June begins with rainy, cool weather plus a more detailed look at the whip poor will surveys



Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 2, 2015

Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 2, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 2, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 1, 2015

As the rain and cool weather has made getting out for any extended period tough the last couple days I don't have a lot to report.  I had hopes that the rainy, cool weather would ground some late season migrants but no luck in finding anything of note at Winsor Dam during checks of the location early and late in the day. I'm sure with enough looking something good could be found but I didn't have the time. The only notable report I saw was of a Short billed Dowitcher in the southern Berkshires.  At least I got some close looks at a Common Loon this evening at the dam.  Sadly these days of rainy, cold weather is quite tough on aerial insectivores (swallows and swift) as well as turkeys which should just be hatching out young now. 

Eastern Whip Poor Will, Covey WMA, May 18, 2013 (no new shots of this species)

Without a lot of new stuff report I will take this time to look at the two Eastern Whip Poor Will survey routes I completed during the end of last week. This was the fourth time I have completed the Prescott Peninsula route and the total of seven whips at the ten stops is exactly the same total I have gotten every time I have done the survey. However the locations of the individuals have changed a bit with a drop off in some areas and an increase in others. When you consider the additional calling individuals between survey stops (three additional birds) the total beats the previous years. The Quabbin Park (and south) route is now in its third year and this years total of 11 on the route is a bit below last years total of 14 but above the first years total of just five (that year the conditions to run the route were not optimal so the lower total is not unexpected). Overall it appears to be a roughly average to just above average year for the whip poor wills along the route. I have included the breakdown of each route with totals below:

Quabbin Park route

Stop #                      # of whip poor wills heard

1                             1

2                             0

3                             2

4                             1

5                             3

6                             2

7                             1

8                             0

9                             1

10                           0

                               11 total (plus one more between stops)

Prescott Peninsula route

Stop #                    # of whip poor wills heard

1                            0  

2                            1

3                            1

4                            1

5                            1

6                            0

7                            0

8                            2

9                            1

10                          0
                              7 total (plus three more between stops)

I may try to run the Prescott Peninsula route again if I can find the time and the weather works out because a couple of stops on the route had breezy conditions that made hearing any distant birds difficult. I also want to check out the area where I heard a piece of a call as I was driving between stops that sounded a lot like a Chuck Wills Widow. I did not hear the sound when I stopped the car and I didn't have too much time to spend checking it out during the survey. I'm doubtful it was truly a Chucks Will Widow but certainly worth another check.

I also got some information back from Kevin regarding the annual Poverty Mountain bird survey and the total number of species reached 60 species which is the average number for the count up there.