Nature's Notebook 10-4


write in praise of weedy fields. The unkempt edges of roadsides attract my attention. Vistas of overgrown meadows dense with thorny shrubbery make me stop and stare.

These things, which are the bane of gardeners and often reviled as bastions of invasive species such as European honeysuckle and Russian olive (which they are), interest me both for their subtle palette of colors in the fall and also because they harbor many birds, particularly during the fall and winter seasons.

There is a place I pass every day on my commute to work, just over the border between Sharon and Millerton, where


sparrowsand mourning doves flush from these fields and edges in flocks of dozens and dozens. The flocks are probably made up of our common species — chippingand song sparrows— but I wonder as I drive by if there may be some less common types among them, such as field sparrows, or even a rare vesper, Lincoln’s, or clay-colored sparrow.

 

(Note to self: Pull over and scan flocks with binoculars!)

Most of these sparrows are migrating south from now through mid-October, and weedy fields are where they take cover and find seeds to fatten up on as they head on their way. Expanses of fields are also excellent places to find

eastern bluebirds, northern harriers (a hawk), and American kestrels(our smallest falcon). Shrubbier areas are preferred by brown thrashers, while dense, low-lying brush is where an occasionalring-necked pheasantcan be found.

 

So let’s hear a cheer for weedy fields!


Notes here and there:


Allison Sok of Lakeville reported an encounter with a perched northern goshawk.

 

"It was a magnificent hawk and really awe-inspiring to see so close," she wrote. And for good reason — the northern goshawk is the largest of our three species of accipiters, or "true hawks" (the others are the


sharp-shinnedand Cooper’s hawks).

 

Even as the steady stream of southbound

monarch butterflieswas diminishing by late September, they were surpassed by a torrent of another migratory species, the cloudless sulfur. This beautiful butterfly is smaller than a monarch and a bright orange-yellow this time of year.

 


 

Fred Baumgarten is a naturalist and writer. He can be reached at fredb58@sbcglobal.net. His blog is at thatbirdblog.blogspot.com. 


 


 

Latest News

North Canaan dedicates park to Bunny McGuire

Bunny McGuire, at center holding the big scissors, surrounded by her family as she cuts the ribbon to the park that now bears her name in North Canaan on Saturday, June 7.

Photo by Riley Klein

NORTH CANAAN — The park on Main Street in North Canaan was officially renamed Bunny McGuire Park at a ceremony beneath the pavilion Saturday, June 7.

Clementine “Bunny” McGuire was recognized for her lifelong commitment to volunteerism in town. Her civil contributions include work with the Beautification Committee, the Douglas Library, the historical society, a poll worker, an employee of North Canaan Elementary and Housatonic Valley Regional High Schools and a volunteer at her church.

Keep ReadingShow less
Angela Derrico Carabine

SHARON — Angela Derrick Carabine, 74, died May 16, 2025, at Vassar Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York. She was the wife of Michael Carabine and mother of Caitlin Carabine McLean.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated on June 6 at 11:00 a.m. at Saint Katri (St Bernards Church) Church. Burial will follow at St. Bernards Cemetery. A complete obituary can be found on the website of the Kenny Funeral home kennyfuneralhomes.com.

Revisiting ‘The Killing Fields’ with Sam Waterston

Sam Waterston

Jennifer Almquist

On June 7 at 3 p.m., the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington will host a benefit screening of “The Killing Fields,” Roland Joffé’s 1984 drama about the Khmer Rouge and the two journalists, Cambodian Dith Pran and New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg, whose story carried the weight of a nation’s tragedy.

The film, which earned three Academy Awards and seven nominations — including one for Best Actor for Sam Waterston — will be followed by a rare conversation between Waterston and his longtime collaborator and acclaimed television and theater director Matthew Penn.

Keep ReadingShow less