I have observed four species of hawks that are year-round residents of Nixon Park. Two are Accipiters: woodland or bird hawks with short wings and a long tails enabling them to hunt and chase birds through the forest. Two are Buteos; broad wings and shorter tails designed for soaring
Birds are easier to photograph once the leaves start to fall. Some of our winter migrants like the Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows have started arriving in numbers. Sign up for Nature Walks at Anson B. Nixon Park — Tuesdays 9:30–10:30AM Juncos and Sparrows have started
Nearly every time I visit the park there are vultures soaring overhead. Both Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) and Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) are in the park year-round. If you see a large bird in the air above the park it's almost certainly a vulture. Vultures spend a
Migration season continues, keep your eye on the sky and you may catch migratory species like the bald eagle above. Sign up for Nature Walks at Anson B. Nixon Park — Tuesdays 9:30–10:30AM Sign up for Nature Walks at Anson B. Nixon Park — Tuesdays 9:30–10:30AM
It's well into migration season and one of our winter resident sparrows has begin showing up after a summer in the north. The melancholy sweet call of the White Throated Sparrow will accompany me through my winter walks. Their song is something like "oh sweet Can-a-
The largest part of most fungi is hidden underground or inside the fallen trees where they grow. An unseen web of fine mycelium threads supports each fungus's visible "fruiting body." The fruiting bodies appear in many forms, and one of the best times to see them
Over the past week or so the edge of the forest around the ponds has been alive with dozens of sparrow-sized birds darting in and out of the trees, swooping over the ponds for insects, diving back for cover and calling out a flat, husky "chek" as
At the autumnal equinox earth reached the mid point in its slow annual tilt away from the sun. From this point the angle of the sun's rays grow steeper and the daylight hours shorter until we reach the shortest daylight at the winter solstice and begin the slow
There are far fewer dragonflies and damselflies this year likely owing to the extended drought two years ago. Most species take one or two years to develop as bnymphs underwater alomng the edge of the ponds. When the drought lowered the pond levels a couple of years ago for an
Sign up for Nature Walks at Anson B. Nixon Park — Tuesdays 9:30–10:30AM Sign up for Nature Walks at Anson B. Nixon Park — Tuesdays 9:30–10:30AM
Fledglings make a lot of racket, and none are louder than Red-tailed Hawks. One morning this week I heard a Red-tailed hawk calling repeatedly but I couldn't spot it. I thought it may be a Blue Jay imitating the hawk's call (they are very
The oak slug sawfly (Caliroa annulipes) is neither a slug or a fly. The first thing you notice is the leaves of this swamp oak, they look skeletonized. Turn the leaf over and you find club-shaped translucent worms coated in wet mucus like a slug. It's the