At the end of the last entry, we were awaiting the results of several nests in the area.  Spring migration was past and the arrival of the young birds in these nests was the next phase of the summer.  We were watching a Baltimore Oriole nest at the Mystic Lakes and a Warbling Vireo,

Red-bellied Woodpecker,

Northern Flicker, Baltimore Oriole, Robins,  and Red-tailed Hawk nest at Mount Auburn Cemetery (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjOSayHM5ew   Baltimore Oriole nest),   (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvrwLygtlh4   Warbling Vireo nest ), (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvMjMnKcESE   Red-bellied Woodpecker nest)     All of these nests were successful and we were able to watch the parents coming in on a regular basis to feed the young.  This was especially exciting for the Warbling Vireo and Red-bellied Woodpecker nest  at Mount Auburn.  We would watch for an hour at a time and catch repeated trips in by the adults to feed the young.  Every year at Mount Auburn we are fortunate to have a nesting Red-tailed Hawk pair and this year’s nest has progressed nicely. We did lose one of the three Red-tail chicks, however, which was sad.  It was found below the nest.  We don’t know if it fell out of the nest or if there was another issue, but the remaining two chicks are in good shape and have only just fledged. There have been quite a few wild turkeys and a little army of poults.  I counted about fifteen of these little turkey chicks recently as the mother turkey led them through tall grass.

These poults are almost defenseless from predators.   They are easy prey for Red-tailed Hawks that swoop down and grab them.  A woman walking at Willow Pond reported watching a mink come from the pond and take one of the poults and run back to the pond.  The adult turkeys are hard pressed to protect their charges from such ambushes, which is why they spend lots of time walking in the tall grass which hides the poults to some extent.   (https://www.youtube.com/watch? H21pdrpXJbs  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo630AGyelg      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsGot7Furwo  Wild Turkeys)

Two of the three fish were catfish.  The mink wasn’t particularly afraid of us and it walked by us on the boardwalk getting within a couple of feet of us.  We expect that the mink was bringing the fish to feed young. We are of course hoping that early some morning that mink will march some little minks along the boardwalk for us to see.  We’re not counting on this but at Ipswich River Audubon this is certainly possible.  On one morning we watched a big old snapping turtle climb from the top of the beaver lodge down to the bridge and then plop into the pond  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAeta_5lU-A   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n0AcWdJEzs   Snapping Turtle)

On one Saturday morning as we were exploring at the pond, a couple of Common Yellowthroat Warbler adults and juveniles were flitting around the trees and shrubbery giving us great opportunities to photograph them on open branches, sometimes with dragonflies in their beaks.

Obviously the yellowthroats nest at Ipswich River.  We see Yellow Warblers in that area, too, so this

species is probably nesting there, too.

In addition to this, the mulberry tree in the reserve parking lot has ripe fruit so the tree is alive with Cedar waxwings  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53DLF5WDQBM   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3Q2ABbxuQ  Cedar Waxwings )

Red-bellied Woodpeckers,

,

Baltimore Orioles and even an occasional visit by a Scarlet Tanager.  Last year we saw Scarlet Tanagers a couple of times on the mulberry tree toward the end of the summer. This indicates that this species, too, is nesting at the reserve.

The past few weeks many Black-crowned Night Herons are being seen.  There have been many reports of them at the Mystic Lakes and they are also active at the Charles River waterfalls in Watertown.  One can sit along the water near the waterfalls and watch the Black-crowned Night herons and Great Blue Herons fish.  It is one of the best venues to view these species    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWrXv-JmYyc   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7CfSxGUAFA     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL8Ih7zyEqA  Black-crowned Night Herons).