Category: MA Birding

Southern Birds

Mary and I drove three hours southeast to northern Massachusetts yesterday and it is like we became southerners.  Not only have we changed stick season’s chilly rain and fog for mid-seventies and pretty foliage, I’m hearing and seeing birds that I thought I had seen the last of until spring.  Seven Eastern Bluebirds this morning!

I have a walk from Jen’s house that I take nearly every morning I’m visiting — it’s a little over a mile down a busy road lined with oaks and often, very birdy.  I got out yesterday morning early before the homeowners got their leaf blowers going, and before the traffic picked up.  In spite of fog and a little drizzle, what a mix of bird noises greeted me.

We get a lot of Tufted Titmice here and I love their feistiness and constant chipping and singing.  They are sparse in our Vermont woods but dozens were out and about, and a couple were pretty brassy, watching me at about eye level.   I heard, and saw the whole woodpecker gang, missing only a Pileated.  The other real noisy bird was a crew of White-breasted Nuthatches joined by a couple of Red-breasted cousins.  Here’s the list from the hour-long walk:

Cooper’s Hawk  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Downy Woodpecker  3
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  13
Tufted Titmouse  6
Red-breasted Nuthatch  3
White-breasted Nuthatch  6
Eastern Bluebird  6
American Robin  6
European Starling  12
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Dark-eyed Junco  6
Northern Cardinal  4

Later, Mary and I drove over to Cherry Hill Reservoir after doing some errands.  There were lots of ducks on the water but the light was horrible.  We did see a cooperative Northern Mockingbird who posed on a fence rail for quite some time, but flew off just as I got my digiscoping rig set up.  We also saw a duck species I hadn’t seen since 2010 in Texas — Ruddy Duck.  I took some photos through the scope but the light is not helpful other than for identification.

Ruddy Duck
Ruddy Ducks are one of the “stiff-tailed” ducks.

We are going to be here for several more days so I hope to get out to Plum Island and up the Cape Ann to see what migration may be bringing in. Check back here for results.

Snowy Owl Season in Massachusetts

    Here is a summary of the Snowy Owl season compiled by Norm Smith of Massachusetts Audubon.
    The snowy owl season for this year from November 2011 through May
    2012 was a great one. We banded a total of 52 snowy owls and
    recaptured an owl we had banded two years ago. Of the owls banded 42
    were captured at Logan Airport, 29 were released at Duxbury Beach and
    13 released at Plum Island. In addition to the owls banded at Logan
    Airport 4 owls were banded at Duxbury Beach and 6 were banded at Plum
    Island.

    All the 53 owls captured were in great condition, good body weight
    and excellent feather condition. 46 of the owls were hatch year birds
    (Owls that were born last summer) and 7 were after hatch year birds
    (owls more than 1 year old). There were five snowy owls found dead
    this season in Massachusetts, 1 hit by a propeller of a Cape Air
    plane at Logan, 1 killed by a jet blast at Logan, 1 found dead on
    Deer Island that died from rodenticide poison, 1 found dead at Plum
    Island that had a broken wing and 1 found dead at Plum Island that
    had a pellet stuck in its throat from the teeth on the lower jaw of a
    rat that had perforated the esophagus and the owl could not
    regurgitate the pellet and died.

    The last 2 owls that were captured at Logan were released at Plum
    Island on May 11th and May 29th.

    From communication with researchers on Baffin Island over the years
    when they have a good lemming year like last summer the owls breed
    producing lots of young and that is when we see good owl numbers in
    Massachusetts. If in fact these owls were leaving the arctic because
    there was no food in the arctic they would probably never make it
    here and if they did would not arrive here in good condition.

    Over the past 31 years that we have been doing research on snowy owls
    the best winter to date was the winter of 1986-87 when we banded 43
    snowy owls at Logan Airport. This past winter was the second best
    with 42 banded at Logan.

    Thanks to the Nuttall Ornithological Club we were able to put a
    satellite transmitter on one of the owls to track its movements.
    Check out our web site to track this owl.

    http://www.massaudubon.org/Birds_and_Birding/snowyowl/index.php

    Norman Smith
    Sanctuary Director
    Mass Audubon Blue Hills Sanctuary
    1904 Canton Ave.
    Milton, MA 02186
    617 333-0690 ext 222
    nsmith AT massaudubon.org

A Couple of Life Birds

Like many birders, I subscribe to listserves for areas where I plan to travel and “lurk” on them, checking out what others are reporting in the days and weeks prior to my arrival.  Thus, I was reading MASSBIRDS prior to our grandparenting trip and noting that folks were seeing some neat birds at the Salt Pannes south of Newburyport on Route 1A.  I drove over the first morning after we arrived, to find several birders already in place with scopes aimed at the marshes.


As it turns out, it was the week prior to the MA Audubon’s Bird-a-Thon which is this coming weekend so birders were out in force scouting.  For Bird-a-thon 2012, there are 28 teams, each supporting an individual wildlife sanctuary, a group of sanctuaries, or a Mass Audubon program. The teams are vying to see:

  • Which team can spot the most bird species in 24 hours
  • Which team can raise the most money for their wildlife sanctuary or program
I no sooner got out of the truck and got my scope set up when a guy pointed out a Stilt Sandpiper, which is a new bird for me.  I asked him why he knew it was that and several folks pointed out field marks like the slightly down curved bill, the white supercillium, and a couple of other things.  Later, I read a great post by Jim Berry who said, 

This was a long-legged wader a little smaller than the nearby lesser yellowlegs, with a noticeable white supercilium and a fairly long bill.  I couldn’t see any droop at the tip of the bill on this bird, or any color on the face yet, as it was apparently just beginning to come into alternate plumage.  What clinched the ID was its behavior: bill held very vertically, the bird doing some pecking but also showing the sewing-machine-like drilling with the head underwater that is virtually unique to this species among the larger sandpipers (much faster drilling than dowitchers, whose motion reminds me of an oil derrick rather than a sewing machine). 

