The Hockomock Birdman LbNA #48642
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jul 5, 2009 |
| Location: | |
| City: | ??? |
| County: | Bristol |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | Mahatma Dondi  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | ??? |
| Last found: | Aug 16, 2014 |
| Status: | FFFFF |
| Last edited: | Jul 5, 2009 |
The Hockomock League is a high school athletic association located in southeastern Massachusetts consisting of nine member schools. The league takes its name from the Great Hockomock Swamp, which encompasses or abuts most member towns. Indeed, the Hockomock Swamp and its affiliated wetland water system comprises an area of 16,950 acres, which according to the Department of Conservation and Recreation makes it "the largest vegetated freshwater wetland system in Massachusetts." The swamp ecosystem is, due to its size, "a unique and irreplaceable wildlife habitat," home to "at least 13 rare and endangered species." As well, the Massachusetts Historical Commission has found human archaeological sites in the vicinity of this wetland complex dating back at least 9000 years.
The name "Hockomock" comes from the tribes of Wampanoag federation, meaning "place where spirits dwell." The Wampanoag meant this in a positive way, as they believed good spirits in the swamp led visitors to find abundant deer, moose and fish therein; but the Hockomock also has a reputation as a place of unsettled spirits and strange, unexplained occurrences.
One of these strange happenings took place almost forty years ago, in the wee hours of the morning, when an off-duty police officer saw what he would later describe as giant bird-like creature, or "bird-man." According to rare animal researcher Loren Coleman, “the encounter took place at 2 AM on a late summer’s night in 1971. Norton, Massachusetts police sergeant Thomas Downy was driving along Winter Street in Mansfield toward his home in Easton. As he approached a place known, intriguingly, as 'Bird Hill' … at the edge of the Hockomock swamp, Downy was suddenly confronted by a huge winged creature over six feet tall with a wingspan of eight to twelve feet. As Sergeant Downy drew to a stop at the intersection, the bird flew straight up and, flapping its massive wings, disappeared over the dark trees into the swamp. Downy reported the sighting to the local police as soon as he reached home. A patrol car searched the area, but the huge bird was not sighted again. For weeks, his fellow officers called him 'The Birdman,' teasing him with the feathery name, but Downy stuck to his story."
A pretty fantastic story! But, what exactly did Thomas Downy see that night, if anything? There have been numerous other reported sightings of giant winged creatures across the United States, and around the world, and such sightings have been linked to "UFO activity, Men in Black encounters, poltergeist[s] … Bigfoot and black panther sightings" and various other paranormal phenomena. Not surprisingly, perhaps, such sightings have also been associated with hoaxes. But Sergeant Downy had very little to gain, and very much to lose, as this story became public. It doesn’t seem likely that he was part of a prank, and as a well-trained public safety officer, equally unlikely that he could be easily fooled by would-be hoaxers.
There is another possibility, one coming from the realm of cryptozoology, that has intrigued us. Cryptozoology means literally, "the study of hidden animals," and refers to the search for animals traditionally considered to be legendary or otherwise nonexistent by mainstream biology. This includes looking for living examples of animals which are considered to be extinct; animals whose existence lacks physical support but which appear in myths, legends, or are reported by eyewitnesses; and wild animals dramatically outside of their normal geographic ranges. Cryptozoology differs from mainstream zoology in its inclusive, broad-minded approach: zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans, who is often credited with coining the term, maintained that cryptozoology should be undertaken with scientific rigor, but with an open-minded, interdisciplinary methodology. He stressed, in particular, that researchers should pay attention to local folklore regarding such creatures, arguing that while local stories and legends often contain unlikely and fantastic elements, they can have small grains of truth and important information regarding hidden animals.
Following this line of reasoning, Mark Hall has suggested that these birdman sightings may well be an as yet undiscovered giant species of owl. (With tongue firmly in cheek, Hall labels these giant owls "Bighoot.") In addition to the multiple reported sightings consistent with the oversized owl theory, Hall notes that North American Indian folklore is replete with mentions of large birds of prey generally, and large owls specifically. For example, the oral histories of Iroquois, the Tuscarora and the Wyandot refer to huge taloned creatures, with wingspans over twelve feet in length, who often stole and devoured game after an Indian hunter had killed it. These "Flying Heads" were said to be more active during rainy, foggy or misty weather, while some tribes observed that the giant birds seemed to follow large thunderstorm systems, floating on their wind currents. The Cree Indians spoke of "Big Owl" as a sign of famine: The owl was so terrifying that its presence was felt in the forests and most game animals would flee the area, causing the tribes to starve.
