The Wrack

That was the bird of the day! A woodland hawk hunting for breakfast found its course suddenly interrupted by the woven nylon of our bird bander's mist net. It was a Coopers Hawk, just a few months old, and with its 285 mm wing chord proved to be a female.…

One icehouse chrysalis has become translucent and a near-adult monarch is now visible through the case. Thanks, Laura L, for the irresistible photographic update.…

The Reserve's milkweed feeds multitudes of monarch larvae. The adult butterflies seem to be especially abundant this summer and signs that they're reproducing are commonplace. The clapboard siding of the icehouse has proven popular with monarch caterpillars. Here, a newly formed chrysalis conceal…

Too hot to move. That's what the birds must be thinking. The banders had the nets up soon after 5:30, by which time it was already over 80 degrees. Six hours later, they closed them down, having completed the requisite duration. By then it was 95.Just three birds in those six hours, all hatch-year captives? two Black-and-white Warblers and an American Robin.Three. That's the banders' lowes…

Mosquitoes. Visitor complaint #1.

The intrepid banders caught 14 birds today; it has been a consistently modest summer for the nets so far... June 7 rainout June 14 16 birds June 21 15 birds June 28 15 birds July 5 14 birds Eight more weeks to go& it's always a …

As the month of May closes, so does most of the major passage of migrating birds. The movement is not over; it just isn't so obvious.Summer approaches and with it come myriad winged creatures without feathers, so in coming weekly reports some insects might find themselves the objects of attention.Today's butterflies (to get things started entomologically) included sulfurs, ladies, …

Several Least Terns were over the Webhannet marsh today, scanning for fish in the pools and salt-marsh pannes below and diving to snag them when the moment was right. Before long they will be gathering on Laudholm Beach and elsewhere along the Maine coast to begin their breeding season.…

Bobolinks were back in force at the Wells Reserve today. Their song might be the craziest in the region? it's so much fun to hear them bubbling with enthusiasm! Today, at least four sang from fields near the main campus, sharing the space with Eastern Meadowlarks.It's fortunate that the reserve's Resource Advisory Committee created a grassland management plan several years ago, recognizing the value o…

Rain or shine meant rain. Not so much rain, perhaps, as drizzle, but the Forest Learning Shelter provided good cover for a meeting place and starting point for a half-hour walk.Cool, damp, breezy weather kept bird activity to a minimum; no migratory burst in evidence, though a couple of "new" warblers have arrived and the morning list held 20-plus species.…