Herps and Butterflies

 

  Over the last few days Laurie and I have been out looking for herps and butterflies. I usually get really bad seasonal depression in June. When May migration is over I go into a funk that takes me some time to get out of. The crash after the high of May is hard for me to overcome. The past few years I actually planned vacations in June so I'd have something to look forward to. This strategy worked to a T. However, Laurie and I are planning a long trip to Florida in October so I don't want to use any vacation time.

   On my days off, we have been spending time looking for snakes, turtles, and butterflies. Besides looking at the ground to find snakes, we've been bringing a butterfly net to try to capture some butterflies for easier identification. This time in the field has really been fun and I have not been seasonally depressed. 

   Laurie has really been into this hands on nature viewing. Neither of us are any kind of butterfly expert so we have been taking a field guide with us.

   In terms of herping, we have had quality over quantity. Over the course of my life I had seen a total of three Eastern Box Turtles in New England. Of the three, two of them were at BioBlitz where hundreds of eyes would look at the ground. However, over the course of the last three days I have seen two additional Eastern Box Turtles. Laurie found both of them while we were out hiking for herps. Thanks to her keen eye I have some fantastic photos

Below is the first one that she found. Many pictures and more text below it.

Of the seven species of butterflies that we identified the last few days this is the best photo. The species below is a Red Spotted Purple

  Today's Eastern Box Turtle was at a different location. It did not move when we saw it. We did wait for it to move into tall grass out of the view of possible poachers.

Pelagic Boat Trip

    Despite saying a couple years ago that I had retired from pelagic boat trips I keep finding reasons to go on one. Last year, I went on one because I still needed a species of Shearwater that had been split from another species (Scopolis).

   This year when a pelagic was being planned I asked Laurie if she wanted to go. My logic is that she had never been on a dedicated pelagic and she loves boats. Last year, when I went, I saw hundreds of dolphins. I was hoping this trip would have dolphins and whales to make Laurie happy. 

   The purpose of these trips is actually to see birds. Thirty or so birders charter one of the whale watch boats of the Francis Fleet. You really can't see any of the Shearwaters or Jaegers from shore so taking a trip out to see them is the only way to count them for the year. As many of you know, Laurie is not a birder so she was hoping to see whales.

   The birding was pretty good. We got four species of Shearwaters, a Jaeger, and Wilson's Storm Petrels. Birds were around the boat most of the trip. There was one whale seen. Unfortunately, only myself a couple other people saw it. It was a small whale so it was almost certainly a  Minke. The non-birding highlight of the trip were Ocean Sunfish. These large fish can reach up to six hundred pounds. They will float on their side at the surface. I personally saw three of them. 

With a couple hours left in our trip we took the long way back around the west side of Block ISland. The scenery was terrific. We saw both North Light, Southeast Light, the cliffs, Southwest Point and seals hauled out.

   All in all, if you were a birder it was a pretty good trip. If you like mammals, it wasn't very good. I wish it had been better for Laurie. No pelagics are like any other. Some are great and some can be duds. This one was somewhere in the middle

Below are multiple photos Paul Miller took of the Ocean Sunfish. His photos are way better than mine and by far the best I have seen. Below his photos are a few more of mine from the trip.

This photo and the following three  below were 
taken by Paul Millert

My photos below

Seals off of the North Rip

North Light

Southeast Lighthouse

One Fish, Two Fish, Three Fish, all small fish

    During the days after Memorial Day I went up to New Hampshire to do some Smallmouth fishing. I went up to an impoundment on the Connecticut River. I'm just now getting a chance to write about it. Laurie went up with me so I spent the mornings fishing while she explored downtown Littleton and a covered bridge. The afternoons were taken up by picnics, waterfalls, a little trout fishing, and a couple of mountain lakes.

   I fished two mornings and caught a lot of fish. All of my fish were caught on  Ned Rigs and a couple on topwater lures ( Zara Puppy). The problem I had was, I wasn't looking for a lot of fish, I was hoping for a big fish. I knew I could catch plenty of small males. It was the trophy female I was hoping to catch.

 

 Alas, it was not meant to be. My biggest fish barely cracked fifteen inches and was just under two pounds. I tried shoreline areas and I tried deepwater dropoffs but without any luck. I've caught well over a hundred fish in this lake and I have never cracked three pounds. I think I have to accept that this lake has a lot of fish but no (or very few big ones).

    A few days after I came home, I was talking to a customer at work who fishes the same lake.  He told me he did a tournament up there and they all had the same problem. None of the fish that were weighed in were very big. I think it is time for me to branch out and try different ponds. A four pound Smallmouth has eluded me for too long. 

Rock Bass

   On  the bright side, I did hook up with Rock Bass and a  Black Crappie. I even had a pike follow a small jerkbait. 

