Gather 'round, one and all, and I shall tell you about life outdoors before the rains came.
It's been an interesting few weeks around the region, and, according to my calendar, I guess I'm one who would know. On September 7, we had the remnants of a storm that wiped out our Cuttyhunk trip, something that is also happening today. On the 9th, Mass Audubon held its annual staff outing at Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon. I joined many of my fellow Auduboners on a walk to the bluffs of the hill and then ran off to Logan to fly to Rochester, New York, for the evening. The next morning I gave a talk as part of a panel on "Choosing the Right Publisher for Your Local History" at the annual conference of the American Association for State and Local History. That night, I was back in Dartmouth, Mass., to give a talk on the Breeding Bird Atlas 2 project for the Paskamansett Bird Club. Forty-eight hours, a radio PSA recording at WATD 95.9 FM and one natural history book club meeting (William Cronon's Changes in the Land) later, I was off to Block Island. Check that story out in the post preceding this one.
On the 16th, our regional conservation scientist, Robert Buchsbaum, arrived to help me flip over forty coverboards at our North River Wildlife Sanctuary in search of red-backed salamanders. We found eight, twice as many as we found in the spring. As this study is still young, we have no idea what those numbers mean. That night, I 
gave a talk at the Sturgis Library in Barnstable on puffins. Thursday, I met with friends Mark and Fred and a reporter from the Boston Globe regarding our upcoming New England Military History Symposium on November 1, and on Friday morning, our birders traveled to the Cumberland Farm Fields in Hanson and East Bridgewater in 
search of sparrows (we got indigo buntings and pectoral sandpipers, and lots of them). On Saturday the 20th, my wife and I visited the beluga whales and Stellar's sea lions at Mystic Aquarium, and on Sunday I covered the Foundation for Coast Guard History's plaque dedication at Beavertail Lighthouse in Jamestown, Rhode Island, for a few magazines.
Monday, I stayed local. I started the day at our North Hill Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Duxbury, taking the first stab at our waterfowl fall migration survey (lots of Canada geese, but an equal number of wood ducks, and one pied-billed grebe). I then gave a talk on lighthouses at the Duxbury Senior Center, and then moved off to the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, where I walked out to find our Owl's Quest box. Back at the North River Wildlife Sanctuary, I walked out to find our Hannah Eames Quest materials, marveling at mushrooms, like the hen o' the woods pictured here, along the way.
Wednesday, it was back to Daniel Webster to help David Ludlow and Duxbury Conservation Agent and super volunteer Joe Grady pace off and mark the parking lot for our annual Farm Day event, and on Thursday, it was back to WATD to do a live in studio appearance with Rob Hakala and the morning news, again on Farm Day. That afternoon, I gave another talk, on the Ocean Act, at our Boston Nature Center in Mattapan.
Friday morning, with David Ludlow tied up in Farm Day duties, I led Friday Morning Birders alone. The coming rains kept most of our group at bay, but a few hardy souls trekked out with me to Ferry Hill thicket (ruby-throated hummingbird, Carolina wren and the fruit of the Aralia spinosa, or Devil's walkingstick, shown above) and Duxbury Beach. We spent the bulk of our time on the beach, finding mostly black-bellied plovers, dunlin and eventually a flock of approximately 400 sanderlings, but were nicely surprised by a young American golden plover, hunkered down against the wond and rain, right next to immatue black-bellies. We spotted a common loon on our return trip, but then, with an hour and a half to go, well, that's when the rains came. We finished birding by van, and retreated early to the North River sanctuary.
And the rain has never really stopped. We cancelled Saturday's Farm Day, much to our chagrin, and, as I said earlier, were the sun out now, I'd be heading to Woods Hole for a run out to Cuttyhunk Island. Ah well, it'll all pass. At least I hope so. There's still lots to do this fall, and I'd like to be outdoors to do most of it.
