Category Archives: Nature

Ipswich River Audubon Center and Plum Island

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Fall 2012 – Massachusetts has Audubon Centers scattered throughout the state. One of them, the Ipswich River Audubon Center, is one of our favorite places to walk and explore. There are trails through the fields and forests; on our walk we passed two ponds, lily pads and waterlilies  and saw chickadees and a kingfisher. On the day we were there the weather was beautiful, sunny and not too warm – perfect for walking through the woods. Just a note, there are ticks and mosquitoes (even at the end of September), so be prepared.

Ipswich River

The Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary is our new favorite birding park.

Chickadee

Chickadee dee dee.

We also stopped by the Parker River Wildlife Refuge at Plum Island, a beach area with great boardwalks, sand dunes, and sandy beaches perfect for walking. It really looks like something out of South Carolina (a la Sullivan’s Island, our absolute favorite beach) – undeveloped, sandy, and perfect.

Winter Storm Nemo

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The official snow tally says about 22″, but we got 2-3′ (and more, depending on the drifts).  We’re so thankful that we didn’t lost power, and that we have a great neighbor who helped clear the base of the driveway where the plows dumped about 4′ of packed snow.

This was the first big snowfall we’ve had in Eastern MA, and it’s beautiful (provided you have power).

Bird Cams

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We say we like to “bird by camera.”  What we mean is we take pictures of birds, then identify them once we get back home.  Now it’s possible to bird by camera from the comfort of your home – just check out the bird cams that are out there.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology currently has four bird cams – barn owl, great blue herons, red-tailed hawks and the great horned owl.  The hawk and heron cams seem to be particularly active, since the parents repeatedly bring food back to the nests for the hungry baby birds.

Xcel Energy also has quite a few bird cams – we particularly enjoyed the bald eagles.  One caught a few fish while we were watching, and another of the babies keeps practicing “flying”, really just hopping while trying to flap its wings in the nest.