Weather at Bedford, Hanscom Field, MA - via NOAA's National Weather Service

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

mystery visitor, and more

This morning, when I went out the first time, I noticed footprints in the mud of my pond. It hasn't rained in a few days, and the water level is going down. Someone had walked across a shallow spot. The mud is too soft for the footprints to be identifiable, but they are about the size and shape to fit a fisher. There are lots of fishers around, but they are pretty shy most of the time. And they tend to be out during the night in the summer (and during the day in winter), so that's my guess for these mystery footprints.
Out walking today I saw two kinds of birds that I don't often see. I was surprised to see any, actually, because it was over 90ºF today. But I did. The first turned out to be a Prairie Warbler - I think - I looked it up when I got home, and that one best fits what I saw. This bird kept "wagging" its tail, which is a key id point for this bird. I was pretty sure it was a warbler, but there are dozens of types of warblers, and I'm no expert. The next, of which I saw two, in different locations, was a Veery, which is a kind of thrush. Again, I was pretty sure it was a thrush, but unsure of which one, until I looked it up. This bird was smaller than a robin, but had that same thrush shape. These birds are pretty common, I understand, but rather secretive and so hard to see.
And the poison ivy is leafing out. I'm not terribly allergic, but I do get a reaction, and it's never fun. Apparently, climate change/global warming is causing poison ivy to put out stronger urushiol (the oil that causes the rash). That is probably low on the priority list of things to worry about in a changing climate, but it is something to think about.

1 comment:

Thanks for being patient - I don't moderate comments every day, but I will get to it!