5/20/06 5:30AM-9AM
This is the pilot year for
this Corridor-wide monitoring project. Personally I believe a well-trained
observer in the field can tell you much more about the nature of bird migration
than you can learn with just mist nets. Migration is about behavior as well as
species identification. Where are they heading? Were they feeding as they were
moving? How much song was occurring? What about cross-species interaction? Were
there mixed species flocks? Many birds move through at tree top level and can
only be noted by an observer who can take in the full complexity of migration
in any one area. Plus, the nice thing is that we only minimally interfere with
the bird’s lives during migration and breeding season.
This year’s monitoring day
occurred during a period of very little active migration. From north to south,
east to west in the Corridor, monitors remarked that most of what they tallied
were migrant breeders. On the X-cel sheet, I have highlighted in Yellow those species we
know were migrating through. Obviously observed birds could have also
included “migrating through” individuals of species that also breed in the
monitoring areas. For instance, a number of tanagers may appear in spring in
any one area, but only a few stay to breed. Some may move much further along,
while others may simply find suitable breeding habitat in adjacent areas.
Several teams witnessed behavior of birds competing for territories. Knowledge
of the breeding birds of any of the monitoring areas is helpful in noting
whether there was a “higher than typical” number of any species on the
monitoring day. Because I have done several BBS of the Pulaski/George
Washington SP area, I knew I was seeing/hearing larger numbers of a few
species, more than will eventually remain to breed. These species in Yellow can give us a
solid shorthand understanding about how migration was going on that day. And
this year, it was pretty poor.
Very few empids were noted.
There were no Olive-sided Flycatchers, which migrate throughout the Corridor
spring and fall. Numbers of Peewee’s were still very low in the western and
higher elevation sections of the Corridor, indicating that many (most?) would
still be migrating in later (hopefully). Very few non-breeding thrushes (ex:
Swainson’s) were noted too. Missing entirely were warbler species like
Tennessee, Cape May, the Oporonis and most of the Wilsonia. There were no
southerly overshoots like White-eyed Vireo or Hooded Warbler. Numbers of Blackpolls
were miniscule and only 2 Bay-breasted was seen. The areas with the highest
numbers of species and the greatest variety of birds were those spots that have
a large number and variety of breeding species. Yet I know each location
monitored can also be a migration “hot spot”. Just not that Saturday.
Nota bene: Watch for the
small red tabs in the upper right corner of the X-cel cells. Rest your cursor
on them and you will see some additional sightings notes.
We need more teams for next
year to fan out through more sections of the Corridor, particularly in Rhode
Island. I will contact ASRI well in advance of the project next year to see if
I can recruit some skilled observers there. I would like someone in Cumberland,
someone in Lincoln (Lincoln Woods or Lime Rock) and someone in North Smithfield
(Fort Nature Reserve) at the very least. I also would hope you will all return
to do the same spots you covered this year.
BILL RASKU, BRUCE
DeGRAAF, JAY RASKU, IRIS VICENCIO-RASKU: Airport Hill,
Leicester (including Sylvester Street). Habitat: extensive managed
fields (airport) with large tract of mixed forest along a dirt road and a small
reservoir.
WEATHER: Cloudy-sunny; light
breeze from the west; temp: 46-56F.
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HOWARD SHAINHEIT et al: Broad Meadow Brook, MAS, Worcester MA.
Migrant monitoring, Broad Meadow Brook, 5/20/06, 5:30-9
a.m.
Weather: Calm to breezy as the morning went along; sunny mostly w/ some light
clouds late; 47 to 57 degrees.
We covered the 5 miles of sanctuary trails in 3 teams of 2 each. Birders:
Howard Shainheit, John Shea, Brian Mulhearn, Sheryl Farnam, Kevin Bourinot,
Rebecca Ciborowski. (The latter two are taking John Liller's class; Kevin
helped us on Birdathon.)
Habitat is very mixed: upland deciduous wooded areas (very little pines); power
lines; open, grassy areas, small marsh etc. All of it in an urban setting.
