Whip-poor-will survey

Moose, Prescott Peninsula, June 10, 2012

Moose, Prescott Peninsula, June 10, 2012

After a beautiful, warm sunny day on Sunday I headed to the Prescott Peninsula to conduct a Whip-poor-will survey.  The weather for this survey season has been bad and this was the first evening within the limited time frame available to conduct the survey. At the last minute I decided to give it a try to get the survey completed.  The route consists of ten stops along a route that begins on the south end of the peninsula and ends near the north end at gate 20.  Each stop consists of listening for the birds for six minutes before moving on to the next stop to repeat the process.  The count begins 15 minutes after sunset.  I obtained the following results during this survey.  Despite the less than ideal conditions (breezy at times and late in the moon phase) there were still at least nine Whip-poor-wills heard.

Stop                                       Whip-poor-wills                                             

1                                              1

2                                              0

3                                              2

4                                              2

5                                              2

6                                              0

7                                              0

8                                              0

9                                              0

10                                           0

                                                7 total during survey (plus 2 heard between stops)

The most productive stops were the on the lower end of the peninsula which corresponds with what was found during the breeding bird atlas over the last several years.  The area on the lower part of the peninsula consists of some larger tracts that have been logged over the last several years opening up some areas for the Whip-poor-wills.  Besides the Whip-poor-wills I came across a couple of American Woodcocks during the survey.  In addition there were also a couple Moose along the route and I managed a few marginal photos of one.

Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, June 11, 2012

Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, June 11, 2012

Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, June 11, 2012

Common Mergansers video, Quabbin Park, June 11, 2012

Today I made a few stops around the lower side of Quabbin first thing and found a few Common Loons calling, a large juvenile Bald Eagle still in the nest, a family group of Common Mergansers and a Worm-eating Warbler near the Winsor memorial.