Several bird surveys, more Mourning Warblers and an epic list from Quebec

Goodnough Dike at dusk, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2018

I conducted both of my Eastern Whip Poor Will surveys in the past several days and found a decent number of birds (and actually saw several).  The routes consist of 10 stops at one mile intervals with passive listening at each stop for six minutes...the conditions have to be clear, calm and the moon has to be up so it can be tough to get the routes in as lining up all the right conditions with time off can be tough.  My first route, which goes through Quabbin Park and then south along the Swift River, was completed on May 23rd and was very productive (at least within Quabbin Park) with a total of 26 Eastern Whip Poor Wills with 25 of them in Quabbin Park.  My second route goes from the southern part of the Prescott Peninsula all the way up to the northern end of the peninsula and I completed that route last night.  Last night was the first time I have ever had two species of nightjars during one of my survey when I had singing Eastern Whip Poor Wills and a calling Common Nighthawk at one of my stops...very cool.  Someday perhaps I will find a Chucks Wills Widow on one of my routes.  I also had a Northern Saw Whet Owl at one of my stops last night...only the second time I have recorded that species during a EWPW survey.  In addition to the birds I had a family of Black Bears at my first stop and a Moose near the end of the survey plus way too numerous ticks and mosquitoes.

Here are the comparisons of the previous surveys since I started running them..it was a good year:

Prescott

2012 -9 total individuals with 7 at survey stops
2013 -9 total individuals with all at survey stops
2014 -7 total individuals with all at survey stops
2015 -10 total individuals with 7 at survey stops
2016 -10 total individuals with 7 at survey stops
2017 -15 total individuals with 11 at survey stops
2018 -19 total individuals with 7 at survey stops

Quabbin Park

2013 -6 total individuals with 5 at survey stops
2014 -14 total individuals with all at survey stops
2015 -13 total individuals with 11 at survey stops
2016 -6 total individuals with all at survey stops
2017 -19 total individuals with 15 at survey stops
2018 -26 total individuals with 14 at survey stops

On Monday I assisted in the 10th annual bird survey at Poverty Mountain in Shutesbury.  Although the weather was less than ideal there were still birds active but the rain certainly reduced the overall numbers and variety.  Even in bad weather it is a joy to bird at Kevin and Cynthia's farm. 

American Redstart on nest, Quabbin Park, MA, May 29, 2018

American Robin feeding nestlings, Quabbin Park, MA, May 29, 2018

Yellow billed Cuckoo, Quabbin Park, MA, May 29, 2018

Mourning Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 29, 2018

Hooded Mergansers, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, May 29, 2018

Today I spent my time around the local area with an early morning visit over to Lake Wallace before heading into Quabbin Park for a few hours where I had a decent selection of birds including at least three Mourning Warblers among some 70+ species.  The number of migrants continues to drop with most birds around now being breeders.

Red Foxes, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 27, 2018

Red Foxes, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 27, 2018

Red Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 25, 2018

The Red Fox family is still around the house but not sure for how much longer as the kits are almost the same size as the adults.  I have caught just fleeting glimpses of them but the cameras around the yard have captured them quite a bit.

Eastern Phoebe with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 26, 2018

House Wren with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 26, 2018

American Robin with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 26, 2018

Tufted Titmouse and Chipping Sparrow watching a Garter Snake, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 28, 2018

Tree Swallow nest with egg, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 23, 2018

Swainson's Thrush, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 24, 2018

Eastern Phoebe nestlings, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 28, 2018

Multiple birds are breeding in the yard with some nests with eggs and others with nestlings being fed.  There has been a Swainson's Thrush that was hanging around the yard and occasionally singing for nearly a week but it seems it may have finally continued on with its migration.  I also continue to see a number of banded birds around the yard including Eastern Phoebe, House Wren and American Robin.  Still no sign of any of the GPS tagged robins but I'm keeping an eye out.  With any luck we will catch one (or more) when we band again on June 7th.  Besides the birds and mammals that I have caught on the camera I captured a Garter Snake on the camera yesterday.


I also just have to post a link to an absolutely incredible eBird list from former valley resident and good friend Ian Davies from yesterday up in Tadoussac, Quebec (located along the St. Lawrence River northeast of Quebec City).  I noticed a post from Ian last night regarding the day after I got home from my whip poor will survey.  When Ian started his post off last night regarding the list with the simple words "Today was the greatest birding day of my life" I knew I was in for a treat.  I opened the list to see totals of several species that were just mind blowing...721,000+ total warblers with 144,000+ Bay breasted Warblers, 108,000+ Cape May Warblers, 72,000+ Tennessee Warblers, 108,000+ Magnolia Warblers, etc, etc, etc.  Given the drastic drop in populations of so many neotropic migrants it is even more amazing to see these kind of numbers at a single point in a single day.  It truly does boggle the mind. As words cannot truly describe the absolute epic-ness of the the day I will let the list speak for itself: Tadoussac.  One of the largest (if not the largest) count of warblers in a single count...and the best part is the birds were just moving through on their way to breeding grounds....there have been a few high counts in the past but usually it is the result of weather grounding birds and resulting in high mortality but not the case with yesterdays list.  I know we had several great days of birding in the valley when Ian was here they don't even come close to his day yesterday.  Congrats to Ian and the others for being present (and documenting) a truly amazing day of migration.