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
Fledglings have started showing up, like the Bluebirds above they will follow their parents around for a week or so demanding to be fed. 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
Photography was difficult during our long stretch of gray rainy weather, But here's the latest observations. 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
Sign up for Nature Walks at Anson B. Nixon Park — Tuesdays 9:30–10:30AM
Philadelphia Fleabane has been blooming all over the park in the past week. It's hard to miss, it looks like a small daisy on overdrive. What appears to be a single flower is actually a central disc of hundreds of tiny yellow blooms surrounded by more than 150
Sign up for Nature Walks at Anson B. Nixon Park — Tuesdays 9:30–10:30AM The late April frost damaged many tress at the park, but they have a fallback strategy. Frost damaged leaves stop producing hormones that suppress dormant buds - those buds grow and replace the damaged leaves. which