Eagle Visiting Manchaug Pond

 

So, picture it... you wake up in the morning, walk to the kitchen, put up the shade and there before your eyes, up close and personal is ... the American Bald Eagle... RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU JUST STANDING THERE!

or you come around the corner of the house, and there before your very eyes, closer than your could ever imagine is ... the American Bald Eye... RIGHT THERE!



The wonder of Manchaug Pond!

A Turkey Vulture on Holt Road Sutton

This week a large turkey vulture, with a large fish in its talons, blocked traffic on Holt Road in Sutton on the shores of Manchaug Pond.

Mute Swan Nesting at Stevens Pond

This spring, while we were all looking to the Beaton Farm in the northwest, working to make this conservation dream a reality for Manchaug Pond...  a new lake neighbor flew in to our southeast, making Stevens Pond their home: a pair of Mute Swans.

In the cattails on the end of Stevens Pond by the shoreline bordering Parker Road, Sutton, they built their nest some time ago. Would anyone from Stevens Pond give us a report as to the status of the nest with the rise in waterlevel?

You should know that mute swans are not native to North America and considered an invasive species.   MassWildlife reports they were: "Originally brought in from Europe and Asia as ornamental waterfowl to grace the ponds of Long Island estates, some escaped to the wild where they became established, spread up and down the coast and are found in many inland waters. Highly aggressive and territorial, there is evidence that they are displacing native waterfowl and can be destructive to some aquatic habitats, destroying more vegetation than they actually eat."

"Mute swans are protected under state regulations and may not be hunted. They are not protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty as they were placed on a long list of exotic bird species that removed protection under this treaty.  MassWildlife can issue permits in certain situations to addle eggs and destroy mute swans."

Sacred Sunday: Safe and Sound on Manchaug Pond!

To our surprise, the little family of ducks went swimming by this late morning on Manchaug Pond.  They made it!

Read about our first encounter in a cove here and about their later adventure over the flashboards of the Manchaug dam here.

A Mother Duck's Dilemma

Wednesday evening, four young male mallards swam back and forth in the water a few yards out from the dam.

 A female duck stood on the top flashboard clearly in distress - quacking and pacing.

 

On closer look, over the flashboards was the reason(s) for her concern.  There over the side in the culvert box were her ducklings - at least 9 of them.

The tiny babies couldn't make it back up over the 3 feet or so of flashboards.  The only other alternative was to go downstream to Stevens Pond but they refused to follow their mother as she called from the edge of the 15 ft drop down at the end of the culvert box.  Back and forth they swam from the drop at the end of the culvert to the insurmountable wall of flashboards.

... A boater came by with a hopeful solution... dropping a long plank over the flashboards a ramp was made for all to walk up and hop back into the pond.    Did they make the journey?  With daylight waning, that remains an unknown. 

The boater returned the next morning to find only the plank - no signs of the older brothers, the mother,  or any of the duckings.

If anyone sees this family of mother and 9 babies, either on Manchaug Pond or on Stevens, please let us know.  She was photographed earlier in the week here swimming in the shade and safety of a Manchaug cove.

Mother and baby ducklings

Mother Mallard and duckings in a cove on Manchaug Pond! She was seen out in the open lake yesterday when the water was choppy and crowded with boats. Does anyone have a count as to how many babies?

Herons, Manchaug Pond, and the Neighboring Rookery

A Heron on a dock on Manchaug Pond - archive photo

Herons are a common sight on Manchaug Pond: fishing coves, standing on docks and shoreline boulders and flying low over the water to a quiet place.

 To see where they are nesting, just take a car ride north and west of Manchaug Pond heading toward Oxford.

Heron rookery located just outside Manchaug Pond watershed in Oxford, Massachusetts

 As you head west on Central Turnpike you'll enter Oxford, passing Douglas Pike and  Joe Jenny Road on the left. Keep looking to the left and you will see a large area of water and dead trees.  This wetlands was created by a number of years ago by beavers flooding the forest. 

Those dead trees now bear the large stick nests of herons! A driveby reveals the adults standing tall in the nest with other adults flying east to and from area ponds and wetlands.

Closeup of females in the nests.

