Category Archives: cape cod spring

Turtle time!

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If you’ve been out and about at all over the last few weeks you probably are well aware that turtles are on the move. Whether turtles live in the sea, the marsh, the pond or the woods, they all seek warm sand on land to lay their eggs.

Although sea turtles come here to feed they do not lay eggs on the Cape but we have plenty of other egg laying turtles. Only one of them lives in the marsh and that is the diamondback terrapin. These turtles are almost never seen on land, spending most of their time in bays, inlets in marshes and other such places. You are far more likely to see them when out kayaking in a marsh than walking along a trail at the beach.

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I was out with a group of Sandy Neck Junior Rangers this past week and we went looking for turtle tracks. They are hard to see, both in the photo and in real life but once you know what to look for, they are easy to recognize. Note the little bit of drag in the middle….that is from the shell.

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We then spotted the tiny turtle…

024This was a baby diamondback terrapin that was recently hatched but from eggs laid last year, not this year.

025We eventually found the tracks of other baby diamondback terrapins as well as another en route to the marsh. If you find baby turtles on the move at this time of year, please let them keep on walking. Don’t pick them up and “help” them by taking them to the water. Walking strengthens little legs so they will be able to swim when they get there. Also, baby box turtles should never be taken to water for they are land turtles and can’t swim! You should also be aware that it is illegal in the state of Massachusetts to take baby turtles  or any wild turtles home to keep as pets.

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This last photo gives you a good idea of how tiny that little turtle was–it is in a child’s hand! We respectfully put this little one back where it had been but not before all the kids got to peek at it up close. So keep your eyes open, it’s a turtle time of year out there!

Painting Botanicals in Wellfleet

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What a great weekend we just had! The weather was picture perfect, all sorts of flowers and trees were in bloom and the stage was set for a great weekend long Mass Audubon Field School. I was teaching “A Brush with Botanicals” and was joined by 6 students who turned out to be willing, brave and  quick learners, too!

We started off with a bit of a chat about the history of botanical painting in watercolor and then went to work on some color mixing and various brushstrokes that would come in handy for this kind of painting. Many of the students were beginners but it was a different kind of painting even for those with more experience with watercolors.

After a morning of painting exercises everyone was ready to paint a flower. We set up in the shade outdoors. It may have been May but it was pretty hot in the sun already!

016Everyone was very quiet as they worked. They were concentrating hard!

018Plants wilt quickly out of water but the students were quick to use cracks in the table, their painting water and sheets of white paper as backgrounds.

014On Sunday the weather was still fine and we headed out to paint irises we had spied out in a field the day before…

001The irises proved to be more of a challenge than some originally thought they would be but they worked hard on getting the petals right. Irises are poetic and fun to look at but tough to paint.

002We ended up bringing some irises indoors to paint and then spent the afternoon going out onto the sanctuary to find branches, flowers and plants to draw and paint. I think even the students were pleased and surprised at how well their attempts worked out.

019I am always humbled by my beginning drawing and painting students because those first attempts are often awkward and far from what they hope for or imagine. And yet, they persevere. They are eager and willing to learn. They listen, they watch, they absorb as much as they can. And frankly, it seems to me it is very brave to draw or paint in public in a class and share work that shows signs of struggle but for all these students their work also showed signs of triumph. I was honored to be in their presence. It was a great weekend.

I will be doing another Field School “Sketching in Nature for Scaredy Cats” in Wellfleet in August.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Horned Owl Nest

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First, I can’t take credit for finding this Great Horned Owl and its nest–a friend of mine found it purely by chance this week and sent me some photos. She offered to take me there but I cannot give up its location. I’ll just say it is on private property in the mid Cape area.

Two young owls are still in the nest.

011They cannot fly yet though they can scramble around the branches of the tree a bit. You can see some of what remains of the nest beneath them. Great horned owls do not make their own nest but take over other nests, especially those made by red tailed hawks. We found another older nest in a tree not too far away which may have been used last year.

005In the above shot you can see that the young owlet is growing its feathers and will soon be ready to fly.

We knew mom couldn’t be too far away and we were right. She had been watching us but when I tried to take her picture she turned away.

