Just a quick quiz posting. See if you can find the bird, then identify it. Don’t scroll down to the bottom of the page until you’ve had a look at the first image. Good job. Now, what kind of bird? Great, a woodpecker. Now, what kind of woodpecker? If you still don’t have it, here’s s a clue. Have a good one,Read more
Posts filed in: Winter
Winter Break
Although the temperatures for the day were still below normal for this time of year, January 13 did bring with it a slight break in the cold we’ve been experiencing lately. I was able to shed one layer of clothes for the day. Further proof of a definite warm-up was evidenced by a Groundhog seen browsing in the grass next to the Ornithopter in Catch the Wind. This mid-January date is nearly two weeks before Groundhog Day! Unfortunately, I don’t haveRead more
Cold?
If you have any doubt as to whether or not it’s been cold outside in the past week or so, I’ve taken a few digital images that may help to convince you that it is. OK, OK, we’re not in Watertown, NY where, as I write this, it’s 13° F, or Duluth, MN where it’s currently 0° on the Fahrenheit scale. We’re in the south, and down here, if the day’s high temps never climb out of the thirties, it’sRead more
The Springtails
It was Leon Bradford, Insectarium Manager at the Museum, who first discovered them. Dogged, persistent, Leon was determined to find insect activity on that cold December day. It was supposed to be a warm day, but the clouds lingered longer than predicted and the temps hovered in the thirties throughout the morning. I had told Leon that I hadn’t seen much insect activity (not even a Yellowjacket or fly on the Fatsia on the Dinosaur Trail) for several days. SeeingRead more
Quiz Bird
In winter, one of the most frequently encountered birds on the Trail around the Outdoor Exhibits at the Museum is a rather small, indistinct bird. Before telling you what it is, I thought it might be fun to take a little photo quiz. But first, some hints. This bird is only found in our area in winter (usually October through April). It is largely insectivorous but can switch over to fruit in the winter, especially the fruit of the Wax Myrtle.Read more
Red Admiral
On December 23rd a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) was seen flying about the Mahonia near the entrance to the Dinosaur Trail. The butterfly didn’t stand still for long, but when it did finally settle, it did so twenty some feet up on the trunk of a Loblolly Pine. It was a stretch, but I managed to get one shot of the butterfly. Red Admirals are just one of a handful of butterflies that can be seen in winter. Question Mark,Read more
Snow
A few days before “official” winter began, it snowed. The snow turned to sleet and rain during the night but there was still some snow on the ground the following day. It doesn’t snow very often in our area so it’s a thrill when it does. I took a few photos (lots of photos) on the Dinosaur Trail before the snow disappeared. Here’s a dozen. I did say that I took most of the photos on the Dinosaur Trail, so it’sRead more
A Chilled Herp, a Final Ode, and a Daring Squirrel
On Decmebr 16th as I walked the trail through the outdoor exhibits of the Museum where it enters Explore the Wild near the Lemur House, there was a small snake stretched out on the pavement. The temps were in the forties but the little patch of sun that the snake was in was probably a bit warmer. The snake was a Rough Earth Snake, and December 16 was the latest that I had seen one of these little snakes atRead more
The Raven and the Vultures
As I stood on the Wetlands Overlook peeping through the viewfinder of my camera and waiting for a Yellow-rumped Warbler to magically appear on the Wax Myrtle nuts my camera was focused on, I heard the call of a Common Raven. I heard the call several times before I realized that it was indeed a raven. It was December 10th and I had heard what I thought was a Raven several days before, but discounted it when the calling ceasedRead more