January Fauna

I know it has been a while since I posted to my blog--but I'm going to renew my efforts and try to at least post some of the things I see at least once a week this year!

I'll begin with this BEAUTIFUL sunset that I got to enjoy while closing St. Stephens Park this past Saturday. I wonder why winter sunsets are so much more colorful? There must be some science behind it.

Also, for the fourth winter in a row, I have a Brown Thrasher who had decided to overwinter in my yard! I was really glad to see it again and enjoy watching it scratch around in the snow and ice to find food. I cannot get them to eat from my bird feeders at all though!

Perhaps my favorite treat this week has been watching this young Raccoon under the feeders here at Riverbend! He is so cute that I'd like to just go out and cuddle with him! (Don't worry, I know I shouldn't do it--I don't want him losing his fear of people!)

He's tried his best to get to the birdseed--but the best he can do is eat the seeds that the birds knock down for him. I guess he's been coming out for his "midnight snack" (around 12 noon) because it has been so cold and we've had snow cover all week. I really hope he gets his schedule adjusted and doesn't end up having a confrontation with any of our patrons or their dogs.

And finally, this morning I decided to look at the back of the education building at Riverbend and much to my surprise, I found a White-spotted Cankerworm Moth (Paleacrita merriccata). I was surprised to see that most of the records for this species on BugGuide were from North Carolina and most were winter records. Must be a hardy species!