Ducklings in the Wetlands

Top Photo: Mallard duck with two of her six ducklings. Ranger Molly informed me she saw a mallard duck and six ducklings in our wetlands over the weekend. On my next trip into the wetlands, I spotted the family in the swamp across from the Main Wetlands Overlook. A pair of mallards had been hanging around the wetlands the entire spring, had disappeared for a while early on, but had returned. Sometime later in the season they had again goneRead more

And a Red-shouldered too!

Not a day goes by that I don’t see or hear a red-shouldered hawk here at the Museum. I’ve been allowed to observe them hunting and courting. I’ve been able to get close looks at them in various plumages and molts. I’ve even seen them catch a variety of prey as diverse as frogs and toads, snakes, rats, and even fish. It’s my opinion that red-shouldereds will eat whatever comes their way, as long as it’s not too large toRead more

Bluebird Update 4.30.13

Once again it’s time for the weekly Bluebird Update. All nests are progressing as they should, or rather as I hope they would, except one curious development with the nest in the infamous Sail Boat Pond nest box (we’ll get to that later). The “Cow Pasture” bluebirds have hatched. It’s difficult to see but it appears that only four eggs out of the original five have hatched. I can see only four beaks in the photo below but it’s possibleRead more

Shoulders Return

The headline above is a bit misleading. The Red-shouldered Hawks (shoulders) never left, they just haven’t been perch-hunting here at the Museum as they had in years past. I could pretty much count of seeing one of our resident shoulders at least every other day, if not every day, perched somewhere along the Trail either in Explore the Wild or just inside the woods along the path in Catch the Wind. Although I often hear them calling from above asRead more