March 2021
Monday, March 1. Misty morning with a slight drizzle. The trees at the top of Moss Hill, just across the Arborway from the house, in the clouds. The crest of the hill at Larz Anderson Park in the clouds, too.
A few common mergansers, mostly females, still at Leverett Pond, along with 2 pairs of hooded mergansers. Lots of bird song on the morning walk with Maddie - mostly cardinals, blue jays, sparrows.
Tuesday, March 2. Cold! 16F with a 25mph wind, for a wind chill of -4F first thing this morning, bracing after the last few days of temperatures in the 30s and 40s. But sun and brilliant blue sky. At noon, getting out of the car after an errand, saw a pair of red-tailed hawks circling erratically over the houses across the street, buffeted by the wind. One, the female, noticeably larger than the other - in raptors, the females are larger than males.
Some "cool facts" about red-tailed hawks from the Cornell All About Birds website:
"Courting Red-tailed Hawks put on a display in which they soar in wide circles at a great height. The male dives steeply, then shoots up again at an angle nearly as steep. After several of these swoops he approaches the female from above, extends his legs and touches her briefly. Sometimes, the pair grab onto one other, clasp talons, and plummet in spirals toward the ground before pulling away."
"The oldest known wild Red-tailed Hawk was at least 30 years, 8 months
old when it was found in Michigan in 2011, the same state where it had
been banded in 1981."
Wednesday, March 3. Milder again today, sunny. A few common mergansers still at Leverett Pond. Three females, looking very streamlined, flying fast along the length of the pond, so fast that I wanted to know how fast they can go. I couldn't find a number for common mergansers, but did find that red-breasted mergansers, which are a similar size, have been clocked at just over 80 mph (130 km/hr). Pretty amazing!
With the milder weather a few days ago, Jamaica Pond had started to melt, with large swaths of water on top of the remaining ice. After yesterday's frigid temperatures, it was all frozen again this morning, looking like an ice-rink, as smooth as if a Zamboni had spent the night polishing it.
And at Leverett Pond, little icicles dangling from the branches overhanging the pond.
Thursday, March 4. Common mergansers and one hoodie still at Leverett Pond. I keep thinking some day soon they'll be gone, headed north. Driving home, on a slightly circuitous route, saw a turkey, perched rather precariously on an iron fence right next to, and across, Goddard St, wobbling a bit, obviously thinking about taking off. But there was a steady stream of traffic coming in the lane next to it. As the last car passed, it took off and flew right in front of my car, about 30' away, wings fully spread, a spectacular view before it landed in the woods next to my lane.
Then, by Allendale Farm, I'm pretty sure I saw a turkey vulture, the first of the spring, soaring, wings spread in the upward V shape.
Friday, March 5. A turkey feather on the ground at the end of my street. I love the intricate cinnamon and black patterning.
Saturday, March 6. The neighborhood turkey was on Steve and Chris' front lawn, near the sidewalk, when I took Maddie out this morning. As I approached, it leapt and flapped up into the tree right above it, then looked down at me, just a few feet above my head as we walked beneath it. Very strange to be eyeballed by a turkey from just above.
At Leverett Pond, a delicate, thin layer of transparent ice covering parts of the pond. Just a single female common merganser remaining. But a pair of wood ducks and the great blue heron have reappeared. The wood ducks close together, near the bank of one of the islands; the heron standing in the water just off the island, fishing. I wonder if the wood ducks will use one of the nesting boxes at the pond later on in the spring. And just as I am leaving the pond, I hear a faint woodpecker drumming some distance away, the first time I've heard drumming this year, a sign of spring and courtship. At Willow Pond, a pair of hooded mergansers in the water, close together, just dozing, heads slightly tucked in.
On our afternoon walk, the first tiny crocuses of spring!
Monday, March 8. Witch hazel on our afternoon walk at the Arb. Lovely to be out in the sun and the first hint of warmer weather.
And Maddie wants you to see the really large pile of mulch she found, with wonderful sniffs.
