Corrected and updated April 13, 2012
For anyone with an interest in birds, there are numerous programs available locally. The Massachusetts Audubon Society sends members newsletters from regional sanctuaries listing programs and lectures for the novice through expert, and local newspapers list current events. A program close to town was hosted by the Friends of the Oxbow at the Ayer Town Hall. The program was presented by Tom Ricardi, a licensed bird rehabilitator from Conway, Mass.
A hooded merganser paddles on the pond on Ann Lee Road. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
It was encouraging to see that about half the attendees were kids. With so many kids glued to their TVs or cell phones, it was nice to see a group of enthusiastic kids who have an interest in the world of nature.
Tom brought several raptors and a couple of owls. The birds had been injured or sick and were not able to be safely released back into the wild.
The first bird shown was a great horned owl. This large owl, whose wild cousins are already sitting on eggs, is almost two feet tall and has distinctive broad ear tufts. In contrast to the great horned owl, Tom showed an eastern screech owl. This small owl is only about eight inches high. Both owls have the ability to rotate their heads almost 360 degrees. When sitting on a branch that may be moving up and down in the breeze, owls have the uncanny ability to maintain their heads in a fixed position while their whole body moves up and down and sideways. This is an important feature, especially if they have keyed in on prey.
The next bird was a European buzzard. This bird was imported illegally. Since this country is out of its range, the buzzard was given up by Homeland Security, or whoever makes decisions on illegal bird immigration, to the care of a rehabilitator. Once out of his box, the buzzard sat contentedly on the top of the box. Tom walked to the back of the hall and, with the encouragement of a small piece of meat, the buzzard flew to him. The bird was about the size of our red-tailed hawk. When the bird flew silently over my head, I could feel the rush of air as it passed by.
Tom has successfully bred captive bald eagles at his facility. He gathers the eggs from his pair of eagles, incubates them, and when they get to a certain age, places them in a wild eagle’s nest with one eaglet of approximately the same age.
It was exciting to be within inches of these incredible birds. The peregrine falcon, which I believe is the world’s fastest bird, being able to attain speeds of around 200 miles per hour, was shown next along with an American kestrel.
The kestrel is becoming an endangered species, probably because of habitat loss. Last year, I saw three of these wonderful little kestrels at the Farmers Row conservation land off Route 111 just over the Ayer/Groton line during a bird walk.
The most impressive in terms of size was the golden eagle. This eagle is 32 years old and has been under Tom’s care for the past 20 years. Again, being able to see such an impressive bird this close was a real treat.
On the farm here, the ice is off the pond almost three weeks earlier than last year. There has been an abundance of red-winged blackbirds and grackles and literally hundreds of robins in the pastures. Although I have seen the occasional turkey vulture throughout the winter, I have been seeing several more cruising around the area looking for carrion. These large black raptors are easily identified by their ragged wings held in a “v” (dihedral) shape when soaring. Through binoculars you will see a bare red head. We are also seeing a few black vultures in the area. The two are very similar except that the black vulture has silver wing tips whereas the turkey vulture has silver wings with black leading edge.
A pair of wood ducks appeared on the pond at exactly the same date as last year. While watching the wood ducks during breakfast, I noticed the female lying flat in the water. It almost looked as though she was dead. After a few minutes the male swam around her and mounted her right there in the water; the spring ritual had started!
I suppose they will now be looking for a nesting spot. Let’s hope she chooses one of the holes in our venerable old sycamore. What some people do not realize is that these ducks nest in tree cavities sometimes 30 to 40 feet off the ground.
Recently, a tree swallow arrived, which is two weeks earlier than last year. It was checking out the nest boxes.
The bluebirds are also busy checking out their nest boxes. I have just finished cleaning out the boxes of the old nests and field mice nests that were constructed over the winter. Of the 30 nest boxes I have, 20 of them had been taken over by field mice. I do not mind seeing this number of mice around as it means a good supply of food for the raptors that patrol our pastures.
Apart from the red-tailed hawk and red-shouldered hawk who are regular visitors to the farm, I have been seeing a lot more of a Cooper’s hawk. I know when this predator is around because the chickens invariably make a beeline for their enclosure if they are foraging in the pasture. They do not want to end up as a meal.
This is the time of year that ducks develop their breeding plumage, which gives them their most colorful and dramatic appearance. Taking advantage of a 60-degree day in March, Pam and I decided to go check out the Delaney area for ducks. Driving down Eldridge Road, I noticed a raft of about 30 ducks on the water to the left.
Stopping the truck, we got out and the first thing I noticed was a big beaver swimming not 30 feet from us. Putting our binoculars on the ducks, I recognized them as ring-necked ducks. The shape of these is fairly diagnostic, but the white body and black back, breast, and head are giveaways. Not so obvious at a distance is the white outline to the bill, but we easily recognized it through our binoculars.
Driving on to another section of Delaney, we noticed more ducks farther out on one of the ponds. To get a better look, we parked at a pull-off at the head of a trail on Finn Road that led us, after about half a mile, to a point in the woods that gave us closer looks at the ducks. We observed another 30 or so ring-necked and while watching them I noticed a couple of different ducks among them. These ducks had similar white underbodies, but the white extended to the breast and neck. These ducks were common goldeneyes. They have a large round distinctive white patch under their eyes.
While we were watching the ducks feeding, four goldeneyes flew over us, which gave us a good opportunity to see their stubby body and short tail but also showed off their white body, wing patches, and white spot on the head.
Amongst the ducks were the often-maligned-as-common mallards, which in their breeding plumage are among the most colorful of ducks. In my mind none surpass the color and patterns of the common merganser. To our delight there were two pairs swimming in the group of ducks. While observing the ducks we heard our first spring peeper that is a welcome sign of spring.
David Durrant lives with his wife, Pamela, on East Bare Hill Road at Micheldever Farm, where they watch birds—their own peacocks, chickens, and wild birds.
Editor’s note: This article has been corrected and updated. In the original article, the photograph caption misidentified the hooded merganser as a wood duck.
