I will be leaving Costa Rica today to fly home, and will write my experiences later in the coming week. here are a few photographs to wet your interest.
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| Green-breasted Mango |
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| Red-eye Tree Frogs |
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| Three-toed Sloth |
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Costa Rica
I will be leaving Costa Rica today to fly home, and will write my experiences later in the coming week. here are a few photographs to wet your interest.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
River Herring Run in Costal Massachusetts
Spring arrives today at 7:20 1 PM Eastern Daylight Time, and besides the vernal pools. Another sign of spring is the river herring migration. River Herring, we turn to the place of birth desponding, create a new of generation River Herring. Here in Massachusetts, alewives spawn in late March to mid-May when the water temperature reaches about 51°F.
There are 2 species of River Herring in Massachusetts. They are the Alewife-Alosa pseudoharengus and the blueback Herring - Alosa aestivalis. The alewives are the early arrivers and the bluebac arrives later in the spring when the water temperatures warm up more.
Well, the alewives have started to run, and they are on the Nemasket River, which leads from the Taunton River to Assawompset Pond complex.
At the Oliver Mills Park, the gulls have been gathering to feed on the Herring as they make their way up the river. Oliver Mills Park is located right off of route 44 in Middleborough and you can see the herring in the water and the gulls feeding on them.
On Wareham Street in Middleborough, there is a fish way that was constructed in 1966 to help the Herring swim up the river to the Assawompset Pond complex.
Since 2006, there has been a moratorium on collecting the Herring, except by Native Americans, because of the decrease in the numbers of fish. Each year, there have been an increasing number of Herring returning, and hopefully we may get back to where the levels were in the past.
If you have never seen a Herring run, take the time this spring to visit one of the areas and see this impressive site. Information on where you can view a River Herring run is located on the Division of Marine Fisheries website: http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/index:html
There are 2 species of River Herring in Massachusetts. They are the Alewife-Alosa pseudoharengus and the blueback Herring - Alosa aestivalis. The alewives are the early arrivers and the bluebac arrives later in the spring when the water temperatures warm up more.
Well, the alewives have started to run, and they are on the Nemasket River, which leads from the Taunton River to Assawompset Pond complex.
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| Gull with Fish (picture taken by my son Aaron) |
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| Easier Access for the Herring to get up the Nemansket |
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| The Falls on the Nemansket |
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| Nemansket above the Falls at Oliver Mills |
On Wareham Street in Middleborough, there is a fish way that was constructed in 1966 to help the Herring swim up the river to the Assawompset Pond complex.
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| Alewife swimming |
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| Jumping up the fish ladder in Middleboro |
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| On the right there are a number of the Alewifes that just made it up the first step in the ladder |
Since 2006, there has been a moratorium on collecting the Herring, except by Native Americans, because of the decrease in the numbers of fish. Each year, there have been an increasing number of Herring returning, and hopefully we may get back to where the levels were in the past.
If you have never seen a Herring run, take the time this spring to visit one of the areas and see this impressive site. Information on where you can view a River Herring run is located on the Division of Marine Fisheries website: http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/index:html
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Wood Frog and Vernal Pools
Besides spending most of yesterday getting ready for my Costa Rica trip, I went back again and spent a portion of the afternoon at a vernal pool. There was much more activity in the pools, secondary to the warmer weather that we've had for the last couple of days. You could hear the wood frogs singing in the water offering their welcome to the spring. As you approach the pool their vocalization stops, however, if you remain still they will start up again.
They are starting to lay their eggs to help them fulfill their lifecycle, they eggs hatch in about a month into tadpoles and in about two months afterward, little wood frogs will appear.
There were also various larvae in the pool including dragonfly larvae and beetle larvae. here is a photography of a beetle larvae. Beetle larvae feed on both invertebrates and vertebrates animals in the pool, so even wood frog tadpoles can be their prey.
Some vernal pools persist for a long time and others disappear earlier in the season, depending on the rain. The creatures that live in the vernal pool need to complete their life cycles before the pool dries up. Vernal pools are a very interesting habitat to investigate. Remember if you remove something from the pole returned to the pool. Everything that I removed for photographing was returned to the same pool that it was taken from.
