Scenes from Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary

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.

On Grist Mill Pond

It’s not quite On Golden Pond which was a story of human love and caring that was played out in a beautiful setting. No, but what I witnessed at the Grist Mill Pond in Plymouth on Sunday had all the earmarks of devotion and love but in the animal world.

When I arrived at the pond Mr. Swan was putting on quite the display. At first it just appeared that he was a bad-tempered if beautiful bird.

He was expending a lot of energy chasing every goose that crossed his path.

He was one seriously nasty bird!

He even took them on in pairs!

Smaller birds like the mallard stayed far out-of-the-way  under the trees along the bank.

The cormorant took a break from his fishing to get out of the way and dry his feathers.

Eventually I found the cause of Mr. Swan’s angst.

It appears the Mr. Swan is going to be a dad. On the far side of the pond was a nest. It was almost completely camouflaged until Mrs. Swan raised her head.  As I was getting the “long lens” to get a picture of this domestic scene, Mr. Daddy Swan returned home.

You could almost believe you heard  “I’m home dear”! 🙂 Both Swans began preening and then set to work reinforcing the nest with weeds and muck from the pond. (And we thought we had a hard day at the office !)

Activity on the pond returned to normal.

Off near the bank, under the trees, a shy female duck joined the Mallard as well.

The robin returned to the bank to resume his hunt for a meal.

Looks like I’ll be keeping a look out for  baby swans…they’re ugly ducklings aren’t they?

A couple more birds

I got the Bluebird at Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary.

 

The Cardinal photo still isn’t quite where I want it to be but it is getting closer. Got this one at The Grist Mill Pond in Plymouth. He surprised me. I had just taken the camera out of the car and I turned around and there he was. I had about 2 seconds to try to get a picture before he flew off. Silly red birds just keep teasing me!

Life and Death at Daniel Webster

After a busy morning followed by a pleasant lunch with my friend Nancy, I was looking forward to a busy afternoon as well. I thought your days off from work were supposed to be a chance to relax and regroup before it was back to the “old grind”. Sure they are …NOT!

I made my first afternoon stop at Ritz Camera in Hingham where I ran into the manager, Sean. I asked him if he had managed to get over to the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary on Monday and he said yes while grabbing his camera to show me what pictures he got. Monday was windy so he has caught some really cute shots of little a Titmouse with its feathers being blown by the wind. The detail was exquisite. 

After my visit I headed out to drop in at work. Yes I know it was my day off but there was a guest in my department that I wanted to meet face to face. We’d been talking on the phone and sending text messages for over 4 years, not always in the most cooperative manner, if you get my drift. I felt it was time to meet. Unfortunately the day was warm and the sky was blue and I had to drive right by the exit to Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary to get to the office. I think you know where this is going. 🙂

I really only intended to stay at the Sanctuary for a few minutes but no sooner did I started down the trail than I met a returning man with a camera around his neck. He said the deer were out in the “Secret Meadow”.  Cool! I wasn’t dressed for a hike but I headed that way anyway.

On the way I had to pass one of the “blinds” and decided to stop in. If past experience is anything, those deer weren’t going anywhere.

The “Blind” is a little wooden shack that sits on the banks of one of the ponds in the sanctuary. There are windows and a bench where you can watch the birds and animals in any kind of weather. There was another photographer there, this time a woman, and she had a big lens and a really solid tripod. I admit that I felt a little intimidated with my flimsy $20.00 tripod and even my 300-500 lens looked tiny next to hers.  She whispered to me that there was a bittern that was in the reeds . I’d scared it with my entry into the blind ( Oh Oh not a good start)  but maybe it would be back.

I tried my best to be quiet as I set up but I confess I was all thumbs. I’m used to being alone and the presence of another photographer with such expensive equipment was doing a number on my nerves. I thought about leaving but felt that would be worse so I “toughed” it out.

Lots of Canada geese, some swallows swooping over the water and at the far end of the pond some ducks…too far away to ID.

I went for something closer to get a handle on my nerves..a couple of turtles.

 I could hear her camera clicking away and the motor on her burst mode humming. I was set on single shot but I didn’t feel any need to change that setting. Then I spotted the bittern.

 It was right near the blind so I pointed it out to my companion. She hadn’t spotted it yet. That one small thing seemed to break the ice. Now we were a team sharing observations and tips, no longer separated by experience or quality and expense of equipment.

The bittern looked like it was listening carefully.

 It would tilt its head and then freeze.  Satisfied with whatever it heard it would wiggle it’s tail feathers and backside much like the way a cat wiggles it’s tail and rear when it’s stalking a mouse or other prey. Then a forward step or two and  it would freeze again.

It was a slow process but we watched every second sometimes having to remind ourselves to breathe. Finally he found what he was looking for. His head pulled back until  it was sitting on it’s “shoulders” than flew forward getting buried in the  water and muck.

When it first came up it looked like all he had was a big clump of weeds but he carried these “weeds” over to a clump of reeds and began dipping the weeds in the water.

 I thought of a raccoon washing his meal. As we watched the weeds slowly dropped away and there was a frog. It wasn’t a huge frog but then the Bittern isn’t a big bird. The next 5-10 minutes were taken up with maneuvering.

The bird had to get that frog in position so it could eat it. It didn’t put it down and peck it to death rather  it seemed to reposition the live frog in its beak by carefully making minute movements.

Then all of a sudden the head went up! We saw the frog head downward , legs in the air and then it was in that bird’s gullet!  He bobbed his head a few times like he was swallowing , we could see the bulge of the frog in it’s skinny throat and then it was over. The bird, back to normal now, slipped back into the reeds. WOW!

It was intense. I don’t know how long that little drama took to play out. It didn’t seem like it was too long but when I glanced at the time It was 5 pm! I’d spent over 2 hours in the blind!

I packed up my gear and said goodbye to my fellow photographer. As I left the blind I felt as thrilled as if I’d been on a safari. I met another photographer just coming in. He asked me what was  out and I passed on  the deer info and told him what we’d just witnessed. It’s the first time I’ve seen other photographers here even though I know it’s a popular place for photos.  Now I feel like I’m part of the community too.

I never made it to the office but I could not have asked for a better day!