Last Post of the year

If you noticed the new picture at the top of this blog, and have read my past few posts, you guessed it!
Mr. Muncher, my Male Black Swallowtail, hatched in early December. As i lay on my bed, i heard what sounded like paper crinkling above my head. I looked up at his cage hanging on my ceiling, and saw him breaking out of his brown chrysalis. He should have overwintered in his chrysalis, bu, being inside, he must have thought that spring had came early. That picture came from his first flight, indoors of course, where he circled the tree several times before landing on it. Simply amazing, considering that he stayed inside our house for the few cold days without power during a past storm. He seems to be laying what looks like eggs on the side of his mesh cage, but they are obviously unfertilized. I feed him a paper towel in a dish soaked with sugar water, and the occasion orange slice, which he seems to ignore. I carried him to our grandparent's house over vacation, not wanting to leave him alone. I have been inspired by this little creature and am ordering more for the spring, along with Monarchs and Tiger Swallowtails. You can too, just visit butterflyworkx.com/. Info on swallowtails and monarchs, just go to http://www.joyfulbutterfly.com/articles/blackswallowtailindoors.html or http://www.monarchwatch.org/rear/index.htm. All right readers. This has been a great year for Westport Wildlife, and I look forward to sharing the plans of the future wildlife garden at my home, in our THIRD year of blogging. I hope you had a wonderful year and that luck continues throughout 2012!
-Charlie Colasurdo

A Few Cool New Species to Close out the year...

Matilda's horned viper



World's Smallest Frogs

 African dwarf sawshark

Cyclops Shark

Mind-Control Fungus



Paleo Prizes

As promised, I have great pctures of the fossils won at the Paleo Bowl-

Amnonite Pair

Mosasaur Tooth

Trilobite

Yale Paleo Knowledge Bowl 2011

Hello all. I have some very exciting news, which also has to do with myself being MIA. My team of 2 other dino-savvy 4-6th graders and I have been studying for the annual Paleo Knowledge Bowl hosted at the Peabody Museum up in New Haven. My team was Based at the Wilton Public Library, under the teaching of Mr. Darrell Fennel, and his daughter, Katherine. The bowl was a series of questions, quite like a spelling bee, minus spelling. It started with a written exam, followed by 2 rounds where we spoke out our nswers. It all lead up to the final round, which we got into, and we won the entire bowl, beating another team by a mere 1 point. It felt really good, and I would like to personally thank the news blogs WestportNow, Patch, TheDailyWestport, and Dan Woog from 06880 for sharing this story. Anyway, we won some pretty cool stuff like...





This Shirt and Trophy (Cast Parasaurolophus Skull)

A Mosasaur (Giant Marine Reptile) Tooth

2 Ammonites (Nautilis-like Creature)

1 Trilobite (Arthropod)

A 1 year family membership

And best of all, a behind the scenes tour of the collections.

Pictures coming soon.

Mr. Muncher

I know what you think, what the heck is this? Well, for those who dont know butterflies, its is a Black Swallowtail, which I found eating a parsley plant last Sunday. He would have frozen if it was not in the safety of a warm living room. I set him up, and now he is changing, and fast. Here is what he used to look like, say... yesterday:

And this is what he will look like when he/she emerges from his cocoon:

Anyway, I will kepp you posted on how he develops.

Backyard Hawk

Sorry I have not posted in a while, busy with school and moving. But, I have  A beautiful picture of a hawk that should make up for it.

Day at the beach

Species found:
Blue Crab Male
Several Lady Crabs Male
Spider Crab Male
Asian Crab Female
Green Crab Female

Trip to Stony Brook

Crayfish

Salamander

Make Way for... Goslings?

Into The Nest

I was able to snap a few close-up photos of a robins' nest while the mother was away. Notice the unusual 5 eggs in the nest, it is almost always 4.

Turnpike Turkey Has a Family!!

These three toms were found courting and displaying for their fture mates, one of them probably Turnpike Turkey.



Turnpike Turkey strikes again

Turnpike Turkey stopped by the neighborhood today, strutting through several yards before disappearing up the next street.

Chipmunk in the garage

This little Chipmunk scrambled into our garage today. He finally fell into a bucket and we released him outside.

UPDATE

4:30 PM- We found the female Turkey wandering around our street again. It may be disoriented, because it left earlier in the opposite direction.

Nature News

Sunday- I got a better look at the swallow nesting site on a ladder, and did not find the parents. Seconds later, 1 is darting by the nest, and circling our house, apparently defending its territory. Snapped this photo of it perched on our rooftop.

Also, I visited Stony Brook, and saw that it is much polluted with bags, bottles, and other plastic items. Planning to go back with boots and a garbage bag to clean it up.The higher areas of Stony Brook are not much polluted though.

Monday Around 8:00 AM- I found this Wild Turkey hen strolling through our yard today. I am glad the Turkeys are returning to our property, especially after finding the 3 on our street in April. I talked to a neighbor and found that she saw 1 last week on our street. I will conduct a census on Turkeys soon. A feather from a Turkey was found close to our house on Saturday. The picture of her shows that she is streaking through the trees.

The Secret Life of Rodents

 Eastern Chipmunk on stone wall

Eastern Gray Squirrel snacks on a nut

Look What I Found!

These Baby Robins were found earlier today in a spruce in my backyard. They have nested in a Spruce every year. Robins sure love Conifers! Robins have nested on our yard for over 6 years. We love them.

Bandits on the path!

These Raccoon tracks were spotted late today on my walkway. Found the guy raiding our garbage cans. First Raccoon in our yard.

Nature Museum

This is my Nature Nuseum I have established in my room. I have exibits on Feathers, Turtles, Rocks and Minerals, Gold Mining, Crustaceans (Crabs, Lobsters, Shrimp) and Local Farming.

Spring Peeper

This spring peeper was found in my yard today. Spring Peepers are tree frogs, so they have sticky feet instead of webbed. You can often hear them croaking at night.
Find out more @: http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=325764&depNav_GID=1655

Nest count

Total nests on property: 3

Purple Finch

Wren

Robin

Spider on the loose

Soaring

Double Whammy

These three salamanders, one Two-lined, and two Redbacks were found today. 2 different species!

Far left: Two-lined, center & far right: Redback

Squirrels!

Yum!

Strechhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

More Salamanders!!!

Pet Pictures

These are pictures of my three beloved pets:

Crayfish

Two Red Eared Sliders

The old Birdhouse

We have such an old birdhouse in are yard, but it seems to attract many birds.