Vancouver Island Day Three
Finally I'm able to write my blog for day three of my Vancouver Island trip. After the group met for breakfast, we left with Glenn for another trip to Goldstream Provincial Park to do scenic’s in the temperate rainforest. It definitely was a rain forest, because of all the recent rain, the trees were dripping, and this stream was running high. There is a Rocky bar in which you can get out so you can photograph the stream, however, rather than the whole group being able to get out on the bar. Only two people could get out at a time and they were extremely close to each other. But, we were able to get the pictures we wanted.
Interesting facts about temperate rainforests is that North America, as the largest area of temperate zone rainforest on the planet and the Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion occurs from Kodiak Island in Alaska to Northern California. Vancouver Island is a sub-ecoregion.
A Pacific Wren put in an appearance, singing to us
A Pacific Wren put in an appearance, singing to us
After we left Goldstream Provincial Park and had lunch, we went searching for other areas to photograph. However, because of the high wind and sun in the middle of the day we were not able to photograph much at that time. I obtained a photograph of a Northwestern Crow, which only occurs along coastal forest and intertidal zones from Washington State to Alaska.
We went to Marina Bay in Victoria and photograph the harbor seals that hang around the docks waiting to be fed. The store at Marina Bay sells chopped up large pieces of sardines to feed the seals. The seals were very entertaining; one of them slapped the water with its flipper asking for food.
We finished off the day that at the point where we were able to get numerous pictures of black oystercatchers, black turnstones and a northern river otter put in appearances and entertained us.
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| Black Oystercatcher eating a clam |
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| Black Oystercatcher |
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| Black Turnstone |
So ended our day three on Vancouver Island.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Vernal Pools
It is now late winter-early spring and the small frozen pools have thawed out and life is returning into them. From minute creatures all away up to frogs and salamanders, they are reappearing and restarting the life-cycle again.
On Tuesday I was photographing some of the life in the vernal pools. The weather has been cold to cool were only a couple of warm days noted. Two days ago, it was much warmer and at one of the pools. There were many would frogs noted. Today, because it was very cool last night at a. The pools, there were no would frogs noted. However, a wood frog was found at one of the other pools.
Allens Pond Massachusetts Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuary staff, Lauren Miller, led a group of students from New Bedford Vocational Tech in learning about vernal pools. Using dip nets, the students brought up samples from the pools and learn to identify some of the creatures that inhabit the vernal pools. We placed some of the life into an aquarium, where I photographed them. All life was returned to the pools where they came from so that they could continue to progress in their lifecycle.
We found mostly fairy shrimp, mosquito larvae, aquatic beetles and one wood frog. There were also a number of just above microscopic organisms present.
The Environmental Science and Technology program at New BedfordVocational Technical provides students with the skills needed to pursue a career in a diverse range of technical areas
including: GIS mapping, environmental sciences, natural resources and
engineering. Students conduct a variety of field experiments in a diverse range
of local ecosystems. Students will learn to operate handheld GPS units (Global
Positioning Systems) and ArcGIS mapping software (Geographic Information
Systems) in order to locate, evaluate, and maintain environmental areas.
Students will maintain and conduct authentic aquaculture/hydroponics experiments
in a state of the art Aquaculture Laboratory. Upper level students will conduct
research and independent studies in the fields of Applied Water Technology,
Environmental site assessment, Environmental site remediation and Conservation
practices. Students are involved in an assortment of environmental projects on
the local, state and Federal levels. A variety of certifications and licenses
will be offered including First Aid, CPR, 40 Hour OSHA Hazardous Waste Operation
Certificate and Massachusetts Wastewater Certificate. The students will compete
in the Skills USA and Massachusetts Envirothon competition. The department has
established partnerships with higher education institutions in order to provide
our students with college credits and associations needed to make a successful
transition to college.
These students, come out to the sanctuary a few times a month to learn and to work in help maintaining the sanctuary.
