In Search of Warblers Part I

I went to Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary to see what luck I might have with warblers at the sanctuary there.  I did see a life bird ~~ the Hooded Warbler.  People clued me in where to look for it, and it was singing by the entrance.  It hopped right out into view for a split second and then back into the forest again, so no photo.  But a wonderful sight to be sure!

The sanctuary itself is so beautiful, so some of these pictures will showcase the forest and scenes around the trails.

A well-placed bench overlooks Audubon Pond.  While I sat here, my view included Northern Cardinals, Black-Capped Chickadees, American Goldfinch, Mallards, several gulls (type unknown), Common Grackles, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Tufted Titmice, and even a Carolina Wren.   I just enjoyed watching them fly by and did not take any photos.

Ferns are making a comeback.

These wildflowers, in white and pink, were found throughout the woods.  I'm still trying to figure out what they are....Wood Anemone perhaps?

I took the Vireo Loop Trail back to the overlook of the private wetlands.  There was a lot of bird activity around these wetlands, so I stayed to watch a while.

Eastern Phoebes

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Brown-Headed Cowbird

Another mystery wildflower - Wild Oats

 Raccoon! 

This is the view as you leave the Neck.  What a nice place to live!

Evening Walk at Great Meadows NWR

 Red-Winged Blackbird (female)

Red-Winged Blackbird (male)

 Muskrat

 Wood Duck (male)

 Wood Duck (female)

Canada geese

Red-Winged Blackbird

Sunset

Hermit Thrush

I've been looking for a Hermit Thrush the last few times I walked at Waseeka, hoping to add it to my year list.  Today I found one!  Other notables were a Mourning Cloak butterfly and a Brown Creeper.  Another beautiful day!  Everything I spotted today was a shade of brown ~~ not as bright and beautiful as the warblers, but still nice!

 Hermit Thrush

Mourning Cloak

 Brown Creeper

I just heard through a fellow photographer that the weekend we were in New Jersey, there was a forest fire at Waseeka, affecting about 40 acres.  The firefighters had trouble because there were no hydrants near the fire.  They were using rakes to try to keep it from spreading.  Forty acres is pretty significant for Massachusetts wildfires!  We were discussing how neat it will be to watch the forest recover and regrow.   I hope to get some photos of this burned area soon.....but there's so much to see and do this time of year!

Butterflies or Bust!

This is the type of day when my husband makes fun of me for driving to try to find butterflies because later I find them at home.  I only had one destination, Wildwood Cemetery in Ashland.  Today, I wanted to check on the wildflower, Pussytoes, which is abundant in the cemetery.  It is a host plant for American Lady butterflies.  A host plant means that the butterfly will lay its eggs on the plant, and when the caterpillar arrives, that plant serves as its food source.

I had no luck finding any butterflies on the Pussytoes but am including a photo of them in case you haven't seen them before.

Pussytoes

The only butterflies I saw around the cemetery were Cabbage Whites (snooze).   I did see a nice Eastern Bluebird.  I also walked over to a little bridge over a running stream to see if there might be any new bird species around the stream.  No birds, but I did scare a muskrat!

 Eastern Bluebird

 Muskrat, in panic mode

trying to blend in!

On the drive home, a Mourning Cloak flew across the road in front of me!

Now, here's why my husband makes fun of me.  After I arrived home and was heating up my lunch, I looked out my back window and saw a Mourning Cloak.  It flew right down to a leaf on the ground, where it waited for me to run for my camera and shoes!

Mourning Cloak

A lot of people are familiar with the Monarch and the fact that it migrates to Mexico (or California) for the winter.  You may not know that Mourning Cloak butterflies spend the winter in Massachusetts as butterflies!  (Some butterfly species overwinter in some stage of caterpillar.)  It amazes me that a butterfly can survive cold New England winters.  It finds a crack in tree bark, or a sheltered spot under the eave of a shed, for example, and hunkers down for the winter.  This is why it is one of the first butterflies seen in the spring (and sometimes even on a warm winter's day).

It's a beautiful sign of spring!

Celebrating May Day

What a beautiful day!  I thoroughly enjoyed all the time I was able to spend outside before work, during lunch and after work.  I decided to keep a count of all the bird and butterfly species I saw today, whether I had photos or not.  Here it is:

Birds

1. American Bittern (call only)
2. American Goldfinch 
3. American Robin
4. Barn Swallow
5. Black-Capped Chickadee
6. Blue Jay (on nest)
7. Canada Goose (on nest)
8. Carolina Wren
9. Chipping Sparrow
10. Downy Woodpecker
11. Eastern Bluebird
12. Eastern Phoebe
13. European Starling
14. Great Blue Heron
15. House Finch 
16. Killdeer
17. Mute Swan
18. Northern Cardinal
19. Northern Mockingbird
20. Red-Tailed Hawk
21. Red-Winged Blackbird
22. Song Sparrow 
23. Tree Swallow
24. Tufted Titmouse
25. Yellow Warbler
26. Yellow-Rumped Warbler

Butterflies

1. Cabbage White
2. Spring Azure
3. Mourning Cloak

Pre-work outing at Wildwood Cemetery

Morning Dew

Carolina Wren

 Blue Jays (changing who was on the nest)

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallows

Red-Winged Blackbird (female) at marsh abutting cemetery

Noontime outing in my yard and in Southboro

"April Showers Bring May Flowers", and my tulips bloomed right on schedule!

 Song Sparrow

Eastern Phoebe (click for an enlargement)

 American Goldfinch

Evening outing at Bolton Flats in Lancaster, MA

Yellow Warbler

Red-Winged Blackbird (female)

Trout Lilies

Just as I reached the gate to leave Bolton Flats, I noticed a carpet of trout lilies near the water.  This photo doesn't do it justice and is only a small portion of what was there.  Really a treat to find out in nature!

Happy May!