NatureNotes

The American woodcock (Scolopax minor), sometimes colloquially referred to as the timberdoodle, the bogsucker, the hokumpoke, and the Labrador twister, is a small shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America. Woodcocks spend most of their time on the ground in brushy, young-forest habitats, where the birds' brown, black, and gray plumage provides excellent camouflage.

This is the time of year when birds, in search of seed, seek out winter fruit.

Even this time of year, you might hear spring peepers, chorus frogs, or wood frogs, depending where you are in South Carolina.

The bowfin (Amia calva) is a bony fish, native to North America. Common names include mudfish, mud pike, dogfish, grindle, grinnel, swamp trout, and choupique. It is regarded as a relict, being the sole surviving species of the Halecomorphi, a group of fish that first appeared during the Early Triassic, around 250 million years ago.

The evening grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina) is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae found in North America.

Fagus grandifolia, the American beech or North American beech, is a species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and extreme southeast of Canada.

Rudy shares Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Flower in the crannied wall..."

The turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus Cathartes of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America. It inhabits a variety of open and semi-open areas, including subtropical forests, shrublands, pastures, and deserts.

The anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from a'ñinga in the Brazilian Tupi language and means "devil bird" or "snake bird". The origin of the name is apparent when swimming: only the neck appears above water so the bird looks like a snake ready to strike.

A frost flower or ice flower is formed when thin layers of ice are extruded from long-stemmed plants in autumn or early winter. The thin layers of ice are often formed into exquisite patterns that curl into "petals" that resemble flowers.

A long time bird watcher reports a white-crowned sparrow sighting, but not in a region of South Carolina where one might usually find it.

Foxfire, also called fairy fire and chimpanzee fire, is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to a luciferase, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with a luciferin. The phenomenon has been known since ancient times, with its source determined in 1823.

Rudy shares a list of birds that he sighted in his backyard during the Christmas cold snap.

Hemaris thysbe, the hummingbird clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae (hawkmoths). Coloration varies between individuals, but typically the moth is olive green and burgundy on its back, and white or yellow and burgundy on the underside. Its wings are transparent with a reddish-brown border. It has light-colored legs, which combined with the lack of striping on the underside is diagnostic....

The eastern hog-nosed snake (Heterodon platirhinos), also known as the spreading adder and by various other common names, is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to North America. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.

Maclura pomifera, commonly known as the Osage orange, is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, native to the south-central United States. It typically grows about 8 to 15 metres (30–50 ft) tall. The distinctive fruit, a multiple fruit, is roughly spherical, bumpy, 8 to 15 centimetres (3–6 in) in diameter, and turns bright yellow-green in the fall. The fruits secrete a sticky white latex when cut...

Rudy shares some of his favorite birds that winter in South Carolina.

Can a fungus kill an insect? Yes!

Storeria dekayi, commonly known as De Kay's brown snake, De Kay's snake, and simply the brown snake (along with many others), is a small non-venomous species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to North America and Central America.

Rudy shares a quote from Walt Whitman.

The Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) is a species of house gecko common to the Mediterranean area which has spread to many parts of the world.

Anisomorpha buprestoides, the southern two-striped walkingstick, devil rider, or musk mare, is a stick insect (order Phasmatodea: otherwise known as "phasmids" or walkingsticks) which occurs throughout the southeastern United States. Anisomorpha buprestoides is a large, stout (for a stick insect) brown phasmid with three conspicuous longitudinal black stripes. Females average 67.7 mm (2.67 in) in...

Hypoconcha sp. (shellback crabs) are among some of the most interesting decapod crustaceans. As members of the Dromiidae family, these crabs have fourth and fifth walking legs that are modified to secure a bivalve shell on their back for protection. They can bear a fragment or a whole shell that is larger than their body size.

The bobcat (Lynx rufus), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2002, due to its wide distribution and large population. Although it has been hunted extensively both for sport and fur, populations have proven s...

Rudy shares some words from John Lubbock.