Hammonasset Beach State Park: Madison, CT (7/8)

On Sunday the 8th, Shannon and I took another trip out to Hammonasset Beach. It was a very hot day so we spent most of the day in the water or under the umbrella. But, we did take a long walk in the late afternoon. We headed out to the point in hopes of finding the Little Blue Heron at the pond. But, we lucked out and he wasn't around when we go to the pond. Making things even worse, I had forgotten my binauculars making any bird identification very difficult.

Cromwell Meadows: Cromwell, CT (7/7)

I rolled out of bed on Saturday the 7th wanting to take a quick morning hike. Since Cromwell Meadows is right around the corner from my house and I hadn't been there in a few weeks, I decided that it would be my destination.

It was still early morning when I got there and the property was empty (as usual). The sun was out and the temperature was starting to rise so I thought a walk thru the woods would be good. But I only got a 1/4 mile or so down the trail before the mosquitoes enveloped me. So, I turned around and headed back to the parking lot.

I didn't want to leave so I decided to try another area. I walked down one of the access roads which ran parallel to the river. The beginning stretch of the road runs by a marshy area filled with reeds. I noticed a few Purple Loosestrife plants had started to "invade" the area. They were particularly beautiful covered in morning dew.

After passing by the marsh, the road quickly transitioned back into the woods again. For some reason there were no mosquitoes in this area though. Maybe it was just later in the morning and the sun had forced them to retreat.

Anyhow, the walk was nice if not full of activity. There were a few sparrow here and there plus some other common birds but nothing special. The butterflies were a little better. I found a few Appalachian Browns, a Red Admiral or two, and one Eastern Comma. Near the end of the road I found a couple Eastern Cottontails which posed for me for a minute or two before I got too close and scared them into the bushes.

Bent-of-the-River: Southbury, CT (7/4)

Shannon and I spent the 4th of July at hiking at Bent-of-the-River. The entire day was pretty overcast and it actually started to drizzle at the start of our hike. But we were undeterred. And surprisingly there was still some butterfly activity even in the rain. We saw several Common Wood Nymphs flying around in the sheltered areas and Shannon even spotted a Great Spangled Fritillary when the skies cleared temporarily.

But the sanctuary was pretty quiet otherwise. Other than a Cooper's Hawk that we spooked off its perch on the edge of the main meadow, we didn't have any really memorable sightings. We even hiked up to the Pileated Woodpecker nest but we didn't hear or see any signs of the birds.

But regardless we still had a nice hike. And the weather had one benefit: we had the entire property to ourselves. Also the moist conditions were perfect for Red Efts. We found this little guy moving about in the leaf litter.

Worcester County 4th of July Butterfly Count (7/1)

My parents and I participated in the Worcester County 4th of July butterfly count on Sunday the 1st. Our territory was Sterling. We had a pretty good day specieswise but there weren't too many individual butterflies flying. Highlights were an Appalachian Brown that we found at a marshy area along the road and Banded Hairsteaks at Sterling Peat. But the sighting of the day was a Harvester that my sister found at Sterling Peat.

It was actually a better day for dragonflies than it was for butterflies. They were everywhere... different shapes, sizes, and colors. I'm not very good at identifying odes but I knew the Ebony Jewelwing. And these guys can be frustratingly hard to photograph so I was happy to get a couple nice shots.

My father also spotted a Brown Snake in one of the meadows that we survey but I wasn't close enough to get there before it slithered off.

Speaking of snakes, when everyone returned to Wachusett Meadow to tabulate the results, my sister and I found a Milk Snake on the rock wall between the sanctuary headquarters and the road. When we came upon it, the snake appeared to be fighting a Chipmunk. I'm not sure who was the antagonist but the Chipmunk ducked back down his hole when we approached. The Milk Snake chose to stand his ground instead. I ran back to the group to see if anyone was interested and got a whole bunch of takers. Brian Cassie actually ran out and picked up the little guy before he could disappear into the wall. Initially the snake was agitated and it attempted to bite Brian several times. But, it eventually calmed down enough so that anyone who wanted to hold it got a chance. I passed but I took the opportunity to take some pictures. After a few minutes we put the snake down and let it crawl back into the wall.
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Summary of the count by organizer, Carl Kamp:

Twelve observors covered 6 routes and reported 3887 butterflies among 43 species compared to an 11 year average of 3823 butterflies among 44.8 species. I had some trouble sending the complete list and will send it when I can.
Among the species seen some showed record high numbers and others came in with record lows.

