When I checked on our green herons this past Tuesday morning (8/6) I found one leaning over a branch of its birth tree staring down at the water. Was the bird admiring its reflection or was it feeling the urge to hunt? I suspect it was watching for little minnows and tadpoles in the water below, although I could be wrong. As I walked the boardwalk to the other side of the tree its sibling was peacefully perched and staringRead more
Posts tagged: #wetlands
What’s All The Excitement About?
Perhaps the reality has hit the heron that it has four nestlings to feed! That’s right, four nestlings!! The bird above is just below the nest (NS2) in a willow just off the Main Wetlands Overlook. I too, was excited when it was pointed out to me this weekend that there were four nestlings in this nest. Kevin (photographer), who comes by the Museum on weekends to photograph some of our wildlife, noticed four downy heads bobbing around in the nest insteadRead more
Fuzzy-headed nestlings
I’ve posted many pictures of the Green Heron nests since their discovery in our Wetlands back in June. On Thursday (7/18), just four days ago, I happily reported that one of the eggs in one of the two nests had hatched. The following day while making my last sweep of the outdoor areas of the Museum at closing time, I stopped by the nest to see if there was any progress with the residents. I took about a dozen photos. Here’sRead more
Can Groundhogs Swim?
You already know that groundhogs climb trees, right? If you didn’t know that, now you do, they can climb trees. But can they swim? I believe that every animal has the ability to swim. Cats don’t like to swim, but if you throw one, or should I say, if one falls into the water, you will most certainly see a cat swim. The question then, should be, do they want to, do they like to, or do they voluntarily swim? As farRead more
Green Heron
From April thru September Green Herons are in our Wetlands nearly every day, if not every day. However, they’re not always visible, they spend much of their time hidden from view silently perched just above the water’s surface or quietly stalking fish, tadpoles, or insects among the willow branches and roots. But, every once in a while I hear a loud squawky “skew” coming from the brush or catch a glimpse of one of these small herons out in theRead more
Turtles and, Oh Yeah, Spring!
Keep an eye out for turtles on the rocks and tree stumps in the Wetlands as you stroll through Explore the Wild. Yes, even in winter we see turtles out basking here at the Museum, especially on bright sunny days in the high fifties, sixties and above. It’s mostly sliders, but this past Tuesday (2/12) I even saw a painted turtle taking advantage of the relatively warm winter sunshine. This weekend is forecast to be quite chilly, so you mayRead more
Just a few shots from the Wild
What have you seen today?Read more
The Rana Dilemma
Back in 2009, I noticed a large concentration of bullfrog tadpoles in the northwest corner of the Wetlands. The tadpoles were congregated around a pipe which drains the higher ground above, particularly the Red Wolf Enclosure. I didn’t know why the tadpoles were gathered in this location but speculated that it was due to either the concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the water, higher temperature, algal growth (their main source of food), or a combination of those things. Something hadRead more
More goings on
If you’ve been walking through Explore the Wild over the past several weeks you may have seen what looks like snow blowing along on the breeze. Of course, it’s been too warm to snow, so what is that white fluffy stuff floating through the air down by the Wetlands? It’s seed dispersal in action. Groundsel Tree has been spreading its seeds across the landscape via the wind. Like willow in the spring, milkweed in the late summer, and of courseRead more