|
This heron flew up from the pond and landed pretty much on the very top of this medium-sized pine tree and sat there gaping and vibrating its cheeks. Not sure what that behavior was.  A treetop great blue heron at Meadowlark Gardens, Vienna, Virginia
0 Comments
Saw this gray catbird while walking around one of the ponds at Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna, VA. They get their name from A) being gray, and B) making a distinctive "meow" call when not imitating other birds. Yes, they can do the mockingbird-like thing as well.  Gray catbird near the big pond at Meadowlark Gardens, Vienna, Virginia Aren't you happy I finally stopped posted photos from West Virginia? Well this is one very happy tub of Trader Joe's Ultra Chocolate ice cream. Enjoy.  Party on with Trader Joe's ice cream The green frog is a common frog found in ponds all over the eastern United States. Its call is a single loud GRUP and can be head on most any summer night near water.  A green frog (Lithobates clamitans) from a pond near Parsons, WV There were quite a lot of amphibians of two species in this pond. Five individuals are visible in this photo. Can you spot them all?  Five hiding amphibians Sometimes you just look at a tree and know there HAS to be a bat colony in there. In this case there was a colony of northern myotis bats under that big flake of exfoliating bark.  Roost tree on the Monongahela National Forest for Northern myotis bats (Myotis septentrionalis) I don't normally ID things to the subspecies level, but it is somewhat needed for this snake. There are about 9 different subspecies recognized for ringneck snakes, all of which are slightly venomous with rear fangs, except this one. The Northern ringneck snake is a docile and non-venomous small snake that prefers the dark, so typically it is only out at night and underneath something or in a burrow during the day. So imagine my surprise to see one swimming across Lake Buffalo near Durbin, WV in the middle of the day. There are a lot of bass in that lake so I was wondering if it would make it. It swam completely across the lake, and safely made it to shore.  Northern ringneck snake swimming across Lake Buffalo in the Monongahela National Forest |
AuthorKeith Christenson - Wildlife Biologist Categories
All
Author
Keith Christenson Wildlife Biologist Archives
April 2019
|
RSS Feed