Delaney WMA (4/14/06)

I had Good Friday off so I was able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. My Mom and I took a trip to Delaney MWA in Stow/Bolton. We got out there early and explored some of trails that we hadn't ever hiked before. The landscape is finally starting to green up with skunk cabbage, partridgeberry, and other early spring plants. The woods were alive with calls from Red Wings, Cowbirds, and Robins. Wood Ducks flew away whistling when we got too close.

One of the best bird finds of the day were 2 or 3 Winter Wrens. These guys were calling like crazy and neither of us knew the song. We looked for one of the birds for several minutes before we located it only 15 or 20 feet away. Is really deceptive how the sound can bounce thru the forest and totally disguise the animal's location. But, I'm sure that neither of us will forget that song now..

Back in the woods, we started to turning over decaying logs which revealed a couple of treasures. A Red-backed Salamander was uncovered and we also found a caccoon of some sort of moth.

After lunch, we returned to some of the higher use trails of the area. People were all out with their dogs but we still found a good deal of wildlife. A Pine Elfin was hiding in the grass and several Tree Swallows swooped low over the water.

Finally, we checked out some of the vernal pools in the area. One of these had a large mass of Wood Frog eggs, most of which had already hatched into tadpoles.

Overall, it was a great day off.

Birds: Double Crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mallard, Killdeer, Mourning Dove, Downey Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Tree Swallow, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Goldfinch

Butterflies: Spring Azure, Cabbage White, Clouded Sulphur, Mourning Cloak, Pine Elfin, Compton's Tortoiseshell(?)

Herps: Wood Frog tadpoles, American Toad, Red-backed Salamander, Spring Peeper, Green Frog, Northern Water Snake (deceased)