Two nights of Eastern Whip Poor Will surveys

 

Sunset, Goodnough Dike, Quabbin Park, MA, May 26, 2026

Although a bit sleep deprived with early mornings out birding and two back to back nights of Eastern Whip Poor Wills it has still been a great couple days as migration rapidly slows down.  On Monday I tried to get the first of my two surveys done but I was stymied by some downed trees on the restricted access Prescott Peninsula at Quabbin.  I usually try to check the route prior to attempting it but ran out of time so I made the attempt.  I ran across a few downed trees and finally got stopped short of my first stop by a couple miles.  I hope to be able to run the full route again in the near future but seeing I was already there I figured I would run the stops I could get to just in case I can't make another attempt.  The conditions were perfect with clear skies, moonlight and calm winds.  I had multiple Eastern Whip Poor Wills calling at the first few stops and then nothing on the northern parts of the peninsula (this is usually the case as the birds always seem to be on the southern and middle part of the peninsula).  Yesterday I completed the second route with a biologist from DCR.  Most of the route is in Quabbin Park and then continues south through Belchertown.  We had great conditions for the most part and had multiple Eastern Whip Poor Wills at most stops in the park.  I then added multiple more individuals as I continued the route through Covey WMA and beyond.  Conditions were very good with only one stop featuring any wind at all.  No photos of any of the whips but the sunset yesterday was spectacular.  I even managed to add another whip this morning at home when I headed out the door a little after four and had a whip singing...only my third record ever at the house.