June ends, July begins

Sunset at Winsor Dam, Belchertown, MA, June 30, 2012

As June comes to an end we are in the middle of yet another heat wave with temperatures Friday nearing 95 and reaching 90 on Saturday.  Thankfully it is not nearly as humid as the last heat wave so it is tolerable to be outside.

Eastern Whip-poor-will calling, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, June 30, 2012

At dusk I spent some time around Winsor Dam at Quabbin Park looking to see if I could find any Eastern Whip-poor-wills calling.  I have not tried for them here for a few weeks so I was not sure they would still be around and calling.  At 8:50 one started calling and was joined by a second.  I then headed to the second entrance to Quabbin Park and had another one there.  My next stop was at Covey WMA where I added two more including a fairly good look at one as it flew past me.

Hooded Warbler, Quabbin, July 1, 2012

Hooded Warbler, Quabbin, July 1, 2012

Broad-winged Hawk, Quabbin Gate 12, July 1, 2012

Red Admiral, Quabbin Gate 12, July 1, 2012

On Sunday I decided to try again for the Hooded Warbler on the west side of Quabbin.  After an absense of a few weeks the male was back singing in the same spot he had been in all spring this year as well as last year.  Although difficult to get a good view of I did manage a few marginal photos.  There was still no sign of suceeful nesting but I certainly hope he was successful this year.  I made a few other stops along the west side of Quabbin with several good looks at various nesting species including a vocal Broad-winged Hawk at gate 12.  By late morning the temperature was well into the 80's so I decided to head in and getb out of the heat

Merlins in Northampton

A couple of days ago, while at work, I came across at least three Merlins near the Clarke School off  Elm Street in Northampton.  There appeared to be two adults and at least one young.  They were in the area that they were suspected of nesting this year.  This was one of two pairs that likely nested in the Northampton/Florence area this season.  This makes at least a few years that nesting has or was suspected of occuring in the local area.  This is only one of a handful of records of nesting Merlins in the state ever.  I'll elaborate on the nesting of Merlins in Massachusetts in a future post.  Sorry no photos of these birds.

Kingfishers and others before the rain



Belted Kingfishers (four of six), route 9 marsh, Quabbin, MA, June 25, 2012

Belted Kingfishers, route 9 marsh, Quabbin, MA, June 25, 2012

Belted Kingfisher with stick, route 9 marsh, Quabbin, MA, June 25, 2012

Belted Kingfisher with stick (beaver below), route 9 marsh, Quabbin, MA, June 25, 2012

Belted Kingfisher with stick, route 9 marsh, Quabbin, MA, June 25, 2012

With the prediction of rain I was not sure I would be able to get out at all this morning but the rain held off for a time.  I decided to stay close to home so I spent a little time at Winsor Dam and the route 9 marsh before heading home to take Wilson for a walk.  I ran across a family unit of six Belted Kingfisher with the young all centered around the largest beaver lodge.  The young would practice diving into the water and picking up sticks from the water and then whack the sticks against whatever they sat on once they returned from the water in a fashion similar to how the adults treated any fish they caught.  It was very interesting to see the young practicing this activity and I managed to catch it on video.  I didn't have my good camera with me today so all shots and video were taken with my iPhone.

Video of Belted Kingfisher 'practice fishing', route 9 marsh, June 25, 2012

In addition as I was watching the activity at the marsh a car stopped a few hundred feet past me on Route 9 and then turned around and came back toward me and said there were three Black Bears at which point of the them came over the guardrail and crossed the road and headed out into the woods. I wasn't quick enough to get a photo.  Other birds of note at the marsh included a Virginia Rail calling and 13+ Wood Ducks of various ages.

Barn Swallow adult feeding young, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 25, 2012

Barn Swallow young, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 25, 2012

A stop at Winsor Dam found a few freshly fledged Barn Swallows being attended to by adults.  The birds appeared to have very recently left the nest.

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

A futile search for terns...but other birds found

Barn Swallow, Quabbin Park, MA, June 23, 2012

Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Quabbin Park, MA, June 23, 2012

After a few reports over the last several days of terns around the area I decided to try my luck in finding some on the southern part of Quabbin.   The terns that have been seen around include Caspian Terns at north Quabbin and the Oxbow in Northampton and Common Terns (or perhaps Arctic?) in Berkshire county plus a few other Caspian's a bit further afield.  It was a long shot and I came up empty for the morning.  Despite not finding any terns there were still some good birds around but nothing unexpected.  As I watched for terns from Winsor Dam I got some great looks at various swallows as they worked the area in front of the headquarters building.  Great looks at Northern Rough-winged, Barn and Tree Swallows.

Belted Kingfishers, Quabbin Park, MA, June 23, 2012

Quabbin Park also had a family of Belted Kingfishers working the route 9 marsh.  I also found four species of vireo, twelve species of warbler, five species of flycatcher and four species of thrush plus many other birds.  There was a lone Bald Eagle near the nest at Winsor Dam but the nest was empty.

Tree Swallows (two nestlings visible), Belchertown, MA, June 23, 2012

Tree Swallow, Belchertown, MA, June 23, 2012

Tree Swallow (adult with fecal sac), Belchertown, MA, June 23, 2012

At home the Tree Swallows look to be getting close to fledge time with the adults in and out all day with food.  The young are now quite vocal and spend a lot of time at the nest hole waiting for the next arrival of food.  The end of the day brought some thunderstorms and a break from the heat and humidity of the last several days.

possible tracks of Debby as of Saturday evening

In addition another tropical storm has developed today, making four for the season so far.  This is the earliest ever there has been four named storms this early in the season.  The early start doesn't necessarily translate to a busy season throughout but it certainly bears watching.  the big determining factor will be El Nino and how it develops as the summer goes on.  The newest storm, Debby, is in the Gulf of Mexico and the exact track it will take is very much an unknown at this point as the various potential model routes above show.

House Wrens fledge

I just watched one of my nesting families of House Wrens fledge out of the nest box.  They have gotten big enough the last few days the adults rarely entered the box and instead fed them at the nest hole.  There are at least two more wrens still a bit reluctant to leave but the others have fledged.  The adult was able to coax one by flying up to the box with food which one of the young ate quickly and then coming right back with more food but instead flying away with it instead of feeding the young wren at the nest home.  The young wren immediately flew out and followed the adult into the blackberry bushes.  Neat to see.

First day of summer

Summer has 'officially' arrived as of today with the summer solstice occurring this evening.  The days around this date are the longest days of daylight we get all year with a sunrise occurring just before 5:15am and sunset around 8:30pm.  We then start the long slide back toward days getting shorter.  It does appear that summer has indeed arrived weather wise too as the temperature is expected to peak today and tomorrow in the mid to upper 90's with high humidity resulting in a heat index in the low to mid 100's.  As of 4:30 today the temperature is 97 with a heat index of 106.  Very warm indeed!  The heat is on for a large portion of the eastern part of the country.

Highs for Wednesday, courtesy of The Weather Channel