Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. In our seventh week of nest box inspections we have about 20 nestlings, 15 of which belong to bluebirds and 5 with chickadee parents. There are 4 chickadee eggs being incubated. The Cow Pasture nest box looks to have a full house of 5 nestlings. What appears to be a big ball of feathers and flesh is a handful of individual nestlings. If you look closely you can pick out several beaks, some feet andRead more
Two Herps, Two Leps, Two Swallows, and Two Crows
Top Photo: Rat snake crossing path near Bird Viewing Exhibit. Rat snakes are common in our area so it’s not unusual to see one crossing the path at the museum, especially during spring when so much of the local wildlife is engaged in activities which make them vulnerable to predation. Birds are busy with nesting activities, frogs and toads are perhaps a little less cautious when in breeding mode, and if you have a chicken coop, you may have noticedRead more
Nest Box Update 4.12.22
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. We currently have 17 eggs, 10 bluebird and 7 chickadee. At least 5 bluebird nestlings have hatched. There is one inactive nest. It’s difficult to determine from the photo below, but it appears as though at least 5 of the 6 bluebird eggs in the nest at Cow Pasture have hatched. One note, I heard a house wren singing in the background as I viewed the nest. House wrens are known to commandeer the nestRead more
Masons, a Cob, an Anole, Tadpoles, and a Red Bat
Top Photo: Mason bee hangs at entrance to its nest in mud wall. There are simply too many things happening outdoors to sit idle. Everything and everybody is waking up, becoming more active, stirring, building nests, blooming, fruiting, whatever it is they do in spring, and I don’t want to miss any of it. If you’ve ever been to the museum and visited Into the Mist in Catch the Wind you’ve probably noticed a little hut in the back ofRead more
Spring Happenings and Aquatic Turtle Update
Top Photo: Upper surface of American snout. Things happen very quickly in spring, flowers bloom and fade, plants shoot out new leaves, insects emerge, birds who’ve been absent half a year, reappear. Here’s some of those things and more of what has occurred over the past week. Daffodils are early season flowers that last but briefly. Bees emerge with little on their agenda but food and reproduction. It’s time to get a new nest started. Northern, or Dekay’s brown snakes,Read more
Nest Box Update 4.5.22
Top Photo: Bluebird eggs. Every nest box on our six box trail has a nest within. Four are eastern bluebird nests and two belong to Carolina chickadees. We have a total of 21 eggs spread out among the occupied nests, 16 bluebird eggs, and 5 chickadee eggs. All but one nest with eggs had an adult incubating at the time of the inspection. We saw no activity at the nest at the Cow pasture, which contains 6 bluebird eggs. WeRead more
Spring Happenings
Top Photo: Increasing in number on the piedmont, green anoles are expanding their range. When I first started work here at the museum some 14 years ago, it was unheard of to see a green anole in the outdoor areas of the museum. It’s now a common sight. Even on warm, sunny, winter days you may run into one of these, largely arboreal lizards. So far this spring I’ve seen question mark, comma, mourning cloak, falcate orangetip, eastern tiger swallowtail,Read more
Nest Box Update 3.29.22
Top Photo: Bluebird nest with eggs. There are 10 eggs spread out along our six nest box trail. Seven of those eggs belong to bluebirds, three to chickadees. One nest, which had been started by bluebirds has been abandoned and reoccupied by chickadees. The Cow Pasture nest box, which last week held three bluebird eggs, now contains six. I saw neither parent while checking the box. There’s been work done on the bluebird nest in the box in Explore theRead more
All in a Day’s Work
Top Photo: Female bluebird prepares to exit nest box after delivering nest material. We have six bluebird nest boxes at the museum. At present, the boxes are in various states of development. Five have bluebird nest material in them, one a chickadee nest. One has eggs. As I walked through Catch The Wind the other day I noticed bluebird activity near one of our nest boxes. Just the day before, I had looked into this same box on my weeklyRead more