I wish all of those birds represented on the map as purple dots (above link) the best of luck, we still have plenty of winter remaining. The temperature drops as I sit here typing. It will be in the twenties tonight and we’ll be lucky to reach 40 tomorrow, not weather conducive to flying insects (martin food) activity.

Mahonia showing berries. Note that there are still flowers towards the tips of the racemes.

Thanks to the mild temperatures this winter, the Mahonia (Mahonia sp.), Grape-holly, or whatever it is that you prefer to call it, on the Dinosaur Trail has been in bloom continuously since the fall. It now has berries where once, bright yellow flowers lured honey bees, various flies, and ants to perform the pollination duties. These plants should provide a good crop of berries for the birds this year.

Not quite ripe these berries will turn deep purple with a light blue pruinosity later in the season.

Common Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) is showing its first sprouts of the season.

Fresh shoots are beginning to show themselves on elderberry. This plant is on the Dinosaur Trail opposite the Maiasaura.

There is only a handful of Silky Willows that I'm aware of here at the Museum, all are on the north side of the Wetlands.

The buds on Silky Willow (Salix sericea) are beginning to awaken from their winter slumber. This small tree or shrub is more northern in distribution than the abundant Black Willows that grow just about everywhere you look here in our Wetlands. The silky variety is rare on the coastal plain, more common here in the Piedmont and Mountains.

Silky Willow blooms very early here at the Museum and these trees should be in their glory by next month (March). It’s been very mild and things are moving rather quickly here in the Piedmont, but we may yet get a blast of coldness to slow things down a bit.

I expect that we’ll have to wait and see what the rest of winter brings us. Until then, enjoy the weather, and the early floral happenings.

Groundhog.

The first groundhog of the season was spotted on February 8 running across a service road and then over the path near the boardwalk leading to Explore the Wild. I assume that this marmot is the “Boardwalk Hog.” There is a groundhog burrow just below the fence at the head of the boardwalk that leads to Explore the Wild. The animal that I saw was last seen swiftly moving in that direction.

There are many groundhog burrows throughout the Museum campus each housing different animals, two or three in Catch the Wind, one at the entrance to the Dinosaur Trail, at least two in Explore the Wild and one in the Black Bear Enclosure, among others.

Although this was the first groundhog that I saw, it’s not necessarily the first to be out and about this season. There is a groundhog that has a burrow along the path behind the Lemur House. This is the groundhog of the “Lemur House Clan” and the entrance to its burrow was used well over a week before the Boardwalk Hog was seen prancing along the backroads of the Museum.

Lemur House Clan burrow. Notice that the entrance hole is clear.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the Lemur House groundhog’s burrow, it was covered with leaves until the beginning of last week. Someone has been in and out of this burrow. Keep your eyes peeled for any large, chunky ground squirrels running about the landscape, there are probably others surfacing to test the air as well.

Not long after this tranquil scene the egret flew off over the pines to the north.

GBH-2 on a familiar perch, a Loblolly Pine waiting for GBH-1 to go to sleep.

The bounty of fish is gone. The shiners that once lay within easy reach of all who munch fish in our little Wetlands have either dispersed or been dispatched. No more can the egret and herons pick off shiners at their leisure at the edge of the Wetlands. They now have to work for every fish, tadpole, frog, or crayfish that they catch, which is probably why egret and heron are nowhere to be seen.

It’s been just about a week since I’ve seen the egret in the above photo, longer since the last time I laid eyes on GBH-2, our visiting blue heron.

Even the number of mergansers is down. In fact, I saw no mergansers this morning as I made my rounds in Explore the Wild (2/7/12). The Wetlands is very quiet.

Now that I think about it, it wasn’t all that quiet out there this morning. The Red-shouldered Hawks were up soaring, stooping, calling out and just plain showing off for their potential mates. Very noisy, they are.

Cardinals were singing, the Eastern Phoebe was vigorously calling out to any females in the area (I don’t think there’s any other Phoebes on site though), and the bluebirds have been seen investigating their nest boxes. Even the titmice and nuthatches are vocalizing.

