Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone and I thought I'd share a quick update about some of my findings over the past week. I wanted to talk about plovers in particular. Why you might ask?  One reason is that they are ridiculously adorable. Another is that they are wonderfully talkative with their piping voices. Despite their notoriety and popularity with birders, shorebirds in particular are vulnerable to declines in population due to sharp declines in suitable migration stopover sites, food depletion, and in some cases, illegal hunting on their wintering grounds. Fortunately for us, many shorebirds species are still very common and the two birds I want to talk about in this posting are probably some of the more recognizable of the shorebirds (depending on where you live). They are the Killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus ) and the Piping Plover ( C. melodus ). I've talked about Piping Plovers on here before, but I don't think I've ever specifically focused on either my o...

As my first weekend in Horsham continues, I took a trip to two nearby reservoirs to try my luck at finding some migrating waterfowl and shorebirds. It has been an interesting transition with having gotten a bigger room than I had last spring*, nearly getting Poison Ivy ( Toxicodendron radicans ) the first day here, dealing with itchy bug bite ridden legs from having refused bug spray at a barbeque on Labor Day, and anticipating the prospecting of using washing machines that I'm fairly certain use a type of detergent that I'm allergic to. Other than that, it's been smooth sailing. As I left this morning, I drove along the familiar routes that I'd taken in the spring to a local spot called Bradford Dam Recreation Area. Located about 5 minutes up the road from where I'm currently living, it's where I saw my first Bobolinks ( Dolichonyx oryzivorus ) and Broad-winged Hawk ( Buteo platypterus ) of the year. As I trod near to the pond, I looked at the murky pond weed...

On this hot summer evening, I realize I haven't posted anything in nearly two weeks and figured that tonight would be a good a time as any to do so. I have started work at Drumlin once more and I'm looking forward to the start of camp as well. The past few weeks have been busy and full of fun and learning. Fun because of all the returning counselors I know from prior years and learning because of staff training. Other than that, I managed to head to Portcon Maine this year and snap some photos of local bird life in the vacant lot nearby. The jovial songs of House Finches ( Haemorhous mexicanus ) rang out over the parking lot. The pleading cries of a pair of Killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus ) drew us close to what we suspected was their nest site. An American Goldfinch ( Spinus tristis ) surveys cosplayers on a beautiful Sunday morning. A honeybee ( Apis spp. ) feeds on the ornamental mint ( Mentha spp. ) flowers planted outside the Double Tree. Also, I rec...