This week’s Walk of the Week (WOW) here at the Museum is to a small patch of interesting plants which attract many different insects to both its tiny but potent flowers, and to its leaves (the stems and leaves are toxic, you can touch but don’t be tempted to eat them). While you’re there admiring the plant you may notice one or several green-bronze iridescent beetles on its leaves. The beetle is about 1/4″ – 3/8″ in length. It feeds onRead more
Posts filed in: Flora
Odes
Dragonflies continue to add to the color of the Wetlands. Carolina Saddlebags, Black Saddlebags, Great Blue Skimmers, and a Twelve-spotted Skimmer have enhanced the viewing pleasure while gazing out over the water of the Wetlands this past week. I even saw a species that I hadn’t seen here since 2010. There were also several female Great Blue Skimmers seen and photo’d. A surprise was a Twelve-spotted Skimmer seen perched on smartweed in the Wetlands. These dragons are migratory and areRead more
Can you put a name on these leaves?
Knowing the difference between the leaves in the accompanying photos can save you days of misery. But before I tell you what they are, have a look and see if you can identify them yourself. Had a good look? The photos were taken from the boardwalk leading into the Wetlands. The two sets of leaves were within two feet of each other just off the elevated portion of the boardwalk, about 12 feet from the ground. You can easily reach outRead more
Did you see that?
Here’s some of what you missed if you haven’t been walking our trails here at the Museum lately. This first item is something that I’ve missed for the past five or six years here at the Museum, a damselfly. Azure Bluets have probably been in our Wetlands long before I arrived here some six years ago, but I have not, until now, seen one close enough to identify it as such. Dragonflies continue to emerge from their watery, prepubescent homes inRead more
Out and About
Just some sights from the past week. First spotted by Michelle Kloda as she headed off to Build it! Bamboo one day last week, a Trapdoor Spider. Trapdoor Spiders spend most of their time in a hole in the ground waiting for prey to come walking by. They build a hinged, silken lid to top off the hole which they pop open to reach out and grab any unsuspecting prey that wanders by. Tiny mites caused the growths on theseRead more
Spring Happenings
Happenings over the past few weeks have been a bit overwhelming. Insects that have been held back from emergence by cooler than normal temperatures are doing so now, snakes and other reptiles have been performing their springtime rituals, neotropical migrants are moving through, and local nesters are doing just that, nesting. Some have already fledged their first broods. It’s been difficult for me to keep up with all of the biological happenings in terms of posting them to this Journal. That beingRead more
Springing Forward
There’s been so much happening in the Wild lately that it’s difficult to keep up, to stay on top of the reporting of said happenings. Here’s a quick update. If you remember, there were two successful Green Heron nests in our Wetlands last year. We’re hoping to have a repeat. Last Saturday two of the small, somewhat green herons appeared. I’ve seen one or two each day since, so maybe a redo of last year’s events is forthcoming. The firstRead more
Shoots
Things are changing rapidly out of doors. Early blooming trees and flowers are doing just that, blooming, and leaves are shooting out of twigs and stems. The following photos were taken just a day or two ago. They look different already. You owe it to yourself to get out there and have a look around. Read more
Waxwings, “Just stopping by.”
The wandering nomadic flocks of Cedar Waxwings are always a pleasure to see. I usually hear them before I see them, their trill, high-pitched calls signaling their presence, either flying overhead or perched above in some tall tree staging for an assault of a nearby fruiting tree or shrub. Hearing high-pitched sounds is not as easy for me as it once was, so it was by sight that I first became aware of a flock here at the Museum lastRead more