Sunday, April 15, 2012

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

Thursday, April 12, 2012

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.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

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]