Top Photo: Mating common snapping turtles in the spring create hatchlings for the fall (see below). Snapping turtles have a rough and tumble mating season. The choosing and sorting out of mating partners can be rather violent. But for snapping turtles it’s a necessary part of the process which occurs each spring and summer. Rest comes next for the big males. Snapping turtles leave the water infrequently and for only a very few good reasons (a basking snapping turtle isRead more
Posts filed in: Birds
MidSummer Sights
Top Photo: Eastern tiger swallowtail nectars on joe-pye-weed (native) in the Butterfly House Garden. As summer creeps along, insects like the swallowtail above are busy feeding, constructing hives and webs, or reproducing. Mentioned in a previous post, orange-striped oak worms are now in their final instar (stage of caterpillar development) before they crawl off to find suitable pupation sites. I found some of their eggs a few weeks ago and share them with you here. In their quest for pupationRead more
Hibiscus In Bloom
Top Photo: Pink Hibiscus in wetlands. Hibiscus is in bloom in the wetlands. The large, pink, white or brilliant red flowers with five petals and long staminal tube with style, stamens and pistils exposed for all to see are well known to many. Its great, spectacular flowers grace wetland and woods. The wild variety has been called rose mallow, marsh mallow, swamp rose mallow, crimson-eyed rose-mallow and many other similar names, even wild cotton. It is most often encountered asRead more
Budgie in the Wetlands
Top Photo: Budgerigar settles on railing of floating walkway in wetlands. In their native land of Australia and in their native habitat of arid scrub, grassland and open woods, budgerigars (budgies) are green and yellow with black barring on their head, nape, back and wing coverts. The tail is blue. Here, they can be nearly any color from white to deep blue to yellow, with many combinations and variations in between. The pet trade has seen to those many colorsRead more
Nest Box Final Count 6.18.24/6.25.24
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. The last nest with birds has emptied, all the birds have fledged. There are new berry baskets in each of our six nest boxes in case a bluebird, chickadee or even a house wren decides to give it another go. But, it’s late in the season and though we’ve gone into August in years past, it doesn’t seem as though it will happen this year. I see no new nest under construction, though one nestRead more
Feeling the Heat?
Top Photos: Green treefrog peeks out from frog pipe in Earth Moves. It may be hot out there, but at least their’s plenty to look at to get your mind off the temperature, somewhat. If you’re going to take a photo of a silver-spotted skipper, do it fast, they don’t sit still long. You never know what or who you’re going to run into. Yes, it’s hot, but you can’t see any of these things sitting inside with the A/CRead more
Nest Box Update 6.11.24
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. We now have only one active nest with three nestlings. One nest just fledged five bluebirds while all the remaining nest boxes are empty. — The Cow Pasture, Explore the Wild, Into the Mist, Parking Deck East and Parking Deck West boxes are all without occupants, the PKW nest having just fledged their five nestlings during the past week. The Butterfly House nest box, the last on the list of weekly inspections, has three bluebirdRead more
Little Bear and Some Late Spring Encounters
Top Photo: Little Bear by the waterfall. Little Bear’s pelage stands out among our three black bears occupying the Black Bear Enclosure. The following are subjects you might encounter on our Outdoor Loop Trail in late spring to early summer, now. Two very common and widespread dragonflies, common whitetail and eastern amberwing are sure to be seen on any sunny day. Not as frequently seen but still common are Carolina saddlebags. They spend much of their time on the wing.Read more
Nest Box Update 6.4.24
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. We have eight bluebird nestlings in two separate nests. Four of our nest boxes are empty with no activity. — The Cow Pasture, Explore the Wild, Into the Mist, and Parking Deck East nest boxes are all empty, but ready to go should any local avian cavity nesters feel the urge. Last week I predicted that the five bluebird nestlings in the nest box on the west side of the parking deck will have fledgedRead more