Lots Of Tracks

Nice crisp morning for hiking. Today's hike took me to Gate 27 in the NW region of the reservoir.
Easy walking . The cart road runs parallel to the reservoir and will take you as far as Gate 22. After several  miles I took a cart road down to the reservoir and followed the shoreline back to the 26 road intersection.

The water level is down which made for easy walking. I did see several immature loons. A muddy area held the tracks of a variety of animals. Bear , raccoon , moose and coyote tracks were easy to identify. I sure have put a lot of miles on the last month with hopes of getting a picture of a moose.
Tomorrow I head back to my favorite east side gates hiking.

Jim

Drove over to gate 8 this morning. With the close of the fishing season last week made for a nice quiet hike this morning. Didn't take long with the gradual decent to lose the noise of Rte 202. Tracks of where a single moose walked the road gave anticipation of maybe seeing a moose this morning.

Not to be. The reservoir was fairly calm, I did see one mature bald eagle and several other raptors that I could not identify.




Been a while since driving by Pelham Lookout during the day. DCR has put up a nice sign

Jim

Hiking Has Been Great !

I took Friday off  from work in hopes of putting a few miles on the ole' hiking boots. It was a beautiful day for hiking. Mammal sightings have been far and few. Food is abundant which minimizes there travel . Bear scat and puke was in the usual pocketed areas in my 13 mile day . I walked some of the northwest shoreline and did capture a pic of a

                                                                        Greater Yellow Legs
Reviewing my bird books I am hoping I identified the above bird accurately. Interesting reading about it, Typically they are one of the first shore birds to arrive in the northeast . They are also the first to leave in late June and July. This bird is three months behind the average with departing New England.

This morning I headed out early for a morning of hiking at a northeast gate

 Hiked 8 miles today not 'seeing much.  Did hear a barred owl ,  several loons and a pileated woodpecker.

Jim

Bits and Pieces

Not much going on Saturday morning with wildlife opportunities so I decided to hike a few of the roads on the west side. I parked at Gate 25  hiked over to Gate 24,then down to Gate 22. Not a lot of miles  by any means. I just wanted to mark them " Hiked" on my map.

 

I drove over to Gte 19/20/21 just to get a look. You can't hike Gte 21 out to Prescott Peninsula, but you can hike 21A back to Gate 22

This morning I hiked a northwest gate hoping again for a moose. No luck, but I did  see a doe feeding. 
Jim

Not A Lot Going On This Morning

Dispite the dismal morning I did get some hiking in today. I headed out to my favorite eastside gate. The rain let up giving way to a moderate drizzle. Wildlife pic opportunities in these conditions is typically good for me. Bear sign continues to be consistant. Didn't take long before coming upon a pile of bear puke.

Over the next mile or so bear scat was consistent. Probability on my part was high in anticipation of getting a glimpse of a bear this morning. Not to be today !
Oh well it gives me something to look forward to next week

Jim

Plane Wreck

Very quiet , other than the typical birds and small  mammals there were  no photo opportunities ,so I hiked to the plane wreck. Been a while since my last visit. DCR has cleaned up the tree's that were on the cart road.

On the hike back I found where a number of turtle eggs had been dug up.

Jim

Quabbin - South Carolina & Chiggers

Congaree NP large Bald Cypress Tree

Our Charleston SC trip finished with a trip to  Caw Caw swamp in Ravenel ,S.C. It's approximately a 650 acre wildlife sanctuary which includes rice fields and hardwoods. This area is used by many local and migrating birds. Our several mile walk revealed. one alligator . several blue herons. .
many ibis,and a few barred owls calling .

An alligator alongthe rice fields

 

Many information signs In Caw Caw swamp

 

A rat snake along the Congaree trail

Quabbin this weekend.I hiked nearly fifteen miles  in pursuit of a  moose. I found many tracks unfortunately no moose. I did break the 900 mile marker this weekend.

 

Chiggers

While in SC I got into chiggers . The most NASTY  bites I have ever gotten!

 

Jim