Summer in Quabbin - Three July Trips

During the month of July we made several trips inside Quabbin to check on the several breeding blocks we've been covering for the Breeding Bird Atlas.  The most frequent gates we visit are Gate 22 on the northwest side of Quabbin, Gate 35 in the northeast corner, and Gates 37 and 39.  We also travel through the Gate 40 area so that we can get to Grave's Landing (which is in one of the blocks.)

This summer we've been able to watch Bald Eagles pretty regularly, since there has been a breeding pair on one of the islands you can see along Gate 35.....so it's not too unusual to have an immature bird pass over.  Although this bird was promptly escorted (or should I say driven) out of the area by an adult Bald.

While we have not been able to confirm breeding loons in our northern blocks, we did have this bird hauled out on one of the islands visible from an overlook in Gate 22.  Lots of adult birds in this area, but no sign of young ones this summer.

We did, however, have a Ruffed Grouse confirmed this year....thanks to this little baby hiding behind the parent!

And of course great warblers breeding throughout....like this male American Redstart....

bringing food home to the female while she was sitting on the nest.

And while there are good numbers of Ovenbirds during the early part of the breeding season, they seem to disappear (or get very, very quiet) by the time July rolls around.  Needless to say we were delighted to get this bird responding to my screech owl imitation in early July.

The photo below shows you how difficult it can be to find a bird who's good at the camouflage game.

Although from a slightly different angle these Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are easy to spot...and of course much easier to hear since they are quite noisy.

By the time early July rolls around (and especially after a wet spring and early summer) the mushrooms start to appear.

Both the photo above and below are good examples of Amanita species of mushrooms.  The ones below remind me of pretzel nuggets popping up through the soil.  I can imagine a child finding these mushrooms and being tempted to pick one up and pop them in his mouth!

Butterflies always delight me when I come across them.  This Spicebush Swallowtail sunning himself on a fern stayed just long enough for me to get off a quick shot...

while this Northern Pearly-eye was much more accommodating.

One of my more exciting finds was this Striped Hairstreak at Gate 35.  I can't recall having seen this species before....or at least I haven't photographed it.

But as much as I love to photograph and id butterflies and birds (and fungi to a lesser extent) I love getting a good shot of a dragonfly.  It's always fun to thumb through Blair Nikula's A Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts and come across a photo that cinches your identification.  This Spangled Skimmer is the only dragonfly n the Northeast that has white stigmas.  Now that's an identification even I can feel confidant about!

And then there's the Wood Lilies that bloom near the powerlines off of Dugway Road near Gate 39...always a delight to come upon.

Of course one of my least favorite animals at this time of year is the Deer Fly.  The nice thing about them (if there is anything nice) is that they don't seem to bite (not like Greenheads).  Often they just follow the car buzzing around Mark's hand as he tries to entice them to land....go figure....

This year instead of trying to swat them and get them out of the car, I used the opportunity to take some photos as they wandered across the inside of my windshield.  

And if you leave Quabbin via Gate 37 you're likely to come across a flock of Turkeys visiting any of a number of feeders along West Street.  

So now you've had a sample of Quabbin wildlife.  And I hope it entices you to visit one of the gates and venture a little ways into our last great semi-wilderness in central Massachusetts.  It's always a great place to visit.

Enjoy......Sheila

Butterflies (and some birds) in the southern Berks

Late July or early August can be wonderful in the southern Berkshires, especially if you can avoid the tourists who come from NY, VT and all parts of MA. We, of course, don't consider ourselves tourists in the same sense....although I'm not exactly sure why that is. The above shot is of that extensive marsh (with the Great Blue Heron rookery)....part of which you can see just by pulling off the road along Rt. 7 south of Stockbridge.

And the photo below is from a barn in Tyringham where we still had Barn Swallows being fed! This Rose-breasted Grosbeak certainly took her time posing for my camera. And this immature Red-winged Blackbird was an easy guy to spish in for a photo as well. Luckily when I'm shooting plants and flowers, I don't need to worry about their flying off. This Arrowhead was in the marsh in Stockbridge along Rt. 7 too. Part of the Konkapot IBA we documented several years ago follows along Monument Valley Road off of Rt. 7 between Stockbridge and Great Barrington. We often check out the water right off of Stony Brook Road. This trip we were rewarded with lots of interesting skippers in the reeds where the brook crosses under the road.

