While standing in the shade talking with Ranger Sara and Molly (Education Dept.), I noticed the tall grass move just inches from the path. We were in Explore the Wild, and Molly was there collecting water samples. The grass moved again, this time at two locations at once about 18 inches apart. It had to be [...] Read the rest of this entry »
Summer Posts
How Hot, Cloudy, or Acidic is it, anyway?
August 5th, 2011What’s got Sara and Erin smiling on a steamy morning in mid summer? Well, they just got back from a walk in the Wetlands. Who wouldn’t be smiling after spending time in a swamp full of frogs, snakes, all forms of aquatic (and flying) insects, and of course, muddy water. What were they doing braving the [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Black Swallowtail
August 4th, 2011Black Swallowtail Butterflies lay their eggs on parsley, fennel, Queen Anne’s Lace, and other plants in the carrot family. To see the adult butterfly, click here, but don’t forget to come back. Plant some parsley in a pot on your back porch and watch the fun! Read the rest of this entry »
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An Osprey’s Peregrinations
August 2nd, 2011Back in February I attempted to steer you, the reader, towards a web site that follows the travels of a select group of radio-tagged Ospreys as they headed south in the fall of 2010 from their fledging sites here in North America. At the time, I had followed the route of an Osprey named Belle [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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What dragonfly is that? Part 2
August 1st, 2011Included in this, Part 2 of the “What Dragonfly is that?” are two dragonflies that are unmistakable. They are both common at a wide range of ponds, lakes and slow moving rivers. They are the Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) and the Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis tenera). The Common Whitetail (above) can hardly be ignored with its [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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A Tiny Egg
July 29th, 2011While hiking along with Museum Summer Campers, as is usual on Wednesday mornings, I happened to turn over a partially eaten leaf in hopes of finding a caterpillar. What I found was a lacewing (Chrysopidae) egg. The egg was on a serviceberry in Catch the Wind across from Vapor Rings. If you’re not familiar with what a [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Highlight of a “rough” day!!
July 26th, 2011As much as I enjoy Dino Days (July 16-17) and sifting through tons of dusty, gray, ocean-bottom sediment for fossils, I have to say that the highlight of Dino Days (at least day one, Saturday) was watching a Rough Green Snake eat a dragonfly in a willow tree just off the Wetlands Overlook in Explore [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Migration and Cyrano de Bergerac
July 23rd, 2011It’s been nearly two weeks since I last posted to the Journal. The reason for my absence has to do with migration. No, not the migration of birds or some other wildlife, but of computer files from one server to another. Migration now appears to be over and hopefully there are no lingerers. On to [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Snapper at Large
July 14th, 2011Last week a very large Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) was seen in the Black Bear Compound, and again the next day, at the Red Wolf Exhibit. Was the snapper attempting to expand its knowledge of mammalian behavior? No, I think it was probably off looking for a place to lay eggs or even a new [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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