Tuesday, March 9. Lots to see on my morning walk today. At Ward's Pond, a red-winged blackbird, my first of the spring, singing its heart out from the top of a bush. A grackle hopping about in the undergrowth. At Daisy Field, near Leverett Pond, a red-tailed hawk making a large arc over the field, carrying a fairly long stick, maybe 2' long, in its beak, then landing in a tree before flying over to the large steel light standard for the ball park. On the way back from my walk around the pond, I went over to the light standard where it had landed and found its nest, tucked into the metal mesh around the light. Wonderful to see the nest - now that I know where it is, I'll be checking on it over the next few weeks.
At Leverett Pond, a single female common merganser diving. 4 hoodies - a single female diving a few feet from the edge of the pond and 2 males with another female further up, again close to the edge of the pond. Great views, even without binoculars. A great blue heron fishing by the north end of the pond.
Thursday, March 11. Morning walk with Maddie, snowdrops out in a garden along Eliot St.
After breakfast, went for a walk in the Great Blue Hills, just south of Boston, where Jeannie and I often used to go. On the way back, 2 turkey vultures circling over the roadway as I was stopped at a red light. Another sign of spring.
Later on in the morning, went to Leverett Pond. A pair of common mergansers together and a second female off on its own, further away. Several ring-necked ducks. A red-bellied woodpecker probing its way to the top of a dead tree trunk in the woods.
Friday, March 12. Lunchtime walk with Maddie in the Arboretum, saw this leaf with only the venation remaining; everything else decayed over the winter. Love the delicate lacy pattern.
Saturday, March 13. On our morning walk, we practically walked into the neighbourhood turkey. I heard it squawking and looked up to see it just a few feet from us in a front garden. Maddie was pretty excited to get so close, but was good about moving on and leaving it alone.
Driving by Jamaica Pond, all open, ice completely gone. I was surprised as yesterday it was almost entirely iced over, with only a small fraction of open water. Thursday and Friday were unseasonably warm - Thursday the temperature reached the low 70s (a record!) and yesterday it was in the 60s. Lots of people out and about, basking in the warm sun, looking forward to a spring like never before, after all the isolation of the covid-winter.
At Leverett Pond, no mergansers. I think they've continued their journey north; I doubt that I'll see them again until next fall. In the woods, a pair of downy woodpeckers on an old, wide, decaying tree trunk, only about 10 feet left of it, the rest having broken off.
Later on in the morning, looking out the kitchen window as I did some dishes, there is a huge opossum in the driveway right in front of the window, just parked there. As it began sauntering down the driveway, I went out the back door to get a better look. At one point, it paused and we considered each other. Then it crossed the neighbor's fence and snuffled its way through the neighbor's yard. It seemed odd that it was out in the middle of the morning, as opossums are nocturnal. Plus, it was huge. I wondered if it was pregnant and looking for somewhere to have its babies.
Took this photo of a neighbour's witch hazel, bursting with rusty blossom.
Sunday, March 14. Pi day: MIT sends its admissions letters out on pi day each year.
Monday, March 15. Freezing cold this morning. My phone weather app said that the wind chill was -0F, which for some vague reason seemed even colder than just plain old 0F. I had never thought of 0 as negative before. No birds singing on our morning walk. Probably just hunkered down, wondering where last week's warmth went, like all of us.
Tuesday, March 16. Early morning, at Willow Pond, a great blue heron took off as I approached, great wide wings against the sky. Then a second heron across the pond took off and they went off together. And then a red-tailed hawk circling above the woods nearby, landing in a treetop.
At Leverett Pond, a red-bellied woodpecker perched by a perfectly circular hole, calling, near the top of one arm of a dead tree trunk. It then went in the hole, disappearing completely. A few seconds later, its head and neck reappeared and then disappeared again. Followed by wood chips flying out of the hole. The woodpecker then came out again, perching by the hole, calling.
Allandale Farm opening March 24, another sign of spring.
In the afternoon, at the Eliot School yard, a little group of house sparrows, flitting about in the dead oak leaves at the side of the yard, collecting bits of dried grass stems in their beaks. One male, its beak stuffed full with stems, flew off towards the houses across the street, presumably to add to its nest.
