November

From the Sconset Bluff

From the Creeks

November 22

We made the trip to Nantucket despite the weather forecast of rain and high winds.  It's a chance to see the next chapter in the yearly procession of plants.  A chance to hear the howl of the winds  and slap of the white caps on the sea.  A chance to be face to face with sunrises and sunsets. A chance to experience the raw wildness of the sea and nature.  

We arrived Friday with rains and hopefully the end of drought.  There was hardly any rain in August (1.4 inches), September (1.55 inches), and October(.53 inches).  That's according to my weather station, and I wonder if my rain collector is accurate in the northeasters with their slanting downpours.  In any event, it is a consistent measure.

Rain totals for August, September, November

2024:  3.5 inches

2023: 8.7

2022:  9.1

2021:  9.7

2020:  5.8

Scoters, long-tailed ducks, eiders, buffleheads, loons and grebes dot  the ocean, along with northern gannets, herring, greater black-backed and lesser black-backed gulls.

Harlequin Ducks

At low tide, I hiked to see harlequin ducks at the rocks off Sankaty Head.  They return to a spot they like , just as we do.  After a break in the rain, Josh and I walked the Creeks and see a palm warbler and a pie-billed grebe. 

American wigeon and a host of ruddy ducks at Sesachacha. Windswept Bog is closed to hikers until March 15, while the second stage of wetlands restoration takes place.

The late sunrises and early sunsets made for a cozy day on Saturday.  I finished knitting two  baby hats; football is scrambled except for Notre Dame's big win over Army.  Many boats were cancelled because of the high winds, gusting in the 40s.

Ginger Andrews suggested the birding group deal with the 25 plus mile an hour winds by hiking at Pines and Larches near Miacomet on Sunday morning. The bluestem grasses are golden in the slanted sun.  Yellow rumpled warblers surround us along the brushy paths.

Walking in Squam Swamp, the Tupelos are long leafless.  The mosses and holly trees are a green spot amidst the gray, until we reach the beech grove with its golden haze of leaves. No birdsong and only a couple of sparrows jumping. 

Tupelo’s at Squam Swamp

Beech grove