In winter, one of the most frequently encountered birds on the Trail around the Outdoor Exhibits at the Museum is a rather small, indistinct bird. Before telling you what it is, I thought it might be fun to take a little photo quiz. But first, some hints. This bird is only found in our area in [...] Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for December, 2009
Red Admiral
December 29th, 2009On December 23rd a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) was seen flying about the Mahonia near the entrance to the Dinosaur Trail. The butterfly didn’t stand still for long, but when it did finally settle, it did so twenty some feet up on the trunk of a Loblolly Pine. It was a stretch, but I managed [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Snow
December 24th, 2009A few days before “official” winter began, it snowed. The snow turned to sleet and rain during the night but there was still some snow on the ground the following day. It doesn’t snow very often in our area so it’s a thrill when it does. I took a few photos (lots of photos) on the [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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A Chilled Herp, a Final Ode, and a Daring Squirrel
December 18th, 2009On Decmebr 16th as I walked the trail through the outdoor exhibits of the Museum where it enters Explore the Wild near the Lemur House, there was a small snake stretched out on the pavement. The temps were in the forties but the little patch of sun that the snake was in was probably a [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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The Raven and the Vultures
December 18th, 2009As I stood on the Wetlands Overlook peeping through the viewfinder of my camera and waiting for a Yellow-rumped Warbler to magically appear on the Wax Myrtle nuts that my camera was focused on, I heard the call of a Common Raven. I heard the call several times before I realized that it was indeed [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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At Home in the Wetlands
December 16th, 2009Two bird species that have become regular fixtures in the Wetlands, at least during the winter, are Red-shouldered Hawk and Hooded Merganser. Both species can be seen daily, or nearly so, depending on the weather conditions. The Red-shouldered Hawk is present year-round and is the most common hawk species seen at the Museum, often hunting [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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The Great Tadpole Rescue
December 11th, 2009During the last week in November I noticed a group of tadpoles individually surfacing and then quickly submerging in the murky water in the northwest corner of the Wetlands. There’s a pipe in that corner of the Wetlands which drains the higher ground above it. I’m not sure why this area is popular with tadpoles [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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