Maple Sugaring

When daytime temperatures rise above freezing and nighttime temperatures drop below freezing it's time to tap the maple trees, collect the sap and boil it down to make maple syrup. In Connecticut this age-old ritual begins anywhere from mid- to late February, and continues throughout March.

This year we tapped three trees, using two spyles per tree. The spyle is the industry name for the piece of hardware that fits into the tree, forming a spout for the dripping sap. In one tree we had two traditional spyles - these were gushers on the first day, but then yielded very little. They didn't fit tightly into the holes that we drilled, so a lot of sap ran down the trunk - attracting a cloud of moths.



Another tree had two fairly new spyles, which are made to be fitted with flexible tubing - I bought a few feet of latex tubing from the hardware store, and this seemed to work really well.


Max emptying the collecting container into the cooking pot.


Sebastian checking one of our makeshift buckets.


Ready to bring the sap up to the kitchen to boil.


The big black pot was half full of sap, and boiled down to less than an inch of syrup.

Short video clip below.

How do you know when the syrup is ready? It's not the color, or the time, it's the viscosity - which, in the industry is measured with a special tool, but in our kitchen is measured by watching the syrup boil. When fine bubbles rise to the top of the pan, lift the pot away from the heat to let the bubbles reduce, then return to the heat and let the bubbles rise again. Now your syrup is ready.


Pour the hot syrup into a clean jar, this batch made about 12 ounces. The ratio of sap to syrup is about 40:1 - no wonder it's so expensive at the grocery store. A lot of energy - in our kitchen, in the form of propane - goes into the boiling-down.


The season's yield as of Sunday March 7th.


Another photo of some very happy moths. A quick web search shows that these guys probably belong to family Noctuidae: Eupsilia vinulenta, the Straight-toothed Sallow, if I might venture a guess.

Sherwood Forest

Saturday Sebastian and I packed a picnic lunch while Jorge collected Max from a sleepover at Matt's house.  When they returned home, Jorge collected birding equipment while the boys and I emptied the sap buckets and filled the bird feeders.

Snowy scene along I-84 in northeastern Connecticut

At 10:31am, with the van's mileage at 33986, we were on I-84 headed to Sherwood Island in Westport.  Sebastian kept a list and tally of birds seen for the day.

Can we count the fuzzy duckling?

As usual, the bird list begins with crows, followed in short order by pigeons and our most common roadside hawk.

Sebastian's bird list, page 1

Passing through New Haven we saw a small kettle of large birds, vultures by the look, but you know when something isn't quite right...  as we neared the group, we identified one Black Vulture amongst the Turkey Vultures!  After an hour on the road, we took a short break at Long Wharf along New Haven Harbor, where we added many waterbirds to our list.

Exploring the shoreline along the harbor

Canada Goose, Branta canadensis

Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, sunning, preening and drying out

Brant, Branta bernicla, winging along the shore

The same six Brant landing in front of a group of Mute Swans, Cygnus olor

Page two of Sebastian's bird list

Back on the road, we ate our sandwiches and anticipated the birds we were hoping to find at Sherwood Island State Park.  Topping the list was a Saw Whet Owl, seen there in recent weeks.

Sherwood Forest

Just inside the entrance to the park on the right side of the road is a spruce plantation.  While Jorge and I searched for the little owl, the boys played in the fresh snow in "Sherwood Forest".  The sun was bright, the sky was blue and the sounds of dripping snow were audible.

 Snow on spruce branches

After searching the little forest, we walked over to the coast to see what was there.  A flock of Ruddy Turnstones and several gulls were actively feeding along the rocky shore.  Most of the ducks were pretty far out, necessitating digiscoping efforts.  There were more than a dozen Common Loons way out in the sound, about the same numbers of Horned Grebes, and big rafts of probably Greater Scaup - too far out to identify with certainty.

Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, with Slipper Shell, Crepidula fornicata

Flock of Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres

The same flock of over thirty birds well concealed against their Rockweed-covered perch.

Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres, showing striking dorsal pattern in flight

Sue scoping Long Island Sound for distant waterfowl

Max's sea treasures, a Green Sea Urchin and a fish skull bone

Leaving the park around 3:15 pm, we stopped at Sherwood Forest again, so Jorge could take just one more look around for the Saw Whet Owl.  Half an hour later he returned with news that the Great Horned Owls were calling.  A pair is known to have a nest here (which we never found) but as we listened, we heard two distinct voices calling -- who  who-ooo  whoo  whoo.

