Our water quality monitoring volunteer Clarke had some chatty assistants at the Lawrence boathouse sampling location! It may have been due to the sound of the spray bottle, which sounds a little like quacking.

Once a threatened species, Canada geese are very common in New England. Some populations of these geese are descended from captive populations, and lost the natural inclination to migrate. Until the 1930s, waterfowl hunters often kept tame flocks of geese and ducks to act as live decoys. When that practice was outlawed in 1935, the geese ended up living as the wild birds we know today. (Sources: Mass.gov, Mass Audubon, Northern Woodlands)

Photo by Clarke Esler

#wildlife #Canadageese #lawrencema

Did you miss our seal walk with @seacoast_science_center? You`re in luck! We are doing another walk on Saturday, April 9th at noon. Registration will be posted on our website later this week. #wildlife #harborseals #greyseals #salisburyma #salisburybeach

Photos by Brian Yurasits

Happy #shorebirdsaturday
Juvenille eagles captured by Marilyn Bernstein and Marc Fontaine. #wildlife #eagle #deerisland

At sundown this time of year, the skies along Lawrence`s riverfront are filled with a spectacular sight -- roughly 15,000 crows from all over the region noisily flock to trees and rooftops to sleep for the night. Craig Gibson has been documenting this "Crow Show" for years, and in conjunction with Merrimack River Watershed Council will present two free events to delve into the crows` mass roosting behavior.

On Tuesday, Jan. 11, Gibson will present an hour-long online slideshow presentation that covers why crows gather in such great numbers along the banks of the Merrimack, where they come from, and why it is unusual. On Tuesday, Jan. 18, Gibson will conduct an in-person tour at the crow roosting location at dusk, when thousands of crows arrive and roost for the night. Register through the link in bio. #wintercrowroost #lawrencema #crowshow #wildlife (Image credit @wintercrowroost)

Congratulations to the winners of 2021 Merrimack Photo Contest. Thank you to all the participants.

Swipe to see the winners!

Winner of Category - Wildlife:
Photographer: Julia Ladner
"I took this photo last year when I discovered a local area where foxes were playing. I took this photo because I thought it was extremely adorable to see am adult fox raising their babies. Teaching them to hunt, play, and be safe in nature. It`s super important to keep a safe distance for yourself, and the animals. I use a 600mm Nikon lens and this photo is cropped."

Winner of Category - People in the River:
Photographer: Laura Kozlowski
"In front of Lowells Boathouse, I love how dramatic the skies were and how Rick just kept rowing despite the rain.”

Winner of Category - Merrimack Landscapes:
Photographer: Andrew March
“This photo was taken at the mouth of the Merrimack River, where it meets the Atlantic. The photo is of the Milky Way and meteors over the night sky in the pre-dawn hours of March 13, 2021."

Winner of Category - Pollution:
Photographer: Paul Buckley
"My wife and I had just been kayaking at Winning pond in Billerica. She had already pulled out when I noticed a gosling entangled in a mess on the fishing line. I was unable to assist in freeing it as the adult goose was very protective so I observed from a distance. By swimming back into the pond the bird was able to free itself.
Many times prior to this occurring I have picked up much trash and abandoned fishing tackle from the site. This could have turned out much worse than it did because someone neglected to clean up after themselves." #2021merrimackphotocontest #merrimackriver #photocontest #wildlife #peopleInTheRiver #merrimacklandscapes #pollution

Watershed scenes: Roger the Donkey greets passersby at Newbury’s Spencer-Pierce-Little Farm, not far from the Merrimack. SPL, a @historicnewengland property, is a National Historic Landmark that features a 1690 manor house, Roger, Sukey the horse, a pig, chickens and several sheep and goats- including Halley the goat and her baby Comet (get it? Halley’s Comet!) who have their own video livestream on SPL’s webpage - check it out if you are looking for a very cute quarantine viewing option!
#donkey #donkeys #donkeysofinstagram #spencerpiercelittlefarm #merrimackriver #merrimackvalley #optoutside #newburyma #wildlife

February is, in this writer’s opinion, The Worst Month - and according to Google, I’m not alone (January and March appear to be the consensus runners-up). However, for those of us lucky enough to live near the Merrimack, February has one notable redeeming feature: bald eagles!
While bald eagles can be seen year round in the Merrimack Valley (there are four nesting pairs between Lawrence and Amesbury this year), they are more abundant in winter. This is because birds from more Northern latitudes come South at this time to hunt along the Merrimack.
Bald eagles in Massachusetts are a conservation success story in progress. For most of the 20th century, there were no nesting bald eagles in the state. In the 1980s, reintroduction efforts began at the Quabbin Reservoir, and the nesting population has increased steadily since. There were 76 nesting pairs of bald eagles in Massachusetts in 2018, up from 68 in 2017 and 59 in 2016.
The adult eagle in the first picture was seen in Merrimac, MA; the second (a younger bird - probably in its late teens in human terms) in Newburyport. Juvenile eagles do not have the bright white head yet, and are generally a bit scruffy looking.
#baldeagles #merrimackvalley #merrimackwatershed #merrimackriver #nbpt #newburyportma #newburyport #merrimacma #merrimac #baldeagle #only_raptors #raptors #birdsofprey #birdsofinstagram #birding #river #wildlife

It’s seal time at the mouth of the Merrimack! Although there are seals in the area year-round, they are often easier to find in winter. The rocks in the river off the campground at Salisbury Beach State Reservation are prime seal-sunning locations, as are the rocks on the Newburyport side of the river just downstream from the Coast Guard station (at low tide). There are also more seal species around in winter. Harbor seals and gray seals are year-round residents, but harp seals (like the one in the first pic) and hooded seals tend to be winter-only visitors, according to the @seacoast_science_center.
If you see seals, please make sure to stay at least 150 feet away so as not to disturb or stress them. Also, please consider giving our seals a helping hand by picking up some litter when you go to the beach! Litter can be - and often is - deadly to marine mammals.
Photos by MRWC Board President Dan Graovac, winter 2019. First picture is a harp seal, second is a gray seal.
#harpseal #seals #sealsofinstagram #merrimackvalley #merrimackriver #saveourseals #stopoceanplastic #planetnotplastic #wildlife

Congratulations to the #mrvvoyagers on completing their 117-mile voyage down the length of the Merrimack from Franklin, NH to Plum Island! This wonderful group of folks undertook the journey to raise awareness about the recreational, ecological and economic importance of the Merrimack to our #merrimackwatershed #merrimackvalley communities. They also made a number of stops along the way to discuss efforts to protect the Merrimack, and saw lots of wildlife, including this gorgeous eagle (photo creds @dandydannyg , President of MRWC). Great job, voyagers!
See more wonderful pictures of the trip at #mrvvoyagers
@christina4rep @lane_a_glenn @ddizoglio @dougansherwood @blackriversong @jameskelcourse @hmcmann @riverwalkbrewing @plumislandkayak @riveramakelawrencebetter #wildlife