Weekend birding

American Redstart building nest, Quabbin Gate 12, June 16,2012

American Redstart building nest, Quabbin Gate 12, June 16, 2012

Canada Geese ignoring the Coyote decoy, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, June 16, 2012

Winter Wren singing, Quabbin Gate 12, June 16, 2012

(Can you identify the other birds calling in the background? Answers at bottom of post)

On Saturday I stayed around Quabbin with visits to Winsor Dam and some western gates including Gates 12 and 15.  I tried to find the Acadian Flycatcher which has been in the same area along the Gate 15 road for years but came up empty again today.  I also tried unsuccessfully for the Hooded Warbler that had been in the same area for several weeks.  The bird either moved on, was killed or was being quiet.  I did have a few good birds including a pair of Evening Grosbeaks at Gate 12 and numerous breeding birds around with some feeding young or carrying food while others were still building nests.

House Wren, Belchertown, MA, June 17, 2012

House Wren, Belchertown, MA, June 17, 2012

On Sunday I stayed mostly around the house trying to get some house work done.  This allowed some time to catch up on all the breeding birds in the yard.  The Tree Swallows continue to go in and out of one of the two boxes set up in the small field near the house with the young inside getting louder each day.  One group of House Wrens have a group of very vocal young in a box on one of the sheds while a second group has several just fledged young making lots of noise from the various brushy areas around the house.  The first American Robin fledglings are hopping around on the lawn being fed by the adults.  The Canada Geese that nested here have two remaining goslings that have grown up quite a bit in the last few weeks.  The Hooded Mergansers have not been seen much following their fledging from the nest box along Jabish Brook.  Other birds heard every day and almost certainly nesting nearby include Yellow and Pine Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Great-crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Brown Creeper, Baltimore Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Warbling Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, Red-bellied, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers and several others.

The breeding season continues around the area with many birds feeding young both in the nest and outside. There are still a few lingering migrants coming through but by and large the migration season is over for now until the shorebirds start moving back south from the arctic in July.




Answer to question above:  Other birds calling/singing in the video include Black-throated Green Warbler, Blackburian Warbler, Veery, Red-eyed Vireo, and Eastern Wood Pewee.