Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

As fall draws closer, migration is in full swing with birds, dragonflies, and butterflies traveling hundreds of miles to reach wintering grounds along the coast, towards the interior, or even further south towards Mexico and South America. At the Trinity Center, some of our most noticeable migrants are yellow-bellied sapsuckers, cloudless sulphur butterflies and,  green darner dragonflies . Animal migration is triggered by several factors including seasonal changes, food availability, and reproductive needs. During this time of year, I keep my eyes peeled to look out for these incredible travelers, allowing me to catch a glimpse of an important event in Nature’s calendar. Sapsucker and bluebird at Stony Brook-Millstone Preserve in Pennington, NJ. Photo by me.  Yellow-bellied sapsuckers ( Sphyrapicus varius ) are common winter residents to the pine forests of coastal North Carolina. While their name is certainly creative, they don’t exactly suck sap. As a member of t...

October is a strange month. Everything about it reeks of Hallowe'en or pumpkin flavoring or the last dregs of summer slowly fading into the bright fall colors and fresh breezes that we all wait for in the waning month of August. But there is something else just as noticeable as fall arrives and settles in and those are the abundant insects and other invertebrates that seem more visible than ever. While they are not a group that many are willing to actively look out for, they certainly are common enough to warrant a second look. This is the time of year when the crickets are in full song and the fuzziest caterpillars are migrating over the lawns and fields looking for a safe place to hole up for the winter months. It is also the time for the last butterflies flitting through the sunshine and for spiders to build their webs in wide open spaces to capture their abundant and unsuspecting prey. It has been over the past few weeks that several new and familiar invertebrates have caug...

Apologies for not having posted for the past few weeks, but camp takes up a lot of time and energy during the week. So instead of a long winded explanation of my exploits over the past few weeks, I thought I'd treat you all to my photos of the flowers, shrubs, and trees I've seen over the past few weeks. I hope you enjoy them. A bumblebee ( Bombus spp. ) feeds on an Echinacea purpurea in my girlfriend's parent's garden. A presumed Dun Skipper ( Euphyes bimacula ) feeds on nectar from one of the many E. purpurea in the garden. Another close up of the skipper as it feeds on nectar using its proboscis. A Great Spangled Fritillary ( Speyeria cybele ) feeds on nectar as a bumblebee ( Bombus spp. ) intrudes. An impressive mode of feeding indeed. A presumed American Lady ( Vanessa virginiensis ) rests on a small E. purpurea . A damaged skipper rests on the petals of E. purprurea . A Day-Lily ( Hemerocallis spp. ) grows in the rough sec...