NatureNotes

The rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus), colloquially called "cut-throat" due to its coloration, is a large, seed-eating grosbeak in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). It is primarily a foliage gleaner.[4] Males have black heads, wings, backs, and tails, and a bright rose colored patch on their white breast. Males and females exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. Breeding habitat consist...

Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) is one of the worst invasive plants in the South. It dominates the shrub layer and often becomes the only shrub underneath trees, especially in streamside areas. But insects and spiders living in fallen leaves and leaf litter were not affected by a privet invasion in Georgia, as a recent study shows.

A listener in the Midlands reports an unusual sighting: a western tanager. The western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), other members of its genus and it are classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.

Sparkleberry is in bloom now. Vaccinium arboreum (sparkleberry or farkleberry) is a species of Vaccinium native to the southeastern and south-central United States, from southern Virginia west to southeastern Nebraska, south to Florida and eastern Texas, and north to Illinois.

This legless lizard is sometime mistaken for a small snake.

The chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) is a bird belonging to the swift family Apodidae. A member of the genus Chaetura, it is closely related to both the Vaux's swift and the Chapman's swift; in the past, the three were sometimes considered to be conspecific. It has no subspecies. The chimney swift is a medium-sized, sooty gray bird with very long, slender wings and very short legs. Like all swift...

The northern redbelly snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata) is a nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae, a subspecies of Storeria occipitomaculata. It is sometimes referred to as a fire snake. It is endemic, North America and The Caribbean in some parts in Jamaica, and Saskatchewan to Nova Scotia in the north and south to Florida and Texas.

A listener sees an alligator in the water on Folly Beach. That's not a preferred habitat.

Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters (to which they are related). In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mudbugs, or yabbies.

The eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) is a small passerine bird. The genus name Sayornis is constructed from the specific part of Charles Lucien Bonaparte's name for Say's phoebe, Muscicapa saya, and Ancient Greek ornis, "bird". Phoebe is an alternative name for the Roman moon-goddess Diana, but it may also have been chosen to imitate the bird's call.

Nematocampa resistaria, the filament bearer, bordered thorn or horned spanworm moth, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1856. It is found in North America from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, south to Florida and California.

With warming weather, snakes are active.

Guineafowl (/ˈɡɪnifaʊl/; sometimes called "pet speckled hens, "original fow,l or "guinea hens") are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched off from the core Galliformes after the Cracidae (chachalacas, guans, and curassows) and before the Odontophoridae (New World quail)...

Symplocos tinctoria (the common sweetleaf, horse-sugar, or yellowwood) is a deciduous or evergreen shrub or tree. It is recognized by pith of twigs chambered; by foliage not notably aromatic when bruised, leaves finely hairy beneath. Shrubs or trees to 17 m tall by 36 cm.

Rudy celebrates spring with some poetic thoughts from Oliver Wendell Holmes and from Tom Hood's Song (O lady, leave thy silken thread...).

This the 300th anniversary of Mark Catesby's arrival in the New World.

Fringetrees (Chionanthus spp.) are small, deciduous ornamental trees. Two species are available, the native white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) and the Chinese fringetree (Chionanthus retusus.) The botanical name translates as snow flower, an excellent description of the fluffy, white flowers that cover fringetrees in bloom. White fringetree, also known as Grancy graybeard or old man’s beard...

In honor of Earth Day, Rudy shares a portion of the poem by Shelley, The Cloud.

Aseroe rubra, commonly known as the anemone stinkhorn, sea anemone fungus and starfish fungus, is a common and widespread basidiomycete fungus recognizable for its foul odour of carrion and its sea anemone shape when mature. Found in gardens on mulch and in grassy areas, it resembles a red star-shaped structure covered in brownish slime on a white stalk. It attracts flies, which spread its spores.

Pantherophis alleghaniensis is found in the United States east of the Apalachicola River in Florida, east of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia, east of the Appalachian Mountains, north to southeastern New York and western Vermont, eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, south to the Florida Keys. In the Florida Panhandle, it readily hybridizes with the gray rat sn...

Cope's gray treefrog (Dryophytes chrysoscelis), also called the southern gray treefrog is a species of treefrog found in the United States. It is almost indistinguishable from the gray treefrog (Dryophytes versicolor), and shares much of its geographic range. Both species are variable in color, mottled gray to gray-green, resembling the bark of trees. These are treefrogs of woodland habitats, thou...

A couple walking discover what appears to be a skull...

The southern flying squirrel or the assapan (Glaucomys volans) is one of three species of the genus Glaucomys and one of three flying squirrel species found in North America. It is found in deciduous and mixed woods in the eastern half of North America, from southeastern Canada to Florida. Disjunct populations of this species have been recorded in the highlands of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras....

The corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) is a North American species of rat snake that subdues its small prey by constriction. It is found throughout the southeastern and central United States. Though superficially resembling the venomous copperhead and often killed as a result of this mistaken identity, corn snakes lack functional venom and are harmless. Corn snakes are beneficial to humans by help...