LOCAL SITES

Weir River Estuary

"Its where the river meets the ocean."

Native Americans hunted and fished the Weir River Estuary for thousands of years. The Plymouth Colony began trading with the local Native Americans as early as 1621.

Here, you will find undisturbed salt marshes and a unique habitat that supports over 100 different species of migratory and breeding birds.

These waters are special for the breeding and nurseries for many species of fish. In the 1880's Hull was well known for its smelt fishery and the Weir River supported one of the largest smelt runs in the state.

The estuary is among the most productive shellfish beds in Boston Harbor. Soft shell clams, blue mussels, and American oysters can be found along the tidal flats.

Join the Weir River Watershed Association and help keep the Weir River run wildforever. www.weiriver.org

You may see:

Osprey
(Pandion haliaetus)

Description 21-24" (53-61 cm). W. 4' 6 "-6' (1.4-1.8 m). A large, long-winged "fish hawk." Brown above and white below; head white with dark line through eye and on side of face. Wing shows distinctive bend at "wrist." At a distance, can resemble a gull.

Great Blue Heron
(Ardea herodias)

Description 39-52" (99-132 cm). W. 5'10" (1.8 m). A common large, mainly grayish heron with a pale or yellowish bill. Often mistaken for a Sandhill Crane, but flies with its neck folded, not extended like that of a crane. In southern Florida an all-white form, "Great White Heron," differs from Great Egret in being larger, with greenish-yellow rather than black legs.

Green Heron
(Butorides virescens)

Description 16-22" (41-56 cm). A dark, crow-sized heron. Crown black, back and wings dark gray-green or gray-blue (depending on lighting); neck chestnut colored. Bill dark; legs bright orange. Immatures have streaks on neck, breast, and sides.

Mute Swan
(Cygnus olor)

Description 58-60" (1.47-1.52 m). W. 7'11" (2.4 m). Adults all white; bill orange with black knob at base. Young birds similar but dingy gray-brown, becoming whiter with age. The Mute Swan holds its neck in a graceful curve; native swans hold their necks straight up.

Snowy Egret
(Egretta thula)

Description 20-27" (51-69 cm). W. 3'2" (97 cm). A small, delicate white heron with a slender black bill, black legs, and yellow feet. In breeding season, it has long lacy plumes on its head, neck, and back. Immature bird similar to adult, but lacks plumes and has yellow stripe up back of leg. Adult Cattle Egret has pale bill, legs, and feet; immature has dark bill, legs, and feet. Much larger Great Egret has yellow bill and black legs and feet. Similar to immature of less common Little Blue Heron, but that species has a stouter, bluish-gray bill, greenish-yellow legs and feet, no yellow skin between eyes and base of bill.

Great Egret
(Ardea alba)

Description 35-41" (89-104 cm). W. 4'7" (1.4 m). A large, all-white heron with a yellow bill and black legs. In breeding plumage, has long lacy plumes on back. Much smaller Snowy Egret has black bill and legs and yellow feet. In southern Florida, white form of Great Blue Heron is similar but larger, with greenish-yellow legs.

Voice A guttural croak

Red-tailed Hawk
(Buteo jamaicensis)

Length: 18 - 25"
The Red-tailed Hawk's main hunting technique is to sit on a perch and scan the surrounding area for prey. It is also known to hunt by flying back and forth over an area at a height of about 200 feet or less. This buteo's keen eyesight allows it to spot its prey from a great distance.

Cooper's Hawk
Accipiter cooperii

Description 14-20" (36-51 cm). W. 28" (71 cm). A crow-sized hawk, with long tail and short rounded wings. Adult slate-gray above, with dark cap, and finely rust-barred below. Immature brown above, whitish below with fine streaks. Tail tip rounded, not squared-off. See Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Pileated Woodpecker
(Dryocopus pileatus)

Description 17" (43 cm). A crow-sized woodpecker. Black with white neck stripes, conspicuous white wing linings, and prominent red crest. Male has red "mustache," female has black.

