Final Egg Mass Count

Went out to ES today to do some birding, to hike around and see what's new, and get a final egg mass count. On the upper pond, we came across some mink scat (lot's of fish scales) which smelled musty and very much like garlic. One of my goals is to one day be able to detect the smells of different mustelids (skunk, mink, otter, etc.)

Mink scat with plenty of fish scales

We also found evidence of freshwater mussels in the lower pond which an otter had likely been eating! Dr. Wood discovered them a few days earlier for the first time at the field station. Mussels are an indicator of a healthy aquatic ecosystem with little toxins, high oxygen, and abundant source of micro-organisms as a food source.

I also observed a beaver dam on the lower pond, which I was trying to find the entrance to but before I knew it, I was on top of it! There was a lot of beaver damage to nearby trees including around the steam along the road and around the banding net.

The geese and swans are starting to show aggression towards each other with nesting and mating starting to happen. The geese in particular are interesting to observe behavior-wise because they display a variety of messages with postures. For instance, the neck bent a bit and the head touching the water id defensive (usually used with swans) and neck straight with head low to water surface and swimming back to a mate means triumph. We were feeding swan 587 (larger, dominant male that the geese kept their distance from) and swan 645 (smaller female that the geese were less afraid of).

The main purpose of the hike was to count egg masses:
Roadside wooded pool: 37
Pool with dams: 26
New collecting pool: 0
A: 21
B: 27
C: 14 visible in shallow area
D: 9 (plus fairy shrimp)
Lower field crossing: 6
Ridgetop: 366
Hilary: 96 (87 Spotted, 9 Jeff.)

We were lucky enough to visit a 1000+ year old vernal pool at Hilary's house as well! It's so ancient that it is noted as a National Heritage Site. The water was extremely clear and many wetland plants lined the area. Hundreds of tadpoles blanketed the shallow pool, and in some places it was completely black with them.

Bird species list:
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
House Finch
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Cardinal
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Goldfinch
Mourning Dove
Hairy WoodpeckerTree Swallow
Ring-billed Duck
Bufflehead
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Bluebird
Blue Jay
Wild Turkey
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
American Robin
Mockingbird
TOTAL: 25 species

I also sketched goose C217 and it's mate in front of the house as seen below. I wrote about the day (exactly what I wrote above but condensed) and also illustrated some of the things seen including the freshwater mussels, a spring woodland wildflower, and mating American Toads with egg masses.

Sketchbook entry for the day