I have found the students to be very energetic, and I want to congratulate New Bedford vocational tech in providing this type of education
On Tuesday I was photographing some of the life in the vernal pools. The weather has been cold to cool were only a couple of warm days noted. Two days ago, it was much warmer and at one of the pools. There were many would frogs noted. Today, because it was very cool last night at a. The pools, there were no would frogs noted. However, a wood frog was found at one of the other pools.
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| vernal pool |
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| vernal pool |
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| fairy shrimp |
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| fairy shrimp |
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| fairy shrimp |
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| Predaceous diving beetle |
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| Predaceous diving beetle |
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| mosquito larvae |
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| wood frog |
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| wood frog |
Allens Pond Massachusetts Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuary staff, Lauren Miller, led a group of students from New Bedford Vocational Tech in learning about vernal pools. Using dip nets, the students brought up samples from the pools and learn to identify some of the creatures that inhabit the vernal pools. We placed some of the life into an aquarium, where I photographed them. All life was returned to the pools where they came from so that they could continue to progress in their lifecycle.
We found mostly fairy shrimp, mosquito larvae, aquatic beetles and one wood frog. There were also a number of just above microscopic organisms present.
The Environmental Science and Technology program at New BedfordVocational Technical provides students with the skills needed to pursue a career in a diverse range of technical areas
including: GIS mapping, environmental sciences, natural resources and
engineering. Students conduct a variety of field experiments in a diverse range
of local ecosystems. Students will learn to operate handheld GPS units (Global
Positioning Systems) and ArcGIS mapping software (Geographic Information
Systems) in order to locate, evaluate, and maintain environmental areas.
Students will maintain and conduct authentic aquaculture/hydroponics experiments
in a state of the art Aquaculture Laboratory. Upper level students will conduct
research and independent studies in the fields of Applied Water Technology,
Environmental site assessment, Environmental site remediation and Conservation
practices. Students are involved in an assortment of environmental projects on
the local, state and Federal levels. A variety of certifications and licenses
will be offered including First Aid, CPR, 40 Hour OSHA Hazardous Waste Operation
Certificate and Massachusetts Wastewater Certificate. The students will compete
in the Skills USA and Massachusetts Envirothon competition. The department has
established partnerships with higher education institutions in order to provide
our students with college credits and associations needed to make a successful
transition to college.
These students, come out to the sanctuary a few times a month to learn and to work in help maintaining the sanctuary.
I have found the students to be very energetic, and I want to congratulate New Bedford vocational tech in providing this type of education
Vancouver Island Date Two
Day two in Victoria started out with a light to moderate drizzle, so Glenn took us out to Bed Rock, we're he had some feed is set up and we could photograph underneath a small roof. We were able to photograph Oregon Junco, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker and a Spotted Towhee.
There were other birds around but they did not present themselves so that they could be photographed, however, we were able to identify them. This included Pileated Woodpecker, Flicker, Fox Sparrow and a. Varied Thrush.
After lunch we were taken to Goldstream Provincial Park, in the hopes of finding three special species of birds. These were the American Dipper, Pacific Wren and the Red-Bellied Sapsucker.
We started out by walking up and down the bank of the stream, which was running very fast. On the first pass, no dippers were found. When we started our second pass, behold American Dipper was found. We followed the Dipper and photographed it, while it was feeding, resting and taking a bath.
Here are some facts about the American Dipper from Wilkpedia "The American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), also known as a Water Ouzel, is a stocky dark grey bird with a head sometimes tinged with brown, and white feathers on the eyelids cause the eyes to flash white as the bird blinks. It is 16.5 cm long and weighs on average 46 g. It has long legs, and bobs its whole body up and down during pauses as it feeds on the bottom of fast-moving, rocky streams. It inhabits the mountainous regions of Central America and western North America from Panama to Alaska
This species, like other dippers, is equipped with an extra eyelid called a "nictitating membrane that allows it to see underwater, and scales that close its nostrils when submerged. Dippers also produce more oil than most birds, which may help keep them warmer when seeking food underwater.
In most of its habits, it closely resembles its European counterpart, the White-throated Dipper Cinclus cinclus, which is also sometimes known as a Water Ouzel. It feeds on aquatic insects and their larvae, including dragonfly nymphs and caddisfly larvae. It may also take tiny fish or tadpoles.
