Sense of Place

Animals

Notes on the lives of animals as they move through familiar and distant places.

  • What is the coldest environment birds can tolerate?

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in

    A Triangle Naturalist reader recently asked: “Is there a temperature limit past which birds can no longer withstand the elements?” While many bird species migrate to avoid to the chill of winter in temperate climates, some species, like the Emperor Penguin live year-round in frigid Antarctica, where temperatures can dip below -76°F and winds roar…

  • Where do birds go when it snows?

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in

    On days like this, when the snow drifts down steadily in large, dense clumps, where do all the birds go? Many birds species spend the winter in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Some species, like Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, spend their time in mixed foraging flocks, searching for food sources as a group. Other…

  • Brown Snakes at Mason Farm Biological Reserve (Chapel Hill, NC)

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in

    One of the most delightful surprises of warm autumn days is finding snakes warming themselves on the walking paths that cut through forest and field. Today, temperatures reached at least 72°F in the Triangle, and snakes were out basking in the sun. At Mason Farm Biological Reserve, we found three DeKay’s brown snakes (Storeria dekayi)…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: September in the Piedmont

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in ,

    BirdsSeptember brings an early pulse of winter residents back to the Piedmont, including Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, occasional Red-breasted Nuthatches, and a suite of wrens (Winter, Sedge, and Marsh) and sparrows (Swamp and White-throated). Ruby-crowned Kinglets—tiny olive-gray birds with a bright red crown patch (usually hidden)—also return this month after spending the summer in conifer forests of…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: April in the Piedmont

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in ,

    BirdsApril launches spring migration in earnest, and the next couple of months can bring a steady stream of northbound travelers. Watch for wood-warblers (including Golden-winged, Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Bay-breasted, and Blackpoll), along with herons (such as Little Blue Herons, Black-crowned Night-Herons, and Cattle Egrets), thrushes (Veery, Gray-cheeked, and Swainson’s), and sandpipers…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: February in the Piedmont

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in ,

    BirdsIn 1936, writer and naturalist Donald Culross Peattie opined that “February is a good month in which to make friends with the birds of a great city.” In North Carolina, he may be right: winter still holds steady in February, and the bird community changes more slowly than it will later in spring. Some of…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: January in the Piedmont

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in ,

    BirdsIn the depth of winter, as you walk through quiet woods, you may come across a lone thrush standing at attention, its delicately speckled throat exposed. The Hermit Thrush is a gifted songster, but its voice is mostly muted here; it saves its ethereal song for spring, when it returns to its breeding grounds in…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: October in the Piedmont

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in ,

    Birds.− October marks the beginning of food-caching — a food storage strategy developed to sustain year-round avian residents throughout the lean winter. Caching strategies vary by species: red-bellied woodpeckers might store acorns in holes high up in the cracks and cavities of trees, while American crows might simply thrust a left-over meal into the loose soil…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: August in the Piedmont

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in ,

    BirdsIn August, early migrants—including Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, and Blackburnian Warblers—begin passing through North Carolina as they head toward the Neotropics for the winter. Most will look duller than they did in spring, having molted out of their vibrant breeding plumage and into drabber winter attire. Many insect-eating (“vermivorous”) warblers stop briefly in the Piedmont to refuel,…

  • GREAT EXPECTATIONS: July in the Piedmont

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    by

    Nicolette Cagle
    in ,

    BirdsThis month, lucky birdwatchers may catch a glimpse of uncommon visitors such as Common Mergansers, Tricolored Herons, Little Blue Herons, and Snowy Egrets. Sandpipers also begin returning to the Piedmont. As summer deepens, the melodious songs of many birds fade, though Indigo Buntings can still be heard singing from high perches. Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)…