Posts Tagged ‘education’
Wildlife Wednesday 06/25/25
Happy #WildlifeWednesday! If you’ve hiked to our pond lately, you may have noticed rows and piles of painted turtles covering the logs and banks. The most widespread native turtle in North America, they are abundant in Ohio and can be easily found in freshwater aquatic habitats including ponds, lakes, and slow-moving streams. They can be…
Read MoreSummer Solstice 2025
Summer solstice, the astronomical beginning of summer, occurs after the Sun sets on Friday, June 20, 2025, at 10:42PM EDT. Solstice is Latin for “Sun Stand Still.” This came from the observation that the Sun’s position appears to stop or stand still in the days surrounding the solstice. For those of us in the northern…
Read MoreFireflies
Fireflies come out at dusk and mesmerize and delight us with their flashing lights. These beetles have been around for 100 million years. More than 2,200 species are found on every continent except Antarctica. In North America alone there are nearly 170 different species of flashing fireflies. Despite all their success as a species, in…
Read MoreWildlife Wednesday 06/18/2025
Happy #WildlifeWednesday! We are so excited for our Firefly Festival next weekend, so let’s enjoy some fun facts about fireflies! Fireflies are soft-bodied beetles commonly referred to as lightning bugs. There are more than 2,000 species in the firefly (Lampyridae) family. Many but not all of the species produce light as adults. There are about…
Read MoreWildlife Wednesday 05/28/2025
Happy #WildlifeWednesday! Recently spotted on our Wilderness Walk trail is this large communal nest of the Eastern tent caterpillar. These caterpillars, which will eventually become moths, are among the most social of larvae. An adult female moth lays her eggs in late spring or early summer. She lays just one batch each year, containing about…
Read MoreWildlife Wednesday 04/30/25
Happy #WildlifeWednesday! It’s that time of year when white-tailed deer babies begin to be seen curled up in yards and on lawns. Fawns are born in Ohio between May and July and although they are able to walk at birth, they need to spend several weeks with their mother for food and protection. Mother deer…
Read MoreWildlife Wednesday 04/23/2025
Happy #WildlifeWednesday! It is almost the delightful time of year known as “baby bird season” and geese and ducks can be spotted swimming and waddling around with their numerous adorable offspring in tow. Canada Geese and Mallards are the most common waterfowl that make their homes at TWC’s Wilderness Lake and it can be tempting…
Read MoreDekay’s Brownsnake
Dekay’s brownsnake is common, small, secretive, nocturnal and seldom found out in the open. Their Latin name is Storeria dekayi. The species name dekayi honors James Ellsworth Dekay, a naturalist/zoologist who collected the first specimen of this snake on Long Island, New York and Storeria honors David Humphreys Storer, an American physician/naturalist/ zoologist. This is…
Read MoreWildlife Wednesday 04/09/2025
Happy #WildlifeWednesday! You may have noticed more than the usual number of large dark birds circling and soaring in the sky overhead lately. Welcome back, Turkey Vultures! While some Turkey Vultures stay in Ohio all year, most migrate for the winter, traveling to the southern USA and even as far as South America. Often associated…
Read MoreWildlife Wednesday 03/26/2025
Hoppy #WildlifeWednesday! Wood frogs have recently been treating vernal pool habitats to their loud quacking chorus of song, so let’s learn some fun facts about these fascinating amphibians! Wood frogs are forest-dwelling and spend most of their time during warm months on the ground near freshwater wetlands. They have extreme cold tolerance, and in the…
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