Squirrels and pine cones galore

Posted on September 2, 2009 by admin

It’s the time of year that squirrels and chipmunks love. Fruit, seeds and nuts are everywhere and free for the taking. Squirrels in particular love to peel the scales off pine cones to eat the tender seeds within. There’s a lot of discussion among Cape naturalists as to whether or not gray squirrels eat pine seeds. Some insist only red squirrels eat pine seeds and gray squirrels stick to acorns.

No one has told the multitude of gray squirrels in Hyannis about this thought. There are no red squirrels in my quasi urban neighborhood but lots of gray squirrels. I watch them strip pine cones daily, especially from the tall spruces out back. This is what remains…..

Snowy Egrets

Posted on August 31, 2009 by admin

Right now you can see snowy egrets in just about every marsh on the Cape. Often they will be feeding or standing together and may be young egrets from the same nest. They will not stay together forever but seem to benefit from being in the family group for a few more weeks. They will continue to feed almost continually until they are ready to migrate south sometime later this fall.

Snowy’s have dark legs and yellow feet. Young ones may have legs that look somewhat greenish or goldish and not as dark as those of adult egrets. They also have a black bill and stand about 2 feet tall. If you are seeing white herons the size of great blue herons they are most likely great egrets but check a good bird book for details since other herons, both immature and mature can be easily confused at this time of year.

Little Green Herons

Posted on August 29, 2009 by admin

Little green herons, commonly just called green herons these days are probably one of the most common birds to see around ponds and marshes and yet they get overlooked and misidentified on a regular basis. At this time of year it is not uncommon to see 4 or 5 of them at a time as young birds have left their nests and are feeding near the areas they were brought up in. Soon they will become more solitary and many will migrate though some will stay quite late into the fall. These birds stand about a foot high and are most commonly mixed up with bitterns, which are much more secretive. The other bird in these pictures is a greater yellowlegs. More on them in the next few days.

Spider Crabs!

Posted on August 28, 2009 by admin

Spider crabs are very common on the Cape. They are pretty docile compared to other crabs and are not predators so their claws aren’t very big. Don’t be fooled, they can still give a pinch if they are annoyed or threatened but mostly they mind their own business.

Also called decorator crabs these ground crawling crabs of

ten cover themselves with mud and seaweed to help them camouflage better. They are scavengers though they also eat bits and pieces of seaweed and probably small critters that get caught up in the mix.

Other than the harmless and fun hermit crabs kids lov

e to catch spider crabs are probably the easiest crabs for

children to handle.

More Ocean Fun with Kids

Posted on August 24, 2009 by admin

Some of my favorite tools for working with kids exploring nature are these little magnifiers. They are very inexpensive, easy to handle and kids love them. I first discovered them working at a local nature center. They can be ordered at places like Acorn Naturalist and at some museum gift shops. I also like white dishpans, plastic trays and little plastic carrying cases with tops.

My very favorite thing is this little aquarium. They are very small and narrow and kids can see into them very easily and can handle them easily too.

They are great when you’re looking at small fish, crabs, etc. They are also great for fresh water exploration, looking at caterpillars, etc.

This squid kept everyone busy for awhile as they checked out its various parts. Did you know that a squid is a mollusk, not a fish?

Something’s Fishy Around Here

Posted on August 21, 2009 by admin

Some of the fish we have been finding on our marine cruises

Scup are quite common in our area right now. Also called porgies.

Commonly called sand sharks these little guys are really smooth dogfish. These are very young ones and are all over Hyannis Harbor and Lewis Bay right now.

This big handsome guy is a toadfish, caught in a fish trap off the Hyannisport Jetty.Also caught right off the Hyannisport Jetty was this sea robin. Sea robins are another very common fish in our area but are still a lot of fun for kids to catch and watch.

All fish were captured and released safely, by the way.

Cape Cod Marine Life can be squishy fun

Posted on August 19, 2009 by admin

Drag a net through the water and you never know what you might find….This little clump is actually a clump of squid eggs. Female squid lay their eggs in long “candles” which are attached to something on the ocean floor such as a rock, shell or seaweed. Other female squid may add their own candles and each clump may actually have eggs from many different squid. When you find these on the beach or in tide pools they look sort of pinkish and feel squishy like jellyfish. They can be quite a bit larger than the one shown here.

(I know I have some marine and squid experts out there so please feel free to correct me or add whatever you’d like in the comment section!)

Summer Days….

Posted on August 14, 2009 by admin

Have left me busy enough to not be blogging and I have a lot to catch up on. Here are some photos from some recent trips I’ve done with families to do some nature journaling and exploring.

Water lilies always make great subjects.This young lady is exploring all sorts of marine goodies we dragged up in a net.A frog had left the pond and was hanging out under the bushes in the shade so this artist got right down on the ground to draw it.Can you see the frog?

Nauset Marsh Art and Nature Boat Trip

Posted on July 15, 2009 by admin

I did this trip through Wellfleet Audubon and several more are scheduled throughout the summer. It was the first time we combined the art with the nature part of this trip on the Queen of Orleans and everyone loved it. Of course it didn’t hurt that it was a perfect summer day.

These young people are keeping watch over the flooding marsh.We always pull up an eel pot but usually we just find lots of crabs. This time we also got a really big eel! Don’t worry, everyone was released safely and alive.This is Captain Dave Bessom of the Queen of Orleans. An old Cape Codder by birth and inclination he’ll tell you all sorts of wonderful stories. He’ll pull your leg a bit, too.These young men are busy putting finishing touches on their crab pictures.

We got out and walked on the end of Coast Guard Beach and looked for more things to draw. Everyone was asked to find something that crawls, something that flies, something that attaches, something that buries and something else of their choice.

It was an awesome day and the families all seemed to have a really great day.

Painting in Chatham

Posted on July 11, 2009 by admin

Part of what I do is teach watercolor painting and this week, after being rained out for about 4 weeks, we finally got a class out and painting in Chatham! The skies were spectacular and made for a challenging day of sketching and painting.

Some pretty idyllic moments for painting……

We saw quite a few seals swimming around and of course all the fishing boats reminded us of the ways people have traditionally survived and made their livings here for hundreds of years.