Looking Back: 3Q2013

It's always fun to look back at the past quarter and recall the highlights.

Surprises:

One big surprise was the white-tailed deer at Breakneck Hill that ran towards me instead of away.  My theory on why it happened is that they had just put an electric fence around a new portion of the meadows for the Belted Galloways.  The deer first ran away from me (toward the new electric fence) and may have been zapped, making it run frantically back towards me.  It was the only logical explanation I can come up with!

A gray tree frog in my garden came as a big surprise in a small package.  I've lived here 13 years and never seen a tree frog (although I've heard plenty!).

Finding a Harvester butterfly in my own back yard was a real treat and yet another surprise this past quarter!


Favorite Photos:

Last year I saw one or two mating pairs of butterflies over the entire season.  This year, I seemed to run into them on a lot of my walks!  I wonder if it's because I am more observant, or if it's pure coincidence...

Appalachian Browns

Common Ringlets

Eastern-Tailed Blues

Wild Indigo Duskywing

Cabbage Whites

Common Wood Nymphs

Pearl Crescents

New Butterflies:

Aphrodite Fritillary
Bronze Copper

Delaware Skipper

Juniper Hairstreak

Mulberry Wing Skipper

New Birds:

Black-Crowned Night Heron

New Places:

Appleton Farms, Ipswich, MA
Long Hill, Beverly, MA
Nine Acres, Concord, MA
Northampton Community Gardens, Northampton, MA
Notre Dame Cemetery, Worcester, MA
Sedge Meadow, Wayland, MA

Shrewsbury MA Power Line Trail
Sudbury Community Gardens, Sudbury, MA
Wayland Community Gardens, Wayland, MA

Westboro, MA WMA Crane Swamp Trail
World's End, Hingham, MA