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Soheil Zendeh's October 1, 2006 Belle Isle Report
2006.10.01
Belle Isle Marsh
7:30 - 10:30 am (dst)
Dave Cowell, Soheil Zendeh
High tide: 2 pm
Sky: cloudy, drizzle
Temperature: 65° (18°C)
Wind: e 5 - 10 mph (8 - 16 kph)
Visibility: poor
Bird species: 19
Notes:
This was a rainy, drizzly day. The Friends of Belle Isle Marsh fall festival
was scheduled for this day, but was rained out once the real rain arrived by
noon.
Fortunately, on Saturday, for the 20th anniversary celebration of the
opening of Belle Isle Park and Reservation, we had perfect fall weather. The
reenactment of the opening was also perfect with most of the old-time
players present again: Mike Dukakis (former governor), Kitty Dukakis, Bill
Geary (former MDC commissioner), Kermit Norris (first president of Friends
of Belle Isle Marsh), Edie DeAngelis (East Boston activist and old time
Belle Isle partisan), Gail Miller, Barbara Bishop, Suzanne Ryan, Mary
Mitchell, John Kilmartin, Conal Foley, Herb and Isabelle Guttell, Harold
Reinstein, Eleanor Casey, Ellen Koretz, Esther Fich, George Cumming, Lorene
Melvin, Craig Jackson, and Soheil Zendeh. (I'm sorry if I've forgotten some
other old-timers who were also there.)
Mike Dukakis gave a rousing political speech, asking the crowd to pitch in
for the next election to make sure the parks and the environment start
getting a better shake than they have under 16 years of Republican
administrations.
On Saturday, the Park was jammed with Monarch butterflies. They were
everywhere, on the goldenrod, in the marsh grasses, on Phragmites, flying
high and low. They were there in the thousands. When we arrived on Sunday
morning, I wondered what the situation with Monarchs might be on a rainy
day.
Dave pointed to the outer branches of a locust tree and told me to look at
it through binoculars. What looked like green leaves intermixed with brown
ones immediately resolved into dozens and hundreds of Monarchs roosting
among the locust's green leaves.
I'm attaching a couple of Monarch photos and some pix of the rededication.
American Black Duck 3
Mallard 12
Green-winged Teal 4
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Egret 13
Snowy Egret 15
Greater Yellowlegs 9
Lesser Yellowlegs 4
Semipalmated Sandpiper 3
Stilt Sandpiper 1
Herring Gull 4
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
American Crow 12
Tree Swallow 152
American Robin 15
Gray Catbird 2
European Starling 400
Song Sparrow 4
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