Slow and steady is the best way to describe the activity at the bird feeders in Catch the Wind. The local residents are visiting the feeders as usual but there have been few winter birds yet. Our first Pine Siskin didn’t show up until the second week in January last winter and I don’t often see Fox Sparrows until sometime in January, so there’s no need to sound the alarm. That’s not to say that there are no winter species hereRead more
Posts filed in: Winter
Gray Squirrel
Just some photos of Eastern Gray Squirrels around the campus. Bye.Read more
First Day of Winter
According to the calendar, today is the first day of winter. Here’s a few creatures that showed up on this unusually warm winter day. Have a pleasant Winter Solstice.Read more
Observations on a Woodpecker
What is the woodpecker on the right doing? It’s excavating a hole in a pine tree. At the moment the photo was taken it was looking inside the hole to see how the work was going, perhaps assessing what needs to be done next, or both. There were already four holes in this tree when work began, all above the hole currently being excavated. They, the other holes, looked to be unusable due to decay. In fact, the tree brokeRead more
Wheel Bugs
It was a little over a week ago that Lew (Horticulture Specialist) brought a small potted plant into my office. It was a nice enough plant, but in the back of my mind I wondered why he would bring it to me, what was special about this plant. Then he pointed to the main stalk of the plant. There were Wheel Bug eggs on the stalk. A week or so before, someone had spotted a mating pair of WheelRead more
Winter Visitors
I recently reported that at least two of our female mergansers have paired up with males. That’s certainly true, but there are still “singles” out there who have yet to make a commitment. And, the available males are not being shy about their intentions. One minute they’re swimming along peacefully, the next they shift into display mode. The mergansers are, for the most part, winter visitors here. And so are Hermit Thrushes. One of the best places to see aRead more
Coop
As I drove the golf cart along the path through Catch the Wind towards Explore the Wild I saw Ranger Rock standing on the side of the path intently staring at something in the upper swamp, a small wooded swamp on the northeast side of the campus. I parked the vehicle and quietly walked towards Rock. It was an overcast but warm December day. Ranger Rock had gotten the Bungee Jump set up for business ahead of time and decided toRead more
Warm and Wet
The past few days have been rather warm and humid, if not rainy. That will all change soon, there’s colder air moving our way. But until that cold front rolls over us, enjoy the warmth as some of our wildlife has been. I don’t think the warmer weather matters very much to the mergansers, as long as the water doesn’t freeze and they can get at the fish and tadpoles beneath the surface, they’re happy. The mergansers above seem toRead more
It’s Snowy in North Carolina…
…Snowy Owls, that is. (see update at bottom) There are currently 3 confirmed sightings of Snowy Owls within our state’s borders, two in eastern NC, the other just showed up in Wake County. That’s right, Wake County! These large, white diurnal owls are creatures of the arctic tundra!! One of the eastern birds is on the Outer Banks at Cape Point, near Buxton. Snowy number two is in Hyde County near Englehard, which is east of Lake Mattamuskeet. The Wake County birdRead more