Adventures at Coggshall
I posted before about our little nature preserve down the road. But now I have some pictures. We have continued to be amazed at the pace of discovery. We are still averaging a new species every trip, which is impressive because we are approaching our 40th visit. The Audubon Guide to New England has helped considerably, allowing us to identify all kinds of things that we just lumped together (like dragonflies, which are super cool).
Here is the park on Google Earth:
View Larger Map
It is a little green emerald in and amongst houses. It was build (or added to by man) in the 1930s as part of FDR's WPA. There are commemorative benches everywhere, and there is a playground for kids with working, kid-powered linkage cranes that could be original to the park.
Here is a picture of Isaac and I equipped for the walk:
It is a little sunny in patches and a little rocky in others, so Isaac wears a burp cloth to keep the sun off him and I use my walking stick for balance. Don't want to trip with the little guy up front.
Mirror Lake is probably about 1/3 of mile around and we do at least three trips. Along the way there are some landmarks that seem to be favorite resting places of creatures. There is a rock that sticks out of the water a bit that turtles love. There is a fallen tree that both turtles and waterfowl like. And then there is the murky swampy part that Bianca and I have dubbed "Turtle Cove" that is home to dozens or so reptiles and amphibians (turtles and frogs). There is a very large Snapping Turtle (we call him Mr. Snapper) there as well. Here is Bianca, Isaac, and I doing some turtle spotting at Turtle Cove:
Here are some of our turtle friends (all Painted Turtles in these pictures):
and this one is posing (note the outstretched hind legs):
Yesterday we were tipped off by our friend, an elderly gentleman who goes to Coggshall everyday with a $4,000 Canon camera to get nature shots that something VERY rare was visible, a Northern Water Snake. Here is a shot:
He was big sucker, probably three feet long and considerably thicker than a garden hose. He is not poisonous though and a really good hider, so the photo is not perfect. You can see his curved body in the upper middle part of the picture. He has rings on his body.
Finally, here is a shot of the algae, which is cool looking, but horribly stinky:
Hopefully, all of this will start a love affair between Isaac and Nature. We love our hikes with our buddy and are hoping to hike Mount Waschusett with him before winter (he needs to have head control first). If all goes according to plan, we are going to the BIG LEAGUES today: Walden Pond.
Here is the park on Google Earth:
View Larger Map
It is a little green emerald in and amongst houses. It was build (or added to by man) in the 1930s as part of FDR's WPA. There are commemorative benches everywhere, and there is a playground for kids with working, kid-powered linkage cranes that could be original to the park.
Here is a picture of Isaac and I equipped for the walk:
It is a little sunny in patches and a little rocky in others, so Isaac wears a burp cloth to keep the sun off him and I use my walking stick for balance. Don't want to trip with the little guy up front.
Mirror Lake is probably about 1/3 of mile around and we do at least three trips. Along the way there are some landmarks that seem to be favorite resting places of creatures. There is a rock that sticks out of the water a bit that turtles love. There is a fallen tree that both turtles and waterfowl like. And then there is the murky swampy part that Bianca and I have dubbed "Turtle Cove" that is home to dozens or so reptiles and amphibians (turtles and frogs). There is a very large Snapping Turtle (we call him Mr. Snapper) there as well. Here is Bianca, Isaac, and I doing some turtle spotting at Turtle Cove:
Here are some of our turtle friends (all Painted Turtles in these pictures):
and this one is posing (note the outstretched hind legs):
Yesterday we were tipped off by our friend, an elderly gentleman who goes to Coggshall everyday with a $4,000 Canon camera to get nature shots that something VERY rare was visible, a Northern Water Snake. Here is a shot:
He was big sucker, probably three feet long and considerably thicker than a garden hose. He is not poisonous though and a really good hider, so the photo is not perfect. You can see his curved body in the upper middle part of the picture. He has rings on his body.
Finally, here is a shot of the algae, which is cool looking, but horribly stinky:
Hopefully, all of this will start a love affair between Isaac and Nature. We love our hikes with our buddy and are hoping to hike Mount Waschusett with him before winter (he needs to have head control first). If all goes according to plan, we are going to the BIG LEAGUES today: Walden Pond.