Wachusett Meadow MAS

On Sunday my parents and I headed out to Wachusett Meadow MAS for a morning walk. While my Mom rested on the bench near the meadow, my Dad and I went for a short hike. We started at the Wildlife Pond but all we found was a single Canada Goose. This pond is always pretty good for Northern Water Snakes and I hoped to find one basking in the morning sun but lucked out. As we headed back to the trail, a Northern Flicker flushed from the bushes and perched on the top of the barn.

As we walked down the trail, Cindy came out to adjust the electric fence before letting the sanctuary's sheep out. The staff uses the flock to keep the plant growth in the meadow in check. The best part is that the sheep don't even touch the Milkweed so the Monarchs still have their foodsource.

At the bottom of South Meadow Trail we had our sighting of the day. In the shallow water were three Otters horsing around. When the heard us approach, they turned and looked at us quizzically before jumping into the bushes. Even though they were only a couple of feet away, we couldn't see them. But we could still hear them grunting as the "fought".

We stopped for a while at the dock at the bottom of the hill looking for ducks but didn't spot even one. There was a Bullfrog floating in the water though.

We sped up our hike as we passed thru Beaver Bend Trail. The woods were serene but pretty much devoid of animal activity. A Red Squirrel gave out a warning call and Chipmunks chipped from all of the rock crevices but there were no birds.

We made it to the Second Meadow but that was pretty quiet too. So we decided to head back. On the road near that leads to the sanctuary headquarters we did find a nice flock of Yellow-rump Warblers. They were really fun to watch as they jumped from tree to tree looking for insects and caterpillars. I watched one individual bird and was surprised to see that he had no trouble finding food.

Back at the parking lot we had one last good sighting: three or four Turkey Vultures spiraling overhead.

Birds: Eastern Phoebe, Canada Goose, Tufted Titmouse, Norther Flicker, Song Sparrow, Great Blue Heron, Blue Jay, American Goldfinch, Whited-breasted Nuthatch, Palm Warbler, Mourning Dove, Black-capped Chickadee, Yellow-rump Warbler, Turkey Vulture

Mammals: Chipmunk, Gray Squirrel, Red Squirrel, River Otter

Butterflies: Cabbage White, Clouded Sulphur, Monarch