Concord, MA

 Concord along with Wareham are my favorite towns in Eastern MA. There is so much history in Concord that if you are a buff, you could spend a week there. I try to get to Concord at least once a year. We went up on Sunday and while the highlight was the unbelievable amount of Leopard Frogs we did enjoy some of what Concord has to offer.

   The main purpose of our trip was to go to a Minuteman National Historic Park ranger program. We went to a 2 pm North Bridge Battlefield Walk. The walk took forty five minutes. Despite knowing much about the battle I learned a lot. As usual, much of the stuff we learned in our text books as kids was wrong. Did you know that only part of the militia were Minutemen? A small percentage of the town residents trained a few times a week to be prepared at a moments notice. Each town did have a standard militia but they only trained a few times a year.

Park Ranger taking cover in the 
shade while doing the walk.

   As we know, history is written by the victors. It wasn't mentioned in our history books that the British soldiers that died at the North Bridge were scalped by the Patriots. There were many other facts like this that I learned. The ranger was passionate and knew everything there is to know. 

   There really isn't anything in Concord I haven't done. It took years to see everything in the historic town. Going to one or two historic sites each trip meant I always had something to look forward to for a decade. I strongly recommend taking a trip to Concord. Clearly there is a lot to do. Here are some must sees...Short description BELOW most of the photos.

   Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Author's Ridge-  I doubt there is another place in America where so many great minds are buried so close together. On a small hill in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Thoreau, Emerson, Louisa Alcott, and Hawthorne are buried. Also in the cemetery is Daniel Chester French

mmm Concord Museum- This museum is amazing. It has one of the "one if by land, two if by sea" lanterns. Ralph W Emerson's entire study is there. Many artifacts from the battle are in the museum. This is a must do. If you only went to one place that charges admission, this should be your choice.

   Waldon Pond- This historic pond is where Thoreau spent a year. There is a replica of his one room cabin. The lake is stocked with trout

 

 Minuteman National Historic Park- obviously this is a must do also. People come from all over the country to see this battlefield. You need to go to the North Bridge and the Minuteman Statue. The Visitor Center along Rt 2A has a great multimedia program on the hour. You can follow the sites along Battle Road and see sites such as where Paul Revere was captured. Do yourself a favor and go to at least one ranger program.

Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge- this refuge is full of wildlife. You never know what you will see. I've seen Beavers, Marsh Wrens, Muskrats, Snakes, Blanding's Turtles, Frogs, Bald Eagle and a lot more here. The refuge has two large swampy ponds with a causeway between them. The path goes to the Concord River. You can loop around the pond on the right. 

Orchard House- Home of Louisa May Alcott. Alcott is the author of Little Women. Great tour

The Wayside- Home of the Authors. Alcott and Hawthorne both lived in this house. Another worthy stop

Bristler's Spring

Bristler's Spring- a small spring in Hapgood-Wright Town Forest. Thoreau would go there to bird watch. I thought it would be cool to go there and see a bird in a spot Thoreau actually sat to see nature

Concord River- you can kayak and canoe on the river. There is a kayak rental place. Fish include bass, pike, and carp

DeCordova Museum- mostly modern art with changing exhibits. The first time I went it had a lot of cool stuff. The second time I went, we brought my seven year old and the exhibits were mostly nudes! Awkward and I had to explain it to his mother when we got home that I had no idea.

  

Snorkeling

 

Google image of a Beau Gregory the
species of tropical fish that Charles
found while we were snorkeling 

If ever there was a year that I rooted for ninety five degree days it was this year. After spending the late winter and early spring in the pool, I was hoping to continue my swimming once the water warmed up. As we all know, the spring and summer was cool and wet. We had a total of four ninety degree days in Boston this year. When it wasn't rainy, most of the summer after the warm spell has still been cool. So needless to say, my wimpy ass did not go swimming as much as I hoped. I went a total of two times both at Onset Beach. 

    Mixed in with my want to go swimming was my need to go snorkeling. It's no secret I love snorkeling. I brought my fins to Onset on one of the days I swam but the visibility was terrible. That had been the extent of snorkeling this summer.

   My friend Charles and I decided last week to give it a go and snorkel on Monday. The weather didn't look awful in the long range forecast and the water temp was probably going to drop after peaking sometime this month. Nights in the fifties and sixties certainly were going to drop the water temp from what was around 74 degrees. 

