A Little Breakfast Treat

It's that time of year where the weather is wonderful. You just want to be outside. In New England we tend to stuff so much is so little time. This time of year is filled with outdoor activities ranging from sporting events, to graduations & commencements, to gardening and other outside maintenance activities that have been delayed by the winter.

At the refuge, it is a time where things change on almost a daily basis. At the refuge it is much the same. Animals are migrating, nesting, mating and raising their young. Plants are flowering an blooming. The next revolution in the cycle of life is well underway. Each day you will see something that you haven't seen before this year.

We are all motivated by the same drive. We've go to accomplish as much as we can in that little time that remains. In less than 2 months the days will start getting shorter. Can autumn and winter be far behind? So today we have to do as much as we can, tomorrow will be here faster than we expect.

That's why the last thing I want to do is spend a wonderful day indoors behind a computer. There will be plenty of time for that next winter. So today you get a quick buffet of images from around the refuge. Sample what you may, I know you won't tarry long; you've got to get outside, time's a wasting.

Everyone raves over New England's spectacular fall foliage. I've come to enjoy the spring transformation from grey / brown to greens and vibrant colors.

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Wood Anenome

The number of bird species at the refuge grows daily.

A First of the Year Common Yellow-throat (not cooperating for the photograph)

With Mother's Day approaching it's time that Female Red-winged Blackbirds get some love



Wilson's Snipe that was hanging around in the mud near the tower



Savannah Sparrow



Palm Warbler


Northern Flicker may be nesting near the Borden's Pond entrance

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher



Canada Geese resolve territorial dispute

Stealthy Great Blue Heron

Activity among all the other species has exploded.

Results of the last post on toads


Young snapping turtle headed their way


Butterflies and moths are appearing daily


Carp stranded by receding river. If given the choice right now, I expect they would pick "Be a small fish in a big pond"

Toads - NSFW

That is this post is Not Safe For Work, ... if you work with a bunch of toads. Today at the refuge if you walked to the river end of the Cross Dike Trail you were greeted by a choir of Eastern American Toads singing loudly. (Thanks to Alan Bragg for the identification.)

If you followed the sound down along the Lower Impoundment to the first break in the reeds you would have been greeted by a veritable frenzy of toads. It seems that the warm weather had turned their hearts to love. You would find toads calling, mating, and chasing other toads to either capture a mate or chase away a potential suitor.

At times the noise was quite loud. In this video the toads are closer than the airplane, but notice the relative noise levels.

It was impressive when you would see the male toads expand their vocal sac and start to call. It would expand to almost twice its normal size.

When a male finds a receptive female, he will come up behind her. Giving a big hug she grabs her around the chest and holds on. Together they wander around until she starts to lay her eggs, which he fertilizes. The eggs are in long strands. Look carefully and you will notice them in the photos.

Of course along the way other toads try to horn in on the action. It seems that one of the defensive strategies is for the couple to submerge leaving the chasing of mates to the toads on the surface.

Of course it does sort of remind me of junior high school. There were a few lonely toads that just had not yet met the right girl.



The one thing I found curious is that with all the noise, that no predators were attracted to the scene. Walking down toward Borden's Pond, I encountered a Great Blue Heron that probably would have had a feast, if he had been fishing in the correct spot.

If you are interested in more information about toads, I found this useful link. useful link.

A Dose of Fresh Air

The last couple of days I've been at home, sick. While it has been an effective way to loose weight, I don't recommend it to anyone.

This morning, I was feeling a little better and thought maybe some fresh air and sunshine would help me feel better. Combine that with the weather forecast calling for increasing bad weather the next few days, I decided to head over to Great Meadows.

It probably wasn't the wisest thing I've done, since I was totally tired when I got home, but the change of scenery did encourage my spirit. Along the way, I played with my teleconverter and captured some photos you might enjoy.

A ringed-neck duck. Click on the photo to view large, probably the best photo I've taken about why it's named a ringed-neck instead of a ringed-bill duck.


A Mallard in flight. Nothing special, except the longer the focal length, the tougher to find birds in flight in the viewfinder.


Red-winged Blackbirds
Do you prefer the blue or brown background?


If this Downy had gotten any closer I was going to have to backup!


A different pose


This time I did photograph some Palm Warblers


They were between the river & the trail, maybe 100 yards west of the boat ramp


A pair of Black-capped Chickadees were checking out this snag for a nest

I must be getting better. Though I was tired when I came home after a little nap. I was up and hungry (something I haven't been for 48 hours) with enough energy to assemble this post...but now I think I need another nap. See you around the refuge.