Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

The name "Sprig" is an old hunters name for the Northern Pintail ( Anas acuta ), a slim duck with a handsome chocolate brown head, white lined neck, and gray body along with a long tail that gives it its namesake. The females are delicately patterned when compared to female Mallards ( A. platyrhynchos ) and are slightly smaller with a gray bill and the same pointed tail.  They were congregating (about 9 birds altogether) on Hager Pond in Marlboro where they not only spend a good part of some winters and migration season, but it was also here that I saw my first Pintail as a young birder. While feeding the ducks after brunch one Sunday, I looked through my trusty Bushnell's to see a female Pintail congregating with the resident Mallards and Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis ). It didn't beg for food like the others, but still stayed close enough to the shore for me to get a good look at her. Picking away at ice and snow. Looking for bread maybe? Wai...

Given that it's been chilly these past few days, I wasn't expecting to see any waterfowl or larger birds at Great Meadows in Concord. I arrived around noon and looked over the frozen, cattail-rimmed marsh beyond and missed the clamor of the geese and ducks that had occupied it only a few months earlier. I distinctly remembered seeing American Coots ( Fulica americana ) and a radio tagged Northern Harrier ( Circus cyaneus ) last January, but today would be just as much of a joy when it comes to finding birds. Here are some of the many, many pictures I took while freezing my nips off.  "Can you see me?" Named redpoll for the small red cap found on both sexes. Males have a reddish wash on their breast. "I see you." Two's Company A frozen waste surrounded by cattails Canine tracks of sorts. Perhaps fox or coyote? The coldest lodging in all the land at the moment Some Giant Canada Geese ( Br...