This is the first official 2018 status report of our bluebird trail nest boxes. We have six nest boxes located across our 84 acre campus, from the Cow Pasture near the Train Tunnel, through Catch the Wind, to the south side of the campus near the Woodlands Classrooms. I’ve had to make adjustments over the last seven or so years that I’ve been monitoring our nest boxes, allowing for changes in landscaping practices, new exhibit openings, and even parking deckRead more
Quiz Bird 2 Answer
I know, I know, this is tough. But hang on, let’s go through this together. As mentioned in the post when the birds were first introduced, they are much larger than swallows, much larger; goose, duck, heron, etc., size. You might be tempted to say the birds are ducks, or better, geese, simply because they’re flying in “V” formation. Ducks and geese do fly in “V” formations as well as echelon (like a V with one side removed, as inRead more
Pickerel Frogs
By the time you read this, it will be spring, meteorological spring. Spring to me actually begins in February. The days continue to get longer, red maple and elm flowers pop, and frogs, peepers, chorus and pickerel frogs, are all calling. I know there may indeed be some cold days between now and April, but it won’t last long, a few days at most. Winter’s done. If you’ve been down into our wetlands in the last week and a halfRead more
The Geese Are Back
Each February, sometimes as early as late January, two geese fly into our wetlands. It’s the same pair each year. This year, it happened to be the last week of January when they showed up. How do I know they’re the same geese. I don’t know with absolute certainty. But, the female of the two has a gray or whitish eye-ring. Most Canada geese do not have an eye-ring (it’s black, and since the feathers surrounding the eye are blackRead more
Quiz Bird 2
Ah yes, the moon above the pines. But look closer. What do you see? The images here are of a flock of birds flying in formation across the moon. The birds are distant and I understand that it may be difficult to identify as to species, so you only have to determine as to family, or subfamily of bird. In other words, if they were swallows (they’re not swallows, but much larger birds) all you would have to sayRead more
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
‘Tis the Season – for Red Wolves
Alerted by animal keepers Autumn and Janine that mating behavior had been witnessed in the red wolves, I unleashed my camera and high-tailed it down to their enclosure. Sure enough, within minutes the wolves lived up to what the keepers had said (2/13/18). Unfortunately, after several attempts the wolves never tied or knotted which is necessary for a successful mating. Of course, the wolves have many hours in each day when no human is present to observe their behavior, who knows whatRead 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
Purple Martin Migration
Purple martins, those large, iridescent purple, colonial nesting, flying insect eating swallows are on their way back home. They’ve spent the winter south of the border in places like Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. Scouts have already been seen in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansa, Louisiana, and Texas. In fact, the first reported sighting was in St. James City, Florida on New Years Day. Purple martins are our largest swallow. In the east, they nest, almost exclusively,Read more