Top Photo: Goldenrod in bloom at Wander Away. Visiting a garden at this time of year can be very rewarding. Goldenrod likes to wait until September or later to bloom, and like boneset mentioned in the previous post, has tiny blossoms which attract big crowds. Butterflies, bees and wasps are too busy sucking up nectar to pay much attention to naturalists who stare at them while they refuel. If you’re patient, and you’re taking pictures, you may end up withRead more
Posts tagged: #exuvia
New Beginnings
While closing the outdoor areas on Thursday April 12, I noticed a small object projecting from the block wall of the Vending Area/Restrooms in Explore the Wild. I at first thought it a wad of gum or candy stuck there by one of the hundreds of school children on campus that day (stuck there by accident, of course). After putting on my reading glasses I realized that the gum was actually a dragonfly emerging from its nymphal skin. Thinking aboutRead more
What is that!
I look forward to my weekly walks with the Outdoor Summer Campers. We always find something interestng. Certainly, as the season progresses new plants come into flower, seed, or fruit, birds move forward in their nesting or migrations, and insects continue their emergence and growth. This past Wednesday we found evidence of the latter part of that statement in Explore the Wild. The first question I put to the campers upon seeing the object on the right is, “What do youRead more
Odonata
Since March 19 when I saw the first damselflies of the season emerging from the Wetlands, there have been five additional species of odonata seen. The first Common Baskettail was seen the 30th of March. Blue Corporal and Common Whitetail were both observed on the 3rd of April and a male Common Green Darner on the 7th of the month. A Lancet Clubtail was seen on the Dinosaur Trail on the 10th of April. If all of the new arrivalsRead more