Day 19.246: Exile #2’s Sunday Column #565

Exile #2 writes…

I skipped our nature group last weekend, as I was feeling somewhat exhausted from our very busy vacation. But Exile #1 brought me back a token from the walk - a conker! This is a rare treasure here in New England, as Horse Chestnut trees are not native. From the late 18th century, however, a few began to be introduced in parks and leafy neighborhoods and so, once in a while, we will stumble on one. I just enjoy the way they look and feel. Exile #1, however, introduced the group to the other important purpose that conkers serve in British society!

Day 19.245: Insects catch-up

Well, you wouldn't want my insect photos from the last couple of weeks to go un-shared would you?

St. Joseph's Cemetery 8/29:

Peck's skipper

Monarch

Cape Ann 9/2-9/4

Female wasp in the astata genus with a captured stink bug nymph

Orange sulphur

Black swallowtail

Biddeford Pool 9/7

Mourning cloak

Parker's thread-waisted wasp. We watched this one digging a hole.

Today at Mount Agamenticus:

Pearl crescent

Eastern tailed-blue

Day 19.244: Random frogs

This was a surprise finding at Hammond Castle.

Inside this water feature…

Water - and some sticks forming a ramp and - is that…?

Yup - several frogs

American bullfrogs to be exact

Just living their best lives at the castle. 

Day 19.243: Dramatic exit

As we were about to leave Parker River on Saturday I spotted a bird powering towards us and immediately knew it was worth a second look. Unfortunately, it was hard to get a photograph of it while it flew directly over our heads and by the time it looped around it was at quite a distance. Still the photo was enough to identify it as a peregrine falcon:

I watched it for a while and then, just as my arms were getting tired from holding the camera and I thought it might be time to hit the road, Exile #2 said, “Is it chasing that bird?”

And Indeed it was. 

Not the spectacular front-row experience from a year ago, but still a dramatic end to our trip. 

Day 19.242: Birds at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

We stopped at Plum Island - a short hop up the coast - on our way home from Cape Ann to visit the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Here is some of what we saw there:

Osprey

Flycatcher - likely eastern phoebe

Common loon

Northern harrier

Northern harrier

Northern harrier

Lesser yellowlegs

Least sandpiper and semipalmated sandpiper

Mallards

Least sandpiper

Lesser yellowlegs

Take-off!

American black duck and stretching mallard with yellowlegs

Great blue heron

Pied-billed grebe

Yellowlegs

Snowy egret

Snowy egret

Greater yellowlegs

Great egret

Semipalmated sandpipers

Semipalmated plover and least sandpipers

Another norther harrier

Osprey

Semipalmated plovers and white-rumped sandpiper

Semipalmated plovers and white-rumped sandpiper

Semipalmated plovers

After this, we had one further sighting, but that deserves a little post of its own.