Common Yellowthroat, Breeding Bird Survey stop #45, Monson, MA, Jun 8, 2025
Chestnut sided Warbler, Breeding Bird Survey stop #34, Conant Brook Reservoir, Monson, MA, Jun 8, 2025
Eastern Towhee, Breeding Bird Survey stop #34, Conant Brook Reservoir, Monson, MA, Jun 8, 2025
American Kestrel, Breeding Bird Survey stop #29, Monson, MA, Jun 8, 2025
Fields as skies clear, Breeding Bird Survey stop #29, Monson, MA, Jun 8, 2025
Morning fog, Breeding Bird Survey stop #3, Belchertown, MA, Jun 8, 2025
I completed my annual Breeding Bird Survey route today with weather that started with a little fog and then cleared off to hazy sun. This was my 16th consecutive year running this route, which starts in Belchertown and then heads south to the Connecticut border. For those who don't know what a Breeding Bird Survey entails I will give a quick overview. The survey routes consists of 50 stops for three minutes each at half mile increments and many have been conducted for years thus showing population trends among species over time. The route I conduct has been in place since 1967. The route begins early at 4:42AM and I usually finish up some time around nine. It is interesting to see how the species count and make up changes over time. It is also a little sad as with each passing year more and more houses pop up along the route and with the houses come a loss of forest species and all the perils to birds that people bring. I try to conduct the route on a Sunday to minimize traffic noise and disturbance from people. Although time is at a premium during the survey I managed to get a few photos this time.
Below is table of each year I have conducted the survey
year # of species date of survey
2010 71 June 20
2011 64 June 26
2012 56 June 3
2013 67 June 23
2014 70 June 15
2015 75 June 14
2016 78 June 19
2017 73 June 22
2018 71 June 22
2019 83 June 9
2020 76 June 14
2021 71 June 19
2022 78 June 5
2023 77 June 25
2024 84 June 2
2025 77 June 8
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