Pine siskins are finches. They are close in size and shape to American goldfinches, a common year-round bird here in the Piedmont. Siskins nest far to the north and west of our area in coniferous or mixed forests. Here, they are considered winter finches because they only show up in winter, although one or two may linger well into spring. Siskins are, however, sporadic in their visitations, some years they’re here, some years they’re not. The winter of 2012-2013Read more
Posts filed in: Winter
Nest Box Clean-up and Mix-up
If you’ve ever been in Explore the Wild and looked out over our Wetlands here at the Museum you may have noticed that there are two wood duck nest boxes planted there. One is on the far side of the Wetlands, the other on a small island about halfway across the water. The nest boxes are there in an attempt to convince a pair or two of the hooded mergansers that winter here at the Museum into stayingRead more
Geese are in the House and Martins are on the way
First spotted on Sunday, February 8, the two geese in the photo have returned. Every February they drop in. It’s the same two geese. It’s usually within the first or second week of the month that we first see them. February is also the month that purple martins enter the scene. They start showing up in southern Texas and Florida in early January, or even late December, but it’s not until February that they get anywhere near ourRead more
Waterfowl
The waterfowl situation here at the Museum has been sketchy as of late. With the shallow water being frozen at least some of the early morning hours, the groups of mergansers that we experienced earlier in the season have disappeared. They’ve apparently found better ponds and lakes to catch fish and socialize. Two mergansers, however, seem loyal to our site. It’s difficult to determine if the pair is indeed the same two mergs that I regularly see here inRead more
Into the Darkness
I happened to be at the Red Wolf Overlook late in the day on January 31 when I noticed the female sniffing around the entrance to the man-made den inside the wolf enclosure. The den is in the enclosure to facilitate the birthing and rearing of pups, should our wolves successfully mate this season. The entrance is directly in front of the overlook. There is a camera mounted on the ceiling inside the den. Our previous male red wolf (#1414)Read more
It’s Time to Eat
Top Photo: Gray squirrel enjoys food from a relatively safe location, trash bin. The red wolf in the above photo has something hidden behind the pine tree to its left. The animal keepers entered the red wolf enclosure today (1/30/15), as they do every day, to feed the wolves. The keepers typically toss about meat balls throughout the enclosure, on rocks, in clumps of grass, halfway up the hillside in the enclosure, for the wolves to sniff out andRead more
The bees are buzzing
Top Photo: Honey bee on algae covered rock in Hideaway Woods. Starting in early November the Mahonia on our Dino Trail begins to bloom. Its tiny yellow flowers work their way up the plant’s long racemes. If there are any active insects about, here’s where you’ll find them, extracting nectar and, in the process, pollinating the plants. There’s no real way of knowing (without marking them) if the honey bees that I see at the Mahonia at this time ofRead more
A Fine Day…Week
The last several days have been quite pleasant. The local fauna have been responding to the uncharacteristically mild nature of our current meteorological situation. In other words, it’s been real nice outside lately and some of our resident wildlife are taking advantage of that niceness. Come on out and enjoy some of this fine weather yourself, you never know when it’s going to rain, snow, sleet, or worse, so get it while you can. See youRead more