Creepers

Top Photo: Brown creeper from (February 2015). Though they’re members of different families, brown creepers are often depicted in bird field guides on the same page as are the nuthatches. Let’s face it, their behavior is similar. While nuthatches, especially white-breasted nuthatches, work their way down tree limbs and trunks in search of insects and their larvae and eggs, creepers climb up and out on trunks and limbs doing pretty much the same thing. They’re gleaning food from under barkRead more

Annual Creeper, Brooke, and Feeders

Top Photo: Annual out-of-focus brown creeper photo. Each winter here at the museum I get the opportunity to photograph at least one brown creeper. I don’t see them that often, once, twice, maybe three times per winter season. They’re listed as “fairly common” here on the piedmont but they are, however, small, inconspicuous, and easily overlooked. As the name implies, they’re largely brown in color with white and black markings and nearly all white undersides. They creep up the sidesRead more

2014-2015 Creeper Shot: In the Can

  Once again, the annual brown creeper shot is in the can. Each winter I happen across one of these birds that allows me a close enough approach so as to get a photo or two. Most of the time the shots are of the bird’s tail, a piece of the wing, or very much out of focus due to the bird’s frenetic behavior, and my camera’s slow reaction time. On Saturday, February 28, while standing at the Red WolfRead more

Annual Creeper Shot

Each year, I get at least one crack at a photo of a Brown Creeper, sometimes two. Most of the shots I manage to get of the stiff-tailed little birds are out of focus or too far away to tell what the bird is. The birds don’t sit still for long and their method of foraging on the trunks of trees makes it more difficult, they make a spiraling ascent of the tree. They appear, then they disappear, appear, disappear,Read more

Great Backyard Bird Count

This past weekend I, along with Rangers Kristin and Sara, participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count. The count is a joint project organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Audubon Society, and Bird Studies Canada. The count spans four days but you only have to count one day if time is short, and only fifteen minutes of that day if you’re really pressed for time. The requirements for participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count are a willingness toRead more

Where Are the Insects?

Few insects have been reported over the past several weeks — it’s cold outside! But, even with the colder weather there are still insects among us. If you look hard enough you can find a few crickets under the grass alongside the path on the Explore the Wild/Catch the Wind Loop, perhaps a grasshopper, or a few beetles. But there’s more than just a few crickets, a grasshopper and a beetle or two around. Consider all the dragonflies, beetles, grasshoppers,Read more

A Harrier, an Owl, and a Big Fish

Hooded Merganser numbers in the Wetlands have fluctuated between 4 and 11 birds. The males can sometimes be seen bobbing their heads, rearing up in the water and, with their bills pointed skyward, emitting a low-pitched snore-like staccato. They’re vying for the attention of the females. It often seems that all of the males are perusing one female, who, by the way, appears little impressed with all of their strutting and showing off. Cooper’s Hawks and, since the second weekRead more