Don’t fret. If you visited the museum to get a look at our wintering female common goldeneye to add to your NC, year, month, or whatever other birding list you may be working on, and you missed her, she’s still around. Yes, there are days when she takes off for other fishing holes, but so far, she’s always come back. Though, she’s not always glued to the mergansers as in many of my photos of her would suggest. She frequentlyRead more
Posts tagged: #Gambusia
Winter
Hiking around the outdoor loops here at the museum can be rewarding, you never know what you’ll come across. Even though I’ve walked these trails for some eleven years now I and my fellow rangers are still finding new things to discover. A few weeks ago, Ranger Martha discovered a group of earthstar mushrooms on the Dinosaur Trail. Initially, earthstars look like onions. Eventually the outer “onion” layer splits open creating a star-shaped platform on which sits a small ball-shapedRead more
Mergansers, Kingfishers, Shiners, and Gambusia (mosquitofish)
Last week, I posted that hooded mergansers, annual visitors from the north, have arrived in our wetlands for the season. They’re busily forming pair-bonds as I write. Over the years I’ve counted as many as 41 mergs at one time floating on our wetland’s water here at the museum. Early in the season it’s not unusual to see larger numbers until the fish-eating diving birds disperse, pairs and small groups choosing their favorite ponds and lakes at which to rest,Read more
Fish in the Wetlands
I’m sometimes asked by Museum Guests what type of fish, if any, are in the Wetlands. The stock answer is “As far I can tell there are Gambusia (Mosquito Fish) and some kind of shiner down there, I plan to find out for sure this winter.” A floating dead fish caught my attention on October 18, just off the Wetlands Overlook. It was a Golden Shiner of approximately 6 inches in length. The largest fish previously seen by this observerRead more