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

Frenzy*

Top Photo: Oak and Niko. There are four stages to the canine estrus cycle (reproductive cycle)—proestrus, estrus, diestrus, and anestrus. Proestrus is the stage where the female’s estrogen level peaks. Proestrus lasts for, on average, 9 days. Males are attracted to her but she is not receptive to them. Estrus, which also averages 9 days, is the fertile period. Estrogen levels drop and proestrogen levels rise. More importantly, the female is receptive to males. Diestrus lasts for about 2-3 months or until theRead more

Holly Berry Time!

Top Photo: Cedar waxwing surveys the area for berries. Keep your eyes open for cedar waxwings and American robins raiding the holly trees and bushes around campus. Each year the two species flock in and often pick clean the American and yaupon hollies of their fruit. Even the eastern red cedars take a hit. The fun usually starts in February. It’s February now! American robins can be seen locally in every month of the year. Waxwings are nomadic and mayRead more

How Close Can You Get?

Top Photo: Ranger Patrick (lower right) photographing one of the local red-shouldered hawks (beyond and to right of pine tree – large tree trunk on left). Our resident red-shouldered hawks are quite used to human activity. When they’re hunting they seem to pay little or no attention to folks passing by. In the heat of the breeding season the birds seem even less concerned. They often allow close approach by photographers like Ranger Patrick in the photos here, as heRead more

Ducks, Cherry Dogwood, Crocus, Geese, Sliders, and Mistletoe

Top Photo: Hooded mergansers float and reflect in the wetland’s water. Here’s a handful of things to look for as you stroll around and through our outdoor areas during the last half of winter. We hope to entice hooded mergansers to nest in our wetlands. Cornelian cherry dogwood’s flower buds are about to burst open into a bright yellow display of florescence. The small tree shown here is located on your right, just outside the main building’s door to GatewayRead more

Polyphemus

Top Photo: Polyphemus (pol-uh-FEE-muhs) moth cocoon hanging from twig in Earth Moves. Some silk moths spend the winter in cocoons in the leaf liter. Some burrow underground. At least some Polyphemus moths winter as pupa wrapped up and hanging from a twig or branch of their host tree via a peduncle. The further south Polyphemus moths live, the more likely this behavior. Occasionally, though, these hanging cocoons drop off into the leaf liter. The one pictured here was found hangingRead more

Apricot Blooms

Japanese apricot (Prunus mume), or Chinese plum is once again blooming here at the museum. At about the same time every year I report on this small tree coming into flower. It’s obviously an early bloomer. Each year around mid-January it sets forth its one inch pink, yellow stamened blooms. Originating in China, It’s been cultivated for some 1500 years around the world. Our little tree is along side the path just across from the east entrance to the FarmRead more
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A Hawk Tale

Top Photo: Unidentified large brown bird. You’re walking along the path. The low mid-morning sun is bright and shining directly into your face. A large bird flies by and catches your eye. It lands high up in a tree some fifty or so yards away. Branches restrict your view and the bird is facing away from you. When you first spotted the bird you thought it was a hawk. But which hawk? red-shouldered (the most common hawk in the area)?Read more