Next, we were able to listen to and call in a Pacific Wren , who so kindly called for us had spent most of his time on bare branches rather than the lovely lichen colored branches that were set up for him. In 2010 is when the Pacific Wren came into being, it was split off as a separate species from the Winter Wren by the American Ornithological Union. Besides obtaining some nice photographs, I obtain a new bird for my life list.
While we will photographing the Pacific Wren, a group of teenagers walked by and assess what we were doing. When we told them we were photographing birds, one of the young ladies took out her cell phone and showed us she said, a redheaded woodpecker. It was the third species that we will hoping to see, the Red-bellied Sapsucker. They told us with the observe the bird and we want to see if we could find it. Glenn had told us last week during Workshop they were unable to find the Red-bellied Sapsucker because it was so cold the sap was frozen. After a short search, behold on the tree trunk was the sapsucker. We spent at least half hour or more photographing this bird from various positions and backgrounds. The sapsucker just ignored us and kept on eating.
Previously, when we were at the river, we were able to see and photograph a female Common Merganser, before she flew upstream.
So ended day two on Vancouver Island.
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| Chestnut-backed Chickadee |
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| Chestnut-backed Chickadee |
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| Red-breasted Nuthatch |
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| Spotted Junco |
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| Downy Woodpecker |
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| Downy Woodpecker |
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| Oregon Junco |
There were other birds around but they did not present themselves so that they could be photographed, however, we were able to identify them. This included Pileated Woodpecker, Flicker, Fox Sparrow and a. Varied Thrush.
After lunch we were taken to Goldstream Provincial Park, in the hopes of finding three special species of birds. These were the American Dipper, Pacific Wren and the Red-Bellied Sapsucker.
We started out by walking up and down the bank of the stream, which was running very fast. On the first pass, no dippers were found. When we started our second pass, behold American Dipper was found. We followed the Dipper and photographed it, while it was feeding, resting and taking a bath.
 |
| American Dipper bath nictitating membrane |
Here are some facts about the American Dipper from Wilkpedia "The American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), also known as a Water Ouzel, is a stocky dark grey bird with a head sometimes tinged with brown, and white feathers on the eyelids cause the eyes to flash white as the bird blinks. It is 16.5 cm long and weighs on average 46 g. It has long legs, and bobs its whole body up and down during pauses as it feeds on the bottom of fast-moving, rocky streams. It inhabits the mountainous regions of Central America and western North America from Panama to Alaska
This species, like other dippers, is equipped with an extra eyelid called a "nictitating membrane that allows it to see underwater, and scales that close its nostrils when submerged. Dippers also produce more oil than most birds, which may help keep them warmer when seeking food underwater.
In most of its habits, it closely resembles its European counterpart, the White-throated Dipper Cinclus cinclus, which is also sometimes known as a Water Ouzel. It feeds on aquatic insects and their larvae, including dragonfly nymphs and caddisfly larvae. It may also take tiny fish or tadpoles.
Next, we were able to listen to and call in a Pacific Wren , who so kindly called for us had spent most of his time on bare branches rather than the lovely lichen colored branches that were set up for him. In 2010 is when the Pacific Wren came into being, it was split off as a separate species from the Winter Wren by the American Ornithological Union. Besides obtaining some nice photographs, I obtain a new bird for my life list.
While we will photographing the Pacific Wren, a group of teenagers walked by and assess what we were doing. When we told them we were photographing birds, one of the young ladies took out her cell phone and showed us she said, a redheaded woodpecker. It was the third species that we will hoping to see, the Red-bellied Sapsucker. They told us with the observe the bird and we want to see if we could find it. Glenn had told us last week during Workshop they were unable to find the Red-bellied Sapsucker because it was so cold the sap was frozen. After a short search, behold on the tree trunk was the sapsucker. We spent at least half hour or more photographing this bird from various positions and backgrounds. The sapsucker just ignored us and kept on eating.
Previously, when we were at the river, we were able to see and photograph a female Common Merganser, before she flew upstream.
So ended day two on Vancouver Island.
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