In addition to Manchaug Pond, herons are frequent visitors to Aldrich Mill Pond at the inlet of Manchaug, the bordering trout ponds on the Beaton Farm Property in Sutton as well as neighboring Stevens Pond downstream and Oxford's Robinson Pond west of the rookery.

A heron on a fallen tree on Aldrich Mill Pond just up from Manchaug Pond.

Look to the Sky - State Bald Eagle Survey Today!

Past photo of an adult bald eagle soaring over Manchaug Pond.

Eagles are frequent visitors to Manchaug Pond.  We love seeing them soar, perch in the tall pines, and dive for fish.

Eagle and other wildlife enthusiasts are out today across the state counting the state's eagle population. This effort will include a concentrated survey of the major rivers, lakes, and reservoirs across the Commonwealth. If you have some time, get the binoculars and watch the skies of Manchaug Pond! 

Organized by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) the survey will be conducted by agency staff and volunteers. Teams will be checking known eagle territories and exploring areas with potential eagle habitat to try to locate "new" eagle nests. If inclement weather prevents the survey on April 5, the backup date is April 12, 2013. Additionally, the Division encourages anyone to submit eagle sightings throughout the year by email to natural.heritage@state.ma.us or by postal service to "Eagle Survey", MassWildlife, Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, 100 Hartwell Street, Suite 230, West Boylston, MA 01583. 

The new spring Bald Eagle Survey will replace the Division's long-standing Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey. "Although MassWildlife has participated in the winter eagle surveys for over 30 years, the federally administered Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey was designed to monitor the North American population of Bald Eagles," said Andrew Vitz, State Ornithologist. "Now that Bald Eagle numbers have greatly increased and have been removed from the Federal Endangered Species List, the need to monitor nationwide populations has been reduced. At the same time, as the number of eagles has increased across the Commonwealth and a spring eagle count meets the Division's need to more closely monitor eagle breeding status and distribution in Massachusetts."

Lake Visitors

We may have some serious doubts that Spring is around the corner but this Hooded Merganser visiting Area 2 yesterday is a sure sign that the Spring migration has started and warm weather will soon follow! 

Eagle Soars Manchaug Pond

While we shovel out the few inches of snow received overnight, an adult bald eagle soars just above the treetops of Manchaug Pond's shoreline.

Where do you go when it rains?

As the rain comes down this morning,  a group of cormorants are huddled on the old causeway.

A flight of cormorants!

You've often seen this lone bird on Manchaug Pond, but have you ever seen a whole group of them?







This week, over 20 cormorants  were seen as a group on Manchaug Pond.

Why Did the Turkey Cross the Road?

Why did the turkeys cross Manchaug Road?

..... to get to the Y basketball courts at Camp Blanchard!

Sacred Sunday

Ring-necked Ducks visiting Manchaug Pond on New Year's Eve

Ringed-neck Pheasant on Manchaug Pond

You never know what, or who, you will see when you look our your window here in the watershed of Manchaug Pond! Today, walking casually down the road, was a new bird this writer had yet to see this close to the lake:  a ringed-neck pheasant!

He walked down the road, across a neighbors lawn, along the shore to the water's edge, stood on a rock to look around, and then flew across the channel over to the other side.

 

Here's a close up:

Did you know their feathers are used in fly tying!

The Ones Who Made it out Alive!

Here's a photo of a few wild turkeys from a flock of about 40 who ventured up the driveway of a Manchaug Pond home in the Douglas woods a couple days after Thanksgiving.

Thank you to the vegetarian photographer for sending this in!

Ultralite docks at Manchaug Pond

A 5 gallon jug comprises the gas tank which gives an hour of flying time.

Note the air filter and carbuerator to the right of the pilot's face.

Pontoons can be removed with wheels to land on the ground.



The pilot of this ultralite is also an airplane mechanic.

 

Sacred Sunday: On eagle's wings

This afternoon, this adult eagle was seen soaring and circling Manchaug Pond.

August Visitors to the Dam

Photo of two Great Blue Herons taken August 16th.

Sacred Sunday: Who was up at 4 a.m.!

 

Once the south end of the lake bedded down at 3:00 a.m. - the music amplifiers off, the dogs stopped barking, a car alarm was quieted, and the conversation ended -

silence engulfed the area so that after 4:00 the "who, whooing" of the owl was heard.