Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

After a long month of snow, blustery weather, icicles freezing onto the house, and winter in general, yesterday I decided to treat myself to some birding up in Essex County. With the winter having taken a toll on my sanity to a certain degree, I thought that it would be nice to get out and try to find some year birds. Little did I know, how good of a day it was going to be. I awoke at 7:00am and got out by 7:45am to meet the rush hour along Route 95 to Gloucester. My plan was to visit 6 different locations to secure year birds I wanted on my list,most of which I wouldn't get to see again until late next fall or winter (provided I'm still on the East Coast as well). The locations included Bass Rocks and Jodrey Fish Pier in Gloucester, Parker River in Newburyport, Salisbury Beach in Salisbury, Deer Island near Winthrop, and Horn Pond in Woburn. After braving the throngs of cars leading to Gloucester, I arrived at the looming snowed in walls of Jodrey. While the walls of sn...

I've had a whirl of a day. Despite having a cold that started after minicamp this past week, I whisked myself off in pursuit of a Greater White-fronted Goose ( Anser albifrons ) that had been spotted recently among throngs of Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis ) at Peace Valley Park in Doylestown, PA. Reports of Lesser Black-backed Gulls ( Larus fuscus ) and a Red-headed Woodpecker ( Melanerpes erythrocephalus ) were nice treats to look for as well. As I arrived, I looked to my right and surveyed the mass of geese. I knew, or at least suspected, that it was somewhere in that group. So I set off down the path noting the calls of chickadees and sparrows as I went, while a vociferous Northern Mockingbird ( Mimus polyglottos ) sang a garbled remix of wren and sparrow song that made its way through the briars and broken trees near the water's edge. I walked onto a dock that from the looks of it floated in the summer, but due to the drop in water level, was now resting on the reservo...