Sweetbriar Has a New Owl

Friday, June 28, 2019,

This is a baby Barn Owl and that is my leg and boot in these photographs. Pretty cool, huh? This not-so-little critter is one of the newest charges at Sweetbriar Nature Center. It is a captive bred owl and it was given to Sweetbriar for educational purposes. When fully mature, Barn owls are truly magnificent animals and this young beauty is a very welcome addition to the Sweetbriar family.

JK

Wood Frogs

Wednesday, May 1, 2019,

These are two photographs of Wood Frogs. The male is in the pic above and the female is below. As you can see, the two genders look fairly different than each other. The male is darker and largely brown in color. The females tend to be lighter and often wear a rust coloration. Also, while you cannot tell in these photographs, the female is the larger of the two.

In early Spring, the males and females head for freshwater ponds and lakes. The males sing out their calls, which, believe it or not, sound rather like ducks quacking. The female finds her prince and lays her eggs. Once she has done so, the male fertilizes the egg mass and then everybody parts ways till next year. The photo below is of one of the egg masses. After the eggs hatch into tadpoles and the tadpoles morph into juvenile frogs, this new generation will also leave the pond, only to return the following year. JK

JK

Cryptic Chick

Tuesday, September 11, 2018,

Check out at how well this young Wild Turkey blends into the background. Full grown Turkeys don’t have many natural predators here on Long Island but their chicks, which are also known as poults, need to keep out of sight and off the menu. A fox or even one of the larger hawks could easily make a meal out of a young Turkey. I imagine that’s the reason that poults don’t dress as flashily as their fathers. JK