Oyster-catcher

Ploverlike short bird, cosmopolitan in distribution. They have distinctive red bills that are long, blunt, and flattened and, which are efficient for catching and opening the oysters, mussels, and clams on which they feed. They're noisy birds, large (21 in.) and more brightly marked than most other shore birds.

Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes (Vulpes fulva)

Description Rusty reddish above; white underparts, chin, and throat. Long, bushy tail with white tip. Prominent pointed ears. Backs of ears, lower legs, and feet black. Color variations include a black phase (almost completely black), a silver phase (black with silver-tipped hairs), a cross phase (reddish brown with a dark cross across shoulders), and intermediate phases; all have white-tipped tail. Ht 15–16" (38–41 cm); L 35–41" (90–103 cm); T 13 3/4–17" (35–43 cm); HF 5 3/4–7" (14.6–17.8 cm); E 3–3H0 (7.7–8.9 cm); Wt 7 7/8–15 lb (3.6–6.8 kg).

Virginia Opossum
(Didelphis virginiana)

Description House cat size. Grizzled white above; long white hairs cover black-tipped fur below. In some areas, individuals may appear grayish or blackish. Long, naked prehensile tail. Head and throat whitish; ears large, naked, black with pinkish tips. Legs short; first toe of hindfoot opposable (thumb-like) and lacks claw. Female has fur-lined abdominal pouch. L 25–40" (645–1,017 mm); T 10 1/8–21" (255–535 mm); HF 1 7/8–3 1/8" (48–80 mm); Wt 4– 14 lb (1.8–6.3 kg).

Pipevine Swallowtail
(Battus philenor)

Description 2 3/4-3 3/8" (70-86 mm). Coal-black to dark gray above with brilliant, metallic blue, especially toward HW margin (male brighter than female); HW above has row of cream to yellow spots around rim. FW dull gray below; HW has row of big, bright orange spots curving through blue patch along margin and white marginal spots.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
(Papilio glaucus)

Description 3 1/8-5 1/2" (79-140 mm). Males and some females above and below are yellow with black tiger-stripes across wings and black borders spotted with yellow. Long, black tail on each HW. HW above and below usually has row of blue patches inside margin, with orange spot above and sometimes much orange below, running through yellow. Dark form females are black above with border-spotting of yellow, blue, and orange (blue sometimes becomes cloud on HW), below brown-black with shadowy "tiger" pattern. Yellow spots along outer edge of FW below are separate in all but northernmost populations. Most have orange uppermost spot on outer margin of HW above and below and orange spot on trailing edge.

Pearl Crescent
(Phyciodes tharos)

Description 1-1 1/2" (25-38 mm). Male has broad, open orange areas above with wide black margin; female has heavier black markings. Below, orange FW has black patches, especially along margin, and several cream-colored spots; HW yellowish to cream-colored with fine brown lines and purplish-brown patch containing light crescent on margin. Spring broods have HW mottled with brown below.

Common Wood Nymph
(Cercyonis pegala)

Description 2-2 7/8" (52-73 mm). Large. Highly variable. Above, light cocoa-brown to deep chocolate-brown (very pale in N. Great Basin). Below, paler and heavily striated with darker scales. Normally FW above and below has 1 or 2 small to very large black eyespots, often yellow-rimmed, with small white or large blue pupil; eyespots may lie in a vague or discrete broad band of bright or dark yellow. HW above may have small eyespots; HW below may have 1 or 2 small eyespots or a full row of 6 eyespots. HW below usually divided into darker inner and lighter outer portion by single zigzagged, dark line. Female normally larger, paler, with bigger eyespots.

Monarch Butterfly
(Danaus plexippus)

Description 3 1/2-4" (89-102 mm). Very large, with FW long and drawn out. Above, bright, burnt-orange with black veins and black margins sprinkled with white dots; FW tip broadly black interrupted by larger white and orange spots. Below, paler, duskier orange. 1 black spot appears between HW cell and margin on male above and below. Female darker with black veins smudged.