April 2016 column as published in the Woburn Advocate
I’m confused. Is it April or January? One day I’m out shooting in 70 degree weather and a few days later I’m out shooting in the snow! Logs that were covered in Sun (or Eastern Painted) turtles one day were covered in snow a few days later. One day I’m shooting a beautiful Great Blue Heron in breeding plumage standing in a patch of new grass in Fowle Brook, a little upstream from the Red Bridge, and a few days later I’m shooting the new grass coming up out of that water frozen in with lumps of snow stuck to it. The poor female Mute Swan was all hunkered down on her snow covered nest trying to keep her eggs warm in temperatures that were in the low twenties. In the meantime, the male was busy chasing Canada Geese away from all areas even remotely close to the nest. It’s something to watch. He raises his wings up in that beautiful position and swims really fast after them. The geese usually take flight for a bit to get away from him. It ends up in a lot of wing flapping and squawking. Even after I was far enough along the trail that I could no longer see them, I could still hear them. Especially the wings slapping the water!
Even with snow on the ground, the bird life was varied and abundant. It is spring after all (really it is). So how do all these birds get food when the ground is covered in snow you ask? A lot of birds are seed eaters like Sparrows, Cardinals, Chickadees, Red-winged Blackbirds, etc. But along with seeds some birds also eat worms, insects and fruit, like Robins, Blue Jays, Starlings, Grackles, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downey Woodpeckers and Crows. All of these foodstuffs are found in the wild. Since the snow wasn’t very deep and was melting fast, most birds were doing fine. And I saw ALL of these birds on my walk. Over at the Red Bridge I watched a small flock of Robins chomping down on berries on a vine. There are a lot of Robins around. The day after the storm they, along with most birds, looked extra fat as their feathers were all puffed up against the cold. And the Downey Woodpeckers were climbing all over the trees looking for insects. As I walked back along the North side of the Lagoon heading back, all of a sudden all the birds in the area started making even more noise than usual. They seemed to be clustered around one tree. I looked up and low and behold, there was a very large bird sitting near the top. He had his back to me but turned around checking the ground around him. As a large Crow swooped down on him, he took off and landed in a tree about 50 feet away. I slowly moved towards the tree and walked around to the front of the bird to check him out. Again, he just sat there, staring at the ground. It was a juvenile Red-tail Hawk who was obviously looking for his lunch!
Spring really should be showing up soon. In fact, as I am writing this, it is in the high 50’s and pouring rain. By the end of the month the first spring wildflowers should be showing up in the woods. Hopefully by then the bad weather will have disappeared and we will have nice spring days to wander around Horn Pond.
And speaking of Horn Pond, don’t forget the first Saturday of May (May 7th) is Conservation Day. Starting at 9:00 am and running till 2:00 pm (with a break at noon for a provided lunch) all manner of volunteers will be at Horn Pond picking up trash, clearing trails, repairing damage and generally taking care of winter’s destructive forces. Sign in at the desk on Cove Street (above the parking lot on the Winchester end of the Pond) and get volunteer hours for school if you are a student. And if you put in at least 2 hours you will receive a collectible patch designed for the day. So come join us and enjoy a day around Horn Pond for the good of the environment.
Watch for the Full Pink Moon on April 22nd.
I’m confused. Is it April or January? One day I’m out shooting in 70 degree weather and a few days later I’m out shooting in the snow! Logs that were covered in Sun (or Eastern Painted) turtles one day were covered in snow a few days later. One day I’m shooting a beautiful Great Blue Heron in breeding plumage standing in a patch of new grass in Fowle Brook, a little upstream from the Red Bridge, and a few days later I’m shooting the new grass coming up out of that water frozen in with lumps of snow stuck to it. The poor female Mute Swan was all hunkered down on her snow covered nest trying to keep her eggs warm in temperatures that were in the low twenties. In the meantime, the male was busy chasing Canada Geese away from all areas even remotely close to the nest. It’s something to watch. He raises his wings up in that beautiful position and swims really fast after them. The geese usually take flight for a bit to get away from him. It ends up in a lot of wing flapping and squawking. Even after I was far enough along the trail that I could no longer see them, I could still hear them. Especially the wings slapping the water!
Even with snow on the ground, the bird life was varied and abundant. It is spring after all (really it is). So how do all these birds get food when the ground is covered in snow you ask? A lot of birds are seed eaters like Sparrows, Cardinals, Chickadees, Red-winged Blackbirds, etc. But along with seeds some birds also eat worms, insects and fruit, like Robins, Blue Jays, Starlings, Grackles, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downey Woodpeckers and Crows. All of these foodstuffs are found in the wild. Since the snow wasn’t very deep and was melting fast, most birds were doing fine. And I saw ALL of these birds on my walk. Over at the Red Bridge I watched a small flock of Robins chomping down on berries on a vine. There are a lot of Robins around. The day after the storm they, along with most birds, looked extra fat as their feathers were all puffed up against the cold. And the Downey Woodpeckers were climbing all over the trees looking for insects. As I walked back along the North side of the Lagoon heading back, all of a sudden all the birds in the area started making even more noise than usual. They seemed to be clustered around one tree. I looked up and low and behold, there was a very large bird sitting near the top. He had his back to me but turned around checking the ground around him. As a large Crow swooped down on him, he took off and landed in a tree about 50 feet away. I slowly moved towards the tree and walked around to the front of the bird to check him out. Again, he just sat there, staring at the ground. It was a juvenile Red-tail Hawk who was obviously looking for his lunch!
Spring really should be showing up soon. In fact, as I am writing this, it is in the high 50’s and pouring rain. By the end of the month the first spring wildflowers should be showing up in the woods. Hopefully by then the bad weather will have disappeared and we will have nice spring days to wander around Horn Pond.
And speaking of Horn Pond, don’t forget the first Saturday of May (May 7th) is Conservation Day. Starting at 9:00 am and running till 2:00 pm (with a break at noon for a provided lunch) all manner of volunteers will be at Horn Pond picking up trash, clearing trails, repairing damage and generally taking care of winter’s destructive forces. Sign in at the desk on Cove Street (above the parking lot on the Winchester end of the Pond) and get volunteer hours for school if you are a student. And if you put in at least 2 hours you will receive a collectible patch designed for the day. So come join us and enjoy a day around Horn Pond for the good of the environment.
Watch for the Full Pink Moon on April 22nd.