Broad Meadow Brook MAS: Worcester, MA (4/28)

I got up early on Saturday morning hoping to do some birding at BMB before the annual Earth Day cleanup. For some reason, this time I parked at the Granite St. entrance and hiked into the sanctuary from there. As I hiked parallel to the power lines I could hear the Eastern Towhees calling, my first of the year. As I came to the intersection on the trail and the power line road I spotted a nice flock of Field Sparrows feeding on the ground. They were joined by a few Goldfinches who perched on the dead stems of last years meadow plants. Several of these stems had small patches of intricate spider webs that were coated with water droplets from the last night's rain.

My plan was to make the normal circuit: the power lines, down to the stretch and back again. But, I took a side trip down to Green Heron Pond in hopes that I might find some rails. There is also a new beaver lodge there and I was hoping that it was still early enough to catch its owner out and about. And it turns out my luck was good since as I came down the hill I noticed a Beaver sitting on the lodge eating. I took a few shots and then tried to creep closer. The Beaver heard me and took to the water. But instead of slipping into the lodge, he took the offensive. He slapped the water with his tail causing a loud smack and a huge splash. As I stood and watched, he circled the small pond several times doing the tail smack every 15-30 seconds or so. I got a few nice photos and then "retreated".

I resumed my hike down to the stretch stopping only temporarily to take some documentation photos of the power lines for my collection. Looking through these photos, its really interesting to see how the meadow has changed over just one year. There appears to be many more woody plants now. I wonder how long it will take them to overrun the area again?

When I finally got down to the stretch I was a bit disappointed by the lack of any really interesting birds. I did find one Spotted Sandpiper but the majority of the singing was the common birds (Song Sparrow, Red Wing Blackbird, Robin). I didn't find any warblers during the entire trip.

But that isn't to say that I didn't find anything to photograph. On the way back I found this neon orange fungus that I later identified as Yellow Brain-fungus. And, back near the power lines, I ventured off the trail to get some shots of one of the streams that feed the brook.

Birds: Eastern Towhee, Eastern Phoebe, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal, American Robin, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, Brown-headed Cowbird, Northern Mockingbird, Blue Jay, Field Sparrow, Tree Swallow, Red Wing Blackbird, Northern Flicker, Wild Turkey, Mallard, Tufted Titmouse, Song Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, Common Grackle, Mourning Dove, Spotted Sandpiper