   I woke up this morning to a cloudy sixty four degree morning. Not exactly what I was hoping for. None the less, plans are plans. So I met Charles at his house and we went to Ocean Drive in Newport where he knew of a good spot we might find tropicals. By the time we parked it had warmed to a balmy sixty seven degrees. We got our mask and snorkel on and walked down to the water. Putting our feet in the water was tough. There was no way that the water was as warm as it was when we went seining last week. However, we "cowboyed up" and went in. The water was cold. We both admitted later that we never would have went in if the other one wasn't there. Despite this, it was Charles that pushed me more than I pushed him because as he pointed out, it might be our last and only chance of the year.

 

Baby Black Sea Bass

 We went across a cove to where he knew snorkeling would be good. He had me lead in hopes I'd see fish. He has much more experience snorkeling in Rhode Island so the hope would be I'd see fish that he had already seen in the past. It didn't work out that way. He called me back to a spot I had already passed. He found a tropical fish called a Beau Gregory. This is a beautiful small damselfish that is electric blue on top and yellow on the bottom. He showed me the spot and I got a very good look at it until it dashed into cover. Besides the Beau Gregory I saw a couple small Black Sea Bass and a Cunner. 

   We snorkeled roughly two hours and my core got pretty chilled. My body was convulsing from the cold water but I sucked it up for a while. I could always see my car so I knew it was just a short swim back when the cold got to be too much. As you'd expect I wrapped a towel around me pretty dam fast.

   When we dried off we went back into the water again but only up to our thighs. We decided to go seining and did four passes along the cove. We had really good luck. We had plenty of Silversides. One pass had a Striped Sculpin, Winter Flounder, Scup, and more baby Black Sea Bass. I think the highlight for me was a baby Cunner that had all kinds of colors and a Striped Killifish. Not to be confused with Banded Killifish that I first saw at BioBlitz, Striped Killifish are a saltwater species.  

 

our mystery mojarra

   We got one species that we had never seen before. It was silver and had a curved dark lateral line. Charles knew it wasn't a herring and we knew it wasn't menhaden but that's all we knew. There were dozens of them in our seine. Definitely a schooling fish. We took a ton of photos both in and out of the water. I posted the photos on a Facebook group while he posted on Inaturalist. It seems to be a species of Mojarra. The majority seem to think it is a Tidewater or Spotfin Mojarra. Don't worry, I've never heard of these fish either! Either way, this is a great find. These fish live down in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Islands. No doubt this school got caught up in the Gulf Stream and went for a ride.

   Today was definitely an adventure. The water was cold but the scenery was worth it. The different grasses and seaweeds were beautiful underwater. The Beau Gregory was absolutely gorgeous. Charles was not happy with our haul snorkeling. He said there used to be more places to see tropical fish in that cove. I do believe now that we know how rare our mojarra is in Rhode Island he is as excited as me how our day went. One more amazing adventure to write about during the Summer of 2023 

Striped Killifish in front
Black Sea Bass in  the middle

Striped Sea Robin

Striped Killifish

Cunner

Holding Tank

Baby Scup

Winter Flounder

Leopard Frogs!

   

   I've spent a lot of time this year looking for Leopard Frogs. I've taken a special trip to Concord, MA in late June. Even more fun, but still unproductive, my friends Charles, Louise, and I staked out a spot in Middletown that they historically lived. Today we found the motherload. 

   I'd like to say that Leopard Frogs along with their cousins Pickerel Frogs are stupidly named. In nature, the fish Chain Pickerel is green as are all members of the pike family. Also, as we know Leopards are brown or at least brownish. However, to make life confusing, Pickerel Frogs are brown and Northern Leopard Frogs are usually green (usually). I can only assume Leopard Frogs were named first and when the scientist saw the spots he named them after leopards. This unfortunate fact makes me have to pause and think every time  I mention either species.

   Over the last year of herping I've seen Pickerel Frogs on many trips. Though the most I've ever seen at one time is five, I've probably seen them on over a dozen herping adventures. On the other hand, over the course of my life I've seen two Leopard Frogs. One of them was near the baseball field I played Little League when I was about twelve and the other was along the Hudson River when we visited Saratoga National Battlefield. I forget about both of these encounters and have mistakenly told multiple people that Northern Leopard Frogs would be a lifer. Ironically, I have seen a Southern Leopard Frog at a water spicket at a campground in North Carolina. 

