Bufflehead

On December 15, I noticed a small gray duck swimming in proximity to the slightly larger hooded mergansers in our Wetlands. I immediately thought bufflehead. The last time I saw a bufflehead in the Wetlands was November of 2014 when two showed up. At least one of them stayed until 26, December. Sure enough, there was another this year. With the current freezing temps, all waterfowl had departed by the end of this week. Diving ducks, of which both mergansers andRead more

Handful of Herons

I’m sometimes asked how many species of bird I’ve seen here at the Museum. Currently, the list is over 130 species. Of those, five species have been herons, great blue heron, great egret, green heron, and black-crowned and yellow-crowned night-herons. A great blue heron, or two, can be seen in our wetlands year-round. Although some great blue herons migrate, they can be found in our area in any season. Great egrets are widespread in North Carolina but are essentially aRead more

What Feather

At the tail end of this past winter, I noticed a feather floating in the water just off the boardwalk. It was black with white triangular notches on the inner vane. The feather looked to be about 4 inches long, maybe a bit smaller. By its shape, I could tell that it was either an inner primary or secondary feather (wing feather) of a medium sized bird. This feather both puzzled and troubled me. The feather puzzled me because IRead more

‘Tis the Season

This is our female red wolf (1794). It’s now breeding season. It seems as though she is spending more time out in the open than she had been in the most recent past. The male, as is usual, gets excited at her appearances, perhaps even more so now that the season for breeding is upon us. He follows her, walks past her as she’s rests, glancing over at her as he goes, and sniffs the air around her as ifRead more

A Question of Identity

As I walked along the path heading towards Catch the Wind, I noticed small pieces of what looked like bark or some other flaky plant material falling down around me, there must be a bird somewhere up there pecking away at something in the trees. There was. Some forty feet directly above me, a loose flock of small birds was in the outer branches of a large tree, busily consuming the seeds of the tree. Can you identify the tree? the bird?Read more

More Cold Weather Snake ID

In the previous post, I mentioned that some herpetological references state that venomous snakes in our area have broad, arrowhead-shaped heads and that non-venomous snakes do not. I also mentioned that some species of non-venomous snake “flatten themselves, the head included, to appear more threatening when disturbed.” Here are a handful of examples of that behavior. All are non-venomous garter snakes found at various locations here at the Museum. First, the typical head of an eastern garter snake. Now, several snakesRead more
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Copperhead vs Northern Water Snake

A slightly different version of this was posted in May of 2013. I know, it’s cold outside. Temps are in the mid-20s as I write and snakes are nowhere to be seen. Most of you are probably not going to spend a whole lot of time outdoors during the next few days, so why not sit back, grab a cup of joe (or cocoa), and brush up on your snake identification skills. Besides, we start seeing water snakes in our WetlandsRead more

February Happenings

It’s February. What happens in February besides cold north winds, Groundhog Day, the Super Bowl, and two of our past president’s birthdays? Why, our two seasonally local Canada Geese arrive in our Wetlands and hazel alder comes into bloom. That’s what happens in February. I do not know where these two geese spend the rest of their year, but they arrive here in our Wetlands each February. Unless the water freezes over they will remain here till late spring orRead more