A Stilt Sandpiper in front of a Greater Yellowlegs.

Yellowlegs departs while Stilt Sandpiper keeps feeding

We saw a flight of Glossy Ibises but could not spot the earlier-reported White-faced Ibis among them.  Then, from stage left, paddled a group of Wilson’s Phalaropes which also had be reported, and were also a life bird for me.  I got some poor quality photos for the record but the camera auto focused on grass in the foreground and the images were blurred.


Other birds there included Mallards and Green-winged Teal, Willets, and a Solitary Sandpiper or two.  My new birder acquaintances all were hoping that the birds would hang around for the Bird-a-thon but who knows, it’s migration time.

Blogging with an iPad

Yesterday, I did some birding at the Salisbury State Reservation with my dog and found a nice mix of shorebirds and waterfowl. This cooperative Northern Mockingbird posed for a digiscoped photo. I got life bird 304, some White-rumped Sandpipers, who were hanging out with a bunch of Black-bellied Plovers.

My MacBook Pro is in for repairs at the Apple store but it gave me an excuse to buy an iPad. We are often without wifi in our travels so the 3G access can be really handy – like right now. Blogging on an iPad is a bit challenging but much better than trying it with the iPhone. I can import photos, do some cropping with PSexpress, and write it in BlogPress. It’s good for on-the-road blogging and you can always tidy things up later on.

It’s a showery Saturday in Massachusetts – the Vizsla and I are going out to a local reservoir and check for water birds. Good birding.

Birding with Joppa Flats Education Center

Today, I took part in one of the Wednesday morning birding events from the Joppa Flats Education Center in Newburyport, MA. There’s a faithful core of birders who have been doing this for years but each week, many others attend from all over the country. Today we had birders from North Carolina and of course, I’m from Vermont. It’s a very welcoming group and the two leaders, Bill Gette, the Center Director, and Dave Weaver, a certified volunteer leader, are excellent. This is the second time I’ve attended a Wednesday session and I’ve also done a Saturday one. If you are in the area, it’s a great opportunity.


Today, we went to the Parker River National Wildlife Reserve and in a caravan of vans, stopped numerous times to look at shorebirds and waterfowl. There were some good birds — we saw about 40 species, and for me, a couple (Eurasion Wigeon and Hudsonian Godwit) were life birds.


Something spooked these widgeons


Several things impress me about these ventures: the level of expertise among the participants is higher than I’m used to, the leaders work very hard to make sure everyone sees the bird, and the teaching is ongoing and very appropriate. Such things as “Notice how nervous those wigeons are — no one is feeding, there all acting tense. Something’s bothering them.” And just then, the whole flock scatters — probably spooked by a skulking raptor. It’s the kind of behavioral knowledge that makes birding much more than “Oh, there’s a Yellow Warbler.”

I try to plan our visits to Massachusetts to coincide with a birding session. If you haven’t taken part, I strongly recommend it.

Birding With the Joppa Flats Birders

The Wednesday morning birders are savvy and very welcoming

The Joppa Flats Nature Center in Newburyport, MA is a wonderful MA Audubon facility located on the Merrimac River.  One of its popular birding programs is the Wednesday morning outings.  An accomplished group of regulars goes on these walks and for some time, I’ve wanted to attend one.  Today, I got the opportunity and it was a blast.

About 20-25 folks showed up and we took the two Center vans and several other vehicles and launched for some inland birding.  The objective was to visit a heron rookery — the largest in Eastern Massachusetts, and stop at a swamp/wetlands along the way.

We got to the Crane Natural Area which features hundreds of dead trees and a variety of birds.  We just got out of the vehicles when we heard a Great Crested Flycatcher call from and area of dense foliage.  Bill, our leader, got out his recording, played it, and out popped the flycatcher, flying down to a dead tree, giving us all a wonderful look.  It hung around, calling and letting us know whose territory it was.

When you have five or ten good birders, it makes you a little better – or at least it does me.  We were all seeing a Baltimore Oriole with an active nest, an Eastern Bluebird, and a very cooperative Willow Flycatcher that popped up to a call and posed nicely.  We watched a Belted Kingfisher for some time as it dove and returned to perches.  It was a great stop with about 20 species seen.

About 70 heron nests were at the rookery.
After a winding drive through some fairly rural parts of the county, we arrived at the Carter Fields and walked down to the observation platform at the heron rookery.  About 70 heron nests were there in the dead trees with fifty of them occupied.  Given the size of the youngsters, we guessed that some had already fledged and many more were about ready to go. 
Mama (or Dad) bring home chow to the growing youngsters.

We watched their parents bring back food and noted that some of the kids sort of stretched out to look bigger (and get fed first.)  A couple of green herons and a massive snapping turtle added to the mix.  It was a very impressive site and fun to take some time and watch.

On the way back to the vans, we heard a Pileated Woodpecker which teased us for about 20 minutes as we moved and played a recording, and listened.  We finally gave up and were leaving as a caravan, when in a flurry of brake lights told us that Bill, in the first car, had seen the bird.  We all piled out but it had flown off — but it gave me an insight of the tenacity of some birders. 

Going home, the guy driving our van told me , “Nearly everything I know about birding I learned at these Wednesday sessions.”  After today, I can see why.  Clear teaching from the leaders, mentoring from other experienced birders, and a wonderful array of birds, make for great outings.  I liked how they welcomed a newcomer — I’ll be back again.  Give it a try if you are in eastern Massachusetts on a Wednesday.