May 2

 I caught a look at a coyote during daylight a few days ago and posted a photo here. It always draws comments when people see and hear about how close coyotes live with us nowadays. However, the more dangerous predator is Fluffy, the feral cat. This cat has now taken up residence in Rosie’s Thicket and that means less birds to watch. I wouldn’t do anything to this animal but if I knew a way of letting the coyotes know, I would do it in a flash. They are excellent hunters but as a cat owner, I know how much of real threat they are to my own cats. They are reservoirs of cat viruses and as a result lead short brutal lives.

Rosie’s Pond was quiet except for this lone Snowy Egret. The interesting thing is all the green in the background. The marsh grass is sprouting like crazy and soon those empty gray flats will come back to life. It is the marsh grass that makes the rest of it all possible. Without the grass, no fish, no birds, no Ospreys, no Redwings etc. The grass is the rich bottom of the local ecology.

Nearby the wild cherries are blooming.

Bumblebees are nearly impossible to take pictures of. This is my best try so far.

Geoff’s Path and the Overlook were very quiet. It’s amazing how much activity is going on nearby, Nahant, Marblehead, Cambridge, Forest Hills while I have seen scarcely any warblers this year at Belle Isle.

At the Boardwalk panne, this Great Egret was fishing for mummichogs and catching them one right after another. It is no wonder that so many ducks and herons visit this pool.

On the other side of the park, I saw a Brownheaded Cowbird  (in the leaves at the right bottom) on the same branch with another gray bird. I didn’t recognize the gray bird but when I got home and looked it up, I felt a little slow. It is of course a female Brownheaded Cowbird but it doesn’t look much like the male.

On the way out of the park, this perky Goldfinch was in the Phragmites and brightened up my walk.

This morning was overcast and then started to clear. It turned into a very pleasant day and an enjoyable walk.

Ciao!

-Jorge

This entry was posted on May 2, 2009 at 3:30 pm and is filed under Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.