I saw two butterfly species on this second day of February, several Sleepy Oranges and a Mourning Cloak. Spring Peepers have been calling, as mentioned in an earlier post. Today, I actually saw one. Besides the snake being captured by a Red-shouldered Hawk last Friday, Kent (Animal Department) reported seeing what was probably the same [...] Read the rest of this entry »
Insects and Other Arthropods Posts
Parts on the pavement
December 15th, 2011This (above) is what greeted me as I made my rounds during the morning of 10 December, a Saturday. Obviously, the white and beige colored splatters are bird droppings. But what bird, and what are the larger brown masses? “Oh good,” I whispered to myself, “another mystery to solve.” I thought at first that the [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Spring at the Museum?
December 7th, 2011It’s December not April. What’s going on with the wildlife here at the Museum. Ranger Lew saw a Northern Water Snake on Saturday (12/3). Spring Peepers were calling and Yellow-bellied Sliders were out basking in the near 70 degree air of yesterday afternoon (12/6). Neither peepers or basking Turtles are unusual during this time of [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Dragons!
November 25th, 2011Besides the many human visitors to the Museum on the mild, blue-sky day after Thanksgiving, Autumn Meadowhawks (Sympetrum vicinum) were out in numbers. These late season dragonflies can be seen into the first half of December. While I expect to see meadowhawks at this time of year, what was remarkable is the sighting of a female Common [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Two Birds and Three Insects
November 16th, 2011On November 2, I mentioned that I had seen the first of the season Hooded Merganser. It was a single bird (alone) and appeared to be a female. On Thursday (11/10) there were three mergs in the Wetlands, a male and two females. Yesterday (11/15) there were ten birds in the water. There was also [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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A Lady, a Snake, and a Late Bloomer
November 4th, 2011An American Lady (Venessa Virginiensis) was spotted in the aster patch in Catch the Wind yesterday (11/3). In fact, there were several butterfly species and both bumble and honey bees working the tiny asters. An Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) was seen slowly crossing the path in Explore the Wild near the Red Wolf Exhibit. [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Mild Winter Predicted
November 3rd, 2011According to folklore, the caterpillar below foretells a mild winter this year, the wider the reddish band the milder the winter. The reddish band on the caterpillar is actually an indication of its age. Each successive molt of the caterpillar adds more reddish hairs, or setae, lessening the number of black setae. The caterpillar may [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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There was Frost on the Pumpkins…
November 1st, 2011this morning. And down in the Wetlands… In the bird news, both White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos have arrived. The sparrows came in last week, the juncos with the same cold front that brought the frost. I saw a dozen or so Chipping Sparrows last week as well but they typically don’t stick around, [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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Quiz Bug Revealed!!!
October 29th, 2011The identity of the Quiz Bug is revealed below, but first: Yes Emily, the object in the photo looks very much like a Golden Snitch. However, a Golden Snitch is approximately the size of a walnut. As stated in the caption of the photo, our Quiz Bug is about 2 cm (including the wings), considerably [...] Read the rest of this entry »
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