015Eventually she turned and gave me a good owly glare…

016She then took off….heading out over a nearby field, arousing the suspicion and ire of neighborhood jays and crows….Check out those round wing feathers that help this big bird fly silently through the night…

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We went back to watching the owlets who were also watching us…

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and before we left we had to check out the pellets beneath the tree, of course. These owls are still being brought food by their mother and I will not share them all here but the pellets showed a well rounded, high protein diet that included small mammals and birds. ‘Nuff said, as my grandmother would have said.

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Spring is budding out all over….

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Oh how I love this time of year! The late afternoon sun is so pretty on the tops of trees just budding and leafing out…

008the colors are so fresh and clean

015flowers are just starting to bloom and grow

014looking like Asian watercolors against the sky

012even the old oaks are showing off this afternoon

016but the cherries are about to burst forth and take the stage

018let the spring rumpus begin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Greens

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I LOVE this time of year with all the new leaves and grasses showing up in their lovely limey spring greens….

016The buds are just busting out all over

012Check out these sweet flower buds and their little friends

011Back lit leaves are always fun

013and on old farms you can find things like forsythia growing amongst the wild shrubs and vines…

008and in the midst of all that lovely spring green you may also find the beautiful pinks of quince, letting us know the hummingbirds and orioles will soon be dressing up our landscape even more.

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Nature Expo!

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This weekend I’ll be out and about at the first Nature Expo in Hyannis. Sponsored by the Hyannis Youth and Community Center this event involves just about all the nature and conservation organizations and related businesses from around the Cape.

Today we did programs with about 500 5th graders from the town of Barnstable! So much fun and so much energy! My program is about bats and the art activity is making a simple origami type bat. This is a part of our colorful bat cave wall.

007Look for this banner and come by to say hello!

002On Sunday it is Spring on Main Street and  I’ll be on Main St. in Hyannis doing a chalk drawing on the sidewalk that all are invited to join in on.

NATURE EXPO SCHOOL FLYER final

 

At the beach….

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I’ve been spending quite a bit of time walking the beach lately…

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Checking out the shells….011Enjoying the play of light on some special shells….

008Checking out the birds….

044015045and noticing that the beach peas are pushing up through the sand already….

030With all the unhappy news we’ve had this week, the beach has been a good place to find some solace….

 

Spring carpets….

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By now spring is popping up all over but one of my favorite places to find spring is on walks in our woodlands. The Cape doesn’t have a lot of deep woods but the woodlands we do have can offer many wonderful gifts in the early spring.

Teaberry, also called winterberry, is common here and can always be identified by its sturdy, shiny leaves and its distinctive minty scent. At this time of year we may still find some red berries that made it through the winter but in many areas these little plants will have been stripped clean of their berries by winter birds and small mammals.

021Mayflower, also called Trailing Arbutus, is beginning to bloom

020Look for the tough, almost furry leaves on sunny banks along trails or other open areas.

019Pipsissewa, also called spotted or striped wintergreen, depending on who you’re talking with, is another fairly common woodland plant. It will bloom a little later in the spring but you can find stands of these elegant little plants in many of our conservation areas.

025Princess pine is another plant to look for on the forest floor. It actually grows in colonies, with roots extending and spreading out all over the place, but all the plants are attached and part of each other, not separate.

026Much less common is the Partridgeberry, though when you find a clump of it you will often find more. I see this here and there but it is nowhere as common as the other plants mentioned here.

013All these plants were discovered and photographed on a short walk in the same wooded area on the Upper Cape. Not all woodlands will have the same abundance of plants on the forest floor but they are worth taking a walk and looking for this spring.

 

 

 

More signs of spring…

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Every day now there are more signs of spring here on Cape Cod. If you are a life long resident like I am you know that spring can be a real tease around here. Unlike some areas, the signs of spring can be subtle but that’s okay, we’ll take them as they come…

like this little guy getting on his yellow. Many of the male goldfinches that visit my feeders daily are still rather mottled looking but this little guy is almost all the way to his summer breeding plumage and looks quite handsome.

002Ospreys are back all over the Cape. This one is in Hyannis…

011 Piping plovers are also back on the beaches…I photographed this one at Popponessett in Mashpee the other day…

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I was in Popponessett helping a friend who is in charge of Mass Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program put up the fencing to protect these little fellas as they prepare to nest….

036Boats are being cleaned, nets mended and shutters painted. All over the Cape spring seems to be stirring everyone into action. What are some of your favorite signs of spring on Cape Cod?