Black Billed Cuckoo

   As I said in the last post, the birding highlight of my three days away was a  Black Billed Cuckoo that was just amazing. I've only seen a handful of Black Billed (and for that matter Yellow Billed) Cuckoos. Mostly, I get partial views of them hiding in trees. The bird deserved its own post

   While walking along the road at Plum Island a group of birders were standing at a road crossing of a trail. One told me that a cuckoo was in the bushes. He showed me where to look and sure enough there it was. It was partially obscured by foliage but a step to the right or left and a slight bend and you could see the whole bird. I was quite happy to see it.

                                                  Below is the view I first got of the cuckoo.

  After a few minutes I decided I'd move off and let others get the same view of the bird. I sat on a guard rail and hoped that when it eventually flew it may land in the tree in front of me. Well, it did. It landed on an exposed branch and sat there about thirty seconds. I started shooting my camera hoping the light was good.  The photos below are what I got. I feel very grateful for the experience

   Below is one of the photos cropped. I prefer to post my photos without any enhancements. Even if I could post a nicer photo if I crop it or edit it, I'd rather post the raw honest photo. However, in this case I figured I'd quickly crop one of the above photos. 

Cropped

Three Days in May

 

Eastern Musk Turtle

    I had three days off from work this week. I took a vacation day and had my regular two days off consecutively to give myself three consecutive. The first day I hung out with my friend Charles in Rhode Island. He had moved to Brazil two years ago and this was his first time back in the states. The other two days I birded Plum Island. I stayed at the campground at Salisbury Beach on Wednesday night.

   Charles and I (and Laurie) had objectives on Tuesday. We met at Miantonomi and birded early. Next we were going to stop at a reliable spot for Musk Turtle From there we were going to look for White Ibis which would be a Rhode Island state bird for me. We would look for more birds in southern RI before heading north to hopefully find him a Black Crappie. Both Eastern Musk Turtle and Black Crappie would be lifers for Charles. 

  We met at around 7 am but birding was slow at Mia so we were out of there by 9:30. We quickly found a couple of Eastern Musk Turtles and Charles couldn't have been happier. I didn't get the White Ibis. The tide was really high and it was easy to scan the area and it was devoid of a large white heron shaped bird with a pink curved beak

   We went to a place that has breeding Hooded Warblers. Charles and I found three along with many other nice nesting birds such as Baltimore Oriole, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Eastern Wood Peewee. Charles was again thrilled. The highlight other than the Hooded Warblers was a loud Wood Thrush singing right out in the open.

   We then headed north to try to catch a Black Crappie. I failed in this quest. I landed two sunfish and broke off a big Chain Pickerel. We also saw Golden Shiners spawning. We dropped Charles off at a motel in Mansfield so he could take the train and a bus connection back to Newport the following morning. 

   

Wood Thrush

   Wednesday and Thursday Laurie and I went to Plum Island. Birding was okay. We saw good birds but had to work for them. They weren't dripping from trees. I got less than ten species of warblers both days. We did see five Blackburnian Warblers and I saw a Bay-Breasted. However we dipped on many of the rarer warblers like Canada, Wilson's and Cape May. 

  Despite being slow, a rarity shows up at Parker River each day. Last week while we were there a Wilson's Pharalope was in Bill Forward Pool. On Wednesday a Hooded Warbler showed up that most everyone  was trying to see it. For me, birding in RI, Hooded isn't super rare. Thursday, a Tricolored Heron was in the same pool as last week's Pharalope. We also saw a Yellow Crowned Night heron, Orioles, an Orchard Oriole, and Purple Martins. We didn't go to the ocean or saltmarsh but we ended up getting fifty one species. 

   By far, the highlight was a Black Billed Cuckoo that hung around for ten minutes on Thursday. I had never seen one out in the open for so long. It was special.

Veery cute bird

   Besides the birds, I tried shad fishing in the Merrimack but didn't catch any. Wednesday night after supper Laurie walked to the mouth of the river and watched nine Harbor Seals haul out on rocks. It was a relaxing way to enjoy the evening. 

  Thursday was cool (after two scorchers) but we tried for Blanding's Turtle for a third time at Oxbow NWR on the way home. We struck out. The best we could do was finding two Garter Snakes and a Veery. 

   All in all, my three days off were not truly amazing, but we made some good memories and it beat the hell out of work. It was good medicine for my gypsy soul. 

American Toad

Wild Geranium

Mount Auburn Cemetery

 

Summer Tanager

   If you were to look up some of the best places in the United States to see migrating warblers you would find Mount Auburn Cemetery (MAC for now on) in Cambridge on that list. MAC is an open green space in a sea of urban development. When migrating warblers see the sun coming up, if they are over the ocean they look for the nearest land. From the ocean they can see the hills in Cambridge and head in that direction. Once at the cemetery the birds have seventy foot oaks, flowering trees, and shrubs to hide, rest, and feed in. As a matter of fact, during migration, Mt Auburn will have one of the highest total of warbler species on average seen in the entire country on any given day.

   I had never been to Mt Auburn Cemetery despite the well earned fame. I could never bring myself to deal with Boston traffic. Instead, I have always taken the much longer but much easier drive to Parker River NWR on Plum Island. Rarely have I been disappointed on Plum so I always try to make it back each year. 