(NOTE: 2007 Count numbers listed followed bt the 11 year avearage in parnetheses.)

High numbers

Cabbage White 1968 (204)
Red Admiral 50 (6)
Little Wood Satyr 52 (18)
Long Dash 22 (4)

Low numbers
Clouded Sulphur 19 (111)
Orange Sulphur 15 (55)
American Copper 3 (633)
American Lady 2 (19)

Milkweed and dog bane were mostly in full bloom but were also surprisingly lacking many nectaring butterflies.

Plum Island (6/24)

And no trip to Newbury is complete without a stop at Plum Island. The bird activity was pretty light but we still had some nice sightings.
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Birds: Song Sparrow, Glossy Ibis, Canada Goose, Eastern Kingbird, Bobolink, Snowy Egret, Red-wing Blackbird, Mute Swan, Greater Black-back Gull, Herring Gull, Rock Pigeon, Purple Martin, Lesser Yellowlegs, Common Tern, Blue Jay, Osprey, Mallard, Brant, Yellow Warbler, Willet, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Common Grackle, Gray Catbird, Savannah Sparrow, Double-crested Cormorant, American Crow

Mill Pond Recreation Area (6/24)

After getting done at Martin Burns, we followed the trip leaders, Sharon and Joe Stricter, to the nearby Mill Pond Recreation Area. The meadow in this property is known for its Baltimore Checkerspots and it didn't disappoint. We found adult butterflies, caterpillars, and crystallises.

Other interesting sighting during our short visit were a pair of American Redstarts and a Garter Snake that my sister found slithering over an old log.

Martin Burns WMA: Newbury, MA (6/24)

On Sunday the entire Walker clan spent the day out at the North shore. We started the morning on the Massachusetts Butterfly Club trip to Martin Burns WMA. We arrived a bit late so the group had already started out on their hike. But with all of the butterflies to distract them they didn't get far. As we rushed to catch up, I noticed a single Indigo Bunting perched at the top of a large tree. He was contently singing until he saw me and ducked back into the foliage.

We eventually caught up with the rest of the group just in time to see some nice Harris' Checkerspots. A pair was even hard at work perpetuating the species. The area was practically alive with all the activity. There were plenty of dragonflies and butterflies to train our binoculars on. And it was easy to see why since the summer flowers were in mid-season bloom. There was lots of Daisy Fleabane, Hop Clover, Dogbane, and Spurge along the trail. Investigating it closely, I found an ant on one of the Spurge blooms. It looked like he was sucking liquid (water or nectar?) off the flowers.

But, the insect weren't all that we found. My sister and I found an American Toad sitting in the shade of the flowers. This guy had to be the fattest toad that I have ever seen (for his size). Also, a bit later one of the hikers found a deceased Star-nosed Mole. We couldn't tell how it had passed but it was interesting to see this secretive mammal.

But, in the end the trip was about the butterflies. We had some really nice sightings including Great Spangled Fritillary, Spicebush Swallowtail, and Red Admiral
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Birds: Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, Baltimore Oriole, Scarlet Tananger, American Goldfinch, Indigo Bunting, Eastern Towhee, Black-capped Chickadee, Cedar Waxwing, Prairie Warbler, Chimney Swift, Blue-wing Warbler

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Butterflies: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 5, Spicebush Swallowtail - 1, Cabbage White - 2, Eastern Tailed-Blue - 7, Great Spangled Fritillary - 10, HARRIS' CHECKERSPOT - 13, Pearl Crescent - 1 alive, 1 dead specimen, anglewing spp. - 1, Red Admiral - 4, American Lady - 3, Red-spotted Purple - 1, Viceroy - 1, Eyed Brown - 1, Little Wood-Satyr - 16, Silver-spotted Skipper - 16, cloudywing spp. - 1 , Juvenal's Duskywing - 1, duskywing spp. - 2, Least Skipper - 2, European Skipper - 3, Peck's Skipper - 1, Long Dash - 6, Little Glassywing - 2, Hobomok Skipper - 5

Broad Meadow Brook: Worcester, MA (6/23)

Shannon and I drove up to Massachusetts on Saturday the 23rd to meet my family. But, before stopping by the house I had to bring her to Broad Meadow Brook. We got to the sanctuary in the early afternoon and, after talking a bit with Deb Cary, started off on our hike.

