It has been hot, very hot! So why is this great blue heron (GBH) sunning? At the time the photos here were taken (about 4:40 PM) the sun was still fairly high in the sky. The temperature was in the 90s. The rock the heron was standing on had been in the sun approximately 7 hours (had to be very warm!), and the sun was bouncing off the water’s surface like it was a giant suntan reflector. The heron was panting,Read more
Posts tagged: #Green Heron
Preening Green
Pausing to rest, the green heron in the above photo is performing an extremely important job for a bird, preening. Most birds have a preen gland, or uropygial gland, on their back, at the base of the tail just forward of where the tail feathers enter the body. You can’t see it unless you move the feathers aside, but its there. The gland contains an oily substance used to clean and coat the bird’s feathers. The bird reaches back with itsRead more
Bluebird Update 7/1/14
Here we are in July and we still have active nests. At last week’s inspection of the nest boxes, two were occupied by bluebirds. There are now three active nests. The nest at the Cow Pasture continues to offer shelter to four bluebird nestlings (above). It’s a tight fit inside that cedar nest box but the birds seem to be coping. All look dry and healthy and it shouldn’t be very long before they’re exploring the big wide world outsideRead more
What Happened to the Green Herons in the Wetlands
I’ve seen zero activity this past week at either of the green heron nests in our Wetlands. I saw a heron flying away from the Wetlands Saturday (6/21) and one flew in to fish late in the day Wednesday (6/25). What has happened to the two heron nests that were started, completed and in which eggs had been deposited, at least in the nest visible from the Main Wetlands Overlook. The other nest, which is difficult to see, was placed in aRead more
Bluebird Update 6/24/14
We currently have one nest with four yet to hatch eggs, and one nest with four nestlings. There are three empty nests. One nest has failed. The Cow Pasture eggs finally hatched. All four nestlings look to be in good shape. When I opened the side door of the nest box at the Bungee Jump I expected to see four bluebird nestlings inside. What I found were two ant covered, dead nestlings and two unhatched eggs. There were no adultRead more
Green Heron Nests, or Not?
Once again, Green Herons have decided to nest in our Wetlands. Two pair of herons have again concluded that our Wetlands is suitable for raising their young. We have enough food, shelter, and whatever else it is that herons seek when looking for a place to raise a family. The birds have chosen the same trees as they had nested in last year although not the exact locations in those trees. The nest building was going at a feverish paceRead more
Did you see that?
Here’s some of what you missed if you haven’t been walking our trails here at the Museum lately. This first item is something that I’ve missed for the past five or six years here at the Museum, a damselfly. Azure Bluets have probably been in our Wetlands long before I arrived here some six years ago, but I have not, until now, seen one close enough to identify it as such. Dragonflies continue to emerge from their watery, prepubescent homes inRead more
Out and About
Just some sights from the past week. First spotted by Michelle Kloda as she headed off to Build it! Bamboo one day last week, a Trapdoor Spider. Trapdoor Spiders spend most of their time in a hole in the ground waiting for prey to come walking by. They build a hinged, silken lid to top off the hole which they pop open to reach out and grab any unsuspecting prey that wanders by. Tiny mites caused the growths on theseRead more
Spring Happenings
Happenings over the past few weeks have been a bit overwhelming. Insects that have been held back from emergence by cooler than normal temperatures are doing so now, snakes and other reptiles have been performing their springtime rituals, neotropical migrants are moving through, and local nesters are doing just that, nesting. Some have already fledged their first broods. It’s been difficult for me to keep up with all of the biological happenings in terms of posting them to this Journal. That beingRead more