Wildlife Insights

The Hatchery

by Steve Pucci

In 1997 the Massachusetts State Legislature banned the use of leghold traps for beavers within the state. Also banned were trapping the animals and moving them to another location. Having lived in this area for 45 years, I have noticed pretty dramatic changes to the countryside.

I have frequently walked and ridden a bike through a large wooded State Reservation located in Georgetown, Groveland, and Newbury - Crane Pond Wildlife Management Area. The area runs along the Parker River, a large river that ultimately drains into Plum Island Sound in Newbury. Large and complex, the reservation runs over 2,500 acres, and is available for hunting in season as well as fishing. The Parker River is accessible by canoe throughout this area.

First moving to Georgetown in 1980, I was in these woods frequently. Most of the old dirt roads were easily passable. The old Stagecoach Road from Haverhill to Newbury was dry and clear, and still marked by the old town line granite posts from the 1800s. Gradually as time passed and the beavers began to proliferate, these roads began to flood. At first, just wet sometimes after rain or in spring, then water got deeper and deeper until many parts were covered with four to five feet of water. There are now large ponds where there were woodlands. The woodlands are just the skeletons of drowned trees scattered through the new ponds. Beavers have proliferated and have dramatically changed the landscape for their own use. Large dams can be found all around the area and beaver lodges can be seen in many locales.

One section in particular has been of interest to me. On the old Stagecoach Road a large section is completely flooded and impossible to traverse, with water probably four feet deep. It has become a fantastic habitat for birds and other wildlife. Great Blue Herons hatch their young in nests at the top of old dead trees, frogs make raucous music there, and other birds such as osprey, egret, red winged blackbirds, turkey vultures, and bald eagles are frequently seen. We have the beavers to thank for this habitat. They are brilliant and tireless engineers. I have a new appreciation for their efforts: https://www.wnewbury.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif1436/f/uploads/cranepond_trailmap_2014_1_0.pdf

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A Murder of Crows

by Cherry Underwood

Many people get a kick out of learning that a group of crows is a murder of crows. These English language collective names have been around for centuries. So what are some of the group names of birds we commonly see in this area? Each bird group typically has several collective names. Below is a partial list of bird groups and some of their collective names. 

Blackbirds – cloud, cluster, merl

Ducks – brace, flush, paddling, raft, team

Eagles – aerie, convocation, jubilee, tower

Egrets – congregation, RSVP, wedge

Gulls – flotilla, screech, squabble 

Hawks – boil, knot, spiraling, stream

Herons – rookery, battery, hedge

Osprey – duet

Owls – parliament, wisdom, bazaar, glaring 

Plovers – brace, congregation, ponderance, wing 

Sandpipers – bind, contradiction, fling, hill, time-step

Sparrows – crew, flutter, quarrel, ubiquity

Terns – committee (common terns), straightness (least terns)

Warblers – bouquet, confusion, fall

While it is fun to know some of these collective names, it is quite alright to say a “bunch of birds flew over.” What thrills us is seeing numbers of birds regardless of what they’re called.

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This educational column first appeared in The Daily News of Newburyport on August 23, 2024.