Box Turtle and Green Heron

A good-sized Box Turtle was on one of the trails the morning, pulled back into its shell as I nearly stepped on it. It was a very distinctive turtle with a shell pattern that was 80% yellow and only thin black lines between. I always intend to memorize the shell patterns in order to recognize individual turtles but usually don't succeed. This one, however, was very easy to recognize and I'm quite sure that I had never seen it before.

The morning's bird count included White-breasted Nuthatch (must have followed me from the Grace Estate in Easthampton) and a yearling Red-bellied Woodpecker (just out of the nest I would reckon),

In yesterday's list from the Grace Estate, I forgot to mention Cedar Waxwing. Admittedly, this is not likely to be the outstanding find on a Birding by Ear walk. It is possible to identify Cedar Waxwings in he nieghborhood by sound but you need good ears).

Since I have been writing so much about Green Herons, Terry Sullivan sent me two amusing shots of this species. In the first, he is fishing from the culvert where the tide goes in and out and has apparently succeeded in catching two fish (silversides?) at once. Terry describes the bird in the second photo as 'spooked' but I think is actually a threat display; he puffs himself up like an owl to look bigger and more threatening to a potential predator.



Eric Salzman