Bartholomews Cobble, 30 July 2013

Lisbeth and I borrowed Lizzie and Asger’s Mercedes and went for some hiking in the Appalachians in southern Massachusets. Our first stop was some hills at the Housatonic River: Bartholomews Cobble. The trail. It was a nice trail along the Housatonic River but with a lot of mosquitoes. The Housatonic River Cedar Waxwing, (Bombycilla cedrorum), Amerikansk silkehale at the Housatonic River Cedar Waxwing Cedar Waxwing The place at the Housatonic River where we made photos of the Cedar Waxwings The biggest three in the forest An American Green Frog, Hyla cinerea An impressive mushroom Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), Kalkungrib at Hulburt’s Hill Eastern Bluebird, (Sialia sialis) at Hulburt’s Hill Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) The ranger at the visiting centre had caught a Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). Timber Rattlesnakes has been identified as of 'Severe Concern' and the species is listed as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in 12 Northeast states. There was a project going on to investigate the life of Timber Rattlesnakes and this one had to be checked if it was tagged, and if not it had to get a chip inoperated, measured and weighted and some samples had to be taken for DNA analysis etc. Handling a Timber Rattlesnake is a tricky thing. The Timber Rattlesnake (a big female) was put into a plastic tube to facilitate the investigation. We had dinner in nearby Great Barrington – view from our outdoor table at Castle Street Café.