Sometimes nature comes to you! We sat down to eat lunch yesterday and heard a tap on the window. The bugs bump the window all the time, it was nothing unusual. As I passed by the window though, something caught my attention. Look at this bug! Have you ever seen anything like it? It’s an… Continue reading Sometimes Nature Comes to You
Category: Animals
Spotted Salamanders at the North Carolina Botanical Garden
This week, we visited the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill. Our intention was to find some spring ephemerals, and we were not disappointed. However, we were not expecting to get a lesson in the life cycle of spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum). As we crossed the bridge into the Coastal Plain Habitat, we were… Continue reading Spotted Salamanders at the North Carolina Botanical Garden
Surprise on the Trail
I came around a bend in the Shiloh Greenway yesterday and was surprised to see a group (a gaggle) of six geese walking up the trail toward me. Of course, the geese are very common around here, and I often see them on the Indian Creek Greenway at the trailhead by the water. When I… Continue reading Surprise on the Trail
Wait and See
There’s always something to see in nature if you take the time to look. Today, I heard something crunching in the dry grass. It sounded like someone walking very slowly, but no one was around. I stopped for a minute to see if I could spot what was making the noise. I didn’t see anything… Continue reading Wait and See
Welcome Little Ones
Do you seen anything? Look carefully. The mallard duck family welcomed TWELVE new ducklings to the family last week!
What’s That? April 15, 2025
What’s that? This black bug with orange patches, a line of white spots, and white spikes on its back is the larva of an Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis). Asian lady beetles look similar to our native lady bugs (Coccinella septempunctata). Asian lady beetles usually have larger patches of white on their head, the number… Continue reading What’s That? April 15, 2025
What’s That? February 10, 2025
What’s that? Who made those methodical carvings in the bark of a consumption weed bush? These are one type of hole made by a yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius). The bird will lick sap from these shallow holes. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers also make neat rows of round, deep holes to find some sap. You might hear the… Continue reading What’s That? February 10, 2025
What’s That? February 8, 2024
I was walking in Bond Park the other day and noticed something peculiar. It looked like a piece of shredded wheat cereal tied to a vine. I had no idea what it was, but I knew it wasn’t a piece of cereal. After doing some research, I learned that this is an egg case from… Continue reading What’s That? February 8, 2024
What’s That? July 10, 2025
Oh my goodness! What a sight first thing in the morning! I saw something out of the corner of my eye as I walked by this tree. I thought it might be a cicada, until I got closer. What is that? It is a giant stag beetle (Lucanus elaphus). The males have these large mandibles,… Continue reading What’s That? July 10, 2025
What’s That? July 8, 2024
Is that snow? We’re in the middle of a heat wave in July, it can’t be snow! What is that? That is woolly pine scale. It’s a bug that produces a white, waxy mass on pine trees. The bug sucks the sap and nutrients out of the tree. Can you see the tiny bug under… Continue reading What’s That? July 8, 2024