Top Photo: Tree swallow delivers grass stems to nest in wetlands. Nothing but photos of a handful of sightings from the previous week. What did you see? Ranger GregRead more
Posts tagged: #life and science
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
Nest Box Update 4.1.25
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. We now have five nest boxes with nest material inside their cedar walls. One of those nests contains bluebird eggs. One has a new chickadee nest. One is still empty. ————————— The Cow Pasture nest box is empty with no activity noticed in the area on any of the past five weeks of nest box inspections. Chickadees have built a moss, fur, and feather nest in the box at Explore the Wild. ETW nest boxRead more
Off To New Digs
Top Photo: Two of five pups born on April 21, 2024 at Museum of Life and Science. The five red wolf pups, Cedar, Juniper, Maple, Sassafras and Tupelo and two adults Oak and Adeyha, that we now house will soon be transferred to the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY. Come by to see them. Wish them well. Good luck!Read more
Feeling the Heat?
Top Photos: Green treefrog peeks out from frog pipe in Earth Moves. It may be hot out there, but at least their’s plenty to look at to get your mind off the temperature, somewhat. If you’re going to take a photo of a silver-spotted skipper, do it fast, they don’t sit still long. You never know what or who you’re going to run into. Yes, it’s hot, but you can’t see any of these things sitting inside with the A/CRead more
Nest Box Update 5.14.24
Top Photo: eastern bluebird eggs. Of our six nest boxes, three hold bluebird eggs, two, five, and three for a total of ten eggs. The other three nest boxes are empty. — The Cow Pasture nest box still contains two bluebird eggs. There have been two eggs in this nest since at least April 30’s inspection of the nest boxes, two weeks ago. These eggs should have hatched. I’ve not seen adult bluebirds in the area. Has this nest beenRead more
Cicadas and Other Things Around the Campus
Top Photo: Magicada tredecim, one of two species of periodical cicadas emerging this spring in the Central Piedmont of North Carolina. You’ve most likely heard about the emergence of two broods of cicadas this spring, Brood XIII and Brood XIX of seventeen year and thirteen year periodical cicadas, respectively. Here in Durham and surrounding counties there is no overlap of the two broods but there are two species emerging at the same time from Brood XIX. Magicada tredecim and MagicadaRead more
Common Snapping Turtle Tumble
Top Photo: Common snapping turtles during spring mating. A disturbance just below the water’s surface caught my attention. Something was breaking the water’s surface about 100 feet or more out in the open water of the wetlands. Then it was gone. Was it a duck? No, all our winter resident diving ducks had already departed for the north, or wherever else they feel a need to be at this time of year. Was it an otter? Otters can stay belowRead more
Nest Box Update 4.9.24
Top Photo: Eastern bluebirds eggs. All six of our nest boxes are occupied. Two contain chickadee nests and four are bluebird made. There are 18 eggs (5 chickadee, 13 bluebird) and 6 nestlings (all bluebird). —- The female bluebird who sits in the nest box in the Cow Pasture is incubating 5 eggs. There are 5 Carolina chickadee eggs in the nest box at Explore the Wild. An incubating bird flushed as we approached the nest box. One of theRead more