Above, a large snapper basks on a warm rock in the bright early May sunshine. As you stroll along through the outdoor exhibits here at the museum there are many interesting sights for you to enjoy. Turtles are out basking, birds are exploiting the wetland’s lesser wild life, new blooms occur almost daily, and closer to the ground, you may witness an arthropod or two going about their daily routines. But you have to look, keep your eyes open toRead more
Nest Box Update 5.1.18
As they were last week, three of our six nest boxes are occupied by Carolina chickadees and three by eastern bluebirds. The three chickadee nests have a total of 6 eggs in one nest, and what appears to be 8 nestlings with 4 each in the other two nests. The three bluebird nests contain 8 eggs split evenly among two nests and what looks like 4 nestlings in other. The Cow Pasture nest has 4 chickadee nestlings. Two weeks agoRead more
Young Is In The Air
As you most surely have noticed it is spring and it seems there’s much work being devoted to procreation. There have been several sitings of juvenile turtles making their way towards water. Some of these youngster have been in the nest for 250, 260, 270 days or more, first as eggs and then as hatchlings to finally emerge from their underground chambers and hightail it for the wetlands. If turtles hatch late in the year they will remain in theRead more
Nest Box Update 4.24.18
This week’s inspection came out all positive. There are hatchlings, new eggs, and two nests have seen a rejuvenation. There were hungry mouths to greet me as I peered into the nest box at the Cow Pasture. Although the nest previously had 6 eggs, I could only make out 5 nestlings. There may have been one chickadee nestling under the mass of blind, naked parids that lay before me but I couldn’t see it. They’ll still be in the nestRead more
Nest Box Update 4.17.18
There’ve been a few changes in the nest boxes. This week, upon inspection of our six nest boxes, I discovered two cracked eggs in two different nests, three incubating birds, and one nest that hadn’t seen any type of activity. The nest at the Cow pasture, which is occupied by and contains eggs laid by chickadees, was much the same as last week. It contained six eggs and a dedicated Carolina chickadee sitting on those eggs. When I opened theRead more
Steamrolling Along
Spring just keeps on rollin’ along, and the pace is quickening. Many insects are emerging, flowers blooming, and birds migrating, whether returning to the local habitats or just passing through on their way further north. Here’s some of what’s been happening over the last week or so here at the Museum, in no particular order. An early season dragonfly. The blue corporal is named for the mature male’s blue color and the two stripes on the insect’s “shoulders,” one onRead more
Nest Box Update 4.10.18
Everything looks great out on the bluebird trail. All of our 6 nest boxes have nests and all but one has eggs. Only one nest had a bird incubating, so egg laying may yet continue. There are 3 bluebird nests and 3 chickadee nests. The Cow Pasture nest has a full compliment of 6 eggs. An adult was incubating as I opened the inspection door on the side of the nest box. Soon after I took the photo you seeRead more
Red Wolf Speculation
Red wolf mating season has come and gone. The first confirmed mating was on February 14, nearly two months ago. Average gestation period for these canids is 63 days. The photo above shows a comparison of our female then and now. The left side of the photo shows her in mid December 2017, the right side, April 5, Thursday of last week. Do you see a difference? Here’s another shot of female 2062’s belly taken same day as right sideRead more
Spring Happenings
Last week started cool, temperature-wise, but ended with a warmth that brought out all manner of creatures and plants that had been lying in wait for just that moment to arrive. There are a lot of photos to show and things to discuss, so let’s start with the snake above. It was pointed out to me that someone here at the museum had seen a water snake back at the end of February or in early March. We had someRead more