Oxbow NWR (11/11)

On Saturday morning we headed out to Bolton to see what was at the flats. Unfortunately, with all the rain, it was pretty flooded. So, we decided to go our to Oxbow instead. It was nice and sunny when we got there around noon. It really is an uncommon November day around here when you can walk around without a jacket. And that was a good sign that the animals might be out enjoying the weather as well.

We started out and hiked down the main path. Not far from the first pond, I spooked up an anglewing that was sunning itself on the road. We tried to find it but it blended in so well with the brownish orange oak leaves. We guessed that it was probably a Question Mark.

A little bit further down the road, I stopped to see if there was any water in the vernal pools next to the train tracks. The largest pool was still about 25% full but I didn't see anything in it. So, we proceded to the first left turn and headed down to the water. There weren't too many birds, but there were some nice ones. A bunch of Golden-crowned Kinglets called incessently from the trees and a number of Downy Woodpeckers worked on the dead trees. Along the water we heard the call of a lone Gray Tree Frog but, not surprisingly, we couldn't find it.

As we walked, I almost stepped on a Garter Snake who was basking in the sun. He had obvioussly just emerged form the water since his body was covered with Duckweed. I couldn't resist taking a few photos. I know that I have plenty of Garter Snake photos on my site but I never get tired of them. They are just beautiful. We found a total of three of these guys during our walk and I think that this may be the latest that I've seen them in MA.

We continued down the path until it turned back towards the parking lot. In this little sunny area near the water were found a nice mixed flock of birds. Goldfinch, Chickadees, Titmice, and Juncos all jumped around near the leaf litter. Best of all, we spotted 2 or 3 Brown Creepers but from the sound of it, there were even more. Its so cool to watch Creepers as the hop up the tree and then dive down to the bottom of the next one.

We walked the remainder of the hike avoiding the large puddles of water. We even had to make our own bridge at one spot. About halfway "home" we were alerted to a Cooper's Hawk by the alarm calls of several Blue Jays. He soared in view for a couple seconds before disappearing.

As we approached the parking lot, we had one last nice sighting. It was a Belted Kingfisher perched on a wire. Overall it was a great day.

Birds: Golden-crowned Kinglet, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Belted Kingfisher, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern, Cardinal, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Cooper's Hawk, Mouring Dove, Mallard

Herps: Garter Snake, Green Frog, Gray Tree Frog

Butterflies: Question Mark