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| Ruby throated Hummingbird on nest, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 27, 2015 |
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| Ruby throated Hummingbird on nest, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 27, 2015 |
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| Cedar Waxwing, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 27, 2015 |
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| Mourning Dove, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 27, 2015 |
I took a trip up to Prescott Peninsula early this morning to conduct a few field surveys, follow up on a possible Cerulean Warbler found during a Breeding Bird Survey and check on the progress of the hummingbird nest I found there last week. The couple of fields I stopped at produced some good stuff including a Merlin that rocketed past heading south near the old observatory. In addition to today's sighting I had one a bit further down the peninsula a few weeks ago. Very interesting to have this species around this time of year and it is quite suggestive of breeding. I also had my first large group of post breeding grackles when I had around 175 Common Grackles leaving a roost around dawn. My attempt to find the Cerulean Warbler did not turn up this species despite a lot of looking. I had a few Black throated Blue Warblers in the area giving songs that sounded a lot like a Cerulean Warbler. It may have moved elsewhere or it was staying quiet or it was misidentified...who knows? I had them breeding in nearly the same area for a few years during the breeding bird atlas so it certainly is very possible that there is indeed a Cerulean Warbler around but I didn't find one this morning. My last mission of the morning was to check on the hummingbird nest. To show how well it is camouflaged, it still took me several minutes to find it even when I knew where it was. The female was still sitting tight on the nest so no sign of hatched young yet. Full list from the morning:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24070165
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| Turkey Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, June 27, 2015 |
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| Turkey Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, June 27, 2015 |
I had to make a trip over to Hadley midday so I stopped briefly to check out the vulture roost and found a total of eighteen Turkey Vultures, with most on the ground in a freshly cut field.
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| House Wren, home, Belchertown, MA, June 27, 2015 |
Meanwhile around the house today the second group of House Wrens (the one with the banded male) nesting in one of my boxes finally had the young leave the nest box this afternoon. The amount of chattering and carrying on has not dissipated at all and instead is now spread all around the yard. I also sighting the banded Northern Cardinal but was not able to get a photo.
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| White eyed Vireo, Belchertown, MA, June 26, 2015 |
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| White eyed Vireo, Belchertown, MA, June 26, 2015 |
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| White eyed Vireo, Belchertown, MA, June 26, 2015 |
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| Mallard with ducklings, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 26, 2015 |
I spent the very early morning yesterday trying to dodge some rainy weather (with limited success) as I made multiple stops at Quabbin Park, Lake Wallace and the White eyed Vireo spot in Belchertown. Quabbin Park was fairly quiet as the rain fell heavily and the wind was fairly strong. My first stop at Lake Wallace once again produced a Common Gallinule that vocalized once but was not seen. Thankfully the rain was fairly light which allowed me some time to explore without getting totally soaked. Other notable around included a calling Virginia Rail and lots of waterfowl. My first stop over to the vireo spot found 'the' bird fairly quickly but the bird stayed mainly hidden and distant. With the showers continuing I headed home for a bit to take Wilson for a walk. After walking Wilson I headed back to Lake Wallace to try to get a look at the gallinules but no luck finding them the second time around. Much of the same stuff there but a few new birds. By the time I made it to the vireo spot again the sun was starting to pop out but the wind stayed fairly strong making it tough to find the White eyed Vireo but I eventually got some great looks and some decent photos after much effort. The vireo has now been at the same location for almost five weeks and the gallinules have been around for three weeks. Once again no evidence of breeding with either species but I will certainly be keeping my eyes out. The other notable observation is how Blue winged Warblers seem to have gone silent since my stop last week when there were several calling males around.
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| Wilson on the trail in the rain, Belchertown, MA, June 26, 2015 |
In between my other stops I took Wilson for a walk along the land trust trail where we managed to get caught in a few showers but we made it through none the worse for wear.
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| House Wren with leg bands, Belchertown, MA, June 26, 2015 |
I spent the rest of the day doing work around the house and occasionally catching sight of some of the banded birds in the yard...primarily the House Wren that was very busy (along with his mate) bringing food into one of the nest boxes where some about ready to fledge youngsters loudly demanded more and more.
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