Cryptozoologists, however, don’t only rely solely on Native American legends. They also point to the fossil record, which includes the discovery of a prehistoric owl species, Ornimegalonyx oteroi, whose remains have been unearthed from caves in western Cuba. The Cuban giant owl skeletons date back to the Ice Age, and suggest a frame of nearly four feet in height. The bone structure of this prehistoric owl is very similar to the modern burrowing owl – only much, much bigger in scale. And with long legs and an inability to fly for more than short distances, the Cuban giant might have been mistaken for an odd humanoid creature as it walked about.
Hall believes that perhaps some giant owls survived extinction, migrated, reproduced, and adapted to different regions in North America. Sightings of giant owls continued into the era of North America’s first European settlers. According to Hall, some settlers saw their livestock carried off by enormous birds they called Booger Owls, and such sightings have persisted into the present, into oral histories and urban legends, across the country.
Since first learning about the Hockomock Birdman, Water and I have been looking high and low for the giant owl in the swampy woodlands near the original spot where Sgt. Downy first spotted it. To join in the search, you’ll first have to find the intersection where Downy spied the Hockomock Birdman. Don’t go straight through the intersection, as the street changes into… Oh my! Well, anyway, go west at the intersection, following the road along a ways. You’re looking for a conservation area with a series of trails that run along the Canoe River and a couple of small ponds, just a few of the water systems associated with the greater Hockomock Swamp. The park conservation area has traditionally shared the name of the road on which you’re traveling (you can even find a trail map if you’re resourceful), but has very recently been renamed to honor a local citizen. There is space for at least a couple of cars next to the monument in his honor. Just be sure not to block the road to your left, as you face the gate leading into the woodland trails.
Begin walking along the main path from the gate until you reach a trail going off to your left. Walk over the fallen tree and past the campfire to follow this trail into the woods. At the forks in the main trail, stay right, and stay on this main trail. There are smaller side trails, and these lead to some interesting places, but you’re searching for the Hockomock Birdman. Keep on this trail for some time. Eventually, the trail will begin to rise, and at this point you will be walking parallel to the Canoe River, down the hill and to your left. At first it is in the distance, but as you proceed along the path it will come into view.
This dirt trail will come to a line of boulders, just as you’re able to spy a brick bungalow in very exclusive gated community. Walk around the boulders to join up with the gravel road, keeping the bungalow on your left. You’re going the right way if you pass a red and yellow fire hydrant on your right.
After some time on the road, you’ll come upon another manor house on your left; and as the road turns, another (slightly less exclusive) gated community directly in front of you. But before arriving at this neighborhood, you’ll see a smaller dirt trail on your right, heading uphill. Take this trail to the top of the hill, where you’ll see a fallen tree on the right-hand side of the trail, with its end actually touching the trail. At this point, you’ll see a trail on your left, going downhill to a large pond. Don’t go down that trail. Yet. Instead, turn around to face the way that you came up the hill. Taking a few steps forward, you’ll see a small, canopied clearing on what is now your right; and in the clearing you’ll see a large fallen cedar.
Owls are known to conceal their presence by blending into their environment. Long eared owls, e.g., assume a still posture and mimic the appearance of tree branches to go undetected. The result is that the body of the bird appears like a stick while the tufts of its feathers add the look of a broken end of a branch. Cryptozoologists conjecture that the giant owls are so big that they must mimic the appearance of an entire tree. They have been seen to rise from the ground where they would have looked like a log. Also, they have been seen to stand among living trees giving the appearance of a dead tree. In this manner the giant owls are able to hide in plain sight. They can be detected but one has to have the suspicion that they might be around. The very idea of surviving giant owls is so new that people have not been looking for them.
But you are looking, and this giant owl, the Hockomock Birdman, hides in plain sight with the help of the fallen cedar. You will find his home nestled inside the end of the cedar, carefully covered.
Do you remember those side trails we mentioned at the beginning of your hike? One of them leads to ruins of an ancient cabin, with only the foundation stones and cellar stairs remaining. Down in the cellar, in the northeast corner, is a roughly rectangular 3’ X 2.5’ granite slab, with small painted carvings of various animal shapes. The stamp image is from a rubbing we made of one of these carvings.
Like the other rare and endangered species the Hockomock Swamp shelters, the giant owl has taken great precautions to stay out of sight. When you’re finished stamping in, please make sure to see his nest remains out of view. THANKS!
