While sitting at the bird feeders waiting for Evening Grosbeaks to show up (good luck), I heard a soft, almost flute-like whistle. The call was repeated again a half dozen times. Initially ignoring the call, it suddenly dawned on me that I should perhaps take a look. A gander to my right saw nothing but the shrubs and tangle of tree limbs of the woods that border the path leading to Catch the Wind. Then, there it was, a thrush,Read more
Posts tagged: #wetlands
Bullfrogs and Meadowhawks
The unseasonably warm weather last week brought out more than a few bullfrogs. I see these frogs throughout the winter so they won’t completely disappear when the temperature drops again, as it’s already doing as I write. The warmer weather of last week also brought out the meadowhawks. Although I saw the first of the season meadowhawk on October 12, it had been a few weeks since I’d seen another. The meadowhawk above was only feet from a chalk drawingRead more
Last Week
The photos shown here are from last week, before Sandy rolled by bringing with her damp easterly, northeasterly, northerly, northwesterly and now still wet and nasty westerly winds. It will again be sunny and relatively warm, but until then have a look at a handful of pre-Sandy photos (just be glad you don’t live in New Jersey, or West Virginia, or….). And finally… What will turn up this week? Read more
Look Who’s in Town!
I haven’t seen a Pied-billed Grebe in the Wetlands here at the Museum since the fall of 2009, three years ago. I first noticed the current grebe on September 19, one week earlier than the first time I spied the 2009 grebe. That bird stayed with us into December of that year. Hope this one stays a while too! We usually lose our Green Herons to the migratory urge in late September, so we may not be seeing this one for muchRead more
Racer
This Black Racer (or one just like it) has recently been very active along the path between the two Wetlands Overlooks. Tuesday, I saw it attempt to cross the path three times, each attempt was interrupted by passers by. Yesterday it was taking life easy, coiled up in one of our water snakes’ favorite spots on the north side of the Wetlands.Read more
The Ice Cometh and the Ice Goeth
The first few days of the year brought with them the first ice over of the Wetlands. The ice will soon be history, all gone. I, or we, know that the ice will be gone within a day or two since the TV, internet, and radio tells us these things ahead of time. But for some of the creatures that live in and depend on the Wetlands for food, ice is not a good thing and it can’t be predictedRead more
The Crayfish Among Us: Part II
Our Wetlands is Changing! In August I wrote about a pile of crayfish hatchlings that I found on the path in Explore the Wild. I also wrote about how those crayfish are not native to our area and how they may be completely changing the Wetlands. The crayfish that I see and capture in our Wetlands are Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). I first noticed these large crayfish with the red claws a little over two years ago. Then, it was unusual toRead more
Sandpiper Solitaire
After the rains of Tropical Storm Lee last week the water level in the Wetlands is back to normal. Prior to the rains the water had been quite low exposing much of the muddy bottom of the pond, great habitat for foraging migrant shorebirds. On September 1, a Solitary Sandpiper dropped in to take advantage of that habitat. Solitary Sandpipers are one of three “most likely to be seen” shorebirds on the list of species here at the Museum, along withRead more
Yellow-crowned Stays Another Day!
I thought I’d go down to the Wetlands early (relatively early) to see if the night heron that showed up yesterday was still around. At first I thought that the bird had moved on, until I checked the secondary Wetlands Overlook (near the Lemurs). It had rained 3-5 inches the day before and there weren’t many exposed areas in the swamp for a night heron to hunt from, but the bird had found one on the back side of theRead more