I didn’t hear any frogs (peepers) though. The cold nights must have put them back in their places.

Have a good one!

Red Maple in bloom (2/3/12).

Don't walk by a red maple without getting a close look at the flowers, they're quite pleasing to gaze upon.

At least two Red Maples here at the Museum are in bloom. The trees are located in Explore the Wild on the north side of the Wetlands. Being out of the wind at the bottom of a former quarry, and on the north side of that quarry where they get direct sun the year-round, it’s typically warmer where these trees grow. In my opinion, they’re slightly ahead of schedule. But according to the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association the trees are at the very beginning of their normal blooming period.

Red Maples are early bloomers no matter where they grow which is one reason that they’re a personal favorite of mine, they brighten up the otherwise gray and brown winter landscape with their red buds and blooms.

Not quite ready, these catkins have a week or so before they're ready to pollinate.

Another woody plant that’s in bloom a tad ahead of itself is Hazel Alder. We have three here at the Museum, all are located just west of the maples mentioned above. Alders are shrubs or small trees and can grow to 20 feet or more. Ours are much smaller, probably because they’re out competed for sunlight by the many Black Willows growing all around them. Alders are a wetland species.

Both male and female flowers are present at the same time and are located at the tips of the branches, the males in the form of catkins dangling just below the reddish female flowers. The catkins put out abundant amounts of pollen which is carried by the wind to the female flowers.

All three of our alders are in various stages of readiness for the “breeding” season.

Almost ready. A few more days should be all that's needed for this alder to put forth pollen.

Ready for action. Note the lone female flower above the catkin on the left. There are often two, three or more females present.

If you suddenly find yourself sneezing during the month of February here in the Piedmont and are near a wetland, you may be allergic to alder pollen.

A tap of a finger, or gust of wind, releases generous amounts of pollen from the catkins.

And you thought you were safe from allergies during winter.

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) in Explore the Wild.

Same cloak with partially open wings.

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer).

This peeper was in Catch the Wind (same frog as above).

Besides the snake being captured by a Red-shouldered Hawk last Friday, Kent (Animal Department) reported seeing what was probably the same hawk catch one in the Lemur Yard on Sunday (1/29/12). From the descriptions given it doesn’t seem as though they were Brown Snakes so, although I can’t be sure, I’m assuming that both were garter snakes. Both Brown Snakes (Storeria dekayi) and Eastern Garter Snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) have been known to be out and about in both late fall and late winter/early spring. Of course, this is mid-winter. I saw a garter snake along the Eno River, just half a dozen miles or so from the Museum, on New Years Day this year!

A few birds…

A Downy Woodpecker works on gaining entry to a Trumpet Vine seed pod.

A resident Northern Mockingbird hangs out in a holly, one of the trees under the bird's guardianship in Explore the Wild.

Several turtles…

Crawling out on a boulder in the Wetlands, this Yellow-bellied Slider is responding to unseasonably warm weather (12/22/11).

Another yellow-bellied enjoys the sun several weeks later (1/12/12).

And the heat goes on…

This slider catches some late afternoon warmth at the base of a willow (1/24/12).

What looks to be the same turtle as above was out the very next day (1/25/12).

And something left over from summer…

An Eastern Tent Caterpillar egg mass on a small cherry tree along the Dinosaur Trail.

The other side of the egg mass reveals what seems to be an attempt by a bird to get at the eggs within. Or did some of the caterpillars hatch thinking it spring? The black-topped eggs are empty eggs.

It wouldn’t be out of the question for those eggs to have hatched. It is very much like spring on this last week of January. The Red-shouldered Hawks were up performing their aerial courtship displays, I saw a spider wasp carrying a spider along one of the service roads here at the Museum, Spring Peepers have been heard calling (on my drive home Saturday I heard chorus frogs!), the male Belted Kingfisher was in town trying to impress our female with his fish catching prowess (she was having none of it and chased him off), and Jennifer Armstrong (Exhibits) reported seeing a red-shouldered with a snake!

