Recently we saw reports that four sandhill cranes had been sighted at Dexter Drumlin in Lancaster. Sandhill crane sightings are rare in this area, and we had never been to Dexter Drumlin, a Trustees of Reservations property. We thought it would be fun to see them. One sunny afternoon we took time to go there and see if, by chance, the birds were still present. Google Maps directed us to the property, where we parked on the street near the Trustees sign. We saw a well-used path leading to the top of the drumlin. Halfway up we met a man with binoculars and a Mass Audubon hat (obviously a birder) and inquired as to whether he had seen the birds. He said they were feeding on a flooded field off to the east of the drumlin but quite a ways off. Pam ran back to the car to retrieve the spotting scope we had borrowed, figuring we might need it.
Sandhill cranes are rare in our area. (Courtesy photo)
Cresting the top of the drumlin, we easily found the large cranes with our binoculars and set up the scope so we could enjoy more detailed looks and also try to get a photo through it. This was a beautiful spot—38 acres of maintained grassland bordering a tributary of the Nashua River to the west and north, and having wonderful views of the village of Lancaster, with its Bullfinch church, spread before us to the east—and only 12 minutes from home.
Sandhill cranes breed in the prairies and grasslands of North America as far north as the Arctic and usually migrate to the South for the winter. A few years ago we were lucky enough to have seen these birds in Wilcox, Arizona, where up to 35,00 birds may overwinter. There have been a few reports of sandhill cranes in Massachusetts over the years and one confirmed nesting pair in the western part of the state. In recent years a few have been seen during spring migration, feeding in the flooded fields at Bolton Flats. Wouldn’t it be great if the ones we saw hung around and nested in the Nashua River valley?
Snowy, short-eared owls
In winter we like to take a trip up to Parker River Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island to see snowy and short-eared owls. Taking advantage of another warm winter day, we thought a visit to Kris and Dale, who used to live in Still River but now are in Ipswich, would give us an opportunity to find some owls. Instead of Plum Island we decided to go to Crane Beach, another Trustees property, which is on the other side of the Ipswich River from Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. David had never been there so it gave us an opportunity to explore a new area.
Walking through the dunes and along the beach, we had no luck finding owls but did see a raft of brant geese close to the beach. These geese, identified by their small size, dark backs, and white bellies, breed in Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland and migrate south in the winter. Most winter on the Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to California, but a few end up on the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts north.
At the farm, we have not seen an influx of winter finches from the North as has been predicted, perhaps because of the relatively warm winter. Every few days, flocks of cedar waxwings do come and gorge on the fruits of the Korean mountain ash. We have our faithful bluebirds that we feed daily. A pair of red-tailed hawks regularly patrols our fields for rodents. They are easily spotted in the leafless trees where their white breast feathers stand out in the winter sunlight.
In a week we had visited two Trustees properties, both of which hosted fairly unusual birds, reinforcing the importance of preserved land and why it behooves us all to support organizations that protect our environment.
Nature’s best hope
Recently we were reminded again how important our native flora are to the survival of our local bird population (and us). We attended a talk at Harvard University Science Center, where Doug Tallamy spoke about his new book “Nature’s Best Hope” to a standing-room-only audience. He talked about the importance of caterpillars as food for young birds and the need to plant native flora on which these caterpillars and insects depend. He advocates planting native species in your own backyard, which can then connect one green space to another and establish wildlife corridors and contiguous habitats. He talked about how each of us can turn our gardens, yards, towns, cities, and world into engines of biodiversity and human health. Tallamy notes that if insects disappear so does our food supply, as everything depends on pollinators.
Brant geese.
Light pollution is a big problem. According to an article in The Guardian (Jan. 26, 2020) that reviewed the research on the effect of light on insects, “Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects’ lives … from luring moths to their death around bulbs, to spotlighting insect prey for rats and toads, to obscuring the mating signals of fireflies.” After assessing 150 studies, the researchers said: “We strongly believe artificial light at night in combination with habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species, and climate change is driving insect declines. We posit here that artificial light at night is another important—but often overlooked—bringer of the insect apocalypse.”
As we have suggested before, turn off your outside lights, or if you feel you really need them, put them on motion-activated switches. But spraying is also a problem. Tallamy says there is no such thing as a safe insect spray—the sprays do not discriminate, they kill all insects—even the so-called natural sprays.
Become stewards of your land, plant native species, don’t spray, and turn off outside lights. Nature knows no boundaries.
David and Pamela Durrant live on East Bare Hill Road at Micheldever Farm, where they have observed and recorded over 80 species of birds on the farm and adjacent conservation lands.
