Top Photo: Ripe thorny olive drupes. In January, on this blog, I mentioned the fruit of thorny olive. It was not quite ripe at the time. The fruit is now ripe and can be eaten. It’s a bit on the tart side (be forewarned before picking and eating). Some people prefer a sweet fruit, some like it tart. This is tart. Thorny olive (Elaeangus pungens) is not native, is considered invasive and has two relatives in the area that shareRead more
Posts tagged: #invasive species
Invasive
Top Photo: Autumn olive berries. Autumn olive is considered an extremely invasive shrub. It can overwhelm the forest understory, fields and openings where it grows, crowding out native species. Here at the museum it flowers in March-April. The tart, red fruit is ripe by July-August. It spreads across the landscape largely through the action of birds. Birds eat the fruit, fly off and deposit the undigested seeds in their droppings. The seeds germinate where they fall. The fruit is tasty,Read more
The Bold and the Brash
Top Photo: Red swamp crawfish stands its ground when confronted. On a morning following a very wet night, I encountered a crawfish hiking its way across the path adjacent to our wetlands. In typical red swamp crawfish fashion the decapod reared up and challenged me. Red swamp crawfish (Procambarus clarkii) are bold creatures, but over the years I’ve seen that boldness get them into trouble. They get eaten by frogs, snatched up by red-shouldered hawks and barred owls, nabbed byRead more
What’s to Eat
The grasshopper in the above photo is being disassembled by a yellowjacket. The meaty parts of the hopper will be transported back to the hive where it’ll be placed in cells containing larvae within the hive. The female wasps are busy this time of year as the hive is perhaps at its largest of the season. I found the parts of a red swamp crayfish on the railing of the boardwalk leading to the Black Bear Overlook. It too hadRead 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
What’s That Smell?
If you’ve been parking in the lot just west of the Museum (Edison Johnson) you may have noticed a strong smell wafting through the air upon exiting your vehicle. The fragrance, or odor, is coming from a plant growing along the east edge of the parking lot, a sprawling shrub known as thorny olive (Elaeagnus pungens). As the Latin name suggests, it’s a powerful smell, a bit too much for my liking, but most folks think it pleasant. If theRead more
Taking a Bite Out of the Crawfish Population
About a month ago I decided to watch our local great blue heron more carefully. The heron can been seen daily stalking across the water, sometimes belly deep, step by calculated step. Every few minutes the heron splashes its head down into the water after some unseen (by me) prey beneath the surface. I wanted to see just what he was catching and eating out there in our little wetland. Ever since I began to see red swamp crawfish inRead more
Look Who’s Back!
I first noticed the grebe towards the end of the day on the 16th of October. I hadn’t seen one here in our Wetlands since 2012, September to be exact. These smallest of grebes likely to be found in the east, are by no means rare, or even uncommon. A trip to any of the big lakes in our area during late fall or winter should score a look at one. Despite their relative common local occurence,Read more
Hummbird Minute.
As I stood near the service road across from Into the Mist I noticed a small bird at the top of a very large mimosa tree alongside the road. It was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. It’s always a thrill to see a hummingbird, and certainly many people get really close looks at them at their backyard feeders. But it’s always a special thrill to see one away from the feeders, even if it is in a mimosa tree (non-native). You canRead more