Final Nest Box Update 7.8.25

Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. The last nest with birds has emptied, all the birds have fledged. It’s late in the season and though we’ve gone into August in years past, that nest would have had to have been underway by now in order to make it through the rest of the season. So we’re calling it quits and tallying up the numbers. Twelve birds fledged this season, 9 bluebirds and 3 chickadees. Of those, 4 bluebirds fledged from theRead more

Nest Box Update 6.24.25

Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. All of our six nest boxes are empty, though one has the remains of an intended nest by a house wren, and one has an abandoned bluebird nest having just fledged five of the colorful thrushes. ——————————— The Cow Pasture nest box still has the scanty attempt at nesting by a house wren at the end of April. The nest was never completed. The Explore the Wild, Sailboat Pond, Into the Mist, and Parking DeckRead more

More Summer Stuff

Top Photo: Painted lady butterfly on purple coneflower. Just a brief look at a few sights out on the Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind loop. Asiatic dayflower grows throughout the Piedmont area. It’s a non-native, but it attracts various creatures to itself for a variety of reasons, shelter and food standing out in the case of the two creatures that were found on a stand of dayflower in Catch the Wind the past week. The six-spotted neolema isRead more

Nest Box Update 6.10.25

Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. Nearing the end of the season (in the past we’ve gone as far as August with the final fledge of the season), we have one, maybe two, active nests, bluebirds all, I think (see below). ————————————— The nest boxes at Cow Pasture, ETW, and Sailboat Pond, are all empty. No nests of any kind. A strange occurrence at Into the Mist has me wondering. Inside the nest box at Into the Mist were three veryRead more

Nest Box Update 5.27.25

Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. Though one nest box has a handful of twigs (house wren) in its walls it is essentially unused, not having nest material added to it since the last week of April. Four of our nest boxes are completely empty having no nest material in them at all. One nest box has had bluebird nest material since the first week in March and finally has a full clutch of 5 eggs. ———————————— The Cow Pasture nestRead more

Goose Brood Loses One

Top Photo: Five goslings followed by parent through Catch the Wind (5.17.25). The Canada geese are down from six to five goslings (5.17.25). It’s not unusual for goslings to become victims of predators such as fox, coyote, various hawks or common snapping turtles while in the company of their parents. Each brood loses one, two or more over their first couple of weeks or months. It’s to be expected. They’re part of the local habitat. Ranger GregRead more

Blue Corporal and Other Odes*

Top Photo: Male blue corporal. As mentioned previously on this blog (April) blue corporals are early season dragonflies. They’ve usually come and gone by the time the “big” six species of dragonflies begin to make themselves seen. That is, the six species of skimmers (Libellulidae) that you might find at just about any body of water in the state, certainly any pond or lake throughout the warm spring, summer, and fall seasons. Those six species are: Blue dasher Great blueRead more