Various stops around the local area

Great Blue Heron nest with young, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 30, 2013

Great Blue Heron nest with young, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 30, 2013

Great Blue Heron nest with young, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 30, 2013

Great Blue Heron nest with young, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 30, 2013

Great Blue Heron nest with young, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 30, 2013

Great Blue Heron nest with young, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 30, 2013

Got out again at first light before it got too hot and headed over to Covey WMA then briefly to Winsor Dam and finally over to Lake Wallace. The mosquitoes and other biting insects have greatly increased in number and level of annoyance (even with bug spray on). The bird species of the day seemed to be Black billed Cuckoo as I had one calling at home when I got up, a couple more at Covey and another at Lake Wallace. Certainly a good year for them this year. Nothing too exciting at Covey but the swallow numbers continue to grow as most Tree Swallows appear to have fledged. Winsor Dam was very quiet with no birds at all on the water. The eagle nest still held at least one juvenile. Lake Wallace produced around 20 Wood Ducks, a couple Green Herons, an adult and two young at the Great Blue Heron nest and a continuing Sora calling from the marsh. Despite much effort to get a look at the Sora the bird stayed out of view the entire hour I was there but it called on and off the entire time.

Banded Hairstreak, Belchertown, MA, June 30, 2013

At home the diversity of butterflies continues to grow and I had several Banded Hairstreaks chasing each other and occasionally landing plus several other species.

Lake Wallace, Quabbin Park and home



Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, June 29, 2013

Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, June 29, 2013

On yet another foggy, muggy, warm (71 at 5:15am) morning I headed out to a few local spots to see what I might find. I started at Lake Wallace where I had a calling Sora. Although it called several times and seemed like it was near the edge I never got a look at it as I scanned back and forth with the scope. This is the first one I have ever had here although I have tried to find one on several occasions. It seems like a good spot for breeding of this species. The single Great Blue Heron nest still has two adults nearby but I could not see if a young bird was in the nest or not. A good number of adult and nearly adult size Wood Ducks (26+) and a single Hooded Merganser were the only waterfowl around. 


Barn Swallow, Quabbin Park, June 29, 2013

Barn Swallow, Quabbin Park, June 29, 2013

Barn Swallow, Quabbin Park, June 29, 2013

Winsor Dam near dawn, Quabbin Park, June 29, 2013

Common Mergansers at gate 52, Quabbin Park, June 29, 2013

View from gate 52, Quabbin Park, June 29, 2013

I next headed over to Quabbin Park where I began and ended at Winsor Dam and also visited the route 9 marsh and Gate 52. Nothing too unusual but yet again some nice looks at some birds. Yet again I had a family group of Wild Turkeys along the road near Goodnough Dike with a few less young then several days ago.  A handful of Common Mergansers made up the only waterfowl I could find on the nearly calm waters at Gate 52.

While trying my best to find a tern or something else unusual as I scanned from Winsor Dam I had a Cooper's Hawk flyby with a Barn Swallow in its talons and a large group of Barn and Tree Swallows in pursuit as well as a couple kingbirds adding to the fray. The only waterfowl out on the water at Winsor Dam included 23 Canada Geese, a Mallard, a Common Loon and a couple Double crested Cormorants.

Broad winged Hawk with snake, Belchertown, MA, June 29, 2013

Broad winged Hawk with snake, Belchertown, MA, June 29, 2013

Broad winged Hawk with snake, Belchertown, MA, June 29, 2013

Great crested Flycatcher, Belchertown, MA, June 29, 2013road

Spent the afternoon around the yard with highlights being at least two vocal Broad winged Hawks including one carrying a snake plus an equally vocal family group of Great crested Flycatchers.  Any snake expert out there what to venture a guess at what species of snake the hawk had in its talons? 

Hickory Hairstreak, Belchertown, MA, June 29, 2013

Hickory Hairstreak, Belchertown, MA, June 29, 2013

Also had an unusual butterfly sighting in the yard when I had a few hairstreaks chasing each other and one landed and I got photos of it.  According to a few expert butterfliers it is a Hickory Hairstreak...a fairly unusual species and tough to tell apart from a Banded Hairstreak (which is why I asked some people!)

