This nature log is brought to you by Harvard's Rob Gogan, with special thanks to campus Nature Watchers Adam Blanchette, Kate Chadbourne, Marge Fisher, Dave Harris, Horst Huber, Sonia Ketchian, Art Strauss and Bob Stymeist. For more on winter birding, visit MassBird.Young Great Blue Heron fishes for breakfast on the Charles by One Western Avenue.
Opossum shambles along a brick wall at the corner of Mill and Winthrop Streets just outside the MAC in a raw November rain.
Hermit Thrush forages on the grass in front of the HMNH, prolonging his migration because of average daily temperatures are 10 degrees above the seasonal average.
Flock of Starlings joined by a pair of Robins, feast on ripe red winterberries outside Shad Hall. More robins and purple finches dine on winterberries outside Dean's House.
Abundant Goldfinches in dull winter plumage busily dine on stalks of mullein growing on left bank of Charles beside Peabody Terrace.
Starling droppings paint Ware Street asphalt purplish red while their acoustic output makes human residents dizzy.
Robins bathe in the puddles on top of the Carpenter Center. Pipe-shaped spouts protruding from Carpenter get frequent visitors by Purple Finches.
Harvard-Yale game's two highest spectators, Red-Tailed Hawks, soar over tailgaters, then drift high above the Stadium... hawk also surveys 12,000 dancing Harvard-Yale undergrads at tailgate party from perch atop light tower near Stadium.
Male Cardinal flashes past the Constance Smith statue in Radcliffe Yard and a Bluejay passes high above him.
Another crimson Cardinal and a White-Throated Sparrow foraging side by side in front of Loeb House while a Robin hops nearby.
After the Thanksgiving deluge, House Sparrows enjoy abundant fresh drinking water puddles in the Yard.
Less happy House Sparrow snags feathers on pest-resistant anti-roosting spikes at Barker while a second Sparrow tries to tug the first one off the nails. After successful extrication, pair wheels off and under the portico and away into the evening.
Between Lamont and Loeb House, a Blue Jay shrieks from high in a tree and soon flies away across Quincy Street.
Cherry Trees bloom in the late November warmth in front of Harkness Commons.
by Rob Gogan, with special thanks to Campus Nature Watchers Adam Blanchette, Kate Chadbourne, Marge Fisher, Dave Harris, Horst Huber, Sonia Ketchian, Art Strauss and Bob Stymeist!
