Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs (from previous season). There is only one active nest, a near complete eastern bluebird nest. No activity has been observed in any of the other five nest boxes. The Cow pasture nest box is empty. There’s no nest material in the nest boxes at Explore the Wild or Into the Mist. Parking Deck East nest box has our first bluebird nest of the season. If the weather cooperates these birds will have the jump onRead more
Posts filed in: Birds
Nest Box Season Begins
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs from previous season. Though the season hasn’t officially started, at least two of our six nest boxes have seen some sort of activity. One had a pipe organ mud dauber’s nests within. Another has the very beginnings of a bluebird nest. It’s important to remember that it’s early and things can change quickly. If the weather remains good and the birds get an early start with few storms and cold, it’s definitely in their favor.Read more
Awakenings
Top Photo: Adeyha and Oak (front) sticking close. It’s February and the season for procreation begins. Red wolf Oak is in estrus, Canada geese have arrived, hawks are soaring above screaming out their intentions, and songbirds are ramping up their melodious twitterings. Oak and Adeyha have been much more attached to one another over the past week, estrus has arrived. As of yet, I’ve not witnessed a tie, which is required for the female to become pregnant. Each year inRead more
More Quick Pics
Top Photo: Amur maple seeds. It’s a warm day in February, just the weather for strolling around campus. Here’s a mere handful of what you might see while you’re out there this week. There’s much more out there than this small sample of goodies suggests. So what are you waiting for, get out and have a look around!Read more
Quick Pics
Top Photo: Drake mallard backlit against morning sun. Just a few shots along outdoor loop at Museum of Life and Science. What have you seen out there?Read more
The Little Nuthatch
Top Photo: Brown-headed nuthatch pecks away at willow trunk. Brown-headed nuthatches are the smallest of the eastern nuthatches. In the southeast, where there are pines, there are likely these tiny, frenetic birds foraging among the outer branches and cones of the trees. White-breasted nuthatches prefer more deciduous forest habitat. Though you may see the larger (by an inch and more) white-breasted nuthatch in the same pine habitat as brown-headed nuthatches, you won’t see brown-headed nuthatches far from stands of pines.Read more
Birds to Look Out For
Top Photo: One of two pileated woodpeckers seen near the Lemur House on 22 December. I heard the call coming from the woods next to the Lemur House, in the woods between the lemurs and the Sailboat Pond in Catch the Wind. At first I thought it the call of a flicker, but it was deeper, more liquid and more powerful than a flicker’s call. It had to be a pileated woodpecker. I’d seen and heard pileated on our campusRead more
Merganser Display
Top Photo: Three male hooded mergansers try to impress female, though she seems little interested. Anywhere from a single individual to 6 hooded mergansers have been seen cruising the wetlands during the last month or so. Keep an eye out for small groups as they may be performing a pair-bond display as in the photos posted here. The males vie for the female’s attention, each aiming to become the one she chooses to mate with. They dance around in theRead more
Top Photo: Fox sparrow.Read more