Downy Nestlings!

Here's the latest photo of the 5 baby Bluebirds. They are growing quickly and already feathering out with down. I can't wait till they open their eyes!

This picture was taken yesterday, when the babies were only 5 days old!

Nature Updates

Alright, folks - here's the latest in cool animals since my last nature binge!

A cute little baby Common Snapping Turtle. I was teaching a program by by Wildflower Brook when one of the chaperones saw a turtle bury itself in a nearby muddy pool. She pointed to the spot and I reached into the goopy mud, felt around for a hard object, and pulled up with a mucky baby turtle! After rinsing him off the in the stream, I was able to get a few cool shots.













Here's an update photo of the baby Bluebirds - growing fast!













I found this awesome moth in my breezeway. He was really friendly and calm, so I was able to get some good photos. Isn't he neat?













Alrighty, that's all! Check back for more coming soon.

Snakey!

I found another snake!

This time, I was in the middle of teaching a program at Ashland. I was showing onion grass to the students when suddenly one girl noticed a snake slithering right around her friend's shoe! The girls screamed and backed off, but I jumped into the weeds and fished out a beautiful red-and-cream striped Eastern Milksnake! Its tummy was black-and-white checkered, and it tried to bite me several times. Needless to say, I did not allow the young students to hold it.

Below is a picture showing a Milksnake (thanks to John White, whoever you are). My snake was just as beautiful and I wish I'd thought to bring a camera!

Turtles and Tadpoles and Trails, Oh My!

Yesterday I went on another nature binge, finding among other things an exceptionally cute baby Painted Turtle! :D

Here are the toad and bullfrog tadpoles lying in wait for their adulthood - and hoping not to be caught in the little kids' nets!

And here are a few more wonders of nature that I found on my hike at Ashland.

Finally, here's a video of the little turtle being released back into the marsh. Very cute!!

A Bluebird Hatches, a Starling Dies

Well, unfortunately my foster baby Starling (Little Peep) didn't make it through the night. Sometimes the needs of those tiny little guys are just too much for a mere human to master.

But today is also a happy day because the Bluebirds have finally hatched! I took this photo of the babies just after the mother flew out and dropped a piece of eggshell on the grass.

Sorry it's blurry; they kept moving around. You can see a glimmer of light blue in there, indicating the last egg hasn't yet hatched. But it will today, because baby birds always hatch on the same day, no matter how far along they are. The fifth one to hatch is the fifth one to be laid, so it usually ends up being the runt. But, that's how Mother Nature works!

Come back in two days! I will plan to update every other day.

Mama Bluebird

Well, I wanted to see what was going on with the eggs in the bluebird box, but Mama Bluebird was sitting on her eggs. Here she is!

Froggy Friday

Look at the American Bullfrog I found sitting in the Marsh!

Five Eggs!!!!!

We now have five little eggs in the bluebird box! So I guess my one-a-day theory was correct.

Aren't they cute?!

Three Eggs!

Take a look! The Bluebirds now have 3 eggs in their nest. I suppose they have one every day. How many will they end up with ? Only time will tell.

Nesting Bluebirds

A pair of Eastern Bluebirds has decided to occupy our backyard birdhouse this year! And as of May 7th, they had laid their first light blue egg. Isn't it cute?

Here is the nest that they built with dry grasses from our lawn.




















Stay tuned for more on this special pair of birds!

Snaily!

April found this striped garden snail in Newark, Delaware this morning. Most garden snails are not so starkly colored - but this one is a real beauty!