Broad Meadow Brook MAS, Worcester (5/26)

Later on Friday afternoon I met up with my Mom at BMB. I parked at the end of Dunkirk St and as I got out of the car I was greated by lots of birdsong. I quickly located a Canada Warbler that was being harassed by a Redstart. Both birds were still around as my Mom pulled up so we were both able to get great looks at them. After they flew away, we started down Trioano Brookside Trail. After only a few yards we met up with a friend, Tom Murray. He had been hiking the sanctuary looking for butterflies and dragonflies to photograph. He told us about a Harvester that he found and offered to bring us to it.

The Harvester is an interesting butterfly because its the only one in our area that's carnivorous. The Harvester caterpillar eats aphids primarily on Alder trees. This site gives a great explanation of the relationship. Also interesting is Marj Rines' Harvester pages were she describes monitoring a population of Harvesters near here home.

We ended up finding Tom's Harvester and I was able to get one marginal shot of it. Then it started to rain and we were forced to head back. Tom has some nice shots of Harvesters on his PBase account but I don't see any from BMB yet.

Birds (limited list since I didn't write them down) - Canada Warbler, American Redstart, Red-winged Blackbird, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Spotted Sandpiper, Eastern Kingbird, Tree Swallow, Eastern Phoebe