On the fence

Also in Greensboro...

Come down from there

This groundhog has been in a tree in my parents' backyard for hours.

Flowering trees

Two flowering trees I don't know the names of.

Five salamanders

Today is rainy and cool. Here are some salamanders at Middle Run Nature Preserve. As we learned in last year's class, some types of salamanders lay eggs in water in the early spring, and the tadpoles live in the water for a few months as they develop. Then they leave the stream and find burrows under logs. At least one of these is a red-back salamander, which doesn't have an aquatic stage of life.

Besides the salamanders, I saw lots of plants in bud. I will work on identifying them.

Birds today included an Eastern towhee, a couple of woodpeckers I couldn't identify, and this mockingbird with an amazing repertoire.

Lastly, let us not forget this millipede.

Peter Peter Peter

This morning, it was the titmouse's turn.

I listened to some other recordings on Youtube and the Cornell site--it's interesting to hear differences in the speed and pitch of songs of individual birds!

Okra time

A slight departure today: pictures of the okra-planting process.

Christina River

A few things I learned at DEEC today while walking around with a class from Easter Seals:

1.) One barn swallow can eat ten thousand mosquitoes in a day.

2.) Bachelor beavers often live in burrows rather than dams. They cut down whole trees and drag them to the bottom of the river--the "cooler" keeps the trees greener longer, so the beavers can eat them all winter.

3.) Binoculars are fun.

The river

Buds

Whatever this is (or was), poor thing (meadow vole?)