Saturday was nice but Sunday out did itself. Temps in the mid 70’s and a breeze that bordered on wind as it gusted throughout the afternoon. The sky was sunny and the day bright. If it weren’t for those occasional wind gusts one would never know a hurricane/tropical storm was working its way up the coast toward my neck of the woods.

Labor Day marks the end of summer and I was sad to see this marker arrive. I haven’t done even half of the things I wanted to do.

No trip to New Hampshire, just the puffin trip to Maine and very little camera time in the woods anywhere!

I seem to move slower each year and I am much more of a klutz!

To avoid tripping over Buddy when he was so sick, I ended up stubbing my little toe and it appears that I broke it.

Of course they don’t do anything except possibly tape it. I let it get almost healed and then over do it and am back to square one. But I was determined I was not going to let this last weekend of the summer get away from me completely so I headed out with camera in hand to run through some of my favorite wildlife spots. Although I won’t share where I went ( I made several stops) I will tell you that most are Mass Audubon locations.

My goal was to spot some ducks but I didn’t find any, not one. Most places were very dry. The summer long drought was clearly taking it’s toll. Ponds were little more than mud holes, brooks almost completely dry with a few mud puddles.

I was lucky enough at the bog behind the Bass Pro Shop to see both the large and the small. Tiny turtles that were small enough to sit on the lily pads were sunning in abundance when a huge snapping turtle rose from the dark brown waters. His nose broke the surface water and you could faintly see the outline of his shell. I had no idea such a big turtle lived in this bog! No photo of the big guy. The water was just too dark and brackish.

At a more remote location I was thrilled to see a red fox stretched out on a rock enjoying the sun. I watched for about 30 minutes but he never looked my way. Occasionally he’d lift his head and look away from me or flick an ear so I knew he was alive but that was about it. I wanted to stay longer but I didn’t want to disturb him either so I thought it best to slip away, thrilled with the rare sight.

I ended my day at the Trailside Museum in the Blue Hills of Milton, MA. I was hoping to get a photo of a snowy owl. Turns out they have a pair, a male and a female but they were in an outdoor pen and there was no place to get a clear shot because of the fencing on the cage.

I didn’t linger as all of their displays are like that, red tail hawk, turkey vulture, bald eagle and white tail deer. All had “obstructed view” as far as the camera is concerned. One display did lend itself to photos and that was the river otter. I have to admit I wish I could say these photos were true wildlife photos but no such luck. I’ll have to settle for captive otter photos. (He was having a great time playing with his tail)

It was a beautiful day but as I headed home I became aware of a dull throb coming from my little toe. Guess I overdid it again. Darn!