Eastern Narrowmouth Toads (Gastrophryne carolinensis) have been calling vigorously from the U-Shaped Pond at Flap the Wings in Catch the Wind as well as from the Wetlands down in Explore the Wild. They can be very difficult to locate. I’ve looked for them many times while they called just feet away from me and could not see a one. Have a look yourself next time you’re in Catch the Wind and tell me what you find. Here’s what they lookRead more
Posts filed in: Spring
Yellow-crowned Stays Another Day!
I thought I’d go down to the Wetlands early (relatively early) to see if the night heron that showed up yesterday was still around. At first I thought that the bird had moved on, until I checked the secondary Wetlands Overlook (near the Lemurs). It had rained 3-5 inches the day before and there weren’t many exposed areas in the swamp for a night heron to hunt from, but the bird had found one on the back side of theRead more
Yellow-crowned Night Heron in Wetlands
A Yellow-crowned Night Heron was seen on the snag in the center of the Wetlands on Friday (5/27/11). To my knowledge this the first heron of this species seen at the Museum. It was probably on migration and was brought down by the severe thunderstorms of the day. A Black-crowned Night Heron in immature plumage was seen in the Wetlands in May of 2008 and was in the area for a couple of days. I would have gotten a photoRead more
BEKIs Make Big Splash in Wetlands!
The picture on the right is of the splash made by an adult male Belted Kingfisher as it dove into the water. The kingfisher was demonstrating to its young fledglings how to catch fish. I saw at least three kingfishers in the Wetlands on Wednesday (5/18). The next day it was reported that there were five of them there. Two of those were adults, the rest were the young of the year. The appearance of the kingfishers with their youngRead more
Bald Eagles
On Saturday May 14 three Bald Eagles soared over the Museum headed north. The birds were seen by all three Rangers on duty that day (Kristin, Sara, and me). All three eagles were sub-adults from a previous year as there was molt in progress on at least two of them. Keep looking up! Sorry, no photos.Read more
You never know what you’ll catch…
The Sixspotted Fishing Spider (Dolomedes Triton) in the photo caught itself a heavy meal from its perch atop a lotus pad. To give some idea of the size of the spider, the tadpole was about two inches in length. By the way, the “sixspotted” part of the common name refers to six black spots on the underside of the spider, not the white spots on the abdomen.Read more
Thirteen years ago…
…a tiny white, newly hatched insect crawled from its nest in a twig of an oak tree and dropped to the ground. The nymph burrowed underground and found a rootlet of the mighty oak that stood above it to feed upon. It stayed underground growing and feeding on the roots of the tree, molting four times in the years that followed. In the dark of night, during this very week in May (2011), the now amber colored nymph dug itsRead more
Spotted Sandpiper
A Spotted Sandpiper stopped in at the Museum on Saturday (4/7/11). We don’t often see shorebirds at the Museum, so whenever one does show up it’s worth mentioning. Spotted Sandpipers are one of four species I would expect to see here. The other three shorebirds likely to be seen are Solitary Sandpiper, Killdeer, and Least Sandpiper. All but the latter have been seen. I’m waiting patiently for the Least Sandpipers to arrive!Read more