Help Me! Listen to this bird....

Lars recorded this in the north parcel of Delaney Complex in Stow/Harvard on 3/19/12.  What is this bird?  A warbler?  I tried unsuccessfully to identify it on Cornell's Ornithology page:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1189

The Catkins Diet

It seems the gray squirrels have decided to seek sustenance elsewhere now that Cafe Oiseau has shut down for the season and there is no birdseed to pilfer. I noticed several of them early this morning, noshing away at the top of a poplar tree. Perhaps the most succulent catkins are the newly developed ones at the ends of twigs; at least that's what one squirrel seemed to think as he climbed to the topmost part of the tree to dine.

Raccoons find a dead, two-tailed pickerel

A few weeks ago I found a dead pickerel washed up on the shore, with a
second tail sticking out of its mouth. It had tried to swallow a
sunfish, and died with the fish lodged in its throat. There's a lesson
there, somewhere.

I moved the pickerel to a fallen log near the water's edge, hoping to
get some photos of whatever animals came along to devour it. The first
raccoon on the scene dragged it off out of view of the camera. But the
family of raccoons continued to visit the log, which probably picked up
a fishy odor the first day. A mink and a grey fox made fleeting
appearances.

Here's a video compilation of the wildlife visits to the log over the
course of two weeks.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmZfiYZwpSI]

Hanky Panky at the Heronry

We kayaked out to view a colony of breeding great blue herons on Thursday, making an effort to keep a low and unobtrusive profile. The courtship displays included much bill-clacking and posturing. Check out the sequence of events as a male flies, descends and then prepares to mate with Mrs. Heron, both exhibiting their fluffed-out neck feathers. The final shot shows the couple afterwards, at rest and possibly considering chick names.

A Great Find & Possible Fashion Statement

As of yesterday, I can take finding a shed antler off my bucket list. Here it is, only two points and not much to brag about, but I was ecstatic. Then today, while visiting the Boston Flower & Garden Show, I realized that the antler might be put to excellent use in an Easter bonnet. Perhaps if paired with last season's bird nest and a few feathers ... Anyway, I hope to start a trend; check out the spring issue of Vogue to see if I succeed.

Deer Bed with Hair

I found a group of deer beds today, not on a warm slope as usual, but
rather in a low area. It was dry enough, but right near a red maple
swamp. Plenty of brush and edge habitat, so a good feeding area. I
guess the weather has been so mild that they don't need to seek a warm
slope.

There was quite a bit of hair in and around the beds. Are they already
shedding their winter coats? The 2nd photo is a close-up of the scat
pile to the left of the deer bed shown in the first photo. Hopefully
you can see the hair.

From Southboro, MA.

Janet

Chipmunk Building Nest

My son was enchanted by this chipmunk preparing its winter den in our yard, and made this video through the window. This was in October, 2011, just days before the Halloween snow storm. Chipmunks line their dens with leaves and other debris, and here you will see it selecting leaves and folding them up into its mouth for easy transport. We watched for quite a while, and noticed that the animal seemed extremely picky, rejecting leaf after leaf until finding just the right one (and you can see it reject a leaf in the middle of the video). But then a minute later, it would select a previously rejected leaf and carry it down the hole. This went on until almost all of the leaves within a few feet of the entry hole were taken.
http://youtu.be/mWpBMXq2dB0
Janet