Brief stop at Winsor Dam

Winsor Dam at dawn, June 28, 2013

Our pattern of daily tropical weather with high humidity, warm temperatures and occasional rain and thunderstorms continues.  Overnight several storms moved through with lighting and heavy rain so I decided to try my luck with finding a tern at Winsor Dam this morning (Caspian Tern being the most likely this time of year…two were seen in Worcester county a few days ago).  No luck in finding any terns there this morning.  A gaggle of geese and a lone Double crested Cormorant were the only birds on the water.  A couple of Ring billed Gulls and a handful of Barn Swallows were the only birds out over the water of the reservoir.  Perhaps a tern will show up somewhere else nearby but none were present at Winsor Dam around sunrise this morning.

Quabbin Park and Covey WMA

Wild Turkey with poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013

Wild Turkey poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013

Wild Turkey poult, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013

Wild Turkey with poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013

Wild Turkey with poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013

Wild Turkey with poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013

Marsh at Covey WMA (with 'super moon' just over trees on left), Belchertown, MA, June 24, 2013

Marsh at Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, June 24, 2013

The weather has made a change to summer as we continue to roast in the middle of our second heat wave of the year.  The morning started off cloudy with temperatures around 70 and then quickly turned hazy with temperatures quickly rising up to the low 90's.  With the relatively cooler weather of the morning I headed out just before dawn and hit Covey WMA and Quabbin Park.  Still lots of bird song and lots of birds carrying food or feeding fledglings.  The mosquitoes (and other biting insects) were out in force and were barely kept at bay by insect repellent.  I managed to get a view of the 'super moon' through the haze as the clouds broke briefly at Covey.  I tried to find either bobwhite or pheasant at Covey WMA this morning but no luck.  At Quabbin I had a loon swimming very close to shore at Goodnough as well as a couple of female Common Mergansers that flew repeatedly down the road below the trees calling over and over...perhaps trying to get some young out of their tree cavity?  I also ran across a female turkey with eleven small poults right along the road and managed to get some photos through my binoculars.  Wish I had brought along the good camera but oh well.  The water level at the reservoir is not quite up to 100% but it is getting close and has risen several feet over the last few weeks with all the rain.

Breeding Bird Survey

Today I conducted my breeding bird survey (BBS) route which starts in Belchertown (BBS Mass route 14)and runs through Ware, Palmer, and Monson to the Connecticut line. The Breeding Bird Survey http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBS/ involves a preset 25 mile route with 3 minutes stops every half mile to census the number and species of birds present.  This year I was joined for almost the entire route by Devin and Aidan Griffiths who provided not only a few other sets of eyes and ears but some great navigation and scribing of what we saw and heard.  The route is much smoother and quicker with other people along.  A 'thank you' to both of them for coming along.

The total number of species for this years route came to 67 species with 818 individuals.  The bird with the best representation overall was American Robin with at least one present at 80% of the stops.  The other top ten (as a percentage) are as follows: Gray Catbird (62%), Chipping Sparrow (46%), Tufted Titmouse (42%), American Crow (38%) House Wren (36%), Black capped Chickadee (36%), Mourning Dove (34%), Cedar Waxwing (30%) and Common Yellowthroat and Northern Cardinal tied at 28%.  The largest overall total of individuals of any one species was American Robin with a total of 86 individuals.

How do the numbers compare to previous years?  The numbers are up from the last couple of years but still below what I got back in 2010.  Last year I totalled 56 species, in 2011 I totalled 64 and in 2010 I totalled 71 species.  The continued 'development' of this route continues with more houses than last year and several outdoor cats roaming the areas.  Not surprisingly the species diversity is quite low where the sprawl exists.  Luckily there are some protected areas along the way that provide for more diversity. 

Prescott Peninsula

Wild Turkey, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

Wild Turkey, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

Tree Swallow, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

American Goldfinch, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

Song Sparrow, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

Gray Catbird, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

I spent a few hours this morning inside the gates at Prescott Peninsula conducting more work on surveying the bird species in the scattered fields there. I arrived a bit before six and left around nine and covered several of the fields.  I was able to confirm breeding of a few more species that are using the fields here to raise the next generation. Certain species occur in only a few spots (or sometimes in only one) on the entire peninsula and many times the area they are in are one of the fields. In previous years I have had Field Sparrow and Prairie Warbler breeding in the largest field complex but not this year so far. Other speciality species associated with the fields (and edges) include Alder Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler, Blue Winged Warbler, Indigo Bunting and others.  Lots of other breeders around as I travelled from one field to the next but no luck finding any crossbills today.

