Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary,Topsfield MA.

The Ipswich River rises from diminished streams in the overbuilt and clobbered suburbs of Burlington and Wilmington with gathered tribute from Reading and Lynnfield as it passes along the southern edge of North Reading flowing east before a few step-wise meanders through Middleton to Topsfield where the Massachusetts Audubon Society maintains a crown jewel sanctuary known to me since I was a toddler.


From there it heads northeast to meet the sea at Ipswich. 

The Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary was acquired by Mass Audubon in 1951 from Thomas Procter. It was first converted to property in the 1640s on behalf of Simon Bradstreet after being a popular spot for eons with the Agawam people who left clam midden traces along the river and a path to the hilltop. 


This drumlin is the epicenter of the place where cars are parked, fees covered and the farmhouse and outbuildings rest.

The drumlin slopes are draped with Mr. Procter's work with a carriage trail as the first concentric ring. He was inspired by the English garden approach with adaptations shaped by Frederick Law Olmsted.

The Drumlin trail covers the introductions and experiments of the day. Osange Oranges are among the surprises in the arboretum. 

The Rockery is the most prominent feature and took more than five years to build. It overlooks a pond and the top is one of the best observation spots in the sanctuary.

The outer ring runs to increasingly lighter human touches until the wetland river edge are as they have been since before the heavy euro hand fell on it all. The North and South Esker trails overlook a substantial riparian panorama.  

Post Procter innovations owe more to Aldo Leopold and Art Flick. A substantial density of wood duck boxes dot the ponds. Astonishing skill and insight have been applied over the decades to maximize the potential habitat capacity and an intricate tapestry of ecotones bedeck the acreage. 

This effort makes it one of the best places ever to find nearly every bird likely to roost or pass through the region across the annual run of months. There is never a bad time to be there from the bare tree minimal mists of November to the neotropical mass convergence in May.

Hand feeding Chickadees is favorite past time in the wintry season. Stand near a spot where field meets thicket with reasonably serene stillness, a hand outstretched and a small pile of sunflower seeds, preferably hulled, and you'll soon have a regular Paridae chow line going on.


The mammal contingent includes fox and eastern coyote, beaver, fairly tame deer, otter, and all the others generally found in the area. 




Deer at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary from Carl Thien on Vimeo.


And through it all, the river.

Bird Listening.

While bird watching enjoys widespread popularity, I've long supplemented it with bird listening. For one thing, tracking smaller birds in the Warbler and Finch families is a handful with binoculars. I realized before long that identifying and hearing their various calls and sounds greatly improves my ability to get binoculars focused at the right spot in the usually brief instance alloted to glimpse the thing before it moves.

Over the years, the listening has become its own activity and as my capacity for it hones, I've began to notice some interesting things that wouldn't be readily revealed by observation. 

The basic Robin goes silent exactly at Summer solstice. In fact the entire array of mating choruses winds down then, Mockingbirds, Cardinals, everything stops and there is this odd period of relative bird silence that runs through the first 6 weeks or so of summer, til some time in August where the main sound aspect consists of basic communications chirps, but little singing.

Then as summer winds down the sonic patterns begin to get more elaborate. It isn't like the run up to summer when singing is at its peak and the singers are all polished. It's a new tentative thing as if they are rehearsing.

And then I realized... of course.. it's this years run of fledglings figuring out how to do bird noise. And the silent period is when the stealth of hatching and feeding until the hatch figures out flight.

It's a fascinating mix of the basic song and various communication calls. It's taken me all these years to begin to understand the pattern. Of course, I probably could have looked it up but the discovery is more fun. Now as we hit mid October, I'm noticing the uptick in Woodpecker activity as the Winter cast begins to supplant the Summer crew. 

The latter is getting ready for migration to the tropics. The vivid feathers of the journey up in spring give way to the subdued hues of a stealthy return to complet the molt cycle. Warblers arrive grouped by species and return as a motley of individuals.

The November phase is the heart of sonic minimalism before the winter crew settles in. The 'pik' of the Downy Woodpecker indicates sunrise now.

And as the year increasingly chills toward winter, there are already residents of the Boreal and Arctic regions heading here, their wintering ground, until we may again find Snowy Owls making a tundra version of Logan runways and soaring over cedar swamp expanses of places like the Hockomock in search of scurrying prey. 

The added value of it all is how it sharpens a mainly half neglected and pummeled sense...hearing. We are just not fond of listening. We are a visual culture and seeing is believing, hearing is wondering. Consider the fast and profitable industry devoted to what are sonic firewalls to keep the world's random sounds at bay to intensify the inner and personal.

This listening habit is a useful way to take a break from the barricade.

Applesauce is Yankee Ambrosia.

This is the season of road trips to back waters for the years apple options to mark the season with applesauce.

Now here's what you do.. make yankee ambrosia..AKA applesauce.

There will be orchards out there with old apple varieties descended from some trees the colonials planted. They'll sell em in old wooden boxes that rock for vinyl lp storage. There will be cider too and it will harden if left in a back stairwell. Open by Halloween.

Take apples and cut in crude chunks in an old kettle with a small bit of water just covering the bottom to make steam.Keep the peels on, just get rid of the core.

Add local honey, maple syrup or a good sugar to taste.

Add cinnamon in stick form, mace and nutmeg for spices. Throw in some golden raisins as the steam plumps em back to grapiness.

Cook on low and cover until the whole pile reduces to the texture you like from somewhat chunky to semi fluid. Occasional stirs help. Smell fills the area. And it's improv cooking as you can vary all the things to suit. Each batch is it's own thing. It takes about half an hour max when the heat hits and the prep is family entertainment.