Chrissy Bowker of Texas asks, “What’s this animal?” COMMON NAME: Yellow-crowned Night Heron SCIENTIFIC NAME: Nyctanassa violacea; ORDER, Pelecaniformes DIET: Mainly crustaceans, insects, and some types of fish. Occasionally, it may feed on small lizards, rodents, or other small birds. SIZE: Average height, 25 inches; Wingspan, 44 inches WEIGHT: Average weight, 1.65 pounds HABITAT: Wetlands, marshes, bayous, shallow lake shores, mangroves, and … Continue reading The Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
Species: Malacosoma disstria Chrissy Bowker of Texas asks, “What’s this animal?” The caterpillar in the picture above is none other than the Forest Tent Caterpillar, Malacosoma disstria. They are commonplace in the eastern regions of US and Canada. Down in Texas, populations are sure to be booming this spring due to the warmer than average … Continue reading The Forest Tent Caterpillar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXvW95F-lYU 14 billion years ago, the universe as we know it didn’t exist. It was smaller than an atom and more hot and dense than anything we could imagine and then…BANG! The Big Bang, in less than a second, the most fantastic mess of all time was made, expanding outward to create the wonders of … Continue reading Eco-Break S1E2: The History of Life on Earth, Part 1
I have seen this image in different incarnations and I laugh every time because it speaks so much truth. Me? I can be both. I have a tendency to allow emails to build up, especially if I know they are junk mail, and have a twice weekly purge session to get rid of the annoying … Continue reading 3 Ways to Get to Mailbox Zero
Species: Cardinalis cardinalis Order: Passeriformes Chrissy Bowker of Texas asks, “What’s this animal?” The bird in the picture above is none other than a young Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis. This one in particular is very young, presumably a recent fledgling from the nest. Hatchlings leave the … Continue reading The Northern Cardinal
That's the Spotted Apatelodes, Apatelodes torrefacta, a beautiful moth of the Bombycidae (Silkworm Moths) family which is commonly mistaken for the somewhat similar looking Sphinx Moth.
Species: Tachycineta bicolor Order: Passeriformes Chrissy Bowker of Texas (who, yes, also happens to be my mother) asks, "What's this animal?" The bird in the picture above is none other than the Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor. The Tree Swallow is an insectivorous, migratory passerine bird that breeds in … Continue reading The Tree Swallow