To make your way back to the trailhead, go back to the fallen tree along the trail, and now take that trail on the left down the hill and to the pond’s edge. There you will see a white pine, and from the white pine you’ll see a small trail that leads you around the edge of the pond. As you walk along this trail, with the pond on your right, you’ll eventually come upon a wide expanse of dirt and stones. From this open area, turn leftward until you come to a larger path. This is the main path, and you want to go to your right. At the fork, keep to the right. Along this path, through the trees to your right, you can see the preserve’s second pond.
After awhile, a parallel path to your left will join yours and become one. Follow this back to the gate where you first entered. Water would love to hear about your adventure, and you can reach him at mahatma.dondi@yahoo.com.
The name "Hockomock" comes from the tribes of Wampanoag federation, meaning "place where spirits dwell." The Wampanoag meant this in a positive way, as they believed good spirits in the swamp led visitors to find abundant deer, moose and fish therein; but the Hockomock also has a reputation as a place of unsettled spirits and strange, unexplained occurrences.
One of these strange happenings took place almost forty years ago, in the wee hours of the morning, when an off-duty police officer saw what he would later describe as giant bird-like creature, or "bird-man." According to rare animal researcher Loren Coleman, “the encounter took place at 2 AM on a late summer’s night in 1971. Norton, Massachusetts police sergeant Thomas Downy was driving along Winter Street in Mansfield toward his home in Easton. As he approached a place known, intriguingly, as 'Bird Hill' … at the edge of the Hockomock swamp, Downy was suddenly confronted by a huge winged creature over six feet tall with a wingspan of eight to twelve feet. As Sergeant Downy drew to a stop at the intersection, the bird flew straight up and, flapping its massive wings, disappeared over the dark trees into the swamp. Downy reported the sighting to the local police as soon as he reached home. A patrol car searched the area, but the huge bird was not sighted again. For weeks, his fellow officers called him 'The Birdman,' teasing him with the feathery name, but Downy stuck to his story."
A pretty fantastic story! But, what exactly did Thomas Downy see that night, if anything? There have been numerous other reported sightings of giant winged creatures across the United States, and around the world, and such sightings have been linked to "UFO activity, Men in Black encounters, poltergeist[s] … Bigfoot and black panther sightings" and various other paranormal phenomena. Not surprisingly, perhaps, such sightings have also been associated with hoaxes. But Sergeant Downy had very little to gain, and very much to lose, as this story became public. It doesn’t seem likely that he was part of a prank, and as a well-trained public safety officer, equally unlikely that he could be easily fooled by would-be hoaxers.
There is another possibility, one coming from the realm of cryptozoology, that has intrigued us. Cryptozoology means literally, "the study of hidden animals," and refers to the search for animals traditionally considered to be legendary or otherwise nonexistent by mainstream biology. This includes looking for living examples of animals which are considered to be extinct; animals whose existence lacks physical support but which appear in myths, legends, or are reported by eyewitnesses; and wild animals dramatically outside of their normal geographic ranges. Cryptozoology differs from mainstream zoology in its inclusive, broad-minded approach: zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans, who is often credited with coining the term, maintained that cryptozoology should be undertaken with scientific rigor, but with an open-minded, interdisciplinary methodology. He stressed, in particular, that researchers should pay attention to local folklore regarding such creatures, arguing that while local stories and legends often contain unlikely and fantastic elements, they can have small grains of truth and important information regarding hidden animals.
Following this line of reasoning, Mark Hall has suggested that these birdman sightings may well be an as yet undiscovered giant species of owl. (With tongue firmly in cheek, Hall labels these giant owls "Bighoot.") In addition to the multiple reported sightings consistent with the oversized owl theory, Hall notes that North American Indian folklore is replete with mentions of large birds of prey generally, and large owls specifically. For example, the oral histories of Iroquois, the Tuscarora and the Wyandot refer to huge taloned creatures, with wingspans over twelve feet in length, who often stole and devoured game after an Indian hunter had killed it. These "Flying Heads" were said to be more active during rainy, foggy or misty weather, while some tribes observed that the giant birds seemed to follow large thunderstorm systems, floating on their wind currents. The Cree Indians spoke of "Big Owl" as a sign of famine: The owl was so terrifying that its presence was felt in the forests and most game animals would flee the area, causing the tribes to starve.
Cryptozoologists, however, don’t only rely solely on Native American legends. They also point to the fossil record, which includes the discovery of a prehistoric owl species, Ornimegalonyx oteroi, whose remains have been unearthed from caves in western Cuba. The Cuban giant owl skeletons date back to the Ice Age, and suggest a frame of nearly four feet in height. The bone structure of this prehistoric owl is very similar to the modern burrowing owl – only much, much bigger in scale. And with long legs and an inability to fly for more than short distances, the Cuban giant might have been mistaken for an odd humanoid creature as it walked about.