Wednesday, March 17. Stopped on Parkman Drive at the light at Perkins, I watch a muskrat swimming in Jamaica Pond, parallel to the shoreline.
Thursday, March 18. Terrific birding on my morning walk. Yesterday, driving past the pond, I glimpsed of what I thought was a flock of common mergansers. This morning, with the binoculars, got a great look at them between the little island and Perkins St. Fifteen males, white sides gleaming, swimming towards the bay at Pond St. Around half a dozen females, diving, intermingling with the males. Wonderful, as I don't see so many all together very often. A bit further away, a pair of hooded mergansers.
As I walked along the dirt path by the baseball field next to Bynner St. a red-tailed hawk flew low to the ground, about 30' in front of me, landing in the leaf litter in the adjacent woods. After a minute or so, it flew off, low again, landing on a dead tree branch stuck in the crotch of another tree beside Leverett Pond. As I approached it, I noticed there was a squirrel just beneath it, dodging between the crotch of the tree and the outer trunk. The hawk seemed oblivious to the squirrel, though. After a few minutes, the hawk took off, flying up above the tree tops.
Walking along the dirt path beside Leverett Pond I stopped to look at the red-bellied woodpecker nest. As I watched, the woodpecker appeared in the opening, then hopped out onto the trunk of the tree. The opening is amazingly circular, just large enough to fit the woodpecker's body. Cornell's Birds of the World website says that the openings average 2.3" (5.9cm) horizontally and 2.2" (5.7cm) vertically (ok, so 0.1" off a perfect circle) and that they are typically about 10" (25cm) deep and 3.5"x 5" (9cm x 13cm) across within the tree. A pair can excavate a nest in 2 weeks. Once the nest is ready, the female typically lays 4 smooth, white eggs in clutch. Further along the path, I spotted a pair of wood ducks in the pond, just lazily swimming around.
On the way back to the car, a yellow witch hazel along the path by the stream in full bloom.
And on our afternoon walk, tulip leaves poking through a garden.
Friday, March 19. Lots of common mergansers on Jamaica Pond this morning, along with a few hooded mergansers. And a pair of buffleheads, the first I've seen on the local ponds this winter. Near Leverett Pond, three hawks, buffeted by the wind.
Saturday, March 20. The first day of spring! After a long and hard winter of covid social isolation. Two guys in hip waders, in the water, fishing at Jamaica Pond. And the mergansers still there, too, also fishing. At dusk, taking Maddie out, saw a bat dart over one of my neighbor's rooftop; my first bat sighting of the year.
Sunday, March 21. Checking the red-bellied woodpecker's nest high up in the tree by Leverett Pond. When I first look up, no bird. But then I see just a bill and face poking out of the nest. Love it!
Tuesday, March 23. Tiny little daffodils out, the first I've seen this year.
Wednesday, March 24. I went into MIT to meet up with a student to lend him a book for his class project. We are both excited: he tells me I'm the first professor he's seen in a year and he's the first student I've seen since December 2019. And on my way into the office, I see a red-tailed hawk in a tree, right above me on the walkway. My student, knowing my bird habit, delightedly shows me a photo he took of another hawk, perched on the window sill of his frat house, across the river.
Friday, March 26. Common mergansers still on Jamaica Pond. I keep thinking they're about to leave, heading north and then they're still there on the pond.
Sunday, March 28. The forsythia in the front yard, with yellow buds getting ready to open.
Tuesday, March 30. At Jamaica Pond this morning, only a few common mergansers left - I think they're finally heading north again. Also a muskrat swimming along the shore. At Leverett Pond, 1 male and 4 female common mergansers and the red-bellied woodpecker perched on the tree trunk next to the opening of its cavity nest in the tree. Tiny leaves on the bushes by the pond.
Wednesday, March 31. My neighbor's magnolia is starting to blossom, as are the ones at the Arboretum.
The mergansers are all gone from the ponds, finally headed north to breed.
The red-tailed hawk gave up on the nest on the light standard by the ball field. Possibly deterred by the giant stadium lights being turned on right next to the nest.
The red-bellied woodpecker continues around the nest and the trees within a few hundred yards of the nest.
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