   

   Today Laurie and I went to Concord to enjoy ranger programs at Minuteman National Historical Park. Going to the national wildlife refuge to kill forty five minutes was really an afterthought. It may been the best afterthought of my life. The chalkboard had a list of sightings one of them being "Spotted Leopard Frog" . Though the name was wrong, it did peak my interest that maybe, just maybe, we'd see a Leopard Frog.

   It didn't take long to find out. We crossed a little bridge over some flood water and I walked to a patch of grass on the other side. I startled three frogs in one step. Laurie also startled a frog. All four hopped into the weeds (three feet high Goldenrod, and other impenetrable brush). I didn't get a look at any of mine, but Laurie said hers looked green.

   Up the path we ran across a couple more jumping frogs. We identified them as Leopard Frogs!!! I was pumped and tried to catch them. They were so fast and can easily jump four or five feet. I missed them. Also, I forgot to get a photo before I tried to catch them! Dumbass.

   Luckily, I had a lot of opportunities. They were everywhere. The next frog that we found, Laurie smartly handed my camera back to me and I took some decent proof photos. Then I tried to catch them and missed again. I missed multiple more frogs multiple more times.

   After a half dozen unsuccessful attempts to catch a Leopard Frog we came across a small grassy patch along the trail as it came to a T intersection. The area was 20x20 feet. There were multiple frogs in the grass. I cornered one and he hopped a few times but I kept it out of the tall weeds. I could tell it tired after a few big hops. It got under some grass and as I figured out, it couldn't see me. I caught it and gently picked it up. We took some photos and we put it back down. In two hops it was at the waters edge. I caught one more frog and took some more photos but after that, despite wanting to catch every frog I saw, I left the rest alone.

 

 Since I didn't want to exaggerate this incredible day I asked Laurie how many Leopard Frogs we saw, we came up with the same number, somewhere around thirty! We also saw two huge Northern Water Snakes, a Garter Snake, and one Green Frog. Today was the most exciting day I've had herping in Massachusetts. We had so much fun. I'm still on an adrenaline high!

Seining Again

     Sunday my friend Charles kept a promise. He had told me all summer that we should go seining in August for tropical fish. The plan was to go seining when the water was the warmest to see what we could find. While this was going to be fun and exciting to me, I knew he was doing me a favor. He had spent the last six weeks seining everyday with kids at summer camp. His title at camp was Beach Naturalist so he was in the water everyday. I can't imagine he was nearly as excited to go as I was. It goes without saying that I am beyond grateful he kept his promise.

   Charles said I could invite a few people to go with us. The catch was there is only room for three cars. Being that we were seining on a weekend at a private beach we did have to keep the cars to that limit. So if you are reading this and you wished you could have went, I am very sorry I couldn't invite everyone I knew. I'm sure many birders would have been bored out of their mind, but I know many of you would have had as much fun playing in the water as I did. 

 

Windowpane Flounder

    Okay, now that I got my personal guilt out of the way...Laurie and I met Charles at the cabins at 8 am. To my surprise he had some tanks that had fish in them from seining with the camp kids. He had planned on letting them go the day before but decided to keep them overnight. Shortly after I got there Allison and the Bradleys pulled up followed by Jessica. We took photos of Charles's captive fish. I think the star of the show was a flounder I had never even heard of called a Windowpane Flounder.

   There were other fish in the tank including Sheepshead Minnow, Northern Pufferfish, Winter Flounder, and a couple of small Jacks. Charles had an observation tank where we could safely photograph fish without hurting them. The tank is in the shape of a slender V. The fish get stuck in the tank making photos easy. The fish can breathe because they are in water. Still, we all tried to take quick photos before getting the fish back into the bigger tanks. After we were done taking our photos we brought the fish down to the water to be released.

   Once at the water we started our own seine. Charles took the deep end and I the shallow end. We walked about twenty yards and Charles swung in like a hinge. We caught Silversides and Kingfish. I had never seen a Northern Kingfish and only heard of them when Charles told me they were catching a lot. We kept the largest Kingfish and Silverside for photos. Then we let the rest go. 

   The next sweep Marge took her turn. Same thing, Charles took the deep end and swung around. This went on five more times each of us getting a turn. Every time we caught the same fish  Silversides and Northern Kingfish. We did catch a couple hermit crabs and jellyfish but no other species of fish. Making it all that much more of a bonus Charles had kept his other finds.

