Pickerel frog heard "snoring" in Universal Pond

Pickerel frog (Rana palustris)

You know spring is near when the male frogs start to croak for mates.

We have been hearing chorus frogs and spring peepers for several days at the nature center, but on Monday, 27 February, staff vet Dr. Louise Conrad heard a pickerel frog calling from the Universal Pond in front of the Visitor Center.

Pickerel frogs are generally tan with large squarish spots down their flanks. Their calls are described as a low-pitched snore, "yeeeeeeeowwwwwww."


- Stephen Lyn Bales

Join Ijams at Rose Glen in Sevierville

The third annual Rose Glen Literary Festival will be Saturday in Sevierville. Open to authors either from Sevier County or who have written about the county or the Great Smokies, the festival runs from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

This year Ijams' own Paul James and Stephen Lyn Bales will speak at 10 a.m.

Bill Landry and Michael Knight are the keynote speakers at the luncheon.

Join us.

Ijams' opossum celebrates second birthday

Dr. Louise Conrad with our now two-year-old opossum

Time flies. And opossums age. But, then again, don't we all.

The Ijams opossum, a beloved favorite education animal, is celebrating her second birthday. A school field trip highpoint, she is often shown to woos and ahhs.

Injured two years ago, she was taken to UT Veterinary Hospital and treated but ultimately it was determined she was non-releasable. Although in the wild, Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana)—North America's only marsupial—rarely live past the age of three (a remarkably short lifespan for any mammal). However, we are hopeful that with the constant care of our on-staff vet, Dr. Louise Conrad, our sweet marsupial lives many, many more years.

- Text and photos by Stephen Lyn Bales.

A photo taken shortly after her arrival in 2010.

Bluebird box workshop adds 19 new nesting sites

Ijams annual Bluebird Box Workshop was last Saturday. Peg Beute reports that a total of 19 new nesting sites have been added to the Knox County yards.


Bluebirds, Carolina wrens, chickadees, tree swallows, as well as titmice all use the same size nest box. (Although with titmice, it needs to be 15 feet above the ground.) With the warmer temperatures many of the local cavity nesters are already starting to check out and perhaps even claim territory. And what better territory than a box made at Ijams? 


Thank you to all who attended. We still have a few unassembled boxes in case you want to purchase one. Proceeds go to the education department. Contact Peg at 577-4717, ext. 114.


- Stephen Lyn Bales

Despite the cold, witch hazel blooms near Plaza Pond

Albeit seems late in the season—since they normally bloom in November, the last plant to flower during the growing season—the witch hazel planted near the Plaza Pond in front of the Visitor Center is beautiful in yellow fringe.

Apparently, there are two species of the witch: Hamamelis virginiana and H. vernalis in our area, and sources tell me the latter blooms later, and I've been looking forward to writing a sentence where I could use a phrase that included both latter and later. So, there you go.

Rather than being an early sign of spring, with today's blast of sub-freezing temperatures, it's a late sign of winter.

- Stephen Lyn Bales

The holidays are officially over

It's official: the holidays are over.

Every year people bring their castoff Christmas trees to Ijams to have them recycled. The first one usually shows up the day after Christmas; the last one sometime after Groundhog Day. (Yes. Some folks hold onto that holiday spirit much longer than others.)

This morning Ed, Ben, Warren and Zach sent 351 Fraser firs and other assorted conifers through the shredder. The resulting mulch will be used in the landscaping at Ijams. And for now, the parking lot smells very evergreeny.

- Stephen Lyn Bales

Bird WalkAbouters found more bonhomie than birds

Birding along Volunteer Landing: coots, gulls, ducks.

Birding at Seven Islands in search of raptors produced more herons and sparrows.

Although this has not been a typically cold winter, it has produced its share of heavy overcast, deary days. We're talking gray. 

The last two birding WalkAbouts have really kindled more bonhomie than birds. Still just getting out and strolling with folks is uplifting in itself. N'est-ce pas?

We did get a good look at the topless Henley Street Bridge. 

- Stephen Lyn Bales.

The now topless Henley Street Bridge,  January 28, 2012

Seed swappers swap seeds, talk gardening

Ijams 18th Annual Seed Swap got everyone at Ijams talking about their gardening plans for the new year. And all of those new old varieties they wanted to try. Peg Beute's appearance on Live@5@4 was smashing. Just ask Russell. 


Also watch for Peg's Living Clean & Green's Winter Gardening series. The next: The Harvest is scheduled for Saturday, February 4 at 11 a.m.


Here's a hint: It does include lunch!