Hall believes that perhaps some giant owls survived extinction, migrated, reproduced, and adapted to different regions in North America. Sightings of giant owls continued into the era of North America’s first European settlers. According to Hall, some settlers saw their livestock carried off by enormous birds they called Booger Owls, and such sightings have persisted into the present, into oral histories and urban legends, across the country.
Since first learning about the Hockomock Birdman, Water and I have been looking high and low for the giant owl in the swampy woodlands near the original spot where Sgt. Downy first spotted it. To join in the search, you’ll first have to find the intersection where Downy spied the Hockomock Birdman. Don’t go straight through the intersection, as the street changes into… Oh my! Well, anyway, go west at the intersection, following the road along a ways. You’re looking for a conservation area with a series of trails that run along the Canoe River and a couple of small ponds, just a few of the water systems associated with the greater Hockomock Swamp. The park conservation area has traditionally shared the name of the road on which you’re traveling (you can even find a trail map if you’re resourceful), but has very recently been renamed to honor a local citizen. There is space for at least a couple of cars next to the monument in his honor. Just be sure not to block the road to your left, as you face the gate leading into the woodland trails.
Begin walking along the main path from the gate until you reach a trail going off to your left. Walk over the fallen tree and past the campfire to follow this trail into the woods. At the forks in the main trail, stay right, and stay on this main trail. There are smaller side trails, and these lead to some interesting places, but you’re searching for the Hockomock Birdman. Keep on this trail for some time. Eventually, the trail will begin to rise, and at this point you will be walking parallel to the Canoe River, down the hill and to your left. At first it is in the distance, but as you proceed along the path it will come into view.
This dirt trail will come to a line of boulders, just as you’re able to spy a brick bungalow in very exclusive gated community. Walk around the boulders to join up with the gravel road, keeping the bungalow on your left. You’re going the right way if you pass a red and yellow fire hydrant on your right.
After some time on the road, you’ll come upon another manor house on your left; and as the road turns, another (slightly less exclusive) gated community directly in front of you. But before arriving at this neighborhood, you’ll see a smaller dirt trail on your right, heading uphill. Take this trail to the top of the hill, where you’ll see a fallen tree on the right-hand side of the trail, with its end actually touching the trail. At this point, you’ll see a trail on your left, going downhill to a large pond. Don’t go down that trail. Yet. Instead, turn around to face the way that you came up the hill. Taking a few steps forward, you’ll see a small, canopied clearing on what is now your right; and in the clearing you’ll see a large fallen cedar.
Owls are known to conceal their presence by blending into their environment. Long eared owls, e.g., assume a still posture and mimic the appearance of tree branches to go undetected. The result is that the body of the bird appears like a stick while the tufts of its feathers add the look of a broken end of a branch. Cryptozoologists conjecture that the giant owls are so big that they must mimic the appearance of an entire tree. They have been seen to rise from the ground where they would have looked like a log. Also, they have been seen to stand among living trees giving the appearance of a dead tree. In this manner the giant owls are able to hide in plain sight. They can be detected but one has to have the suspicion that they might be around. The very idea of surviving giant owls is so new that people have not been looking for them.
But you are looking, and this giant owl, the Hockomock Birdman, hides in plain sight with the help of the fallen cedar. You will find his home nestled inside the end of the cedar, carefully covered.
Do you remember those side trails we mentioned at the beginning of your hike? One of them leads to ruins of an ancient cabin, with only the foundation stones and cellar stairs remaining. Down in the cellar, in the northeast corner, is a roughly rectangular 3’ X 2.5’ granite slab, with small painted carvings of various animal shapes. The stamp image is from a rubbing we made of one of these carvings.
Like the other rare and endangered species the Hockomock Swamp shelters, the giant owl has taken great precautions to stay out of sight. When you’re finished stamping in, please make sure to see his nest remains out of view. THANKS!
To make your way back to the trailhead, go back to the fallen tree along the trail, and now take that trail on the left down the hill and to the pond’s edge. There you will see a white pine, and from the white pine you’ll see a small trail that leads you around the edge of the pond. As you walk along this trail, with the pond on your right, you’ll eventually come upon a wide expanse of dirt and stones. From this open area, turn leftward until you come to a larger path. This is the main path, and you want to go to your right. At the fork, keep to the right. Along this path, through the trees to your right, you can see the preserve’s second pond.
After awhile, a parallel path to your left will join yours and become one. Follow this back to the gate where you first entered. Water would love to hear about your adventure, and you can reach him at mahatma.dondi@yahoo.com.