Nature Notes

January 2   Went on a bird walk with the Brookline Bird Club at the Arboretum this morning.  Around 30 birders, looking a lot more carefully than I usually do, we found a couple of less common birds for this area: a  red-breasted nuthatch and a  golden-crowned kinglet .  Both tiny birds: the nuthatch weighs about 1/3 of an ounce (10g) and the kinglet, a little less than 1/4 ounce (6 grams).  I like to think of bird weights in comparison to the tablespoon markings on a 4 ounce stick of butter: the kinglet weighs the same as half a tablespoon of butter.  But, even at its small size, it is not to be underestimated: this little bundle of energy migrates from its breeding grounds in northern latitudes, from British Columbia to Quebec, to winter as far south as northern Mexico. The other highlight: four  red-tailed hawks .  A juvenile near the entrance to the Arb, flying across the road where we stood to perch in a tree, then flying back over the ...

December 3   This morning, in the little cove of Jamaica Pond along Perkins Street, I was delighted to see dozens of hooded mergansers, mostly just floating, some paddling one way or the other.  The white patch on the males' heads gleaming in the sun as they moved this way and that. Counting them, there were about 70, more than I'd ever seen before.  I left smiling. December 4 Coming back from my morning walk with Maddie, a  red-tailed hawk flew in and landed on a tree a little in front of me.  And then a minute later, a smaller hawk with a banded tail, maybe a  Cooper's or  sharp-shinned , landed on the next tree over.  It took off by the time I walked up and took the photo of the red-tail. Running an errand after breakfast, I drove by the pond and looked for the mergansers in the same spot, but they'd all moved on. December 5 And the  hoodies are back! One group of about 40 or so diving, sometimes coming up with a small fish in their bi...

November 1 We've been having glorious weather - crisp cool air, piercingly blue sky, sun.  At the pond, the early morning light filtering through the trees creates a tunnel of gold.  November 3 The tree across the street from my house is particularly spectacular, seeming to just keep getting more brilliant red each day. November 4 Seeing more  hooded mergansers - yesterday a lone male and today a single female, both at Leverett Pond. November 6 Went to Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord early this morning, getting there around 8.  Great Meadows is not actually a meadow, but more of a marsh with two ponds separated by a dike, and separated from the Concord River by another, perpendicular dike. It was cold when I arrived - 28 F - and a thick hoar frost coated every bulrush, leaf and twig, sparkling in the sun. Another beautiful fall day. By the time I left, you could see that the frost had disappeared where the sun had warmed the ground, but was stil...