Addendum to "Secret Beach Area" Natural History Class Walk

“byChristopher Myrick - Thursday, April 20, 2017, 5:38 PM

Bomber day in the woods. We saw a dead frog and a dead turtle. Multiple little insect varieties and some eggs which I will raise as my own. They are in a Gatorade bottle next to an open window to keep the water cooler than room temperature (updates will follow). A great blue heron flew over head as well as some black birds and a hawk. Also Sean ate it in the river. ”

…This is a brilliant depiction. Best of luck rearing the kiddos. I will add:

hop-hornbeam was in there, with yellowish/crackly bark. Lots of silver maples in the puddly areas, and a sugar maple. Lots of black cherry trees. A few aspens with “sunscreen” bark.

2 river otters, a small crayfish, 2 pre-flight dragonflies.

The 10 most notable birds:

1. Coopers hawk - Looked like a broadwing hawk or even a merlin (falcon) at first sight, but had a longer, more triangle shaped tail with more horizontal bars then the broadwing, and had straighter wings and a slower soaring flight pattern than a merlin.
2. Common loon pair - sits low to the water (them solid bones) with a giant, fish-gobbling head.
3. horned grebe - tiny diving bird with a fuzzy head. They often are seen (in my personal experience) where loons are floating.
4. Belted kingfisher - KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA…
5. goldfinches - ‘potatochip”
6. song sparrows
7. downy woodpecker (NEIGH!)
8. flicker (HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA…)
9. red-bellied woodpecker (bwbwuuraack!)
10. GHB - in flight, looks like pterodactyl but isn’t, trust me…

-Jess

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