With all of the snow and ice we’ve experienced recently, its difficult to believe that just a short while ago, January 16 to be exact, the two turtles in the above photo were out basking in the sun in our Wetlands. The eastern painted turtle (left and below) and yellow-bellied slider may yet again be seen hauled out on a log, and very soon. The temperatures are expected to be in the sixties this weekend, and may even get close toRead more
Posts tagged: #Yellow-bellied Turtle
Laying Eggs
Alerted to its presence by Dale (Facilities), I took a detour in my weekly bluebird nest box inspection Tuesday and hightailed it up to the summer camp outdoor classrooms to see if the yellow-bellied slider he reported was still there. Dale said that she was in the middle of laying eggs and I wanted to first, see who she was (I mark the nesting turtles here at the Museum), and then confirm she was indeed laying eggs. When I arrived, theRead more
Brief Report from the Wetlands
First, some ode news, odonata, that is. Great blue skimmers and slaty skimmers have emerged from their watery, pre-adult aquatic habitat. Eastern amber wings have been with us for some time, although I never tire of looking at them. Common whitetails are in the process of ovipositing (laying eggs) in the Wetlands. On cooler days, yellow-bellied sliders stack up on any available perch. But, you probably won’t see many turtles out baskingRead more
A Trapped Turtle
Top photo: common snapping turtle below the surface. It was morning on the 12th of May. I received a call from Animal Keepers, Autumn and Sarah about a snapping turtle seen near the entrance to the bear compound. When I arrived on the scene the snapper had entered a small swamp between the compound and the open water of the Wetlands and was heading towards the water. The turtle had probably been out laying eggs and was now headed back toRead more
Turtle Time
Top photo: Courtship display by male (foreground) yellow-bellied slider. By this time of year I should have seen six, eight, even a dozen female turtles walking along the paths here at the Museum. Each spring, our aquatic turtles leave the water in search of safe places to dig a nest and lay eggs. I’ve only seen three turtles out and about this season. Two of those were relayed to me by Animal Keepers Autumn and Sarah. One was an eastern musk turtle, theRead more
Spring Rolls Along
Spring continues to move along and the flora and fauna here at the Museum rolls along with it. Thousands, no, millions of neotropical migrant birds are moving through our area, flowers are inviting insects to pollinate themselves, tadpoles are becoming frogs, fish eggs have hatched, and an old friend showed up in the Wetlands. Warblers, thrushes, cuckoos, swallows, and many other birds are migrating north at this time. Most migrate at night (less likely to be seen by hungry hawkRead more
Some Spring Happenings
Top Photo: Immature plumaged hooded mergansers lingering in wetlands. I’ve been negligent in my duties and haven’t been reporting as often as I’d like to on the goings on in Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind. So much is happening, as it does every spring, that it’s tough to keep up. Here’s just a couple of handfuls of things that we’ve seen in the Wild over the past few weeks (not necessarily in chronological order). During the first weekRead more
A Fine Day…Week
The last several days have been quite pleasant. The local fauna have been responding to the uncharacteristically mild nature of our current meteorological situation. In other words, it’s been real nice outside lately and some of our resident wildlife are taking advantage of that niceness. Come on out and enjoy some of this fine weather yourself, you never know when it’s going to rain, snow, sleet, or worse, so get it while you can. See youRead more
A warm winter day
After several rainy days at the beginning of the week, the past few days have been warm and sunny, days conducive to rest and relaxation. While over at the Red Wolf Exhibit… There’s nothing like a warm winter day to stretch out and soak up some sun. Read more