Breeding Bird Survey completed today

Blue winged Warbler, Monson, MA, Jun 5, 2022

UMASS Orchard before dawn, Belchertown, MA, Jun 5, 2022

Farm fields, Monson, MA, Jun 5, 2022

Sawmill Brook, Monson, MA, Jun 5, 2022

As the migration season has mostly come to an end the season on conducting various surveys for breeding birds begins.  This morning I conducted my annual breeding bird survey route that runs from Belchertown south to the Connecticut (more on the breeding bird survey at the following link).  The survey consists of 50 stops at half mile intervals with each stop lasting 3 minutes.  I try to find a sunny weekend morning (preferably a Sunday to avoid traffic noise) with calm conditions and today was prefect with sunny weather and calm winds.  The survey starts at 4:42AM so it is an early wake up call to begin the route.  Even before the survey began I had an American Bittern back at the house calling before the sun came up...a good omen I suppose.  I then started the route and spent the next three and a half hours completing it. This is the 13th year I have completed the route and I found a total of 78 species (with a dozen species of warbler).  I had two new species this year with an Alder Flycatcher and a few Great Horned Owls bringing my total number of species over the last 13 years to 110.  The route has been active since 1967 so this marks the 55th year of this route (here is a link to all the data from 1967-2021).  Below are the totals for species for each year I have conducted the survey.

year                 # of species

2010                 71

2011                 64

2012                 56

2013                 67

2014                 70

2015                 75

2016                 78

2017                 73

2018                 71

2019                 83

2020                 76

2021                 71

2022                 78

The ten most abundant species this year are listed in the table below (# of stops species present at)

American Robin                          41
Red eyed Vireo                            34
Chipping Sparrow                        32

Northern Cardinal                        31   
American Crow                           30
Gray Catbird                                29

Ovenbird                                      29

Mourning Dove                           28

House Wren                                 27

Black capped Chickadee             26 (tied)

Tufted Titmouse                          26 (tied)

                               

Black Vulture, Belchertown, MA, Jun 5, 2022

Canada Warbler, Pelham, MA, Jun 5, 2022

Scarlet Tanager, Cadwell Memorial Forest, Pelham, MA, Jun 5, 2022

Black Vulture, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jun 5, 2022

           
Once I completed the survey I headed back into Hampshire County and made a few stops turning up a number of species as I made numerous stops.  Notables included multiple Black Vultures around Belchertown and some good looks at breeding species in Pelham.  

Nine species of flycatchers this morning

Olive sided Flycatcher, Mt Tom State Reservation, Easthampton, MA, May 2, 2022

Red eyed Vireo, Mt Tom State Reservation, Easthampton, MA, May 2, 2022

Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid, Fog Hollow, Southampton, MA, May 2, 2022

After another very long shift at work I got out this morning and headed out in search of birds for the month and possibly some late migrants.  I made my first stop over to nearby Fitzgerald Lake where I had at least one Acadian Flycatcher (it has been a good year for the species in the area) in habitat that is marginal for the species.  After my short stop there I headed over to Mount Tom to once again search for a Hooded Warbler that has been sporadically heard in the area.  When I arrived the first bird I heard was a singing Olive sided Flycatcher, which was out in the open on a dead snag and I got some distant photos as well as a recording (only the second time I have gotten a recording of the species).  I once again had no luck with finding the Hooded Warbler but had a number of other breeding species.  At this point I had already had eight species of flycatcher and I would add another (Willow Flycatcher) when I made it home and took Wilson for a walk.  The only flycatcher species I missed that was still a realistic possibility this time of year was a Yellow bellied Flycatcher.  I made a couple more brief stops without too much noteworthy beyond a continued Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid in Southampton.

Hooded Merganser chicks in duck box #1, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2022

Hooded Merganser nest remains in duck box #1, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jun 2, 2022

The last Hooded Merganser nest has now fledged and I unfortunately missed capturing video of them leaving the nest.  I did capture a couple mammals checking out the area around the box including a Mink and a Raccoon.  

May comes to an end

Arctic Terns, Quabbin Gate 5, Belchertown, MA, May 13, 2022

White eyed Vireo, Fisk Meadow WMA, Chesterfield, MA, May 24, 2022

Red headed Woodpecker, Quabbin Park, MA, May 26, 2022

Cattle Egret, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2022

Canada Goose goslings, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 3, 2022

Cerulean Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 5, 2022

Black throated Blue Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 6, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 7, 2022

Great Egret, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, May 10, 2022

White crowned Sparrow, Quabbin Park, MA, May 12, 2022

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 14, 2022

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 16, 2022

Blackburnian Warbler, Cadwell Memorial Forest, Pelham, MA, May 18, 2022

Red eyed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, May 21, 2022

Common Yellowthroat (with a bit of a lower eye arc), Ware, MA, May 26, 2022

Hooded Warbler, Westfield, MA, May 28, 2022

Spotted Turtle, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA,  May 28, 2022

