Fall 2018

Fall progresses from the goldenrod yellow and grasses to the mahogany of the Tupelo and bright spots of Groundsel to huckleberry red and cinnamon fern gold.

I missed seeing a 'Swall-nado"   this year,  but there were several hundred tree swallows here on the bluff  this weekend.  And still an Eastern Kingbird at Stump Pond,  while dark eyed juncos were also at Windswept Bog.   Last week's Sunday bird group at Madaket was amazing!   From peregrine to merlin to osprey to CapeMay Warbler and many shorebirds in between.  And at Squam Farm a week earlier there were bobolink and a black-throated green warbler.

Stump Pond  October 20

Sconset Bluff October 19

Sanderling "down front"

Samphire at Jackson Point October 14

Samphire at Jackson Point

Solidago Puberula- Downy Goldenrod

Lichen Field in the Middle Moors October 13

Scalloping with Kelsey and Charlie on October 6

Gerardia Purpurea

Pout Ponds October 13

Asters and Goldenrod

Summer's End Septmember 9, 2018

Josh and I took a great hike out to Eel Point on Saturday.   Lots of  shorebirds:

Mourning Dove  1
American Oystercatcher  6Black-bellied Plover  24Semipalmated Plover  3Sanderling  10Willet  15Herring Gull  50Great Black-backed Gull  12Common Tern  1Double-crested Cormorant  20Great Blue Heron  1Great Egret  1


Too late to see the Sea Lavender in bloom,  but beautiful colors throughout the marsh.  Two monarch butterflies.

At the Sunday bird group,  a Kestrel over the Cranberry bogs was the best bird seen,  although we counted 31 species:

Canada Goose  24
Wood Duck  0
Mallard  7
Green-winged Teal  3     Folgers Marsh 
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  4
Mourning Dove  2
peep sp.  1
Greater Yellowlegs  5
Lesser Yellowlegs  6
Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs  10
Herring Gull  30
Lesser Black-backed Gull  1
Common Tern  9
Great Shearwater  0
Double-crested Cormorant  10
Great Blue Heron  2
Great Egret  1
Snowy Egret  2
Black-crowned Night-Heron  5     In the Pond at the field station
Turkey Vulture  3
Osprey  2     Hatch year bird 
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Belted Kingfisher  2     Flying with a fish
American Kestrel  1     Cranberry bog 
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  6
Black-capped Chickadee  1
Carolina Wren  1
American Robin  1
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  1
Song Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  3
Common Grackle  1


There was a lot of discussion of our finding Bidens Cernua,  the Bur-Marigold,  in the ditches at the Cranberry bog.

Later,  Josh and I hiked the beach and the Sconset Bluff Walk- always beautiful with the Autumn Clematis at this time of year.

Bidens Cernua,  But-Marigold

Clematis paniculata

July 8, 2018

Full summer!   From a Norwood Farm hike

Swamp Azalea  -Rhododendron Viscosa

Yarrow- Achillea Millifolium

Pasture Thistle- Circium Pumilum

Racemed Milkwort- Polygala polyglama

Swamp Candles-Lysimachia Terrestris

The viburnums along the roads,  in full bloom last week,  are now fading, and the daisies are on the wane.  Privet is starting to bloom. 

June 2

Golden Heather,  Hudsonia Ericoides

  The island is golden...with the yellowy greens of new leaves and the blanket of golden heather!

June 10

Rugosa on the bluff

Cow Parsnip in the wet places

Bouncing Bet on the bluff

Maianthemum Stellatum 

Spring Azure in State Forest

Bluets,  Quaker Ladies

Ox Eye Daisies starting

Starflowers in State Forest

We are coming into summer!

Last week was beach plum and hudsonia...this week they are past.  But the wild irises at the edge of bogs and ponds  and swaths of blue-eyed grass are at their peak.  Scotch broom is still wilding along the roads,  and the first rugosas are blooming on the bluff.

Blue Eyed Grass at Windswept Bog

 

Field of Blue Eyed Grass at Windswept Bog

Stump Pond

Snapping Turtle

Painted Turtle

And we hear lots of frogs!

Early Spring: April 22 2018

Such a long winter!  Inspired to see the spring coming to Nantucket.  After 4 major nor'easters in March, the ponds are fuller than ever.  Almanac Pond has flooded over the road. Inspired to see the first Mayflowers today!  Daffodils are coming out and getting ready for next weekend,  Daffodil Weekend....Towhees are "preeting"  and "drink your tea"-ing on the moors and a catbird was seen on the Bird Walk today (along with 49 other species!)  The male wood duck in breeding plumage was my fave. Not much action in Squam Swamp...but an icelandic gull among the herrings and black-backs off the bluff.

Moss Envy in Squam Swamp

Big Cedar in Squam Swamp...so visible in the spring and winter!

First Mayflower in sunny field off Pout Pond Road

Pout Ponds

Lichen Looking Good

Almanac Pond flooding the road

Norwood Farm

Pout Pond Hike

Polpis Road