 

Racing pigeon with leg tag, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

Racing pigeon with leg tag, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

Racing pigeon with leg tag, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

Racing pigeon with leg tag, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

Racing pigeon with leg tag, Prescott Peninsula, June 22, 2013

I did have an odd bird for the area just before I left. I was walking the last section of one of the fields and noticed a turkey and a smaller bird walking in the road. The smaller bird was a pigeon, which is quite unusual on the peninsula. A closer looked revealed it was a racing pigeon of some sort and had a leg tag on its left leg. The leg band was green in color with the code "2013 566rr"...it would be interesting to see where the bird came from.  The bird was nearly oblivious to me and allowed fairly close approach before it flew across a field and perched in a pine. This poor bird will not last long in the open when it exhibits this type of behavior.  The mammals once again put on a good show and I had a Moose and White tailed Deer among others.

Summer solstice morning birding

Hop Brook, Amherst, MA, June 21, 2013

I stopped the last few mornings along the rail trail in Amherst before heading to work to see what I might find.  Both mornings have been relatively cool which has kept the mosquitoes to a minimum.  Both mornings produced a nice mix of birds with a most every flycatcher species that breeds around here (except Least Flycatcher) and three species of wren within a relatively short distance of each other.  A total of perhaps just over 50 species in about a mile or so along the trail with many showing well.  No luck catching up with the previously seen night heron but Green and Great Blue Herons were around.  The next few days will feature warming temperatures and higher humidity which should bring the mosquitoes back out in force.  A very nice summer solstice. 

 

Brief stop along the rail trail

Poor Farm Swamp, Amherst, MA, June 18, 2013

Marsh view from horseshoe dam along rail trail, Amherst, MA, June 18, 2013

Stopped briefly along the rail trail in Amherst this morning trying to catch up with a Black crowned Night Heron seen there yesterday.  No luck with the night heron but I did have a couple Green Herons as well as a Virginia Rail that walked up the banking and stood in the middle of the bike path for several seconds before a robin landed nearby and the rail flew out across the marsh.  Some fantastic looks at the bird carrying some food.  I also managed to give some blood to the growing numbers of thirsty mosquitoes before I headed off to work.

Arcadia early morning

Great Blue Herons on nest, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, June 17, 2013

Great Blue Herons on nest, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, June 17, 2013

Great Blue Herons on nests, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, June 17, 2013

Bald Eagle nest, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, June 17, 2013

Savannah Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, June 17, 2013

Brown Thrasher gathering nest material, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, June 17, 2013

Brown Thrasher gathering nest material, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, June 17, 2013

 Arcadia meadows, Northampton, MA, June 17, 2013

With a little extra time this morning before taking a class in Northampton I headed over to Arcadia to check on the herons and some of the field birds. The area has been flooded for several days but was totally accessible today. I headed out along one of the fields and came across a dozen plus Savannah Sparrows as well as several Bobolinks and an Eastern Meadowlark. Once I got at the rookery I checked out the eagle nest and found an adult perched above the nest containing two young. The heron young were also present and quite vocal. I had around 50 Great Blue Herons present with many being young birds of various ages. Some nests contained just one young bird while a few others had more with at least a couple with three birds crowded in the nest. I tried once again to find an egret among them but the only other wader I had was a Green Heron flyby. I walked further out along the field edges and added several Willow Flycatchers, more Savannah Sparrows and Bobolinks plus other species. I also had a Brown Thrasher gathering nest material along the roadside. With my time running out I headed out after about an hour and a half there.

Green Heron (taken through binos with iPhone), Belchertown Land Trust trail, June 17, 2013

A bit after lunch I got home and picked up Wilson to head out for a few walks with stops at the land trust trails and a section of Covey WMA. The breeze picked up during these walks which limited some bird song but we still managed to find quite a few species but nothing unusual.

I also got a report from another birder of a Black crowned Night Heron along the rail trail in Amherst during the morning today. I still have not caught up with that species yet so I may try for it tomorrow if I can. It is a long shot as there is a lot of good habitat for it over there and I will only have a limited time but it is worth a shot.