While this post is mostly pictures of trees along our paths here at the museum, there is some news to impart and to perhaps think about. Most of our elms and red cedars are only recently past blooming, but other trees still have their seeds attached from last year’s growing season and are far from flowering anew. Try to catch the trees backlit against a severe clear blue sky. Just a week ago male red cedar flowers were sending off theirRead more
Posts filed in: Flora
Springing Forward
If you put any stock in what plants tell you, you’d have to agree that spring’s about to pop. Don’t take my word for it, look: incidentally, spring peepers and upland chorus frogs have been calling. So, it’s time to get out and experience these early manifestations of spring.Read more
February
It’s February, and what happens in February besides the Super Bowl and, this year, the Olympics? Spring! Well, not quite, but we’re getting there. To prove it, hazel alder is blooming (happens here at the Museum in Feb.), brown-headed nuthatches are excavating nest holes, and the red wolves are feeling amorous (sort of). The wind-borne pollen of the long, pendulous male flowers of the alder are now attempting to pollinate the small reddish, upright female flowers of the wetland growingRead more
Snow
In the case that some of you missed the snow this week, couldn’t get out in it, or don’t own a camera, here’s some photos of what you missed. We don’t often get a healthy snow here in the North Carolina Piedmont and it usually disappears within days of falling. It’s worth the effort to get out and enjoy it. Read more
What’s That Smell?
If you’ve been parking in the lot just west of the Museum (Edison Johnson) you may have noticed a strong smell wafting through the air upon exiting your vehicle. The fragrance, or odor, is coming from a plant growing along the east edge of the parking lot, a sprawling shrub known as thorny olive (Elaeagnus pungens). As the Latin name suggests, it’s a powerful smell, a bit too much for my liking, but most folks think it pleasant. If theRead more
Fall’s Final Fling
Fall’s tenuous grip on the season is slipping away. Last week and this will likely be the final act in autumn’s show of color. Enjoy it while you can. A perfect day for a walk, don’t you think?Read more
Robins and Berries
You may have noticed numerous American robins about your lawn and shrubbery lately. They’re on the move. Flocks of these common birds are sweeping through our area. To most, robins are synonymous with earthworms. Who hasn’t witnessed a robin wrangling a worm out of the ground on a spring day? Truth is, besides the lowly worm robins eat plenteous fruit. If you happen to see robins swarming around a particular tree in your neighborhood, that tree may be loaded withRead more
The Fall
If you’ve been wandering around out-of-doors lately you my have noticed it’s fall, a great time to be out and about. Besides the leaves ablaze in the trees, there’s much to be seen and enjoyed on a walk along you’re favorite trail. Here are photos of some of what I saw on a trip around the outdoor loop through Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind here at the Museum of Life and Science on one fine fall day. Depending uponRead more
Daggers, Spiders, and A Leaf
Although it’s in the upper eighties as I write this, it’s fall, and fall things are happening. Caterpillars are crawling off to form cocoons in which to pupate over winter, orb weavers are constructing webs seemingly everywhere you turn, and leaves are morphing to shades that dazzle the eye. The last time I saw an American dagger moth caterpillar was in September of 2016 here at the Museum. I saw three daggers just this week (10/10/17). The dagger moths areRead more