Belle Isle

                                                              Tree Swallow

                                                            Savannah Sparrow

random yard birds

                                          Great Horned Owl at the Wing Island Banding station

Oystercatchers & Tree Swallows

So a number of Tree Swallows have moved into the boxes I put out at Belle Isle, very excited about this.

I stopped in to check on my favorite family of Oystercatchers after missing them the week prior. This time they were in their normal spot !

                                                     White- throated Sparrow

Mining adventures

Exploring some mining areas both locally and out of state. This location in  Newbury, was the first mine in Massachusetts. Now overgrown caves in conservation areas, we could only locate one section of the mine, we could not find the other area in the thick forest.

                                                     Caves blasted out of the rock face.

                                                          Casey excavating a mining hole

                                                       Kirkland looking for specimens 

                                                     Serpentine, one of the minerals found at the Devil's Den

 Casey and I took a short adventure to Maine. We mined an old Mica mine in the state forest.  This specimen contains; Garnet, Black Tourmaline,  Quartz and Smoky Quartz. Casey and I dug through some of the blast dumps ( areas dynamited when the mines were open) also we excavated areas some new locations. This area has large Quartz deposits, along with lots of Mica and various types of Tourmaline. 

                                  Matrix with a Black Tourmaline growing through it.