We had several Broad-winged and Mulberry Wing Skippers in this area.And it's always interesting to find Bull Thistle....I forget it's a biennial. And down in Sheffield we found our first Common Buckeye of the season! And while looking for Hackberry Emperor I spotted this Galium Sphinx Moth and managed to get this one, slightly blurry shot before it disappeared.But our real reason from coming to the southern Berks this particular weekend was to see if we could find a Giant Swallowtail. Since there had been several reported in the area just days before, we were cautiously hopeful. And sure enough we had at least 7....all of which Mark spotted from the car. They really are a BIG butterfly! Just look at the size comparison to the Monarch in the Butterfly Bush below....And this Halloween Pennant also put in an appearance for the camera as well.One of the more interesting invertebrates of the day was this Hickory Tussock Moth caterpillar. They were all over this one area near October Mountain.In Tyringham we had more than a dozen Pearl Crescents trying to get some salts from a drying mud puddle.Queen Anne's Lace (aka Wild Carrot) is another biennial plant. Although I have to admit I see it everywhere so I really did think it was an annual. Pretty though....In New Marlborough we went to check to see if the Giant Swallowtails had made their way east along the CT border -- but we didn't have any. There were good numbers of Question Marks though. I finally learned how to identify this from the Comma from above....it's that black horizontal bar just at the end of the dots. Comma's don't have that! I always tried to get an underwing shot so I could see whether it was a Question Mark or Comma. But I learned that the Comma can also have a separate dot....so now I go for the upperwing shot. However one skipper I never get confused it the Silver-spotted Skipper. It's a big dark skipper and the white patch is unmistakable. We followed this Spicebush Swallowtail all over a dirt road to try to get a decent shot. Back up in Tyringham we checked along Breakneck Road and found lots of Spotted Knapweed. Looks superficially like a Bull Thistle (also in the Sunflower family) but has a definite "pineapple" look to it. Along the road we also had large numbers of Viceroy's.... To end our foray we stopped and visited at Rawson Brook Farm to get some GREAT fresh goat cheese....and of course to see how the young goats were doing. It was hot and they just seemed to want to sit it out either under or on top of the little platform.You can beat a day like this....even though there weren't a lot of birds....the butterflies and other bits of nature certainly made up for that.

Enjoy.....Sheila

Westport & Acoaxet in mid-summer

A late July trip to this area in mid-summer can be a joy. Off of Gooseberry Neck we usually find "teenage" Common Eiders. These were closer to adult plumage, but you could still see some of the lighter juvenile feathers. It's always fun to see a Double-crested Cormorant drying his wings....they always remind me of a kid's kite just before it takes off. And while they don't breed in the area, per se, this is the time to start getting good numbers of Great Egrets...from late July to early September. We've had several trips this year to the area, and we are consistently finding Green Heron near the Back Eddy restaurant just over the bridge on Rt. 88. This fellow was preening and I was able to catch him just after he plucked a feather! Semipalmated Plovers are working the beach..... along with Sanderlings -- some just coming out of breeding plumage. We also had some "battling" Semipalmated Sandpipers along the beach by the boat ramp on Gooseberry Neck. I was lucky enough to catch almost the whole interaction with my camera.These two birds definitely did not like each other. Even as other birds moved past them, they kept the focus on each other.One of these guys must have really done something to the other one....they fought for about 10 minutes until finally one just moved further up the beach and the whole incident ended.Common Terns feeding off the rocks at Acoaxet is always a delightful summer experience. And you can start to spot some of the juvenile birds as well. And Laughing Gulls too. This trip, though, I was surprised (and delighted) to find Least Tern...especially when one is being fed by the other! The bird seems to have become less common over the years....or maybe it's just that we're not going to the same places. So finding one in Acoaxet is truly special! We didn't have much in the way of landbirds; although finding this newly-fledged Savannah Sparrow was a treat. And, of course, the obligatory Osprey..... If you poke around Acoaxet you can also find odonates... and a Sweat Bee coming to a Turk's Cap Lily!This section of state continues to be one of my favorite coastal trips. Soon it'll be time to look for migrating warblers at Gooseberry Neck....but for today I'll just enjoy the summer.

Enjoy.......Sheila