Overall, there was considerable song and breeding behavior, but very few
obvious migrants. There was nothing approaching a wave or even anything
that suggested movement. Specific notes are below.
Nota bene: Howard’s group had so many notes, that I have included again their
whole list. I have highlighted in yellow the species that are definitely migrants, as opposed to
migrant breeders. As you can see, very little active migration was going on.
The birds/60 species:
Great Blue Heron: 1 (this species feeds regularly on the
sanctuary, though it does not breed there)
Green Heron:1
Mallard:18 (9 babies in the brook along the Troiano Trail)
Broad-winged Hawk: 1 (calling, circling...the same bird that bred here last
year?)
Red-tailed Hawk: 1 immature
Solitary Sandpiper: 2
Ring-billed Gull:
44 (including groups of 15 and 26)
Herring Gull: 1
(nota bene: the status of gulls inland needs study. All of them were likely
non-adult non-breeding wanderers)
Mourning Dove:12
Chimney Swift: 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker: 6
Downy Woodpecker: 9
Hairy Woodpecker: 4 (including a male and female together on a branch and a
male bringing food into a nest w/ vocal young)
Northern Flicker: 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee: 5 (4 singing, 1 calling)
Willow Flycatcher: 1
Least Flycatcher:1
Eastern Phoebe: 1 (there are surely many more!)
Great Crested Flycatcher: 2
Eastern Kingbird: 3
Yellow-throated Vireo: 1
Blue-headed Vireo: 1
Warbling Vireo: 1
Red-eyed Vireo: 8
Blue Jay: 18
American Crow: 9
Tree Swallow: 11 (1 bringing food to a nest box)
Black-capped Chickadee: 16
Tufted Titmouse: 13
White-breasted Nuthatch: 6
Carolina Wren: 1 (singing)
House Wren: 1 (built a nest in a Bluebird box on top of the Bluebird nest with
5 dead Bluebird chicks)
Eastern Bluebird: 3
Veery: 3 (1 calling, 2 singing)
Wood Thrush: 14 (some singing: 2 of the 3 in our area were singing)
American Robin: 32
Gray Catbird: 24
Brown Thrasher: 1
Blue-winged Warbler: 2 (singing)
Yellow Warbler: 10 (singing)
Magnolia Warbler: 1
(ID'd by song only)
Black-throated Green:
1 (calling)
Prairie Warbler: 5 (singing)
Black-and-white Warbler: 2 (singing)
American Redstart:
2 (singing) nota bene: single Redstarts have shown up on a few BBS for the
area.
Ovenbird: 4 (singing)
Common Yellowthroat: 26 (singing)
Scarlet Tanager: 3 (the one in my area was singing)
Eastern Towhee: 12
Chipping Sparrow: 1
Field Sparrow: 3
Song Sparrow: 12 (I'm sure there are many more)
Swamp Sparrow: 1 (ID'd by song only)
Northern Cardinal: 9
Rose-breasted Grosbeak: 10 (males singing and chasing each other)
Red-winged Blackbird: 62
Common Grackle: 40
Brown-headed Cowbird: 9
Baltimore Oriole: 22 (males singing and chasing each other; one female
gathering nesting material)
American Goldfinch: 17
James Toledano, Cynthia
Robertson, Tom Dodd: Upton SF.
HABITAT: Mixed upland forest
and wetland; dirt roads and hiking trails through upland forest; two small
ponds.
WEATHER: 45-57 degrees F;
clear, no wind except for few small gusts from 5- mph SW.
DISTANCE: 4 miles on foot.
DISCUSSION:
Mostly breeding species including great looks at breeding Blue Headed Vireos,
but no definitive movement of any species seen. Species seen soon after 9:00,
Black and White, Cardinal, Redstart, and Tree Swallow. No waves or even a
white-cap.
JOHN LILLER/TOM SAYERS: Plummer’s Landing; Lookout Rock; Riverbend Farm: Northbridge/Uxbridge MA. Key areas of riparian forest right along the Blackstone.
