Some of the hundreds of Large Milkweed Bug nymphs seen the first week of August.

An adult Large Milkweed Bug in comparison with nymphs of the same species.

Seven days later the nymphs began to take on some of the characteristics of the adults.

Within days, many of the nymphs began to show black markings on their abdomens and tiny black wing buds. This is what they looked like on the 11th of August.

Fall Webworms have been at work on the Museum’s trees for a month or more. These caterpillars construct their web around the leaves that they’re feeding on at the time, enlarging the web as they go. They typically build their webs near the tip of a branch, whereas tent caterpillars, which are sometimes confused with webworms, build their “tents” in a crotch of a tree.

Webworms usually build their protective web near the end of a branch.

Fall webworms expand their web as they feed, using it as protection against would be predators.

The webworms don’t venture out of the web, but, as mentioned, add on to the web as they go. Tent caterpillars feed outside of their tents and retreat to the protection of the tent after feeding.

While you’re out strolling through the Dinosaur Trail keep an eye out for Potter Wasp “pots” on the horsetail along the trail. Potter Wasps build little pot-like mud nests in which to lay their eggs, one egg per pot.

These two "pots" are attached to the horsetail which grows near the Troodons on the Dinosaur Trail (each pot about 18 mm).

The pot is stocked with small caterpillars and or sawfly larvae for the wasp’s larva to feed on once it hatches. Once the pot is stocked with food and the egg is in place, the entry hole is sealed. After the wasp larva hatches, feeds and pupates, it will have to chew its way out of the pottery.

The top pot has been sealed while the bottom one was completed but apparently abandoned (these pots are located on the opposite side of the path from the Troodons).

On an relatively cool rainy day during the third week of August (8/19) I came across a jumping spider that had captured a female Blue Dasher (or an immature male, not sure). The dragonfly was apparently waiting out the morning rain perched among the grass and the spider seized the moment.

This jumping spider appears to have its hands full with this dragonfly.

The spider has a firm grip on the ode's head. The dragonfly's head is completely turned around, that's the mouth parts that you see in this photo, not the top of the head.

The same day, in the tall grass on the north side of the Wetlands, a very large Robber Fly was able to snatch a wasp.

A robber fly perches on the tall grass with its prey, a wasp.

Robber flies are very quick and agile fliers and often wait in ambush at flowers or other places of heavy insect traffic to strike out at all who pass by.

Never a dull moment in the Wild!

The Fossil Dig Site signage.

If, before entering, you happen to read the signage at the Fossil Dig Site on the Dinosaur Trail, you will discover that the material through which you are about to search for fossils is of the coastal plain and not of the Piedmont. The gray, coarse material in the Dig Site was shipped in from a phosphate mine near Aurora, NC and at one time was on the bottom of the ocean when that part of North Carolina was under water.

If you stop and read the sign at the Fossil Dig Site you will also learn that the material in the Dig Site was deposited on the ocean floor during a period of about 5 to 23 million years ago.

Some of the 5 to 23 million year old fossils you will likely find at the Dig Site.

What you will not learn from the sign is that the boulders that surround the site, and that are also found along the pathways and exhibits of the Dinosaur Trail, Explore the Wild, and Catch the Wind, are some 200 million years older than the “dirt” in the Dig Site.

The boulders surrounding the Dig Site are much older and of different origin than the fossil material.

That same ancient rock also makes up the rock “walls” that you pass as you descend the boardwalk into Explore the Wild and which forms a natural barrier around half of the Black Bear Enclosure.

Rock wall along one side of the boardwalk leading to the Wetlands.

Durham, NC lies in what is called a Triassic basin, the Deep River basin to be exact (the Durham Sub-basin of the Deep River basin to be even more exact). When the continental plates which comprise what is now North America and Africa began to move apart some 220 million years ago (during the Triassic Period – two geologic periods before the dinosaurs depicted on the Dino Trail were trotting about the landscape), rifts or cracks began to appear in the earth’s crust with at least one of the rifts widening enough to become an ocean basin, the Atlantic Ocean basin. The other rifts, and there are many along the eastern seaboard, became lesser basins filling with silt, clay and other sediment brought in by rivers and streams from the higher ground of the surrounding areas. Over time, those sediments became layered, sedimentary rock.

The boulders, rocks, and rock walls that you see at the Museum are igneous rock, which means that they cooled and solidified from molten rock. This molten rock, or magma, intruded between layers of the already existing sedimentary rock in the Durham Sub-basin, which makes this rock intrusive igneous rock. And, because it flowed between the layers of the sedimentary rock, the formation is referred to as an intrusive sill.

