before it’s snatched up by a heron? The heron in the above photo is actually looking down at me, not a fish, but you get the idea. The heron was in a pine tree above the path in Explore the Wild. What’s interesting about the photo is that it clearly illustrates the fact that herons have binocular vision and can see objects beyond and below their bills, helpful if you make your living plucking fish out of the water. AmongRead more
Posts filed in: Winter
Red shoulders?
People who are not familiar with the species often look at me with confused eyes when I tell them that the hawk perched in the trees before them in the swamp here at the Museum is a Red-shouldered Hawk. Why would they name this hawk “red-shouldered,” and where are the red shoulders? A Red-tailed Hawk has a brick-red tail. That name makes sense. The Red-shouldered Hawk (RSHA) has a reddish belly and chest. Why not name the hawk Red-bellied, orRead more
The Harrying of the Ardeidae
For the past several years we’ve had a Great Blue Heron (GBH) in the Wetlands on nearly a daily basis. It seems to be the same blue heron, or at least it behaves in the same manner each time that I see it, it’s people shy and stays on the far side of the Wetlands when people are present. Other GBHs come into our Wetlands from time to time, I’ve seen as many as three at a time foraging amongstRead more
What else do they eat?
It was a cold and rainy end to the day, again. I was standing at the Red Wolf Enclosure with a few visitors talking about the wolves and their status in today’s world. All of the sudden, a Sharp-shinned Hawk came barreling in from the right hand side of the enclosure. Birds that had been foraging inside the enclosure scattered. The hawk circled through the trees and perched near the top of the ridge just outside of the enclosure’s fence.Read more
Eagle Cam Update 2012
Last year around this time I posted about a web cam with a live view of a Bald Eagle’s nest at Jordan Lake here in central North Carolina. The nest is once again active. Two eggs were deposited in the nest sometime between December 2-8 and are being incubated at this time. The link to the camera has changed and is now: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jordan-lake-eaglecam You’ll have to watch a brief ad before you can see the nest, but it doesn’t lastRead more
Receipts on trees?
It’s winter and the trees, most of them, don’t have leaves on them. But it was pointed out to me by Meredith (Master Teacher here at the Museum) that several small trees on the south side of the Wetlands still had some of their leaves attached, though they were all attached to the tree in an odd way. According to Meredith, the leaves looked as though they had been stuck onto the twigs in a manner as would a receipt onRead more
The Ice Cometh and the Ice Goeth
The first few days of the year brought with them the first ice over of the Wetlands. The ice will soon be history, all gone. I, or we, know that the ice will be gone within a day or two since the TV, internet, and radio tells us these things ahead of time. But for some of the creatures that live in and depend on the Wetlands for food, ice is not a good thing and it can’t be predictedRead more
What do they eat?
The last week in December was a very busy week. Many visitors were in town and it seemed most of them were at the Museum. Even with all of the activity, on Saturday (12/31) the Red Wolves were resting, as they often do in the afternoon, at the top of the enclosure and up near the fence. It was an unusually warm afternoon and there was a crowd of viewers at the Wolf Overlook. Late in the day, two Eastern Gray SquirrelsRead more
Two Birds
Besides the familiar American Robin and Eastern Bluebird, the Hermit Thrush is the only other thrush that you’re likely to encounter in our area during winter. If you have a desire to see a Hermit Thrush during this time of year it’s best to look in low lying areas and riparian woodlands. More importantly, your chances of finding one increase dramatically when there’s a supply of berries nearby. Although Hermit Thrushes eat mainly insects in summer, they switch over toRead more