Backyard Birders Take Note: Winter Bird Count Next Weekend

Help track bird species and their numbers by noting what you see at your bird feeder on Feb. 2 and 3.

  Last year's warm and largely snow-less winter resulted in far fewer birds being seen at feeders during Mass Audubon's winter bird count. This year's count is Feb. 2-3. Anyone is welcome to take part.  Record one count for each species seen then submit your results to Mass Audubon. Participants’ names will be entered in a drawing to win one of several prizes. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, Feb. 28. Information on how to participate and submit reports can be found at www.massaudubon.org/focus. Last year, nearly 100 species were reported in 292 communities statewide, thanks to more than 850 observers, according to Mass Audubon. Here are some highlights from the 2012 Count  

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Hawk Soars in Swampscott Market

The raptor flew into Whole Foods Market on Saturday afternoon, circled on high before perching on a store rafter.

  Look up. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's ... supermarket hawk. A hawk swooped into Whole Foods Market on Saturday afternoon about 2 p.m., winging through the open front doors. Shoppers pointed above as the raptor, believed to be a Cooper's hawk, circled the store, said Whole Foods manager Eric Piper. Cooper's are medium-sized hawks, the males typically weighing about 12 oz. and females 20 oz. in the Eastern Region. They range from 14- to 20-inches long with a wingspan from 2-3 feet and have long tails, red eyes and small bills, according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. The Whole Foods ceiling, at its highest point, is about 50 feet from the floor, the manger said. Eventually, the hawk lighted on a perch among the rafters out of …

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Wet, Dry and Things That Fly

A Silver Turtle Relocated on the North Shore

Animal rescues come in all sizes, shapes and colors.

  Somewhere in a nearby North Shore pond swims a silver turtle. Maybe. The huge snapper was as silver as the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz when Diane Treadwell got a call from the New England Aquarium last summer. Diane volunteers for the aquarium. Her regular job is Swampscott's animal control officer. It was a Sunday and Diane was called out of town for this rescue, a strange one born of a cruel amusement. The big snapper was in a Revere yard, as shiny as a dime in the sun. Someone had spray painted the turtle from head to tail, though, fortunately, he had no paint in his eyes or nostrils. The turtle was a bit lethargic but still ornery and ready to snap as Diane wrested him from the ground. She lugged him — estimated at 25-30 pounds — to …

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Ray DePaula

9:50 am on Saturday, December 8, 2012

Why would you let him go there??? Just kidding its a very safe place. My daughter and i used to fish it. He will be happy, alot of big fish for him.   more ›

Knock-Knock; Hooo Is It?

An owl visited a Millett Lane family's porch railing late last week.

  The Fafel family had an interesting visitor last Friday. He didn;t stay for dinner and wasn't much of a conversationailst but was fascinating nonetheless. It was an owl. To our eye it looks like a barred owl. The owl took up residency on the Millett Lane home's porch railing and was kind enough to stand for a series of photographs and be fancied by numerous onlookers. Eventually, Steven Fafel got to see the owl fly away. According to Wingmasters, a New England nonprofit that teaches people about birds of prey, the barred owl has an impressive wingspan, 43 inches, which is especially long for such a light bird. They are known as silent flyers but call out in various ways — they bay like a hound, scream, shriek and whistle. Their best-…

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Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

A seagull's flight.

A seagull flies through the cloudy sky on King's Beach.  Many people enjoyed the sun earlier in the day, until the clouds started to come in.  A few stragglers stayed behind. 

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