Sebastian and I saw one of the owls fly from the top of a tall pine, and very shortly after that, the Blue Jays found it, so we were able to relocate it quickly.  Jorge's photo below gives just a hint of how well a large bird can hide in a tree-top.

Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus in Norway Spruce

Great Horned Owl, same image, zoomed-in

Great Horned Owl

Page three of Sebastian's bird list - he had made the drawing earlier in the day, before we saw the owl, and ws excited that as the list continued, the first species for this page was the Great Horned Owl.

Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, looks surprised at having been discovered.

Red-tail leaving the scene, flying off over the "Mill Pond" at Sherwood Island.

At 4:30 pm we left the park, headed for home, but with a few more stops along the way.  We had often read about bird sightings at the Birdseye Street boat launch on the Housatonic River in Stratford.  The location was not difficult to find, and we indeed saw a species that has been hanging around there all winter, the American Coot.

American Coot, Fulica americana, dabbling close to the boat launch, another individual joined these two for a total of three.

Seen on a harbor-front side-street in Stratford, we wondered at this Crazy House.

At a nearby stop right beside the Route One bridge over the Housatonic, we had a few Lesser Scaup.

Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis

Sebastian watching the Lesser Scaup

The last page of the day's bird list.

Final stop of the day was Silver Sands State Park, birding in the last light of a now cloudy, cold afternoon.  The local herd of White-tailed Deer greeted us just inside the park entrance - someone had tossed out pieces of bread, so they were hanging out right near the road.

Young White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus

Dusk at the beach, with Charles Island barely connected by the causeway at low tide.

Boardwalk, Silver Sands S.P.

A pair of Mallards, Anas platyrhynchos, caught in the last light of the day

Today's birders:  Sebastian, Maximiliano, Jorge and Sue

Today's birds, straight from Seba's list, with latin added for the blog

1. Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos

2. Rock doves, Columba livia

3. Blackbird... (species never identified)

4. Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

5. Starling, Sturnus vulgaris

6. G.B.B. Gull, Larus marinus

7. H. Gull, Larus argentatus

8. Turkey vulture, Cathartes aura

9. R.B. Gull, Larus delawarensis

10. Gull (species unidentified), Larus

11. Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus

12. Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos

13. Swans, Cygnus olor

14. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis

15. R-t Loon, Gavia stellata

16. H. Grebe, Podiceps auritus

17. Cormorant (species unidentified), Phalacrocorax

18. Brant, Branta bernicla

19. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos

20. Black Duck, Anas rubripes

21. Gadwall, Anas strepera

22. Greater Scaup, Aythya marila

23. L-t Duck, Clangula hyemalis

24. Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola

25. R-b Merg, Mergus serrator

26. Ruddy Duck, Oxyura jamaicensis

27. Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus

28. Junco, Junco hyemalis

29. W-t Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis

30. Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis

31. Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata

32. W b Nut, Sitta carolinensis

33. Robin, Turdus migratorius

34. Gold-eye, Bucephala clangula

35. Common Loon, Gavia immer

36. Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres

37. Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus

38. H Merg, Lophodytes cucullatus

39. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura

40. American Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis

41. Coot, Fulica americana

42. L. Scaup, Aythya affinis

43. Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia

There were three new species for Jorge's 2010 Connecticut list, bringing the year total to 84 species:

Black Vulture

Long-tailed Duck

American Coot

Not to forget...

Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, Mansfield, February 17th

Feb 17th, Wednesday's red-tailed hawk - Sebastian narrating

On our way home from school this afternoon, I saw a big bird in a tree and then Max saw it too.  Papa slowed the car and turned around and we went back to try to find it again. Papa said it was a Red-tailed Hawk, we stopped and watched it awhile, took some photos and then it flew away.
Feb 18th, Thursday's birds at Stearn's Farm - Sue and Jorge

lone tree, wild sky, Stearns Farm, Mansfield

Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo

Canada Goose flock

The first three birds of our Thursday-after-work outing were our three introduced species:  European Starling, Rock Pigeon and House Sparrow.  At Stearns Farm itself a large flock of Wild Turkey was moving through a field at the edge of of the woods and several species of sparrow were taking cover in newly stacked piles of brush. The local flock of Canada Geese flew overhead, bunching and separating, never quite getting organized into a Vee formation. A Turkey Vulture soared over another field, and a Northern Mockingbird skulked in roadside brambles. All-in-all a very quiet afternoon.

Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia, in late day sun on brush pile

Rock Pigeon, Columba livia

European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris

House Sparrow, Passer domesticus

Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo

Tree Sparrow, Spizella arboreaFive

Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia
White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis
Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos

Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura

20th, Saturday afternoon walk to the Willimantic River - Jorge narrating

The first birds of my walk were a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, circling together over the cornfield, chasing each other as they spiralled upwards. They then broke off and flew south beyond Roaring Brook and disappeared. Heading down to the Willimantic River, I heard the Belted Kingfisher calling, but never saw it. Five Mallards swam in the little cove north of the old bridge foundation and a few Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmice came to pishing. Another quiet winter afternoon walk, with very few species, but good to know the Kingfisher is around again.

Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis
Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle halcyon
Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos
Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus
Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor

Weekend Owling

Late Saturday afternoon we went on an Owl Prowl at Connecticut Audubon's Trail Wood Sanctuary in Hampton. Lead by Sanctuary Manager, Andy Rzeznikiewicz, we were a parade of fourteen vehicles and almost fifty people, calling, listening and watching for owls. All of our stops were within nearby Goodwin State Forest, with the final "save the best for last" stop near Black Spruce Pond off Estabrook Road, at the northern limit of the DEP property.

With Max and Sebastian, Jorge and I strained our ears in vain to hear any owl returning the call of Andy's really loud playback device. He used a FoxPro game caller which had incredible volume - you could hear the sound echoing back across Pine Acres Pond. The link for FoxPro may not be the exact model he used, but something similar.

Fifty people stood quietly listening for more than an hour and a half - young and old, experienced and novice, and maybe we heard a few Flying Squirrel squeaks, but not a peep from the owls! The night air was cold and fresh, but not bitterly so. The stars were brilliant in a mostly clear sky with the waxing half moon bright enough to cast clear shadows. We saw Mars and Jupiter hanging out up there with Orion and the Pleiades.

So that was Saturday night.

Sunday after work, Jorge and I explored a section of trail in one of Connecticut's many state forests - practically in our back yard, and we'd never set foot in it before.

Trail marker for Connecticut's wonderful Blue Trail System - here on a young White Pine on the Shenipsit Trail.

Snow-covered Avery Road, Stafford

The northernmost section of the Shenipsit State Forest is in Stafford, about twelve miles away. Heading into the woods after four pm we chose a one-kilometer walk, returning after sunset by snow-covered dirt road.

Squirrels obviously used this as a picnic table for dining on pine seeds.  Under a cluster of small Hemlock trees were this and several other deep piles of White Pine cone scales.

The late day light in the treetops and late winter smells of melting-around-the-edges gave a wonderful sense of - spring is just around the corner. Inspired by the previous evening spent calling owls, we brought along our iPod and mini speaker to try our luck. Learning from Andy's example, we tried the smaller owls first, Screech and Saw Whet, then the Barred and finally Great Horned.

Last sun of the day in a patch of forest where we stopped to call owls

Several times along the trail, we stopped in piney woods and called, with only a local dog responding. Then we heard a brief raspy cough and turned in the direction of the sound. Within moments Jorge was saying - there it is, it's there. Here take the video camera, turn it on, get ready - and through all of this I still wasn't sure where it was, or even what it was.

Barred Owl, Strix varia varia, Shenipsit State Forest, Stafford, Connecticut

Finally I got my binoculars on a big old Barred Owl, quietly watching our antics from its perch right up against the trunk of a White Pine. Blinking at us through half-opened eyes, it just kept watch, occasionally turning its head to follow some other sound or movement. As Jorge approached closer, crunching through icy snow, the owl turned quickly and flew off into the forest.

 

 

 Barred Owl in Shenipsit Forest

Northern terminus of Connecticut's Shenipsit Trail. I don't think I've ever seen a trail mark like this one.

Half moon high over sun-tipped White Pines and birches

Half-moon and sunlight on tips of birch branches - admirable handheld photo for my little Nikon Coolpix 7600 at the furthest range of its optical zoom.

The Barred Owl brings Jorge's Connecticut 2010 list to 81 species.

If you've noticed the bird list in the right sidebar, the numbers are much higher.  That list reflects all birds mentioned in this blog, so it goes back to the fall of 2009, and takes us to other states as well.  It also covers birds that I may have seen while he was away.  Yeah, it's a lot of lists to keep track of!