Great Spangled Fritillaries, Egret & Blue Herons

Burrage Pond used to be a cranberry bog that was turned into a wildlife management area by Massachusetts. It is a good place to see birds like Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Red-Winged Blackbirds, and Great Blue Herons, which are almost always present. On Tuesday I was able to stop by in the morning, and I explored more of the area than I have before, which is deceptively large. I encountered my first Brown Thrashers of the year, which is long overdue, and also saw my first Belted Kingfisher.

I think these are empty Common Snapping Turtle eggs

I counted 19 Tree Swallows perched on telephone wires, in addition to 5+ flying around in the area. I think that most if not all the ones perched on the telephone wires were juveniles because most stayed perched for the 5 minutes or so that I was watching, and a few adults brought food to some of them.

View of Burrage Pond

View of one of the 2 lakes

I always see Great Blue Herons here, and this day I saw at least 4, and possibly as many as 6, including one that was struggling to eat a fairly large fish. I was somewhat surprised to find a Great Egret in one of the former irrigation channels, and I flushed him/her 3 times causing him to fly further down the channel. Didn't have much of a choice, only one path on that side.

Great Egret flying away from me

Great Egret

There were only a few dragonflies today, which was a little surprising, but most of them were ones that never land, so no photos of them.

Eastern Pondhawk on turtle eggs

Widow Skimmer female

As I was heading towards the exit to leave, I saw a huge orange butterfly, which then perched on these purple flowers to sip nectar. I then saw another, and another, and another. 6 of them. I knew just by their shear sized (clearly bigger than a Monarch or Viceroy, possibly as big as a Swallowtail) that they must have been Great Spangled Fritillaries. They certainly lived up to their name, they're huge! When I got home I confirmed that they are indeed Great Spangled and not Atlantis or Aphrodite Fritillaries.

3 Great Spangled Fritillaries

Great Spangled Fritillary

Great Spangled Fritillary

Burrage Pond solidified itself as a great place to visit in the summer, not just in the fall. I'll certainly be posting more pictures from there in the near future.