November 2020

I've been seeing less this month, partly as it's now dark in the mornings when I take Maddie out to walk.  And there seem to be fewer migrating ducks at Jamaica Pond this year.

November 1 Jeannie's Christmas cactus is getting ready to bloom again - pink buds are appearing at the ends of the leaves.  

November 5 A neighbour's holly bushes are full of bright red berries.

November 6 Sunrise in JP, on our morning walk.

Later in the day, I noticed that Jeannie's cactus was coming further into bloom.

November 7 Out on my morning bike ride along the Muddy River, I decided to go to the spot where I'd seen the albino squirrel earlier in the summer to see if it was still around, and there it was, snuffling and digging in the dirt beneath the same tree where I saw it last time.

The trees have been beautiful this fall. I've loved seeing them on my walks and bike rides along the Emerald Necklace. Here's a photo of the trees along the Muddy River.

And one a couple of days later, at Ward's Pond, just beyond Jamaica Pond.

November 8 The two turkeys at Chris and Steve's house on Pond St, just around the corner from my house.  They've been hanging around there in the mornings recently.  And now I know why: Steve started feeding them corn.  One morning, I saw them racing around a bush near the Jamaicaway, chasing after each other, then one taking off, flying so low over the road that, for a moment, I thought it might get hit by a car.  The second one continued racing around the bush.  I kept on with my walk and didn't see if it took off or not.

Unseasonably sunny, warm weather this week - today 70F!

November 11 At Jamaica Pond, on our morning walk, saw a  pied-billed grebe  up close, right by the bank of the pond near the footpath.  Also a belted kingfisher, making its slightly strangled kak-kak-kak call, flying along the shoreline and up and over the road, maybe headed to one of the other nearby ponds.

Biking home from MIT in the morning, saw a woman working from the park, with her dog helping at an appropriate social distance.

November 14 At 6:30 this morning, the turkeys waiting for Steve on his front lawn.

The last few days, a couple of people told me that they had seen hooded mergansers at the pond.  I've been checking out the pond out a few times but didn't see them until this morning - a male and female, diving and surfacing near each other, over and over.  Lovely.   And a pied-billed grebe, hanging about with a flock of Canada geese.

November 15 Went for an afternoon bike ride. On the way out, saw a wood duck in the little creek part of the Muddy River that connects Leverett Pond with the rest of the river.  And on the way back, heard a red-tailed hawk screeching near the same spot, then saw it take off from up in a tree and soar over the dog park and Brookline Ave, circling around and around, over and over. Maybe looking for a little doggie to haul off in its talons.

November 16 After heavy rain and wind last night, most deciduous trees are now completely bare - a reminder, as if we needed one, that winter is nearly here.  A photo from the Arboretum.

November 19 On our morning walk at the pond, thought I saw a bent stick poking out of the water in a couple of places, but then it swam and dove down into the water - a muskrat.

November 21 Went for a morning bike ride and saw a wood duck, fairly close up, showing off its fantastic coloring, in the stream along Brookline Ave.  Took a short detour from my regular route to Hall's Pond and walked around the (small) pond on the boardwalk. There was a guy in front of me with binoculars and a camera with a telephoto lens, so I asked him if he'd seen anything good.  He had: a barred owl that he pointed out to me, perched mid-way up a pine, very neat!

November 22 The Christmas cactus is in full bloom now.

November 22 Great blue heron flying over Prince Street while I had Maddie out. 

November 26 The old large beech trees along the Parkman Drive side of Jamaica Pond have lost nearly all their leaves now. But a young one, just beneath one of the more prominent old ones, still had its golden leaves.

And, at home, the white Christmas cactus in the dining room is starting to bloom, too.

November 27  This morning on my bike ride, I saw 5 hooded mergansers (3 males, 2 females) and 6 wood ducks (4 males, 2 females) in the tiny little stream that runs alongside Brookline Ave right by the Longwood medical area (the stream then goes under Brookline Ave and turns into the Muddy River). 

Following rain yesterday, sun illuminating mist evaporating off the oak trunks at small park in Brookline, near the BU bridge.

 

Had an email from a colleague, Elsa Olivetti, staying in Vermont for the term, saying that on Thanksgiving Day, she saw "close to two dozen loons seemingly on their way south and stopping by for a snack on the journey.  I have never seen so many loons in one place, it was amazing.  We tried to get somewhat close to waters edge for a picture, but they were very skittish. Their plumage had so much variety between birds."   Loons molt their classic black and white checkerboard summer plumage in the fall, changing to a more subdued grey for the winter, non-breeding season.  I sometimes see them off the coast of Cape Ann, north of Boston, or off the Rhode Island shore in the winter.

And another, from Nancy Hopkins, in Riverdale in the Bronx, "We saw 3 possibly 4 eagles flying up and down the Hudson River today".  It is so cool that she sees eagles right in New York city.

November 28 On my morning bike ride, a pair of hooded mergansers at Leverett Pond and another pair on the Muddy River.  On the stream along Brookline Ave., by the Longwood Medical area, a pair of wood ducks sitting on a downed log over the stream and another single male wood duck swimming.  Also a pair of green-winged teal nearby, very unusual to see them in the city.

November 29 The Christmas cactus is at its peak, covered in pink blossoms.