And there’s much more, but you have to be there to see it. So, get out and have a look around!

Perched on a tree inside the bear enclosure, a gray squirrel shows its appreciation for corn-on-the-cob (1/19/12).

I should say that the squirrel in the photo very much appreciates the animal keepers here at the Museum. It was the keepers who tossed the corn into the Black Bear Enclosure. The corn was meant for the bears to eat but the squirrel beat them to the punch.

Happy squirrel.

Great Blue Heron.

Great Egret peering into the water.

The heron in the above photo is actually looking down at me, not a fish, but you get the idea. The heron was in a pine tree above the path in Explore the Wild.

What’s interesting about the photo is that it clearly illustrates the fact that herons have binocular vision and can see objects beyond and below their bills, helpful if you make your living plucking fish out of the water. Among land or air based predators binocular vision is the norm.

While herons’ eyes are placed on the sides of their heads allowing them to see potential trouble heading their way from the side, they are far enough forward that both eyes can be used to peer down into the water at their prey. Two eyes are better than one when trying to gauge position and distance.

Herons are able to detect trouble approaching from the sides as well as watch for prey below.

Birds such as mallards, and mammals like rabbits, have their eyes placed high and laterally dead center on their heads allowing them a 360 degree view of the world. It’s tough to sneak up on either. Although herons can’t see directly behind themselves, a simple turn of that long flexible neck lets them quickly checkout who’s sneaking up from behind. They give up some of their ability to see potential predators approaching from the rear in order to have bino vision, but you still have be be on you tippy toes to sneak up on them.

OK, so a heron can see with binocular vision helping it gauge the distance and location of the object of its attention (fish in water), but how does it deal with refraction? You know, when you put a stick into the water it looks like it’s bent. The light is bent by the different (relative to the air) refractive properties of the water. Unless the fish is on the surface, say it’s 6 inches or so under the water, it isn’t actually where it looks like it is. How does the heron allow for refraction when jabbing at a fish in water?

I’ll leave that one to you.

Red-shouldered Hawk in Explore the Wild.

People who are not familiar with the species often look at me with confused eyes when I tell them that the hawk perched in the trees before them in the swamp here at the Museum is a Red-shouldered Hawk. Why would they name this hawk “red-shouldered,” and where are the red shoulders?

A Red-tailed Hawk has a brick-red tail. That name makes sense. The Red-shouldered Hawk (RSHA) has a reddish belly and chest. Why not name the hawk Red-bellied, or Red-breasted Hawk? Even the Latin name for this hawk doesn’t give a clue as to why it’s named red-shouldered, Buteo lineatus means lined or striped hawk.

RSHAs have a reddish patch of feathers, which comprise most of the secondary upper wing coverts, that stretch from the actual shoulder of the wing to the wrist. The red “shoulder” is not always visible on perched birds.

The red patch is not always obvious when the bird is perched (same bird as above).

It’s a different story when the birds take flight or have their wings stretched out to preen, or when dealing with prey.

The reddish colored upper wing coverts (so-called shoulder) are obvious in flight (photo - 10/09).

This RSHA has just dropped in on a frog in the Wetlands. Note the red wing patches (photo - 4/10).

So, now you know why the Red-shouldered Hawk is called a “Red-shouldered” Hawk. But wait, what are secondary wing coverts?

Coverts are relatively small feathers that overlap and cover the bases of the larger flight feathers on a bird’s wing, the primaries and secondaries. The coverts that cover the bases of the primary feathers are called primary coverts. You can probably guess what the coverts that cover the bases of the secondaries are, that’s right, secondary coverts.

There are coverts on both upper and lower surfaces of the wing to cover both sides of the flight feather bases. The coverts are further divided into groups as the greater primary covers, median primary coverts, lesser primary coverts, marginal primary coverts…there are also coverts that cover the bases of the tail feathers…their purpose is to create a continuous, smooth surface across the wing, or tail, which aids considerably in the act of flying, less drag.