Early signs of spring are starting to come to life. The view from my kitchen window is now more brown than white and last weekend was warm enough to start weeding in my greenhouse. I was serenaded this week by robins, a cardinal, and my first Red-winged Blackbird of the year. At the Museum, our animals are noticing a shift in the season, too.
The male tree frog is now often caught with an inflated throat and his loud trill echos through the quiet Museum. His female roommate meanwhile seems to ignore his advertisements while devouring mealworms after months of minimal appetite. Digger the hognose snake is similarly feeling hunger pains, finally deciding to eat a mouse for the first time since October.
Outside in the mews, Carson the hawk is starting to rearrange sticks in her enclosure to prepare a nest. And Aldo the kestrel is busy advertising his own nest. Wild kestrels claim cavity nests in trees or human-made nest boxes. So I can't explain why Aldo decides to display on the gravel, but this is his favorite spot to greet us in the morning during nesting season:
Comments