Top Photo: Angle-wing katydid (Microcentrum retinerve). Katydids belong to a group of insects known as Orthoptera which references the straight or parallel-sided aspect of their wings (ortho = straight, ptera = wing). This group includes grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, and katydids. You can usually distinguish katydids from the others by their longer antennae, though some types of crickets do indeed have long, thin sensory appendages. There are many kinds of katydids. The two mentioned here are an angle-wing katydid and aRead more
Posts tagged: #migration
Tussocks and Other Summer Treats
Top Photo: Sycamore tussock moth caterpillar crawls along railing. If there are sycamore trees in the area you’re likely to run into one or more of these fuzzy, tufted caterpillars. The adult sycamore tussock moth has tan wings crossed with slightly darker bands on translucent membranes. More common and widespread than the sycamore tussock moth caterpillar, is the white-marked tussock moth caterpillar. It’s been reported munching on over 140 host plants including conifers. White-marked tussock moth’s adult form is aRead more
Nest Box Update 4.25.23
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. After last week’s total of five occupied nest boxes we now have only two. The good news is, we saw 18 birds fledge this past week. ———————— The nest box at the Cow Pasture fledged four eastern bluebirds. What was most surely a newly arrived male house wren, built a prospective nest for itself and a mate while the nest box was still warm from the bluebirds. It remains to be seen whether this nestRead more
Immature Plumage
Top Photo: Adult male hooded merganser. The next time you’re down in our wetlands, scrutinize the female mergansers. One of them may be a male. Adult male hooded mergansers (photo above) are easy to pick out in a crowd. Their chestnut sides, black back, black and white breast, black and white crested head, and amber eye stand out, for sure. Females are a bit more cryptically plumaged. They’re the ones who will be incubating the eggs inside a tree-cavity nestRead more
Mid-November
Top Photo: Two of six hooded mergansers circle wetlands. As in every year since I’ve been working at the museum, hooded mergansers have arrived in our wetlands by mid November. This year, six were spotted on the early date of November 9, though only two of them actually dropped in. Four birds were seen making a pass at the museum’s wetlands but continued on elsewhere. Since that day, they’ve been seen on the 12th and again on the 15th whenRead more
Meteorologically, Fall
Top Photo: Green heron works the “turtle logs” in the wetlands. It is, according to climatologists and meteorologists, fall. I agree. Days are getting shorter. Trees that’ve been pumping water and nutrients from their roots to their leaves have slowed down production. And although it’s still mighty hot outside during the day, the night time temps seem to be moderating. Here’s some of the things that have been going on during the first week of Fall. Though they’ll be leavingRead more
Nest Box Update 7.19.22 (The Final Count)
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird nest with eggs. There has been no activity in any of our six nest boxes. Though there are partial bluebird nests in the nest boxes at Explore the Wild and the east side of the parking deck, they haven’t be tended to for over a month. Likewise, the house wren nest in the nest box on the west side of the parking deck hasn’t been touched since June. I tallied the total birds fledged for eachRead more
Nest Box Update 5.19.22
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. A few days late, this report sees our bluebird trail with 9 eggs in two active nests. Three of those eggs are bluebird eggs, the rest belong to house wrens. The Cow Pasture nest now has 3 bluebird eggs. This nest box has already fledged 4 bluebirds. This, the second brood, is usually smaller in size than the first set of eggs. I don’t expect to see more eggs in this nest. The Explore theRead more
Nest Box Update 5.10.22
Top Photo: Eastern bluebird eggs. We currently have two nests with at least some activity. One nest is definitely house wren occupied, the other seems to be bluebird. The four remaining nest boxes appear to be stalled with either “old” abandoned nests or are where nestlings have recently fledged and are waiting for new occupants. The Cow Pasture nest box had recently fledged 4 bluebirds, had been cleaned and looks to be over-going a rebuild. The rebuilders are most likelyRead more
Masons, a Cob, an Anole, Tadpoles, and a Red Bat
Top Photo: Mason bee hangs at entrance to its nest in mud wall. There are simply too many things happening outdoors to sit idle. Everything and everybody is waking up, becoming more active, stirring, building nests, blooming, fruiting, whatever it is they do in spring, and I don’t want to miss any of it. If you’ve ever been to the museum and visited Into the Mist in Catch the Wind you’ve probably noticed a little hut in the back ofRead more