodies. The projection, which is nearly the length ofRead more
Posts filed in: Spring
FLASH – Hot off the Press!
After Posting Bluebird Update April 26, 2012 I went out to check the Butterfly House nest box. The parent bluebirds were not brining food into the box but were apparently waiting out the nestlings. I’ve seen them do this many times, the parent usually with a juicy caterpillar or other food item in its bill, sitting outside the box some distance away coaxing the nestlings out. In this case the parents were some 20 and 30 feet away on a fence and lampRead more
Bluebird Update April 26, 2012
The bluebird nest box at the Train Tunnel, which had five nestlings in it last week looks to have four this time around. The inside walls of the box, the nest, and nestlings themselves were wet when I opened the box this Tuesday (4/24/12) and I was a little concerned. We’ve had several days of cold rain which adds to the negative factors detracting from the birds’ ability to survive. The parents have a more difficult time in finding foodRead more
Eating what’s in Season
The Museum’s gray squirrels have shifted their diet from elm to mulberry. The dark succulent berries of the mulberry trees are ripening as I write and the squirrels have found them. I found them too, and they are delicious! I don’t know a mammal or bird that would pass up a big juicy mulberry. It’s a good thing that the trees produce copious amount of the berries, too many if you talk to homeowners that have them next to theirRead more
Gnatcatcher and the Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers usually arrive in the spring before the trees leaf-out and start building nests right away. The absence of leaves, and the fact that they are very vocal when building the nest, makes it fairly easy for people who want to find the nest to actually locate them. The birds are not very loud, but persistent in their squeaky, buzzy vocalizations. Even so, I often have trouble locating the nest of these little, gray bundles of energy here at theRead more
Bluebird Update April 19, 2012
On April 17, Karyn Traphagen traveled with me on the Museum Bluebird Trail to check on the occupants of our six nest boxes. You may have already seen Karyn’s Tweets and photos on the subject as she took photos of all the boxes that were occupied. There have been a few changes, as you might expect, the incubation period and growth in nestlings is not a drawn out affair with songbirds, things progress quickly. Last week there were five eggs in theRead more
New Beginnings
While closing the outdoor areas on Thursday April 12, I noticed a small object projecting from the block wall of the Vending Area/Restrooms in Explore the Wild. I at first thought it a wad of gum or candy stuck there by one of the hundreds of school children on campus that day (stuck there by accident, of course). After putting on my reading glasses I realized that the gum was actually a dragonfly emerging from its nymphal skin. Thinking aboutRead more
Bluebird Update April 12, 2012
I inspected all six of our bluebird nest boxes on Tuesday April 10 and there are definitely some changes to report. The nest that had contained 4 chickadee eggs on April 3 now has 5 eggs and 2 tiny hatchlings. The birds apparently have added 3 more eggs for a total of seven, and, two of the previously laid eggs have hatched. It’s difficult to convey how small and fragile those little hatchlings are. Pictures help, but you have toRead more
Firsts
Although I’ve been seeing Common Baskettails (Epitheca cynosura) for several weeks now, the one above is the first that I was able to photograph. Again, not the first bullfrog tadpoles of the season (they’re present all year long) but they are beginning to become frogs. Some are showing short hind legs, they’re surfacing to gulp air, and well, just look at them, they’re huge! Right on time is the first Eastern, or Common, Musk Turtle. This one was seen baskingRead more