A quick summary of the big month of May now that it has come to an all to quick end.  Overall the month ended with a lower than normal total species for me in Hampshire County with 170 species (my lowest total in the last five years but still an impressive tally).  Migration was a bit later than has been typical the last several years but it finally increased mid month when I had an impromptu big day in Hampshire County with 142 species.  There were a number of highlights including an amazing 18 Arctic Terns at Quabbin (a new species for me in the county...#303), a White eyed Vireo, a Cattle Egret, a returning Purple Martin in Hadley and a Red headed Woodpecker in Quabbin Park plus others.  June still has the potential of some late migrants and hopefully a rarity or two but I will spend a lot of time conducting various breeding bird surveys.

Hooded Merganser chicks in duck box #1, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2022

Raccoon, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 26, 2022

American Crow, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 24, 2022

On the last day of the month I checked the last remaining duck box nest and found newly hatched out Hooded Mergansers that will fledge soon.  Another year of two successful Hooded Merganser nests plus another box that ended up with lots of eggs but the nest was abandoned.  At least the crows and raccoons got to enjoy the eggs left over.

Poverty Mountain bird survey

Black Bear, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 29, 2022

Belted Kingfisher, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 29, 2022

Fog over the marsh, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 29, 2022

I made the trek over to Kevin and Cynthia's property this morning to conduct the annual bird count there.  I have lost count of how many years I have been doing this survey but I suppose it must be over 15 by now.  Before making it over to conduct the survey I took a walk along the rail trail in Amherst in the hopes of finding some late migrants and had some luck when I ran across an Acadian Flycatcher.  Most of the remaining birds appeared to be breeders.  The best non birding sighting of the morning was a Black Bear that appeared out of the fog at the edge of the marsh.

I arrived up at the bird survey site around 7AM and then went out with a number of other birders and we managed to find a total of 26 species for our portion of the survey during two hours of walking.  I'm still waiting to hear back the overall total from Kevin and I will post those numbers when I get them.  It was a gorgeous day to explore their impressive property and the weather could not have been better with comfortable temps, low humidity, no wind and sunny skies and almost no mosquitoes or other annoying insects.  

Peak migration comes to an end

Red headed Woodpecker, Quabbin Park, MA, May 26, 2022

Common Yellowthroat (with a bit of a lower eye arc), Ware, MA, May 26, 2022

Hooded Merganser on nest box, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, May 25, 2022

Mallard ducklings, Pines Edge Conservation Area, Northampton, MA, May 24, 2022

White eyed Vireo, Fisk Meadow WMA, Chesterfield, MA, May 24, 2022

Brewster's Warbler, Sweet Alice Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, May 23, 2022

Red eyed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, May 21, 2022

Canada Warbler, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, May 20, 2022

Mourning Warbler, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 20, 2022

The peak of spring migration is now behind us for another year although there certainly are still migrants moving through and I will certainly be out trying to track stuff down.  As always it has been hectic to try to fit in as much time outside while still dealing with work and the rest of life.  The last week or so has produced some good stuff including a continued Red headed Woodpecker at Quabbin Park, a day when I found ten Mourning Warblers, a White eyed Vireo and others.  I'll include a selection of photos to illustrate some of my sightings.  I'll try to do an end of month wrap up if I can.  June will be here in less than a week and with it will come my various breeding bird surveys as the birds get down to nesting for the season.  I also hit a milestone with my 39,000th complete eBird list submitted today.

Red headed Woodpecker at Quabbin Park

Red headed Woodpecker, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2022

Red headed Woodpecker, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2022

Red headed Woodpecker, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2022

Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2022

Yellow bellied Sapsuckers mating, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2022

After another long shift at work I got out this morning to sunny skies and temps that were only in the upper 50's...quite a change from the previous two days when temps reached into the 90's.  I was originally going to try to track down a reported Hooded Warbler at Mt Tom but after seeing negative reports from others and the increasingly windy conditions I ditched that plan and instead made a brief stop down at Arcadia before heading home.  I did some stuff around the house and was finishing up a few odd and ends when I saw a report from Sara of a Red headed Woodpecker in Quabbin Park.  I headed right over to the general area and after quite a bit of looking I heard and then saw the bird, a stunning adult.  I got some recordings and distant photos.  The Red headed Woodpecker is a new species for me in Quabbin Park (species #250) as well as in the Quabbin area overall (species #254).  This follows on the heals of the unprecedented number of Arctic Terns that gave me another new Quabbin species earlier this month.