When molten rock lying below the surface (magma) cools deep within the earth the magma cools slowly allowing crystals more time to form and so are larger and visible to the naked eye. You can see the grain in the rock.

When molten rock flowing above ground (lava) cools and solidifies on the surface it cools at a relatively quick rate. Crystals have less time to form and so are small and often not visible to the naked eye. You can not see the grain in the resulting rock without magnification (not to confuse you more, but rock that cools above ground is called extrusive igneous rock since the molten rock, or lava, extruded from the ground).

The rock here at the Museum cooled very close to the surface (but still below the surface) and so is intermediate between the two. The grains in the rock are visible, but are small. It is fine grained rock and, this particular rock, is referred to as basaltic diabase.

The grain, although small, is visible in this close up of the rock at the Museum.

The Wetlands and floor of the bear enclosure make up the bottom of a quarry that was in operation in the early 1930′s and which supplied the local area with crushed rock to surface its roads. If you stand at the Black Bear Overlook and look at the rock face to your left (where the A/V kiosk and scent displays are) you can see vertical lines in the rock.

The vertical lines in the rock are the remnants of holes drilled down into the rock by quarry workers in order to insert explosives for blasting the rock away from the face of the cliff.

The arrows point to the drillings which allowed the workers to insert explosives for blasting away the rock.

Throughout the outdoor areas of the Museum you’ll notice much of the rock is stained various shades of green, brown, orange, and black, among other hues. These colors are on the surface only. The true color of the rock is gray, about 50% gray or darker.

This boulder which sits alongside the Parasaurolophus on the Dinosaur Trail gives a fair representation of the true color of the rock.

If you’re now thoroughly confused, don’t worry, for some of us it’s not an easy thing to learn, this geology. It was quite a while before I actually understood (I think I understand) what all this rock lying about the Museum grounds is, why it’s here, and why it’s different from rock in other parts of North Carolina.

If you want to learn more about the rock formation here at the Museum, and many other geologically important and interesting areas of the Carolinas, I suggest that you read Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas, it certainly helped me to understand some of what I look at everyday as I make the rounds on the paths and trails at the Museum.

One of the authors of Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas, Mary-Russell Roberson, used to work here at the Museum. I didn’t know her but, quite by coincidence, I’m sitting in the office she occupied as I write this.

Geology is something that can be studied and enjoyed in all seasons; the rocks don’t migrate, loose their leaves, or hibernate. Stop by the Museum and have a look for yourself, I promise you that the rocks will be here, and be easy to locate, when you arrive.

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 Dinosaur Trail before the snow disappeared. Here’s a dozen.

The snow tipped branches of a Loblolly Pine.

Already beginning to melt, the drips collect on the tips of the pine needles.

The last few blossoms on Mahonia's long flower spikes.

Ice collects on the hardy leaves of Mahonia.

A Hermit Thrush pauses in its foraging to look me over. Although present from October through spring they are often easier to locate when snow or ice covers the ground.

This Stygimoloch seems bothered, but not by the snow.

I did say that I took most of the photos on the Dinosaur Trail, so it’s only proper to include some dinosaurs in the mix.

Peeking out from behind a palmetto, the Alamosaurus.

Troodon race off towards the Maiasaura nests.

Albertosaurus chasing after Edmontonia, or it it Styracosaurus that it's after?

Styracosaurus readies for the Albertosaurus. Are these dinosaurs cold-blooded?

You know what this is.

Have a Holly Jolly!

Virginia Creeper.

Orange brightens up the damp woodlands next to the Dinosaur Trail.

Various species showing yellow, orange, and red.

Redbud is spectacular in both spring and fall.

Sassafras is a personal favorite.

Leaves aren't the only thing adding color to the fall landscape.

The same mushroom (above) a day later.

Hickory.

Sweetgum.

Dwarf Sumac.

Bald Cypress.

Bald Cypress from a different perspective.

Maple is a favorite of many fall-leaf lovers.

Another view of maple.

There are several Ginkgo Trees on the Dinosaur Trail.

A close-up of the Ginkgo's leaves.

Convinced?

Even if you miss the peak colors, there’s always something going on out-of-doors, up beyond the Main Plaza (where Grayson’s Cafe and the Train Station are located). It’s just a short walk up the hill past the Plaza. There you’ll find the DinoTrail, Explore the Wild, and Catch the Wind.