Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

This past week has certainly been telling me that spring is on the way with my earliest sighting of an Eastern Phoebe ( Sayornis phoebe ) ever last Sunday, to seeing a Red-winged Blackbird ( Agelaius phoeniceus ) and a Common Grackle ( Quiscalus quiscula ) at Cumberland Farms in Middleboro, and all the songbirds I've been hearing around the house too, it seems a sure sign that winter is coming to an end. Now when it comes to weather prediction and seasonal changes, the last thing I rely on is the perceived advice of a rodent. For those of you who don't know, I have a passionate disdain for woodchucks ( Marmota monax ) as they have made life difficult for the chickens by living under their shed and stealing their feed (which now costs $16 per bag making me even less happy to share the bounty with them). According to the rodent's forecast this year it would be the paradoxical claim of "six more weeks of winter" even though if the thing hadn't seen its shadow, it...

As I left the house at a little after three today to go look for a Northern Shrike ( Lanius excubitor ) that had been reported at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, I had mixed feelings over whether I would find it or not. Instead I came across a complete surprise. A sign of spring for some perhaps, but when seen in the middle of February, an Eastern Phoebe ( Sayornis phoebe ) is not the first thing that springs to mind. It is an especially strange sight to see after a snowstorm as well, but nonetheless, the photos do not lie. As I travel to Newton and Assabet River NWR tomorrow in search of more year list birds, I will think about this phoebe and how early it is. Could it possibly mean an early spring for us? Only time will tell.

It's my 100th post on here! Woohoo! Apologies for not having posted until the middle of the month, but I have been hard at work getting a summer job, carving owls, and trying to to freeze while being outside. I suppose the best place to start would be to inform you all how I'm doing on my year list. As of today, I have 75 species and have about 33% of the species that I saw last year! Last year I saw about 226 species and am hoping to either meet or exceed that number. I look forward to migration and dread the "warbler neck", but to meet the goal, it must be done! With all the Snowy Owls ( Bubo scandiacus ) puttering around I've managed to get five this year already and am more or less done with them. I wanted to find a Barn Owl ( Tyto alba ) that had been reported in Sachuest Point NWR in Rhode Island, but it didn't show. I had hoped for a Short-eared ( Asio flammeus ) or a Long-eared ( A. otus ) at some point, but so far they've evaded me as well. ...

A touch of winter to cap a fantastic day This past weekend I did something amazing, I participated in the Superbowl. "What are you talking about?!", you might well gasp to yourself after reading the title. "The Superbowl happens in February and that's that." Well since I don't care about football enough to merit as a thing, I am instead talking about Mass Audubon's Superbowl of Birding XI which took place this Saturday in the counties of Essex in Massachusetts and Rockingham in New Hampshire. During the nine or so hours of birding that I participated in, I got to meet some of the young birders and lead the group called the "Hedwig Express" as we toured around the hotspots of Essex County. The purpose of the event was twofold. One was to promote competitive birding as a fun activity to pursue on a winter's day, as well as being a way to socialize and associate with other obsessive people with a similar passion. The basic idea was to c...

There are both Glaucous and Iceland Gulls in this picture, but which is which? Can you tell the difference? After spending my birthday weekend birding with Alison, we decided to to hit up Jodrey Fish Pier in Gloucester in order to locate the Thick-billed Murre ( Uria lomvia ) that had been spotted in recent days. We came up short on that front, but came across a fairly uncommon winter sight. This lead not only to seeing both our first Glaucous Gulls ( Larus hyperboreus ), but also how they differed plumage-wise, from the nearby Iceland Gulls ( L. glaucoides ). After snapping a few pictures, I was initially at a loss to try and identify them. Since I'm newish to gull ID (my favorite plumage is that of a Ring-billed Gull ( L. delawarensis ) in its 1st winter plumage), I looked through my preferred guides and came up with a diagnosis. After browsing through the basic guides provided by Kaufman (least helpful) and National Geographic: Eastern Region (somewhat helpful), I con...

Over the holidays I received three books that will hopefully spark my confidence in becoming more outdoor oriented and in tune with nature as this new year dawns. While I have always had an interest in the natural world and knew about certain wild foods like "sour grass", cattail roots, and pine needle tea, I'd never made a concerted effort to try and make it part of my life. Looking around at the world, we humans are causing a lot of problems. Global climate change, overfishing, and habitat destruction are just some of those problems and as a result, I've been thinking a lot about my role in the world and what skills and abilities I have to make it a better one if at all possible. I know one thing I'm good at is writing and expressing my love of nature and my interactions with it through this blog. Another thing I'm good at is teaching others about the natural world. When I was a teacher naturalist intern with Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association, my...

It's officially two days into 2014 and this snowstorm is terrifying! Well not really, but I can happily report my choice for bird of the year 2013, as well as, my resolutions (nature wise) for the year! This past year I failed to reach my goal of 350 species and only managed to reach 338, but that's still impressive for spending most of the year in New Jersey and having access to some of the birdiest areas in the country. I was graced with a few good rarities this year and with the Snowy Owl ( Bubo scandiacus ) invasion coming into full swing, it provided a nice finish to the year indeed. So many species to choose from, but ultimately Hedwig herself won me over! In case you didn't see, here are some photos of the immature bird that would become my bird of the year. Resolutions wise, I'm keen to begin practicing my outdoor teaching skills once more with my new job in Pennsylvania. As for my goals they are as follows: 1. Be creative. That can mean drawing, wri...