 

Winter Flounder

   We brought the fish back up to the cabin and took photos of them. Allison tried to figure out the species of Hermit Crab. Luckily, Marge brought a small pad and wrote down the names of the fish we were taking photos of. We all took our turns taking photos of fish and when we were done we released our Silverside and Kingfish to the protection of Neptune.

   I'm quite sure Charles was disappointed by the lack of species we got. He said there was a good chance we could catch baby Barracuda and many other tropical fish. It just wasn't panning out that way this year for whatever reason. Still, for those of us that never seine, it was a fantastic morning. I thought the field trip would take us two hours but we didn't leave the beach until noon. I think all of the participants had a great time doing something we never get to do. I personally got many lifers. The Windowpane Flounder and Kingfish were lifers. I may have caught Winter Flounder as a child but I wouldn't have known the difference from them or Fluke so they it to was a lifer. Once I get positive IDs from Marge's post the similar Jack's will be added to my list.

 

Northern Pufferfish

  If there is one thing I have learned this summer it's this: I know a lot about the gamefish I catch but when it comes to little fish there is so much to learn. In both fresh and saltwater there are so many species I not only know nothing about but never even heard of. The other thing is there will be a seine on either my Christmas list or one bought before then!

Thank you again Charles!!

Many more photos below

Striped Sea Robin

a jack, maybe Pompano

Butterfish

Allison seining

Jessica doing the same

Our fearless leader, Charles

Northern Kingfish

Freetown State Forest

   

   In an attempt to conserve funds, I haven't done much of anything that involves long drives. I did work the last two weeks at the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals putting in over forty hours each week. Glad to have made some money. While you may not want to read much about my health, this post begins that way...

   Over the last few months my sugar levels have been pretty much perfect. Because I was so active, whenever I took my blood sugar levels it was always within the healthy range. With exercise and my medication, it really didn't seem to matter what I ate, my sugar levels were great. It was to the point that if asked how I was doing, I'd say that with my meds, I was pretty much cured. Yes, I know that you always have diabetes once you have it. Still, my numbers have been great. I am very fortunate that I can control my blood sugar levels with exercise. However, there is a Ying to every yang. This also means that if I am not active my blood sugar levels go up.

   I realized this a couple of nights ago. Over the past week my blood sugar levels were high. Of course I made some changes to my diet. I don't eat French fries every night anyway, but over the past few days I have been VERY mindful of carbs. Yet, my blood sugar levels, while not off the charts were higher than I'd like. Certainly higher than they should be eating very cautiously. Then it hit me, I haven't been nearly as active over the last month (other than working the festivals) as I had the previous six months. So with that in mind I decided to go for an extended bike ride today.

   I understand that reading two paragraphs on my diabetes is not why you came to my blog. But there may be people reading my blog that do have "Tracy Morgan Disease". It is quite possible one of them can't get their numbers down with meds and diet alone. Hopefully this post inspires them. 

 

Miles of dirt roads

 Today I decided to explore the Freetown State Forest. The forest is in the towns of Freetown and Fall River. It is a couple miles off of the section of Rt 24 between I-195 and I-495. Freetown State Forest (FSF from now on) is part of a large protected area called the Southeastern MA Bioreserve. This huge 16,000 acre greenspace is managed by many agencies from Mass Wildlife, City of Fall River, The Trusties of the Reservation and others. I only explored a small section of the bioreserve today. The FSF is large enough. There are many types of trails ranging from hiking, bridal, and even motorcycle. I stayed on dirt roads today. There were more than enough miles of dirt roads to tire my legs out.

   When I first pulled into the parking lot ( the forest is free) at headquarters I got a map of the forest. I then sat at a picnic table and studied it for a few minutes. I decided on a route. There are numerous trails and it would have been very easy to get lost. To counter this, I planned on stopping at every intersection so I knew exactly where I was. 

 

There are over 30 manmade watering
holes for wildlife throughout the forest.

 There was a lot of different habitat. For sure the rangers use fire in the form of prescribed burns to manage the forest. I saw multiple places where it was obvious that fire was used. In most of these places the underbrush was a lush green. Some of the larger trees were not affected by fire at all while the bushes below were charred and dead. I think the burned areas will make a nice home for a multitude of species including Eastern Box Turtles.

