One of the two currently active nests here at the Museum has hatched its eggs (most of its eggs) and a bluebird female is incubating her clutch in another nest. Activity is slow to non-existent in the other four nest boxes. The bluebird nest at the Cow Pasture has seen some progress, but I’m afraid it ends there. It’s perhaps the heat, or maybe it’s the slow down of hormonal juices, but the bluebird that had been building this nest seems not atRead more
Posts filed in: Summer
Hot Summer Sights
Even though it’s blistering hot outside, it’s still worth the trip outdoors to see what’s going on. Here’s proof. Some dragonflies. A trio of butterflies. A fly. And turtle news. Parting shot. Read more
Racer
While walking through Catch the Wind, I caught a glimpse of a black snake in the grass on the side of the path. It was a black racer. There are two species of snake here at the Museum which are black, the black rat snake and the racer. Rat snakes average about five feet, maxing out at little over seven. The racer averages about four feet in length, maxing at just under six. The racer is black throughout except under the chin andRead more
Bluebird Update 6.16.15
Since last week, there has been another bluebird nest started and one additional egg laid in an existing nest. A bluebird nest has been started in the nest box at the Cow Pasture. This nest box has already fledged four bluebirds. We’ll have to wait to see if the bluebirds finish the nest. Birds sometimes start a nest without completing them when the season is this far advanced. The nest box next to the Bungee has not been worked on forRead more
Brief Report from the Wetlands
First, some ode news, odonata, that is. Great blue skimmers and slaty skimmers have emerged from their watery, pre-adult aquatic habitat. Eastern amber wings have been with us for some time, although I never tire of looking at them. Common whitetails are in the process of ovipositing (laying eggs) in the Wetlands. On cooler days, yellow-bellied sliders stack up on any available perch. But, you probably won’t see many turtles out baskingRead more
Bill Shape and Feather Shape
This post was prompted by a comment/question in a previous post about a green heron preening in our Wetlands. The question concerns the existence of a relationship between bill shape and feather shape, “I only thought about beak shape in terms of feeding, but I wonder if there’s a beak shape/feather shape relationship too?” The short answer is, no. But read on. Any question that stimulates the thought process is a good question. This question started me thinking long and hard.Read more
Bluebird Update 6.9.15
We are now hosting two bluebird nests with a total of seven eggs. The Cow Pasture nest box remains empty. There’s still time, and this box typically does well, so I’m hoping for some activity soon. The nest box next to the Bungee (Take Off) looks like it did last week when I inspected the nest boxes, it has an unfinished bluebird nest inside. I wasn’t sure the bluebirds would follow through on this nest because of its less thanRead more
Quick Update; Egrets and Toads.
Ranger Rock called me on the radio this morning about an egret in the Wetlands. We’ve only had a handful of egret visits over the years so I went down to the Wetlands to have a look. The egret was obviously people shy, it didn’t stay long. After just a brief time it flew off to a tall loblolly pine, surveyed the situation from above, and took off for parts unknown. Last week I mentioned seeingRead more
Great Blue and Other Interesting Sightings
Great blue heron (GBH) has been a common sight here at the Museum for the past eight years. Most of that time there was one present on a daily basis in the Wetlands. I’m afraid, though, our long time resident GBH has left us. I don’t know why our local GBH has moved on or whether or not it has expired, but I have not seen it. I keep a weekly checklist of all the birds I see here at the Museum, check it offRead more