Back in March and April I photographed American toads mating and laying eggs in our Wetlands. On April 11, I photo’d the small, black tadpoles that hatched from the eggs swimming in the shallow water of the swamp to the west of the Main Wetlands Overlook. Again, this time on May 20, I took shots of the tadpoles as they were about to become toads. They still had their tails, but also their legs. They would soon be ready toRead more
Posts tagged: #American Toad
Reptiles and Amphibians
It is spring, and rapidly approaching summer. The reptiles and amphibians of our wetlands are busy doing whatever it is they do at this time of year. Sliders and other aquatic turtles are out basking in the sun. Musk turtles are eating. American toad eggs have been hatching. There are 35 turtles on the logs in the banner at the top of this page. Among those is one of the largest, if not the largest, yellow-bellied slider in the wetlands.Read more
Quick Update; Egrets and Toads.
Ranger Rock called me on the radio this morning about an egret in the Wetlands. We’ve only had a handful of egret visits over the years so I went down to the Wetlands to have a look. The egret was obviously people shy, it didn’t stay long. After just a brief time it flew off to a tall loblolly pine, surveyed the situation from above, and took off for parts unknown. Last week I mentioned seeingRead more
Some Spring Happenings
Top Photo: Immature plumaged hooded mergansers lingering in wetlands. I’ve been negligent in my duties and haven’t been reporting as often as I’d like to on the goings on in Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind. So much is happening, as it does every spring, that it’s tough to keep up. Here’s just a couple of handfuls of things that we’ve seen in the Wild over the past few weeks (not necessarily in chronological order). During the first weekRead more
Just Add Heat!
All it took was a bit of warm sunshine and all of the critters came crawling out of the mud and from under logs, rocks and the leaf litter. The amphibians and reptiles made the news this week with new arrivals and increased numbers of previously seen species. Although I’d seen several Brown Snakes earlier in the season, the snake in the photo was the first one I’ve seen alive and making its way across the path here at the Museum.Read more
Odes, Leps, Herps, and some Aves
Green Darners have been ovipositing in the Wetlands (3/13). Up until this Tuesday I had only seen males patrolling the area. I was finally able to confirm the emergence of Fragile Forktails (Ischnura posita). I photographed a damselfly a week ago (3/7) but wasn’t sure of its identity, although I was fairly confident that it was a forktail. I’ve seen these forktails here at the Museum as early as mid February. It’s curious that I haven’t seen one earlier thisRead more
Herp Firsts
The first American Toad (Bufo americanus) and Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) of the season made their appearances on March 9 here at the Museum. I thought that I spied a snapper poke its pointy snout out of the water the day before (3/8) but couldn’t be sure. There’s no doubt about the one below. Something new everyday!Read more
Herpetological Happenings: Toads, Skinks, and Snakes!
Toads. American Toads (Bufo americanus) were out mating on Saturday (3/19/11). I’d seen their eggs previously but they were out in force this past weekend! There were at least 6 toads swimming around in the filter that cleans the water in the pond at the Black Bear Exhibit. The toads were oblivious to where they were, concerned only with passing on their genes. Skinks. Snakes. More to come!!Read more
More Signs of Spring!
The turtles were out in force on the logs, rocks, and any other surface that lends itself to basking yesterday (3/17/11). The first Common Snapping Turtles of the season were spotted yesterday as well. The American Toad that I heard in Catch the Wind last Thursday (3/3/11) was busy in the U-shaped pond next to the Ornithopter. And, several times during the past week or so I’ve witnessed the Red-shouldered Hawks mating. There’s a lot of aerial display, loud screechingRead more