BirdingGirl

Today was the inaugural day for my Mass Audubon membership- I got a membership for myself and my boyfriend yesterday and today the cards were in action! It snowed last night into this morning and I really wanted to get out there and enjoy the snow before it's too late! Yes, unlike everyone else in Boston I am not sick of the snow. Ok, I'm a little tired of shoveling but I truly love having snow on the ground since it's been a rarity in recent years. I threw on my Tretorn rubber boots and we headed off into the slush. At the point we got to Drumlin Farm it was lightly sleeting, and the overall temperature was pretty mild today so the snow had gotten very wet. The boots help up great- my feet were completely dry and warm- I highly recommend them. We explored the farm yard for the first time, now that we did have to pay for admittance. We checked out the Drumlin Underground, which allows you to view various animals' dens through glass panes from within a basement of s...

What an exciting day today turned out to be! After getting inspired by David Sibley's sighting of the slaty-backed gull, I was determined to go birding this weekend. I sat with a cup of coffee this morning and researched my options online. I really wanted to go to Gloucester but then I learned that Eastern Point Wildlife Sanctuary requires a Mass Audubon card, something I regret to say I haven't gotten yet. That put Gloucester out of contention in my mind, so I focused on other areas nearby. I got out my AMC Massachusetts Trail Guide for some more ideas and decided on Crane Beach in Ipswich, MA. I've never been there, although I have a second cousin that had a beautiful house there right on the water so I know what a nice area it is. As my boyfriend and I rolled up to the ticket booth I was shocked to actually see someone manning it! There was a woman there to collect $7-something else I hadn't planned on. I don't know any beaches on Cape Cod that charge for par...

I was on the Cape this past weekend for Thanksgiving and although my mother's birdfeeders were empty there were still plenty of birds around. I saw numerous chickadees in the backyard flitting around among the oak trees and in the front yard I saw a male cardinal, junco and a red-breasted nuthatch. It's rare to me to see a single junco since they usully come in flocks and always when it snows. It got pretty cold this weekend though- we had consecutive days of below-freezing temperatures for the first time, so the junco wasn't a complete surprise. But again, I'm not used to seeing them alone. The red-breasted nuthatches have to be my new favorite bird to watch while I'm home. I've seen them in my parents' yard during my past few visits. What usually alerts me to their presence is their unique squeaking chatter. It's obviously much like that of the white-breasted nuthatch but since I know theirs so well I can tell when it's the other bird. My friend C...