Quabbin Gate 12 and 15

Eastern Towhee, Gate 12, June 24, 2012

Eastern Towhee, Gate 12, June 24, 2012

I decided to spend some time checking out some of the western gates of Quabbin in search of a few target birds including Hooded Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher.  Yet again I was skunked on my target birds (but not for lack of trying!).  I was rewarded with finally catching up with a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.  I started at Gate 12 and walked for about 3/4 of a mile down and caught up with some various warblers and other breeders but nothing too unusual beyond the cuckoo.

Veery, Quabbin Gate 15, June 24, 2012

Veery, Quabbin Gate 15, June 24, 2012

Ovenbird, Quabbin Gate 15, June 24, 2012

Blackburnian Warbler, Quabbin Gate 15, June 24, 2012

Blackburnian Warbler, Quabbin Gate 15, June 24, 2012

Black-throated Blue Warbler, Quabbin Gate 15, June 24, 2012

Scarlet Tanager disassembling a dragonfly, Quabbin Gate 15, June 24, 2012

I next stopped at Gate 15 and took the southern road all the way down to the water and then cut out cross country for a few miles seeing what I could find.  I really hoped to find an Acadian Flycatcher here but no luck.  The road down along Briggs Brook is very overgrown and tough to get through in spots...prepare for getting wet!  After striking out along Briggs Brook I walked up through Atherton Brook trying to find an Acadian...again no luck.  Lots of breeding birds around with many bringing food to nests.  I ran into a few little pockets of warblers deep in the woods with several coming in quite close. The darkness of the woods may for some less than ideal photo opportunities but it was still great to get up close looks at these birds.   After several hours of exploring the area I headed for home.  There were many highlights from the day so I'm going to let the list speak for itself. 

Video of Winter Wren singing, Gate 15, June 24, 2012

Lots of Moose signs (scat, tracks, rubbings) too but no actual animals. 

Here is the list from Gate 15:

Common Merganser  3     all at end of road on water neat loon raft
Spotted Sandpiper  1     flying to small island
Ring-billed Gull  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  2
Downy Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  4
Eastern Wood-Pewee  3
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue-headed Vireo  3
Red-eyed Vireo  21     minimum number
Blue Jay  5
Black-capped Chickadee  11
Red-breasted Nuthatch  6
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Brown Creeper  1
Winter Wren  4     three singing various spots, one juvenile
Veery  17
Hermit Thrush  1
Gray Catbird  2
Cedar Waxwing  8
Ovenbird  31
Louisiana Waterthrush  1     one along brook chipping
Black-and-white Warbler  11
Common Yellowthroat  3
American Redstart  1
Magnolia Warbler  9
Blackburnian Warbler  17
Chestnut-sided Warbler  1
Black-throated Blue Warbler  19
Pine Warbler  9
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  7  a few freshly fledged
Black-throated Green Warbler  35   minimum number
Eastern Towhee  3
Chipping Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  1
Scarlet Tanager  4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1

Whip-poor-will survey route scouting trip

Black-throated Blue Warbler, Prescott Peninsula, June 1, 2012

Tree Swallow,  Prescott Peninsula, June 1, 2012

Red-winged Blackbird, Prescott Peninsula, June 1, 2012

Indigo Bunting,  Prescott Peninsula, June 1, 2012

Red-winged Blackbird, Prescott Peninsula, June 1, 2012

Today I made a trip to the restricted Prescott Peninsula to scout out the route I will be doing for an upcoming Whip-poor-will survey.  I was joined for part of the morning by one of the Quabbin biologist before we parted ways so she could check on a few of the nesting loons.  During the Massachusetts breeding bird atlas a population of Whip-poor-wills was noted on the lower third of the peninsula in areas that had been logged.  The Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program created this route to study the long term health of this population.  The hope is to be able to determine not only the health of this group but what type of vegetation and management practices are present in the various areas of the survey route.

Tornado track through Massachusetts, June 1, 2011 (image from June 5, 2011 courtesy of earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

Today also marks the one year anniversary of the tornado that moved through the southern part of western Massachusetts causing some severe devastation.  The largest (of four) tornadoes was listed as an EF3 tornado and stayed on the ground for almost 40 miles and was at times a half mile wide.  Luckily we sustained no damage at the house but we did end up with a heavily damaged car that was in Springfield during the tornado.  One of the more impressive photos of the event is shown above.  The satellite image does a great job of capturing the scope of the damage.