Sunday, June 15, 2008
I’ve been seeing Horseshoe Crabs in the river for about a month now. I found these two while navigating the river at low tide. These “living fossils” have been at this sort of thing for well over 350 million years. JK
Thursday, June 12, 2008
From Peterson’s Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians:
Most celebrated of American turtles. Its succulent flesh, when properly (and laboriously) prepared, rates high on the gourmet’s list.
No thanks. I’ll just take the pictures. JK
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I was at David Weld Sanctuary on Monday morning when I came upon this rabbit reading the dedication marker. I thought it would make for an interesting shot. As I was focusing in on my subjects I realized that someone had defaced the marker. I’m not sure what material was used to change the lettering (it might be pencil) but it does not appear to have been etched into the stone so, hopefully, it can be scrubbed out. JK
Monday, June 9, 2008
I am not a birder and here’s the proof. On May 9th I posted this same pic and identified these birds as Common Terns. I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
These handsome fellows are actually Least Terns. I was looking for Piping Plovers Sunken Meadow Park and I thought a pic of one the signs that marks the protected nesting areas of the plovers might make a nice addition to a post. That was when I noticed that the signs also included Least Terns. The illustration on the sign looked suspiciously like the birds that I thought were Common Terns out of breeding plumage.
Uh oh. I could feel an embarrassing moment coming on. So I emailed my friends Janine and Nancy at Sweetbriar Nature Center and asked them. Janine originally wrote they were penguins in disguise, but I think she was just putting me on because then she identified them as Least Terns. Nancy was unsure so she forwarded my email to Birder X, another Sweetbriar educator, who also confirmed that the birds in question were indeed Least Terns. Birder X also informed us that these terns are threatened but that they nest here.
When I was writing the original post I was concerned that I might be confusing Common Terns with Forster’s Terns. I was so busy looking at tail and wing lengths that I missed what should have been obvious. One turned page in my Sibley’s shows that distinctive white forehead. Here is a pic of the sign that helped show me the error of my ways. JK
Sunday June 8, 2008
As I was exiting the inlet at Sunken Meadow Park I saw this Great Black-backed Gull enjoying his breakfast near the King’s Park dock. Mmmm, sushi.
Oh, look. Someone already got the eyes. They’re my favorite, too. JK
