Top Photo: Centipede crosses path in front of me. At the end of the day while doing my routine walkabout to insure there was no one left behind as we closed for the day, a large centipede crossed the dimly lit path in front of me. The long, thin, multi-legged creature seemed in a hurry to get to the other side of the path. Then again, most centipedes discovered out in the open are in a hurry to get somewhere.Read more
Posts filed in: Winter
Take a Few Steps
Top Photo: Northern cardinal suns itself on railing of Main Wetlands Overlook. I was about 15 feet or so from the cardinal in the photo above. You can sometimes sneak in closer to birds or other animals when they’re distracted, like the bird here, sunning itself. When the bird turns its head away, take a step forward, then stop, step and stop, each time the bird looks away take a quick and quiet step. Don’t rush it. Be patient. KeepRead more
New Bear, Rose Hips, and an At Home Mockingbird
Top Photo: A panoramic view of the wetlands from the boardwalk. We have a new black bear in our Black Bear Enclosure which brings the number of ursine occupants at the museum to four. That includes Mimi, Gus, Little, and now an approximately 9 month old male cub (not yet named) in residence. You may see him pacing back and forth in front of the overlook in Explore the Wild. Don’t fret, there’s always a period of anxiety when newRead more
Wormsnake Ahead
Top Photo: Eastern wormsnake (Carphophis amoenus) making its way slowly across path. While walking past the Lemur Exhibit in Explore the Wild, someone ahead exclaimed, “Is that a snake?” I rushed over to where a small group of people had gathered to see if it was indeed a snake. It was, without a doubt, a snake. There on the path was an adult wormsnake wriggling slowly towards the far side of the path, its brown and pink scales glistening inRead more
HOME Award
Top Photo: Adult male hooded merganser. Each fall we anxiously await the arrival of certain birds which spend the winter with us here at the museum, the big six; yellow-rumped warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet, yellow-bellied sapsucker, white-throated sparrow, hermit thrush, and hooded merganser. Up until yesterday, all but one were accounted for. Hooded merganser was the only bird yet to be seen. Jim Phillips (Director of OLE – Outdoor Landscape Environments) has won this year’s coveted HOME Award for spotting theRead more
Nest Box Update 2.21.23
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs (from previous season). It’s early in the season. I usually don’t start next box checks until March. But the warm weather and singing birds had me anxious. And, the fact that there were a few pine needles in one of the nest boxes last week as we placed new berry baskets in them, had me curious too. Two of our nest boxes showed activity, not much, but some interest by the birds. The nest boxRead more
Immature Plumage
Top Photo: Adult male hooded merganser. The next time you’re down in our wetlands, scrutinize the female mergansers. One of them may be a male. Adult male hooded mergansers (photo above) are easy to pick out in a crowd. Their chestnut sides, black back, black and white breast, black and white crested head, and amber eye stand out, for sure. Females are a bit more cryptically plumaged. They’re the ones who will be incubating the eggs inside a tree-cavity nestRead more
The Cooper’s Hawk
Top Photo: Cooper’s hawk in courtship display flight over museum. While spying on hooded mergansers in our wetland here at the Museum of Life + Science, I noticed one of the ducks tilt its head to the side and glance skyward. Reasoning the merganser was eyeing something potentially hazardous to itself, I too craned upward, thinking it perhaps an eagle or other worthy raptor. There, way up high against a severe clear sky was a Cooper’s hawk. It’s stiff postureRead more
Spring Already?
Top Photo: Male hooded merganser swims past a bale of turtles out basking on a warm February afternoon. Basking turtles, excavating nuthatches, blooming honeysuckle, sunning anoles, and mating hawks, all a part of the spring to come. Sliders come out on every available sunny winter day to bask, but they were out in force on a sunny 70 degree day this week. Brown-headed nuthatches commence cavity construction in soft-wood trees each February. They excavate many more holes than they useRead more