   I went in the afternoon and didn't see too much wildlife. By far, the most common animal was a butterfly with blue on the wings. I didn't stop to see if it was a Red Spotted Purple or one of its cousins. They were at every puddle or muddy area on the road. For bird life, the highlight was a singing Hermit Thrush. They are a common species, but I rarely hear them sing. 

  Though I would expect it much busier on weekends, I only saw two other people on the dirt roads. The main parking lot was pretty full of cars. There is a splash pool for kids to play in that looked to be very popular. There are at least fifteen picnic tables however I didn't see anyone using them today. I'm sure that is a different story on weekends. Once I got away from the main parking lot, I had the forest to myself except for one person per hour.

 

Monument dedicated
to the CCC

    I rode my bike extremely slowly (looking for wildlife) for a couple of hours. I really don't know how many miles I did. Maybe 6-8? Other than the very few hills, I didn't get any real cardio in. However, my legs tell another story. They are a little sore. Most of the roads were rough and I had many potholes and protruding (and loose) stones to negotiate. I'm sure I would have seen more wildlife if I walked with binoculars instead of rode my bike without them. However, my goal was exercise and see as much scenery as I could. Next time I go back I'll check out other parts of the SE MA Bioreserve. Such a cool area within a thirty five minute drive and I've never explored it.

    

Underbrush recovering nicely after a
prescribed burn.

Michael Tougias Presentation

 

Google Image of Michael Tougias

    For years I have wanted to go to a presentation by author Michael Tougias. When I was young I used to read his column in the Sun Chronicle (our local newspaper) every week. His articles were not so much about fishing as they were other outdoor pursuits such as daytrips, state parks, and canoeing local rivers. Though thirty years ago, I vividly remember reading his piece every week and learning about new places in the area.

   Somehow I got wind of Michael's books. He wrote multiple books about the area. He lives in Mendon, MA.  Back then his books were about local history or nature. I bought a book about King Philip's War. King Philip was the son of the famous Massasoit that befriended the Puritans. By King Philip's time the colonists were busy stealing the land from the natives and spreading disease decimating the native population. King Philip (whose real name was Metacomet) lead a war against the colonists. Per capita it was the bloodiest war in American history. Both sides were responsible for some despicable atrocities. 

   Another book that I bought is called "Exploring the Hidden Charles". The book is about the Charles River. It breaks the river down into sections starting in the town of Franklin all the way to where it dumps into Boston Harbor at the Museum of Science. In each section is information about entering tributaries, scenery, and most importantly access points. I took multiple scouting trips to sections of the Charles with my book and notes looking for places to fish. Because of this book I caught Yellow Bullheads in Sherborn and fished for carp in Needham. 

  Later on Michael decided to expand to a more national audience. He found a niche in extreme survival. He found stories where people survived all kinds of historical disasters. He has also dabbled in young adult books. Some of these are more stripped down reader friendly versions of his more detailed disaster books. These books certainly expanded his readership. To date, Michael Tougias was written thirty books. 

   Michael Tougias does multiple speaking presentations based on his books. Last night he spoke at Seekonk Library. I put it on my calendar and was getting excited as the day approached.  Last night's presentation was called "The Finest Hour". It was about a Coast Guard Rescue off of the Cape Cod Coast in 1952. There was a terrible winter storm so powerful that two oil tankers split in half about twenty miles from each other. The Coast Guard rescued most of the seamen but there were some deaths. The book was made into a feature movie by Disney. Two of the actors in the movie were Casey Affleck and Chris Pine.

   The presentation lasted almost an hour and was excellent. I hadn't read this book or seen the movie. So everything I heard was history I didn't know anything about. The meeting room was completely full and Michael was very happy with the turnout. After the presentation and Q &A was over Michael sold books in the back of the room. He signed the books and answered some more questions. 

   Seeing a Michael Tougias presentation was something I have wanted to do for decades (as usual I dragged Laurie along). It was definitely on my bucket list. He is doing a presentation in Middleboro, MA on October 2. The talk will be about King Philip's War. I plan on going to that. To find out when he is speaking go to his Facebook page and scroll down. You can go to his website to buy books and other info (I don't know why he doesn't have his speaking engagements on his website). The presentations are free. He obviously does them in hopes of selling some his books. None the less, a very enjoyable hour. 

https://www.michaeltougias.com/