Cranes draw Ijams group to Hiwassee

Our WalkAbout trip to Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge yesterday turned up several sandhill cranes plus a wonderful view of a playful dogfight between a bald eagle and a northern harrier.

The whooping cranes and rare Asian hooded crane that are spending their winter at the Meigs County refure managed to stay hidden all afternoon.

Despite what we did not see and the cold wind blowing in from the west, it was still a memorable outing.

- Text and photos by Stephen Lyn Bales

Bald eagle spotted at Ijams near river

On an early walk this morning, Ijams educator Sarah Brobst found a bald eagle perched above the boat dock downstream from the boardwalk. (This same dock is the best place to see prothonotary warblers in May and June.) 

In December and January, mated pairs of eagles begin courtship and the nesting process. Eggs are usually produced in February. 


A nesting pair has been reported the last several years on the lower Holston, upstream from Ijams. Wouldn't it be grand if a pair claims Ijams?


We'll keep you posted. You betcha. 


- By Stephen Lyn Bales

Ijams at Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge

It's that time!

Congratulations to the planners and producers of Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge. It's one week of nature and Smoky Mountain related programs, talks and field trips all free to the public.

For the seventh year in a row, Ijams Nature Center is involved with a display and presentations with five programs throughout the week.

Wednesday, January 11: 3 PM

Putting the Pigeon Back in Pigeon Forge: 

Tales of the Extinct Passenger Pigeon

Paul James

Thursday, January 12: 11 AM 

Identifying Local Birds of Prey

Stephen Lyn Bales

Thursday, January 12: 1 PM 

The Making of Audubon's The Birds of America

Stephen Lyn Bales

Friday, January 13: 9:30 AM 

Ijams Family Legacy in the Smokies

Paul James

Thursday, January 13: 1 PM 

Ghost Birds! The Historic Search for

the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

Stephen Lyn Bales


Please, attend one or all! And stop by the Ijams booth to say hello.

Last scheduled program of 2011: Happy Holidays!

It was cold, two days before Christmas with just enough time to squeeze in one final WalkAbout before the holiday break.

Special thanks to all who came out for the bird walk along Will Skelton Greenway to the west.

Looking forward to other adventures in 2011!


- Happy Holidays: Stephen Lyn Bales

28th Annual Holiday Craft Party is Saturday

Logdeer welcome visitors to the nature center

Once upon a time—and indeed, many of us still remember it—most holiday decorations were made by the family.

Kids would sit around the kitchen table with mom crafting ornaments, wreaths and cards, family keepsakes that would last for years. It was also an excellent way to keep little hands busy (and little minds occupied) waiting for the day when the Big Guy "tarnished with ashes and soot" would somehow make his way down the chimney with a bound. How did he do that?

Unwrapping those heirlooms every December brought back a flood of memories of holidays past, that is if the mice hadn't eaten the strings of popcorn and cranberries.

Those days are alive and well at Ijams.

This Saturday, December 17, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. is our 28th Annual Holiday Craft Party.

Celebrate the holiday season with this recycled craft open house. Learn how to reuse common household items to make fun and festive gifts and decorations like candles, cards and ornaments. Creative keepsakes that will become family heirlooms. Cost: $2 for Ijams members, $5 for non-members. Please call (865) 577-4717, ext. 110 to register.


- Text and photos by Stephen Lyn Bales

The garland at the entrance to the Visitor Center is mostly boxwood from the original shrubs
planted by Alice Ijams over 60 years ago.

Surprisingly hard-to-find, logdeer seen at nature center

Ever-alert and hard-to-find woodland logdeers

Ijams does not often have deer. Although they are routinely seen at Forks of the River WMA due east of the nature center, the fleet and nimble hoofed-ones are rarely here, that is until this week when three woodland logdeer were spotted outside the Visitor Center. 


- Text and photo by Stephen Lyn Bales.  

Winter Bird WalkAbouters brave the cold day

Sometimes, the thrill IS in the hunt. You may not find a lot but it's the camaraderie of the group that saves the day.

So it was for our Saturday Winter Bird WalkAbout. Our goal was to find birds that only spend their winters in the Tennessee Valley; their summers are spent elsewhere.

It was chilly, almost cold. On a walk east of the Visitor Center on the Will Skelton Greenway the only winter bird we managed to find was a single yellow-rumped warbler.

But even so, it was a good day.

The next Winter Bird WalkAbout will be Friday, December 23 at 2 PM. To sign up call 577-4717, ext. 110. 

Yellow-rumped warbler winter plumage

- Text by Stephen Lyn Bales. Warbler photo by Alan D. Wilson.