Plummer's Landing (5:30-7:15), Lookout Rock (7:20-7:45),
River Bend Farm (7:55-9:00)
Weather: Sunny to partly cloudy, winds calm to breezy from the south, 48-63
degrees.
We (Tom Sayers and I) walked in at Plummer's Landing to the field, which is
gradually being taken over through succession. We then walked up to
Lookout Rock. We finished by walking around the field at River Bend Farm.
(I have no idea about distances.)
Habitat: mainly wooded areas, both deciduous and mixed, along moving water;
overgrown field: grassy field and managed field adjacent to it. Water
levels high but not flood stage.
There was a lot of song and breeding behavior, but we had virtually no
migrants, and no clear movement.
59 species:
Great Blue Heron (Plummer's - 2 + Overlook - 1 + River Bend - 1 = 4)
Canada Goose (0 + 0 + 3 = 3)
Mute Swan (0 + 0 + 1 = 1)
Mallard (2 + 0 + 3 = 5)
Hooded Merganser (0 + 0 + 1 = 1; female)
Turkey Vulture (1 + 1 + 0 = 2)
Accipiter species (0 + 0 + 1 = 1; male Cooper's?)
Red-tailed Hawk (0 + 0 + 1 = 1)
Mourning Dove (2 + 0 + 1 = 3)
Chimney Swift (0 + 0 + 4 = 4)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1 + 0 + 0 = 1)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (1 + 1 + 0 = 2)
Downy Woodpecker (2 + 0 + 0 = 2)
Hairy Woodpecker (1 + 1 + 0 = 2)
Northern Flicker (0 + 0 + 2 = 2)
Eastern Phoebe (0 + 1 + 1 = 2)
Great Crested Flycatcher (2 + 0 + 0 = 2)
Eastern Kingbird (1 + 0 + 0 = 1)
Warbling Vireo (3 + 0 + 3 = 6)
Red-eyed Vireo (2 + 0 + 0 = 2)
Blue Jay (4 + 2 + 2 = 8)
American Crow (5 + 1 + 1 = 7)
Tree Swallow (6 + 2 + 9 = 17)
Black-capped Chickadee (5 + 1 + 1 = 7)
Tufted Titmouse (6 + 1 + 0 = 7)
White-breasted Nuthatch (1 + 1 + 0 = 2)
House Wren (2 + 0 + 0 = 2)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (0 + 0 + 2 = 2)
Wood Thrush (1 + 1 + 0 = 2)
American Robin (5 + 0 + 6 = 11)
Gray Catbird (8 + 4 + 1 = 13)
Cedar Waxwing (1 + 0 + 12 = 13)
European Starling (0 + 0 + 1 = 1)
Blue-winged Warbler (4 + 0 + 0 = 4)
Yellow Warbler (7 + 0 + 8 = 15)
BLACKPOLL WARBLER (1 in transit)
Pine Warbler (1 + 1 + 0 = 2)
Black -and-white Warbler (3 + 1 + 0 = 4)
American Redstart (2 + 0 + 0 = 2)
Ovenbird (0 + 4 + 0 = 4)
Northern Waterthrush (1 + 0 + 0 = 1)
Common Yellowthroat (8 + 1 + 6 = 15)
Scarlet Tanager (0 + 1 + 0 = 1)
Eastern Towhee (0 + 2 + 0 = 2)
Chipping Sparrow (0 + 0 + 2 = 2)
Field Sparrow (2 + 0 + 0 = 2)
Song Sparrow (7 + 0 + 5 = 12)
Northern Cardinal (3 + 1 + 0 = 4)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (6 + 1 + 0 = 7)
Indigo Bunting (0 + 1 + 0 = 1)
BOBOLINK (1 moving north + 0 + 0 = 1)
Red-winged Blackbird (5 + 0 + 4 = 9)
Common Grackle (5 + 0 + 5 = 10)
Brown-headed Cowbird (5 + 0 + 8 = 13)
Orchard Oriole (0 + 0 + 2 = 2; male + female)
Baltimore Oriole (8 + 1 + 5 = 14)
House Finch (0 + 0 + 1 = 1)
American Goldfinch (8 + 1 + 7 = 16)
House Sparrow (0 + 0 + 8 = 8)
In the future, I need two separate teams, one at Plummer's Landing and one at
River Bend Farm. We could have stayed at Plummer's Landing the whole
time.
