Discovering Nature

Sometimes, even the tail end of wildlife can be pretty cute…

…but then, goslings are cute from all angles.

Other things, close-to-the-ground, may require a certain perspective to be seen as “cute.” At the least, they’re indisputably well adapted.

We saw any number of butterflies, including this tiny specimen — which I believe to be an American Copper.

We were not only the observers at the Nature Center we visited today, however. Sometimes, we were the observed.

I think this is a young tree swallow. It didn’t take off the way I’d expect an adult to. It just observed us keenly.

This young oriole was one of a pair of males. They appeared to be getting along equably, then suddenly the mature one chased the immature one off across the field.

I enjoyed the red-winged blackbirds around the pond.

They seem common enough, yet I find them very pleasing to the eye.

One of the first things we saw was a bluebird — our state bird. On our walk we saw any number of chipmunks in the woods, and witnessed a drama between a blue jay and several great crested flycatchers darting and screaming at him until they finally chased him away. We also saw some downy woodpeckers, and lots of evidence of woodpecker carving in the trees. The prize was a sighting of a red-eyed vireo — a bird often heard but rarely seen. It sang right over our heads for a while, pausing only to smash a caterpillar to pulp at one point.

We heard several birds we never saw: oven birds, chestnut-sided warblers, a prairie warbler, a house wren, a common yellowthroat, a cardinal. A few months ago, a robin sighting would have been a highly prized assurance of spring; today we saw many robins without a second thought. A yellow warbler posed nicely for pictures (which I’ve posted in the preceding post).

Fortunately we got by without seeing a timber rattler. They’re common, but snake sightings in general (especially poisonous ones) are so far an aspect of nature study that has failed to win me over.

Tanglewood, the preserve we visited today, was a bit of a drive for us. It’s a nicely situated place with lots of walking trails and a mixture of meadow, pond and woodland. The grounds are well-kept both outside, and inside the nature center. They have a few captive raptors (a broad-winged hawk, a red-tail, a barred owl and a great horned owl), a possum, and a few other small rodents, birds, and reptiles. They also have an active honeybee colony — very neat to see. The exhibits are much nicer than our local nature center, which is choked with dusty taxidermy specimens, only a few of which are native species. It’s a hodge-podge, really, like someone’s attic full of collected natural artifacts. But at Tanglewood the exhibits are thoughtfully organized and effective as an educational experience.