Broad Meadow Brook MAS: Worcester, MA (7/8)

After our walk at Crow Hill, we headed over to BMB for some butterfly monitoring and a short afternoon hike. From Dunkirk, we headed up to the powerlines. The area had a pretty standard list of species including Little Wood Satyr, Northern Broken Dash, Monarch, and Tiger Swallowtail. The standout for the meadow was a Question Mark that rested just long enough for me to get a picture.

We had some nice finds on the return trip too. We spied a pair of Northern Pearlyeyes flying thru the woods near the powerlines. We walked down to Trioano Brookside Trail and found a Broad Wing Skipper (our first of the year) nectaring on the flowers. Surprising the Bullfrogs and Garter Snakes from earlier in the week were no where to be found. Maybe it was the time of day or the heat.

We drove back to the visitor's center to file the sightings report and as we left the building we were treated to something really interesting. From far overhead I heard the call of a Broad Wing Hawk. Once I found its location in the sky I noticed it was "mobbing" a Red Tailed Hawk. The Broad Wind dive bombed the larger raptor several times and the Red Tail just seemed like he wanted to get away. Both birds were calling like crazy. Seeing them side by side really gave us an understanding of their relative sizes which is nearly impossible with a single bird.