   Dan Berard, whom was the Ocean State Bird Club president for many years was leading a walk at MAC on Mother's Day and reached out to the OSBC for members to join him. At first I thought about all of the reasons why I didn't want to go but then I realized this was a golden opportunity. We had to meet at 7 AM so despite my hatred of getting up early, I knew I wouldn't have to deal with traffic on a Sunday morning. I was birding with my friend Nicole from Connecticut and of course, I dragged Laurie along. A couple other Rhode Island birders Chris and Su also joined the walk. 

   We met just inside the gate at 7 AM and to my surprise our group was only about ten people. We walked around the huge cemetery for the next five and a half hours. In that time we walked a variety of landscapes. There is a very tall hill with a tower that was rumored to have a Summer Tanager. There are a couple of small ponds. There were dozens of flowering trees along with the already mentioned seventy foot oaks.

 

 Dan is the best birder I know. He can hear birds from distances that no one else can hear. He knows all of their calls and the subtle differences of ones that look almost alike. We ended up identifying twenty four species of warblers!!! Twenty four!! I did not hear or see all of them but as a group that is the number of warbler species that we know were in the cemetery. I have never been on a walk with anywhere near that number of species. I think the closest I've ever gotten was eighteen (twice). 

   The best warblers that I actually saw were Blackburnian, Bay Breasted, and Blackpoll. The best bird of the day was a Summer Tanager. Though I usually see at least one a year, it was a lifer for many of the people on our walk. We had multiple Baltimore Orioles, a Bald Eagle, Broadwing Hawk, and a Least Flycatcher along with dozens of species.

   I didn't take a ton of photos because many of the birds were really high up and most of the day was cloudy. Still it was great having so many migrating species around. I truly understand what makes Mount Auburn so special.

 

 A few notes. The place is huge and there are a lot of cemetery roads. I would have gotten lost if I were not on a guided walk. If I went again, I would download a map before hand or pick one up at the entrance. This area is named "mount" for a reason. It is very hilly. Some of the paths and roads are steep. Parking is allowed on any road that doesn't have a green line down the middle. From Norton on a quiet Sunday morning it was a fifty three minute drive. It is about fifteen minutes (maybe slightly less) from the  Mass Pike without traffic on a weekend morning. There is a bathroom near the main gate but that is the only one. There were a lot of birders at the cemetery (it is famous) and I had a ten minute wait to use the bathroom.

 

A Slow Start to May for me?

   

In the spirit of integrity of my blog, I have to admit that the first quarter of May has not been very kind to me. No I'm not whining about it, but as of this writing, I've only had a couple of "great" hours outdoors. The rest, well, meh.

   Like every other fishermen in southern New England, I know that very big stripers are in the area. I went for them two nights in a row and only landed a couple. My biggest was probably a big slot and nothing compared to some of the monsters I saw caught. This whole having a job thing sucks. Also, the place that I fished was shoulder to shoulder with fishermen and just not my scene. Anyway...moving on

Louisiana Waterthrush

   The first five days of May were a continuation of the last few days of April at work. We had to get ready for what we call Inventory, which is an audit of all merchandise in the store. Long story short, those of us with any authority (managers and leads) worked our ass off for a week. This is part of the reason I did not get to striper fish as much as I wanted, I was working long hours that were also stressful. 

   The plus side to all of the work is that it is over. I had the last two days off from work and spent all of it outside birding. Laurie came with me both days. And like the fishing for me, it was not as good as expected. 

  We went to Mia both days and really didn't see much. The highlight list was short, a hummingbird, Rose Breasted Grosbeak and a close encounter with a Hairy Woodpecker. After Miantonomi both days we tried other spots without much luck until evening yesterday. The best bird we did find was a Solitary Sandpiper in a little pond that very few people know about. 

   After a long day of birding we could have driven home about 4 pm but I knew traffic would be awful so I sucked it up and drove to one more birding location in Arcadia. This was a great decision. Laurie napped in the car and I walked. Immediately I saw a Louisiana Waterthrush. It was in marshy habitat better suited for a Northern Waterthrush but there it was. I got some proof photos but nothing more.

Hooded Warbler

 

   The highlight was seeing Hooded Warblers, again the photos weren't great but I was happy to see them. They were on breeding grounds so I did not use playback to get them closer. It was a joy to watch them feed and just be doing warbler things. 

   At this place I ended up seeing nine species of warblers, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow-throated Vireos and many other species. All told, I probably saw thirty species. It was great.  

Spotted Turtle

  Because it was chilly both days, we only saw a few herps. We saw one Garter Snake and turtles on rocks sunning themselves. We did find a first of the year Spotted Turtle which I would call the herp highlight. Fun fact, if you Google "best places to find herps in Massachusetts" you will get zero info on snakes and frogs but plenty of info on herpes including genital herpes.  More photos below

Bleeding Heart

Baltimore Oriole

Japanese Cherry

Veery

Hooded Warbler