April Great Horned Owlets at the Arb!
Tuesday April 1 When I went to check on the owls this evening, the mom was off the nest. Here are 2 of the owlets.
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| Great Horned Owlets |
Friday April 4 Walking around the pond early this morning, an immature bald eagle, white head, white and brown tail feathers, circled over the water, then swooped down, talons out, touching the water with a little splash but came away empty handed. Probably 4 years old, according to All About Birds (they get the full white head and tail in their fifth year.) Walking along Pond St. on the way home, a Cooper's hawk was perched high up in one of the trees, possibly scoping out the many house sparrows and starlings that have been active around there lately.
In the afternoon, went to Drumlin Farm to see the lambies and goaties. The lambs were in the barn, almost all lying down, looking tired out.
And in the evening, I went back to check on the owlets. Saw all three this time. The nest is starting to get crowded - you can see mom getting squeezed to one side in the photo. After a minute or two, she hopped out of the nest and stood on the branch. One of the owlets is starting to flap its wings, although I think it has a way to go before it actually flies.
Tuesday April 8 Driving past Jamaica Pond this morning, I spotted a different eagle - immature, brown head and tail - perched high in the sycamore they frequent.
Thursday April 10 Magnolia budding in a neighbor's tree. Some are already fully out.
The swan boats are starting to migrate to the Public Garden!
The people who own the swan boats live a couple streets over from me and keep them (disassembled) in their garage over the winter. Their family has run the swan boats since 1877, starting with Robert Paget; the current owners are the fourth generation to run the business. There are some wonderful historical photos of the swan boats at their website, which has this origin story for the boats:
"Robert and his wife Julia were opera fans and the idea for the swan came
from the opera Lohengrin. The Richard Wagner opera is based on a
medieval German story in which Lohengrin, a knight of the Grail, crosses
a river in a boat drawn by a swan to defend the innocence of his
heroine, Princess Elsa."
At the Arb this evening, the owlets were being especially cute. Their starting to get more adult feathers, replacing the fluffy grey downy feathers from a couple of weeks ago. Mom was watching from the next tree over. I suspect they're going to start hop-flying on their branch in the next week or two and then fledge.
Friday April 11 The common mergansers are still at the pond, a couple dozen or so, nearly all females. (I think the males must have headed north to stake out territories.) They tend to hang out together, diving and surfacing together. When one catches a fish, the others often chase it, trying to steal it.
Sunday April 13 The scilla are full out, carpeting the ground at the Arb.
Monday April 14 Had a lovely walk at Rocky Woods in Medfield, one of the Trustees of Reservations properties west of Boston, this afternoon. Beautiful mild, sunny spring day. As I walked along the footpath, I spotted three crows making a ruckus, with one diving down onto the footpath grabbing a garter snake. But as I approached, the crow hesitated and flew off, dropping the snake, who then wriggled into the long grass and escaped. Whew!
Further along, I spotted this sign, which was enough to deter me from trying to see the turkey vulture nest.
I passed three ponds on my walk, this one dammed by beavers.
Thursday April 17 Saw a male ruddy duck showing off its spectacular chestnut breeding plumage at the pond this morning, the first time I've seen one there in breeding plumage. Their wintering plumage is a muted, tawny brown with a white cheek patch, dull compared with the breeding plumage. Only a single common merganser left at the pond.
Earlier in the week I spotted a single pied-billed grebe, the only one I've seen over the fall and winter.
Friday April 18 And the mergansers are all gone from the pond. Doubt that I'll see them again until the fall.
The owlets were active this evening, lots of flapping. I think they're going to fledge soon; they're getting too big for the nest. At one point, the mom, looking a bit beleaguered, hopped off the nest to a branch on the other side of the trunk of the tree. Too much commotion in the nest. I heard the male hooting nearby, too. So great!
Saturday April 19 Lots of bird action at the pond this morning. First, a belted kingfisher flying fast through the trees along the edge of the pond, cackling as it went. Then a downy woodpecker pecking on a tree trunk. The ruddy duck in breeding plumage is still there, among half a dozen other ruddy ducks still in their winter plumage. I spotted my first warbler of the spring: a palm warbler, flitting about in some low bushes. The pair of wood ducks flew fast and low over the water, landing close to the edge of the pond, allowing a good look at them. And finally, a little shorebird, maybe a spotted sandpipier needling the mud at the edge of the pond with its bill.
Later on, I went to Mass Audubon's Broadmoor sanctuary in Natick for a walk. Beautiful, sunny day, ridiculously warm (high 70s). At the meadow by the parking lot, dozens of Eastern bluebirds, with their shimmering blue backs and wings, darting around, hunting insects. At the marsh, turtles sunning themselves on every inch of every downed log and little tuft of grass.
But I did spot this one lone, large egg on a rock, looking abandoned. Couldn't help wondering what had happened for it to be left like this.
Monday April 21 The owlets are off the nest, standing on a branch, flapping madly, with the occasional hop flying. Very exciting!
Tuesday April 22 Two of the owlets flew to another branch and perched there with Mom. The third owlet is still in the nest. One day soon, I'm going to look for them at the nest and they'll be gone.
Wednesday April 23 All three owlets are out of the nest now. One was standing on a branch above the nest, on its own. The other two were on a branch across from the nest with Mom. The one on the left kept leaning on Mom, nuzzling up to Mom and holding one of Mom's feathers in its bill. Pretty cute!
Sunday April 27 Saw a robin nesting on top of the wreath on my neighbor's front door this morning on my way to the pond.
The tree swallows have returned to the pond, darting over the water, catching insects.
And after lunch, the three owlets were piled up on a branch with Mom keeping an eye on them from a few feet away.
Tuesday April 29 In Concord for an Audubon talk about their Museum of Bird Art this evening. Returning to my car, at the parking lot, I heard the twittering of chimney swifts (aka cigars with wings) and spotted around 6 of them overhead.
Wednesday April 30 The owlets have been hanging around in the nest tree or the one next to it for the last few days. They've flown up to higher branches and are perching in more secluded spots. Even though I usually can find all three of them, along with their Mom, it's been hard to get a good photo. Here's one owlet from this morning. The two siblings were on a nearby branch on the other side of the tree trunk, but partially hidden by hanging branches.
I'm off to Princeton tomorrow to give a talk on Friday, on the water holding belly feathers of the desert sandgrouse. The male sandgrouse fly to watering holes to drink, then wade into the water, fluff up their belly feathers and fly back to the nest where the chicks run over and poke their bills into the adult's drenched belly feathers to drink. Here's a link to a short David Attenborough BBC clip about it. Jochen Muller, a postdoc at Harvard, and I figured out how it works. I think that by the time I get back, the owlets may have flown further off and be hard to find.
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