At the lower terminus of the Boardwalk in Explore the Wild I noticed a small snake (perhaps 18 inches at best) coiled in the smartweed that grows there. The snake’s head stuck out of the water, ready to pounce, its tongue flashing out to smell the air. There were also many minnows splashing about the shallow water. Some of the fish were in large groups feeding, a feeding frenzy. Others were in small groups swimming in and out of theRead more
Posts tagged: #wetlands
What will the weather bring us?
Weather systems often bring in unusual birds. Strong cold fronts sometimes carry with them birds from the far north. Unusually cold weather creates strong needs within birds to feed, simple survival is the name of the game. During extreme cold periods you often see birds at your feeders that are absent during mild weather especially when the leaf litter is covered with snow. On Thursday, a day when upon awaking from a three dog night, the air temperature was aRead more
Chasing Turtles
I’ve been watching turtles here at the Museum since my arrival some 6 years ago. We have about five species in our Wetlands: Yellow-bellied Slider, Red-eared Slider, Eastern Painted, Eastern Musk, and Common Snapping Turtles. You might be thinking, “Hey, what’s he talking about, you either have five species or you don’t,” and you’d be right. The reason I say about five species is because the red-eared is not native. I haven’t seen any adults that I can definitely call red-eared,Read more
Afternoon Reflections on the Wetlands, and a Sleepy Wolf
After I took the following four photographs I realized that they are all of the same subject but at different levels of zoom. They were not shot in the same sequence as they appear here but minutes apart with other photos in between. There was obviously something that drew my eye to that spot. And, a sleepy wolf. What do you think this wolf is dreaming about, the breeding season to come? a rawhide chew? a run through the woods?Read more
Colors
Just some pictures shot in Explore the Wild. Now that we have turned our clocks back an hour, closing time here at the Museum is actually an hour later than in previous weeks. Photographically speaking, the lower sun makes for better light and reflections in the Wetlands’ water See you next time!Read more
What’s all the fuss about?
Ah, nature…peaceful, quiet, serene, all creatures living together in perfect harmony. Not hardly! When I arrived at the Wetlands on Wednesday morning (10/30) I heard the unmistakable rattle of kingfishers. There were two female kingfishers in the Wetlands. As I watched, one of the birds flew over to a birch snag next to the Wetlands Main Overlook and rattled away. Seconds later another kingfisher flew directly at the first kingfisher forcing it off its perch. Except for the breeding seasonRead more
Herons
I haven’t seen any of our local Green Herons in over two weeks. They’re either being very secretive or they’ve moved on. It is, in fact, October and traditionally we loose our resident Green Herons to migratory urges during this time of year. A Great Blue Heron has been an on-and-off visitor this past summer but seems to have now settled into the on position, I’ve seen it every day for several weeks. This is not an unusual occurrence, we’veRead more
They’re on their own.
Our green herons are now on their own. I saw one bird at its nest tree this morning (8/24), but they are all free flying birds and have been experimenting with different fishing sites around the Wetlands. Here’s some photos of the crew. The rest of the images are from August, 24, a Saturday. I’m assuming that all seven of the herons fledged. The most I was able to see at any one time was five and they were spreadRead more