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Category: Birds

River herring

River herring

Saturday morning I stopped at the Mashpee River fish ladder by the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum on Route 130 to see if the herring were running yet. To my delight, they were. The Mashpee River is approximately four miles long and flows from Mashpee-Wakeby Pond to Popponesset Bay, and then out into the Atlantic Ocean. Each spring, two species of river herring, alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), make their way from the sea back to Mashpee Pond…

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Animal tracks in winter (3)

Animal tracks in winter (3)

Despite the occurrence of the vernal equinox tomorrow, it’s looking very un-spring-like outside these days – three nor’easters in three weeks and another one forecasted for Wednesday! While I am immensely looking forward to returning ospreys, blooming flowers, and green leaves on the trees, I also appreciate the insight snow can give us into animal presence and behavior. Previous posts have highlighted mammal sign left in fresh snow, including eastern cottontail and mouse tracks, as well as other sign left…

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Owl pellets

Owl pellets

Although for many this past weekend stands out as “Super Bowl” weekend, for me it was a “Superb Owl” weekend. In addition to seeing three Snowy owls (Bubo scandiacus) on Duxbury Beach, I was also able to locate Long-eared owls in Lexington. Long-eared owls (Asio otus) are known to roost in areas of dense foliage, so it made sense when I was told about a group of them roosting in a thick stand of pines at the Dunback Meadow property…

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Ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis)

Ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis)

Gulls are often the most abundant and visible coastal birds, regardless of the season. This is largely because they are remarkably successful at adapting to different environments and are opportunistic feeders. In the winter, ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis) are one of the most common gulls in Massachusetts, perhaps even outnumbering Herring gulls and Black-backed gulls. They can be distinguished from these other two species as being the smallest of the three, and adult ring-billed gulls have a fairly short, slim…

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Nature Study Goals 2017/2018

Nature Study Goals 2017/2018

For many, New Years is a time for making resolutions. For me, it’s a great time for reflecting on what I’ve accomplished in the past year and setting intentions and goals for the new year to come in terms of nature study.  Below is a run down of how I did on my 2017 goals and what I hope to accomplish in 2018. My goals for 2017 included: Post to Seashore to Forest Floor regularly. — I managed to post new…

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Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Although many shorebirds are only found in the Arctic during the breeding season, with the onset of fall, many will start appearing along the Massachusetts coast. One example of this is the sanderling (Calidris alba). Sanderlings are long-distance migrants, breeding only on the far northern Arctic tundra, while dispersing to almost all sandy beaches of the world during the winter, including Cape Cod. Sanderlings are medium sized sandpipers and have fairly distinctive nonbreeding plumage: white belly and breast with grey…

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Nature Journaling: Red Brook

Nature Journaling: Red Brook

This morning I spent a couple hours observing the plants, birds and insects along the banks of Red Brook in the Lyman Reserve in Plymouth. Normally, when I see something interesting I take a picture or two and continue on my walk, but today I took the extra time to sit and journal my observations. I spent most of my time with two plants in particular: Monkey flower (Mimulus ringens) and common blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis). The first, monkey flower, which…

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American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

While adult American Robins (Turdus migratorius) may be a common sight, their nests are often tucked away in thickets and hard to access areas. Today, however, while performing a wetland delineation for work, I stumbled across this nest. The female robin chooses the nest site and is primarily responsible for building the nest itself, although males will help to collect nest materials.  Nests are typically situated on one or more horizontal branches hidden in or just below a layer of…

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King Eider (Somateria spectabilis)

King Eider (Somateria spectabilis)

Saturday I was lucky enough to see a King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) among a large flock of Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) along the Cape Cod Canal.  King Eiders are an arctic duck, and are uncommon this far south, so seeing this individual was a fairly rare opportunity.  This particular male King Eider in the Canal was in his full breeding plumage: a spectacular looking bright red bill topped with an orangey-yellow swollen knob, combined with a blueish-grey head, a yellowish…

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Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

On a recent trip to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, my friend and I saw a number of new-to-me birds, including a Barred Owl (Strix varia) and an American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea).  However, those sightings were often fleeting and from a great distance.  The Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), on the other hand, were bold and curious and often perched only a few feet from us to search for food amongst the branches and reeds. Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) –…

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