Red Crossbills (Type 1) on Prescott

Red Crossbill, Prescott Peninsula, July 7, 2013

Red Crossbill, Prescott Peninsula, July 7, 2013

Swamp Sparrow, Prescott Peninsula, July 7, 2013

I spent the first part of the morning on Prescott Peninsula conducting bird surveys of the various fields located there.  I managed to check several fields despite the large numbers of mosquitoes and deer flies that made just being outside the car an adventure all by itself!  Nothing too unusual with the fields but did confirm additional breeding by field habitat species.  The species of the day was at least two Red Crossbills that I found on the upper part of the peninsula and managed to get a couple of distant photos as well as a short video before they took off to parts unknown.  I will send the video off to Matt Young at Cornell to see what specific type of Red Crossbill was present today.  ** Matt Young has confirmed the type as Type 1** I have been trying to find this species on the peninsula again as I had them there in spring and other researchers had them there within the last month.  The species has bred here before and is likely doing so again.  The Prescott Peninsula is one of the only places in the state that Red Crossbills breed.

The only large mammal of the day was an adult Eastern Coyote seen from a distance.  No sign of the three pups I had here a few days ago.

Updates to hurricane season and crossbills

Tropical Atlantic map, Aug 9, 2012, from NOAA

A quick update on a couple of topics I have talked about before.  The first is the ongoing hurricane season.  As of today the updated prediction for the season shows it at average or a bit above.  As the season has gone on the predictions for the total numbers of named storms has increased.  Here is a bit of the latest information courtesy of NOAA:

"Across the entire Atlantic Basin for the season – June 1 to November 30 – NOAA’s updated seasonal outlook projects a total (which includes the activity-to-date of tropical storms Alberto, Beryl, Debbie, Florence and hurricanes Chris and Ernesto) of:

·         12 to 17 named storms (top winds of 39 mph or higher), including:

·         5 to 8 hurricanes (top winds of 74 mph or higher), of which:

·         2 to 3 could be major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of at least 111 mph)

The numbers are higher from the initial outlook in May, which called for 9-15 named storms, 4-8 hurricanes and 1-3 major hurricanes. Based on a 30-year average, a normal Atlantic hurricane season produces 12 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes."

So far there has been six named storms with two of those being hurricanes.  As of August 9^th there is one named storm striking Mexico and a new tropical depression that has formed well out in the Atlantic that is predicted to become the next tropical storm.
The entire prediction and explanation can be found at the following link:

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2012/20120809_atlantic_hurricane_season_update.html

Red Crossbill, Prescott Peninsula, July 28, 2012

The other topic I will update are the Red Crossbills occurring in the Quabbin area this year.  A few experts from Cornell have contacted me to get additional video/audio for analysis to determine the specific type of crossbill located here.  I have uploaded additional photos and video from not only this season but previous seasons as well at Quabbin which can be found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/sets/72157630961068938/

The initial analysis done with the assistance of Ian Davies is likely correct in identifying the specific birds as Type 2 but there was some question and a bit further in the way of analysis was completed by Matthew Young from Cornell and this is the message I just got back this afternoon:

"Hi Guys,

I did the analysis on all of the material.   I would have to say that all except maybe 6589 and RECR 1 are of Type 2. Even these two recordings, I suspect are Type 2 as well, but a cautious approach would be to leave these two as probable Type 2 or unable to identify to type 100%. What was the corresponding video to RECR_1?

* probable type 2
Mass_Red Crossbills_6536.wav: classic Type 2
Mass_Red Crossbills_6541.wav: Type 2
Mass_Red Crossbills_6546.wav:  Type 2
Mass_Red Crossbills_6547.wav: Type 2
Mass_Red Crossbills_6550.wav: Type 2
Mass_Red Crossbills_6589.wav: Type 2 *
Mass_Red Crossbills_6612.wav: Type 2
RECR_1: Type 2 *
RECR_2:  Type 2

Type 1 have a more attenuated chip and these two have a sound that is suggestive of that...and the specs are a bit intermediate. Anyway, I'm attaching short wav files of Type 1 and 2 I've recorded in NY. These are good examples of both."

Red Crossbills

The following photos were taken on June 3 in a restricted area of Quabbin. I was in the area with a permit working on the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas. The three birds (one adult female and two juveniles) flew into a pine and the adult female fed the juveniles on several occasions. The area in which these birds were seen is quite remote. A truly unique breeding record for Massachusetts. Also in the area of these birds were a variety of other interesting breeders (or possible breeders) including Cerulean Warbler, Worm eating Warbler and several Whip Poor Wills among others.