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| Ruffed Grouse, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 25, 2014 |
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| Ruffed Grouse, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 25, 2014 |
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| Ruffed Grouse, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 25, 2014 |
This morning was the annual Poverty Mountain bird census up at
Kevin Weirs property in Shutesbury and Amherst. As we were not starting until
7am I had a bit of time before hand to check a few spots nearby including the
rail trail and Orchard Hill at UMASS. The morning was very foggy which limited
visibility a bit but the birds were still singing. Highlights along the rail
trail included the continued Ruffed Grouse which is quite tame and I had a fun
time just standing there as it came up to me and occasionally pecked at my
shoes...no idea how this bird has not been picked off by a predator or someone
on a bike. I also had a calling Black billed Cuckoo among the other more
typical species. Orchard Hill held the typical assortment of birds with a total
of 38 species but nothing out of the ordinary. Below are links to video of the grouse from along the rail trail:
I arrived at Kevin's
place just before seven and we split up into smaller groups to scour the acreage
up there looking for various species. I still don't have the total numbers yet
but our group had good numbers of a few species of warbler including
Blackburnian, Black throated Green, Black throated Blue Warblers and Ovenbirds
plus a few other usual ones including Blackpoll, Nashville and Wilson's
Warblers. Also a good showing of thrushes in our mainly forested section.
After a couple hours there I had to head back home.
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| Common Nighthawk, Belchertown, MA, May 25, 2014 |
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| Common Nighthawk, Belchertown, MA, May 25, 2014 |
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| Common Nighthawk, Belchertown, MA, May 25, 2014 |
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| Common Nighthawk, Belchertown, MA, May 25, 2014 |
I spent the vast majority of the rest of the day around the house and had a nice selection of birds totalling almost sixty species. Mostly resident breeding birds but a nice show of at least a dozen Common Nighthawks migrating north.
With the south winds overnight we should see a push of migrants come in but the overall variety is starting to get low as May rapidly comes to an end. We shall see what tomorrow morning brings us.
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