Pair of ivory-bills find 'forever home' at Ijams

"Two stuffed and mounted ivory-billed woodpeckers (one a male and one a female) finally found a forever home as a part of Ijams Nature Center's lost species exhibit.

The amazing story of how they came to be donated involves a beautiful old picture frame, a lifelong friendship between two men who grew up together in Worcester County, Mass., two friends in a Knoxville book club, and a letter written by Ijams Director Paul James."

For the rest of the story, go the Birdlife column by Marcia Davis at ivory-bills' journey.


- Photo by Stephen Lyn Bales

Birthday parties are fun, especially if you are a butterfly

Flutter by. Flutter by. Even in early December you can find butterflies at Ijams. Especially if you plan a butterfly-themed Birthday Party with Kara.


This afternoon butterflies of all colors (and one yellow-and-black bumble bee boy) were seen flitting about all over the Visitor Center and Plaza. It was a delight to all who happened to be anywhere nearby. Summer is eternal in the hearts of the young.


Happy Birthday, Gryphon!


For more information about having your child's birthday at Ijams contact Kara Remington. 


- Text and photos by Stephen Lyn Bales

Winter Birds WalkAbout creeps into creeper

Surprisingly, the Ten Mile Creek Greenway through the heart of west Knoxville can be a good place to find birds. 


The Winter Birds WalkAbout today found several of interest including a sharp-shinned and red-shouldered hawk plus a few species only here in the winter: yellow-rumped warblers, dark-eyed juncos, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, white-throated sparrows and a lone brown creeper. But, creepers tend to always be alone at this time of the year. Creeping along, blending in, minding their own business.


Ijams WalkAbouts are scheduled on most Saturdays at parks and greenways around the county. For the next one, visit the Ijams online events calendar.


- Story by Stephen Lyn Bales

Welcome Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Technology Academy

Thanks to a generous grant from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, schools in Knox County can now participate in Ijams Nature Center field trips free of charge! 

This grant opens up outdoor learning to a wider audience of schools by providing scholarships and bus transportation to qualifying groups. Participating classes receive customized outreach programs in their classrooms prior to their visit, and then complete a curriculum-based set of activities at the nature center. Topics include Plants, Animal Adaptations, and Geology. 

A special thanks goes out to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters for helping us to continue our legacy of quality outdoor learning opportunities for East Tennessee students.

- Story by Jennifer Roder

Ijams owl prowlers flush great horned

AS the sun slipped below the horizon to the west and cold air moved in from the river to the north, the Ijams owl prowlers set out to find those feathered, nocturnal wonders: hoot owls.


You can find five species of owl—Eastern screech, barred, great horned, barn and even migrating saw-whet—at Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge in east Knox County, although the Northern saw-whet only passes through. (Locally, it nests in the higher elevations of the Smokies.) 


Our group heard two or three screech-owls along the road, but the real treat was flushing a great horned owl.  


Initially, it seemed to respond with a loud squawk from a distance when we played a tape of an eerie barn owl (If I were a vole, the mere scream of a barn owl would cause me to drop dead in my tracks!) but a recording of a great horned owl itself brought it closer to investigate our group huddled in the cold near a wooded ridge. But it continued to squawk not hoot at us. 

Eventually, the largest owl in our valley flew over us for a eyeball-to-eyeball look-see and perhaps noting we were no real threat, just a bunch of shivering, bundled humans with dreams of warm cocoa, it disappeared into the darkness never to be heard again. 

Great Horned Owl photo by Brendan Lally

Later I learned that young great horned owls do a lot of squawking and very little hooting.

Thanks to AmeriCorps members Katie and Zack for helping and to Nora, Justine and their Seven Islands friends for joining us.

- Story and photo by Stephen Lyn Bales.

WalkAbouters find winged buckeyes at Seven Islands

                                                                                                                                                                               

WalkAbouter Ruth holding a buckeye butterfly

You never know what you might find on a WalkAbout.

Last Saturday, we were looking for insects and spiders at Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge in east Knox County. And even though it was November, it was sunny and warm, so we were lucky.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was how many buckeye butterflies that were out and about. 

The common buckeye (How could anything as beautiful as a buckeye be labeled common?) feeds on nectar but also takes fluids from mud and damp sand. Males perch on bare ground or low plants, occasionally patrolling in search of females, but they are not territorial. Buckeyes have bold patterns of eyespots and white bars on their upper wing surface. Such a special thing! The populations of late fall, overwinter as adults, waiting until next spring to reproduce. 

Ijams thanks Rikki Hall for leading the WalkAbout.

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

And Happy Birthday Ruthie! Nine-years-old is a very good thing to be. 

- Story and text by Stephen Lyn Bales