We had some really nice sightings on our hike, but I didn't write them all down. So, from memory, here are the highlights. We started down Holdredge Trail and almost immediately saw a pair of butterflies fighting. I didn't get a good look but I'd guess that they were a Red-spotted Admiral and one of the anglewing species. We took a left onto Frog Pond trail and startled a Garter Snake who had been sunning himself on the boardwalk. At the pond we actually found one Green Frog submerged up to his throat in the slime.

We walked up Sprague and stopped for a while to admire the brook. We continued on to the power lines which were absolutely alive with activity. We found this cool dragonfly in the leaf litter and saw a Hummingbird Moth flittering about. It moved so fast that I never got a good shot of it. We also saw three Monarchs, two Harris' Checkerspots, lots of skippers, and an Eastern Tailed-blue.

We eventually made it down to the stretch where we had the sightings of the day. Halfway down the trail Shannon spotted a strange shape in the water. It was a Snapping Turtle (possibly the same one that I had photographed out of the water a year ago?). The turtle took a breath at the surface and then dropped down into the mud.

Then, towards the end of the road we came upon a Great Blue Heron wading in the brook. From the picture you can tell that he was only about 10-15 feet away from us. And the strangest thing was that he didn't spook and fly away. He just slowly moved up the brook to an area which provided more space between him and us. He was so calm about the situation that he even stopped to catch and eat a fish as he walked.

Our last sightings of the day were some more butterflies. At the intersection of Frog Pond and Holdredge I spotted a Eastern Tiger Swallowtail sunning itself on a bush. And, further up the hill we found two anglewings engaged in a territory dispute. It was a great visit to a special place.

Union Pond Park: Manchester, CT (6/22)

Shannon and I took an afternoon walk at Highland Park in Manchester. When we got to the park we noticed a large flock of Canada Geese and Mallards browsing on the grass. There were a few adult geese but most were goslings. There was one group of young goslings which were just so cute. They were just little bundles of fluff with tiny wings.

By this time the skies were beginning to darken. But we're adventurous so we still took our walk. We made it almost all the way down the trail before it really started to rain. Luckily the trees acted as a giant umbrella allowing us to enjoy the rain on the lake.

Talcott Mountain: Simsbury, CT (6/17)

In the afternoon I met up with Shannon and we drove out to Talcott Mountain for a hike. It was a beautiful afternoon and there were lots of families out enjoying the day. There's one large trail up the side of the mountain and the hiking is not particularly difficult. Even so, we stopped several times to take in the view of the valley below.

After about 30 minutes, we got to the summit of the mountain. The state maintains a very nice tower at the top but we didn't bother to take the stairs to the top. Instead we sat on the picnic tables and relaxed. While we were talking I spotted a Scarlet Tananger near the top of a nearby tree. We also saw a gray bird chasing a Blue Jay. I never got a good look at the smaller bird so a positive ID was impossible.

Then it was back down the mountain. On our return hike I heard a Black-throated Green Warbler calling. But, by this time it was late afternoon and everything had quieted down.

Wood Turtle (6/17)

Driving home from Helen Carlson I spotted a turtle making its way across the road. There was no traffic so I put my hazard lights on and got out of my car to help it. To my surprise it wasn't a common Painted Turtle or Snapping Turtle but rather a rarer Wood Turtle. Praising my luck, I picked him (?) up and moved him to the grass by the side of the road. He clammed up for a few minutes but finally became comfortable enough with me to start walking away. But, he started back into the road and walked parallel to traffic. I watched both directions hoping that he would pick a destination and I could move him over.

Finally, a local drove up and explained to me that there were a number of Wood Turtles in the area and that they liked living in the nearby fields. He moved the turtle out of the road again and put it on his Aunt's lawn. I took a few more shots in the mid-day sun and then watched as the turtle lumbered off.