I am not sure what happened, but a lot of post I though had been published were not on my blog.  At any rate the SECOND blog with pictures scrolled down to is the Red Sox blog, the first photo blog being some time back in Feb or March. Be Patient.

on the trail in Duxbury

Mute Swan, Dusbury Bog

I took the Fri.AM bird walk with the South Shore audubon, led by David Ludlow, and I think I will chronicle those walks, and take as many as I can.  We froze, but saw a good number of species for a cold mid-March, including: Canada Goose, Brant, Mute Swan, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Black Duck, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Common Eider, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Great Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, Killdeer, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Rock Pidgeon, Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee,  Tufted Titmouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, Starling, Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throwated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird. House Finch, American Goldfinch,  and when we returned to base, had a Bluebird fly in.  No real photo ops, but here's three.

What a treat! Seth Budahl offered me a ticket to the Red Sox's final (4th) game with the Astros, and proceeded to sweep them, winning all four games.   James Monaghan showed up, so we had the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra trombone section sitting together at the game.  Cool.

Redtail on Rt. 105, Middleboro, 7:45 AM

James Monaghan, Seth Budahl, and moi

Lackey on the mound for the first time, and went for six innings, pitching really well

Pedroia

Ortiz

Saltalamacchia

Ah, the crowd in the sun

Clayton Mortenson

Double play!

the Pesky Pole, Peedie

Ortiz, a double

Sweet Caroline

the score

A spectacular day. 
I started by getting the Red-tail on the way the church.

A wonderful, warm day, with plenty of sunlight.  The trip started slow, but we managed to find some great birds.  New to the Friday AM group were A green Heron, several Glossy Ibis, s flock of Savannah Sparrows, A large number of Gannets far out at sea, several Barn Swallows, a few Yellow-rumped warblers, several Towhee, a Swamp Sparrow. The Green Heron flew over and landed right in front of the blind that we were all in, a beautiful sight. Here are a few photos.

Great White Heron

Green Heron, Daniel Webster Farm

Yelow-rumped Warbler, Daniel Webster Farm

Savannah Sparrow, Daniel Webster Farm

Turkey doeng courtship display, Daniel Webster Farm

The Friday AM bird walk was a great success, with wonderful warm weather, to contrast with last week's bitter cold.  Among the successes were Pine and Palm Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warbler, a pair of Pine Siskins, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher.  Also, Green-winged Teal, Red-throated Loon, Great and Snowy Egret, Sharp-Shinned Hawk, Greater Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Killdeer, Rough-Winged Swallow, and Hermit Thrush.
This follows the final day with my grandchildren, Jackson and Oliver (We took a hike in Pratt Farm, and visited Oliver's Mill to catch more Alewife (of course we threw them back!).
Susan took the boys to Boston only to encounter the lock-down from the hunting of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing.  The whole world seems to be watching. I guess that because it is such a rare and unexpected occurance in the US, it seems all the more shocking and

a just ok picture of a Pine Warbler

Northern Water Snake

Young Water Snake enjoying the warmth of David Ludlow's hand

Seeing the ruby-crowned Kinglet

Oliver's A-10 Warthog, and Jackson's Harrier

You would think I had tired them out!

At Pratt Farm, a tree trunk wrapped around an old mill gear.

The mighty explorers

tragic.  It is, after all, almost a daily ordeal in many countries.  We will get through it, and run another marathon, but perhaps never again with such a joyfull atmosphere.

Ah, four days with our grandchildren, Jackson, 10, and Oliver, 8.  We were supposed to pick them up on Monday, but because of the tragedy at the marathon, Ken and Erin wanted their children home that night.  Tuesday I drove them down to Battleship Cove, one ot the greatest "static" military exhibits, and Wednesday we went to Heritage Plantation in Sandwich, for an Owl exhibition and a "concept cars" eshibit. Carol, Riggo and Alex joined us.

USS Lionfish, forward torpedo room

USS Massachusetts, 16" forward turrets

Look at the side of that 16" shell  The USS MA fired the first and last 16" shell in WWII

Russian Missile Cruiser

Screech Owl

Screech Owl

Barn Owl

Great Horned Owl

Spectacled Owl, from Africa

Picnic

Riggo, Alex, Carol

Where there's a tree.....

Firebird II

Solar-powered



The Alewives are running!