Maggie's Farm

The old inner harbor, Wellfleet, now silted up but once filled with tall ships, coastal schooners, and fishing vessels. The railroad dike - and the railroad itself -ended all that in the later 1800s. Congo Church steeple in distance.

I usually find turtle eggshells around these marshes. Diamondback Terrapin eggshells dug up by skunks and raccoons. This is the northernmost limit of their range. Rarely seen, wary, but they are around. Wonderful critters of the salt- and brackish marshes. They enjoy the edges of the spartina. Plenty of food for them. Problem is that they lay their eggs on the beaches. Despite predators of their eggs (fox, skunks) and of their babies (egrets), their species seems to survive.

Cape Cod may have had a little bit of topsoil long ago, but now the Outer Cape (aka the Lower Cape - north of Chatham) is pretty much all sand (which is why the Indians needed to throw a herring into each hill of corn), and the dominant tree is the Pitch Pine. Where it's subject to wind, it doesn't get much higher than a 6' scrub form.

Here's the path to our not-too-secret wild Blackberry patch, where it's not unusual to see a cheerful Eastern Box Turtle, to hear Bob Whites calling during the day, and Whip-Poor-Wills calling in the evening. Shrubs on front left, Beach Plum. Tree on right, Black Oak. Trees in background, Pitch Pine.

The basic outer Cape upland habitat is now Pitch Pine with an understory of Scrub Oak, with scatterings of Black Oak and feral Black Locust, with grasses below. In sunny spots, Bayberry, Blackberry, Poison Ivy, and Beach Plum. An occasional patch of wild blueberry filled with greedy Robins and Catbirds. This is officially known as Pitch Pine/Scrub Oak Barrens, but, for me, it's heaven. I hope that heaven, if I get there (doubtful) smells like hot sand, Pitch Pine, and Bayberry. The ground cover in the photo below is the dwarf shrub Common Bearberry with its small red berries in August. This was a foggy early morning:

Poison Ivy is a native vine to North America. Apparently humans are the creatures for whom it is an annoying weed. Animals seem to like it.

When your dog runs through a patch, be careful about hugging your dog. 

I've had plenty of unpleasant experiences of it in my life. Now I know that Dawn detergent after contact is a miracle. Sometimes it is difficult to avoid.

We had a major incoming flight of warblers Friday night, so Sat. morning was full of warbler calls. I only know the calls of the most common warblers, but it is better to learn their calls rather than straining your neck for an hour to peer into the treetops.

Interestingly, that same flight left last night and there is nary a warbler this morning. Birders love those big flights that arrive overnight. 

If you have poor memory for bird song, there is an iPhone app for that: Merlin Bird ID.   It is not 100% accurate - but what is?

Saw a flock of around a dozen this morning which I believe are the first arrivals here from their home grounds in Central America. These acrobatic fliers are the most common of American swallows. If you have an open barn, you will get their poo all over your tractors and stuff. We would always put a tarp over the tractor.

You can read about these cool birds at All About Birds: Barn Swallow 

I also saw my first Tree Swallow of the season this morning. 

In the Northeast, our songbirds arrive mostly in May.

We used to call them Sparrow Hawks. These are in England, but it's pretty much the same colorful bird in North America.

Not much, generally. They do seem to know what they need, though.

It's not about "climate change", it's about the loss of farm fields in the Northeast. Raggedy pasture is not much of a thing anymore. Pastures are back to woods, or to suburban sprawl, so these species are dropping in population.

When I was a kid, I would hear Bobolinks singing all the time during their migration from Argentina to the north. Spink spank spink.

Another pasture bird is the Eastern Meadowlark. Neither of these like lawns, but prefer 1000s of acres of hayfields and pastures.

Both of these birds are in the Blackbird family. 

The Eagle chicks I have been watching grow quickly. At this point, each chick eats about two fish daily. The parent drops the fish on the nest and the youth feed themselves. They seem to digest bones, fins, everything.

It is interesting to try to identify the species of fish. Some of the Catfish must be stolen from a fish farm. 

Also interesting is that eagles are larger, when fledged, than mature adults. As they mature, their feathers shorten and the bird becomes thinner, sleeker. 

What does their future hold? About half of eagles do not survive their first year. By maturity (about 5 years), only 1 out of 10 make it. It looks like a nice life, but it is hard.

Many Bald Eagle facts here. 

It is amusing to see the eagle chicks shooting their white poo out and over the top of the nest. It is not poo, it's a mix of poop and concentrated urine being shot our of their cloaca.

It is white because birds handle nitrogenous waste in a different way than mammals. 

Why do most birds never bother drinking water? Most of their food, unless fully-dried, is mostly water. The fish and red meat those eagles feed on is at least 75% water.

Bald Eagles are a type of sea eagle - primarily fish-eaters - although they will catch ducks, sea gulls, house cats, muskrats, rabbits, etc when given an easy chance. Yes, they will also steal fish from Ospreys.

Unlike Ospreys, they do not dive into the water but just try to snatch fish on the surface:

Wildlife, plus cats

As posted at Am. Digest last week.

A few observations:

- The alertness of the adults is remarkable

- They seem to have no problem catching enough fish. Funny how they seem to prefer the heads.

- Their attentiveness to the bobble-head chicks is great. The chicks have times to eat, times to sleep cozily under a parent, times to poop, and times to exercise. Easy life, with non-stop sashimi.

In winter, our diving ducks like shellfish and sea worms. Presumably, they swallow shellfish whole, digest them, and poop out the shells. Not sure they can digest a shell.

I wonder whether Buffleheads can dislodge and eat Limpets. My photo is a beach of pure limpets (aka Slipper Shells). Something ate them, and I saw only Buffleheads.

Do we have an expert on diving ducks here? 

A good Christmas present for people who are interested in what birds are up to: The Bird Academy

It's from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, so it is serious. 

I had one rummaging around in my shrubs recently (American Red Squirrel), and had not seen one here for years. Cute little guys, not often seen on the ground or away from good-sized conifer stands. 

There is a Eurasian Red Squirrel too. 

This colorful species of the jay family is fairly common from the East coast of the US to the eastern edge of the Rockies. In winter here I occasionally find their feathers scattered around where a Sharp-Shinned Hawk has caught one for dinner.

Apparently some migrate and some don't. It is termed "partial migration."  I have seen large flocks migrating south along the Hudson River. However, there are always plenty of them around in a New England winter especially if you put bird food out. 

Factoid: they mate for life, like Canada Geese. How do they know who is who, because they all look the same?

Photo is Long-Eared Owl 

I looked it up, to some extent. Did not cover all North American owls.

The very common Great Horned Owl does not migrate at all. They lay their eggs in January, wherever they live. 

The common (but rarely seen) Long Eared Owl does move down from its northern breeding range in winter as does the tiny Saw Whet Owl.

Screech Owls tend to stay put. 

The Short-Eared Owl migrates widely from its breeding grounds on the tundra. I've seen them on marshes in winter in New England. 

The arctic Snowy Owl is famous for its occasional irruptions south. I've been lucky to see them a few times, mostly on beaches but once on the roof of a suburban house.

The Wild Cherry (aka Prunus serotina) is a common woodland tree in the eastern half of the US.

Their strands of small black and red berries ripen in September. A Wild Cherry tree in September will be full of birds until the tree is stripped. That happened here this week.

Two other facts about Wild Cherry: Its wood (Cherry) is of course a popular lumber. Its leaves are toxic (contain a cyanide precursor), so you do not want them close to horses or cattle who might nibble on them.