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Thousands of Crows, One River
Every winter night, thousands of crows fly to the river in Lawrence to sleep, and scientists think it's for safety in numbers.
What’s happening outside around Sudbury, MA today
58° / 40°SunnySunset 4:39 PM
Sunny and calm all day; with the clocks back, full dark comes at 6:14 tonight.
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Right outside
Full dark arrives at 6:14 tonight, and the Pleiades star cluster is up in the east by dinner
The clocks went back overnight, so sunset is 4:39 and the sky is fully dark at 6:14, with no Moon in the evening sky. Look low in the east-northeast for a small misty smudge of stars: the Pleiades, back in the evening sky.
Happening unseen
Honey bees spend the winter awake, packed into one warm ball inside the hive
A honey bee colony never hibernates. As the hive cools toward 57 degrees the bees pack into a ball and vibrate their flight muscles for heat, burning stored honey as fuel, warmest in the middle, and keep it up until spring.
Look closer
Meadow voles have clipped inch-wide hallways under the matted grass where the mowing stops
Kneel at the edge of the lawn, part the dead grass down to the soil, and the trails are right there: inch-wide paths clipped by an animal the size of your thumb, walked over and over in the cold months, linking small round burrow doors.
Look closer
Fox sparrows, big rusty sparrows passing through this week, kick the leaf litter with both feet at once
A fox sparrow hops forward, then scratches backward with both feet together, flinging leaves like a tiny chicken. Audubon puts the peak of their passage in early November, and it is brief, though a few linger into the cold.
Look up
Red Mars and bright Jupiter line up low in the southeast before dawn tomorrow, a few degrees apart
Monday before sunrise, look southeast: a half-lit Moon about a degree from reddish Mars, with brilliant Jupiter a few degrees along, all three in Leo. The Moon is closest to Mars at 9:24am, in daylight, so dawn is the view.
This Week, 5 cards
Go see
Monday and Tuesday near 68 and sunny: the last turtle-basking afternoons before painted turtles go to the bottom for months
The forecast says Monday and Tuesday reach about 68 under sun, the afternoons that put painted turtles on half-sunk logs, sometimes stacked. When the cold settles in they go to the bottom mud and can go months without a breath.
Go see
Hooded merganser drakes are raising white fan crests on quiet ponds as November pairing begins
A hooded merganser is a small diving duck, and the drake carries a white-and-black crest he can snap open like a fan. Courting starts in November on tree-lined ponds and slow water, and the birds stay until ice pushes them off.
Look closer
White-footed mice are roofing over old bird nests and moving families into empty birdhouses for winter
Once the leaves are down, look into a bare hedge for a cup nest with a domed top of grass and leaves. A white-footed mouse built that roof, and a family will sleep there, or in a stuffed birdhouse, all winter with seeds stored close by.
Look closer
Winterberry, a holly that drops its leaves, is turning the wet thickets red: bare grey twigs and nothing but fruit
Winterberry is a holly that sheds its leaves, so by this week the berries stand naked on grey twigs along swamp edges and pond margins, red from a distance. Only the female plants fruit, and over 48 kinds of birds will eat them.
Go see
What is still alive in a November meadow: a family net-and-hike afternoon at Habitat in Belmont, Sunday Nov 8
A week into November the meadow looks finished. Habitat's Sunday Saunter hike for families ages 4 to 14 sweeps nets through the meadow for the insects and small creatures still there, then heads into the forest, Sunday November 8 at 1pm.
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Go see
Diving ducks and coots on the open water of Horn Pond in Woburn: a Drumlin Farm bird walk, Sunday November 15
Horn Pond stays open while smaller ponds freeze, and mid-November brings diving ducks, coots, and eagles to it. Drumlin Farm runs a morning bird walk there Sunday November 15, 8 to 11, with registration.
Go see
Saturn's rings through a 12-inch telescope in Natick, free with an RSVP, Saturday November 21
New England Sci-Tech in Natick opens its 12-inch telescope to the public Saturday November 21, 7:30 to 9pm, free with an RSVP, weather permitting. Saturn is up every clear evening this season, with the Moon beside it the night before.
That's what's worth noticing.Go have a look.