After the drama on the pond in Plymouth I headed up to Marshfield and Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary. I was hoping to add to my deer picture collection but It was a little too early when I got there. I settled into one of the blinds to wait.
There were turtles, turtles and more turtles. As I sat in the blind there was a steady stream of people who were not bird watchers but rather turtle watchers and counters!
There was a water mammal of some kind nibbling on the reeds. I think it must have been a muskrat. I can tell you it wasn’t a beaver. One of the people in the blind with me called it a water-rat. I still think it’s a muskrat.
Of course there were the ever-present Canada Geese.
But a bird I’d never seen before made itself at home among the geese.
It’s a Glossy Ibis. While I watched a second one flew in. The bird seemed to be almost a rusty red when the sun hit it just right. The bird book describes it as having dark maroon plumage with iridescent green and purple coverts.
The little birds that make me think of swallows continued to swoop over the water and then one landed on a bird house right near the blind and I could see it was a blue bird. It didn’t stay long and it was off again swooping and sailing after tiny bugs that we couldn’t even see.
Around 4:30 I left to check out the secret meadow. Along the way enjoying the blooming trees and flowers.
The meadow was empty. That’s unusual for this time of day but I am seldom here on a Weekend. There were a lot of people so that may have caused the deer to stay in the woods longer. I waited for about 15 minutes and had 3 groups of people pass by me during that time. It was definitely too busy for deer. I’ll get them another day.