A Visit to Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

I have been meaning to visit this Mass Audubon sanctuary for a long time.  Today was finally the day.  It was sunny and in the low 30s, quite chilly in the woods.   This sanctuary boasts 12 miles of trails!  I took a pretty long walk, following the outer trails in a loop around the sanctuary.

The first thing that surprised me was when I slowed down to take some photographs on the first trail, I was immediately surrounded by Black-Capped Chickadees and a White-Breasted Nuthatch.  They appeared to be expecting some bird seed!  Apparently, the birds are quite tame here and are accustomed to feeding right out of visitors' hands!  Later, some even fluttered in front of my face, wondering why I didn't extend my hand to them.

The next item of interest was a beaver lodge built right along the trailside.  I looked hard for the owner, but there was no activity in the water.

American Coot

 Mallards

 Oriental Bittersweet

 Autumn Meadowhawk

 American Robin

 Black-Capped Chickadee

 White-Tailed Deer (one of three)

 American Red Squirrel

 The visitor center

Salisbury was only a half hour drive from here, so I headed up there to look for a Snowy Owl.  My first of the season!  It was perched atop a boardwalk that was under construction and posted "no trespassing", so it had a nice private location.  There were very few photographers there, possibly because it was so late in the afternoon.  I was glad not to be part of a circus of spectators.   My camera was at full zoom to get these photos.  It was quite a distance from the parking lots.  What a beautiful creature!