Spring is a the time when young snakes, hatched or born last year, are seen moving about the unfamiliar landscape on their way to their summer haunts, wherever that may be. Sometimes, they need a little help in getting there. I received a call on my radio from Animal Keeper Erin Brown about one such sidetracked snake. This young snake wiggled into the Black Bear House, the bear’s nighttime quarters. It was a Northern Water Snake. Erin deftly captured theRead more
Posts filed in: Spring
Lepidoptera
Good naturalists keep notes, extensive notes, on everything they see. I must admit that with things happening at such a fast pace this spring I’ve been derelict in my duties. I’ve been neglecting my note keeping and am not up to date on the Lepidoptera (among other things) which have been fluttering through the Museum’s outdoor areas. However, with camera always at the ready, I’m happy to announce that I’ve been able to get a few shots of some ofRead more
No-fly Zone
A while back I mentioned that Red-tailed Hawks are not often seen over the Museum’s outdoor areas during the summer months. Its not quite summer yet, but trouble is already brewing for the big red-tails. Crows seem to delight in harassing any hawk or owl they come across, especially during the nesting season when the crows are raising their young. The crows are brazen, but they’re not dumb, and these two gave up their pursuit once the hawk left “their”Read more
Birdbox Update
The folks who installed our Bluebird Nest Boxes in Catch the Wind came by to check the occupancy of the boxes. All of the boxes in Catch the Wind are occupied. Two boxes hold Eastern Bluebird nests and two contain Carolina Chickadee nests. As of Saturday April 10, all but one box had eggs in them. You can watch chickadees go in and out of one of the nest boxes by sitting on a bench at Flying Birds, the birdRead more
Odonata
Since March 19 when I saw the first damselflies of the season emerging from the Wetlands, there have been five additional species of odonata seen. The first Common Baskettail was seen the 30th of March. Blue Corporal and Common Whitetail were both observed on the 3rd of April and a male Common Green Darner on the 7th of the month. A Lancet Clubtail was seen on the Dinosaur Trail on the 10th of April. If all of the new arrivalsRead more
Three at Once
There are many early blooming trees and shrubs in our area but to many folks Eastern Redbud, Flowering Dogwood and Wisteria are what they look for in spring. Of the big three, redbud typically comes into flower first, followed by dogwood and then wisteria. This year the big three are all in bloom at the same time! It seems as though the cold of February and much of March held back the redbud, and the atypically warm April (although todayRead more
A New Amphibian Song and other Herp News
Without question, American Toads (Bufo americanus) have taken the lead in the chorus of amphibian songsters. Peepers, chorus frogs and Pickerel Frogs have nearly completed their seasonal breeding and are now less frequently heard or seen. The toads began to move down into the Wetlands in numbers during the last week in March, crossing the pavement and massing on the north side of the water amongst the willows and rushes. Once the toads reach the water the males find aRead more
Tiger Beetle Emend
What’s Richard Stickney, Lead Conservatory Associate here at the Museum, doing? He’s photographing a tiger beetle. It’s a Six-spotted Tiger Beetle. If you’ve read the last post about these beetles you would have seen a picture of tiger beetle parts on the path. By reading the text you may have come to think it would be difficult to get as close as Richard is (above) to this species of beetle, being swift of foot and wing as those beetles are saidRead more
Now Showing
During the past week many new flowers, animals and insects have appeared. First, a few plants. A few trees. Finally! After having seen damselflies emerge from the Wetlands since the 19th of March I was able to get a photo of one, a Fragile Forktail, another “punctuation mark” insect. Reptiles made themselves more available for viewing in the past week as well. Since March 10th when I saw the first Common Snapping Turtle of the season they have been out foragingRead more