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Dan & Deb Berard:Douglas State Park, Douglas, Ma.
Habitat:Mixed forest with
small stands of hemlock: with a large fresh water lake:some small marsh areas
and cedar swamp areas.
Weather: 50-52 degrees F,
partly cloudy, winds WSW 5-10 mph.
Distance: 10 miles by car a
few stops along the perimeter mostly and about 4 miles walked on well marked
trails.
Discussion: Most of our
birds were breeding birds on territory. We saw a great courtship behavior
between 2 Great-crested flycatchers. We had a large number of Veery of which
some were scattered along the lawn in the picnic area so believe they may have
been just moving through. In the picnic area there was also a flock of Canada
Geese probably a non-migratory group since it seems too late for their
migration. At our first am stop we had 2 Northern Saw-whet Owls calling to each
other and then a few miles away we had 2 Barred Owls being chased by Crows.
Black-throated Blue and Black-throated Green were very vocal and Ovenbirds were
everywhere. There was a fishing derby from the boat ramp and the boats had
motors 150-225 horsepower so there was very little on the water. Non-bids:
several painted turtles.
MARK LYNCH/SHEILA CARROLL: Pulaski
SF/George Washington SP, Burrillville/Glocester RI.
HABITAT: Mixed upland forest; a few small stands of hemlock;
dirt roads (of varying condition) through the forest; an area of power lines;
some small ponds.
WEATHER: 46-56 degrees F; partly cloudy; cool; winds: WSW:
breezy, measured to 10+mph; For the most part we were protected among the
trees.
DISTANCE: 13.1 miles by car, many stops and several short
hikes. A standard point-count route we do of the area.
DISCUSSION: Mostly breeding species though higher than typical
breeding numbers of BT Green and Northern Waterthrush. The few non-breeding
migrants we had (Blackpoll, Bay-breasted, Parula) seemed to be moving rapidly
through the forest in a WSW direction. Which seems very odd for spring
migration. Within ten minutes after ending the count at 9AM, and still “on
site”, we had 4 species that would have been new to the list: Barn Swallow, Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher, American Redstart, and Indigo Bunting (all breeders). We witnessed
several (c.5) pairs of male Scarlet Tanagers chasing each other. Another
sighting was of 3 male Black-throated Green Warblers chasing each other, NONE
of them singing. A female Pine Warbler was seen foraging on the ground. This
bird was so territorial; it made a pass at Sheila who had gotten too close. NON-BIRDS:
(2) White-tailed Deer; a few cold Peepers.
CATHERINE HAMILTON:
BLACKSTONE
RIVER 0530 - 0615:
Temp: 55
Wind: SW 0 - 5 mph
Skies: mostly sunny
Area birded: along the river road from Brown crew
docks to north end.
General observations: Very few migrants, no
migrant waves. Migrant and PR breeders singing like crazy. No sexual
predominance noted. Water very quiet and empty.
Species seen/heard:
Mallard 2
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Herring Gull 8
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Mourning Dove 4
Downy Woodpecker 1
Warbling Vireo 2
Barn Swallow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 3
Carolina Wren 1
Veery 1
American Robin 11
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 2
Yellow Warbler 5
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Chipping Sparrow 3
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Common Grackle 15
Baltimore Oriole 8
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 2
SWAN POINT
CEMETERY 0600 - 0900:
Temp: 57 - 59
Wind: SW 5 - 10 mph
Skies: mostly sunny
NOTA BENE: This is a classic urban park/garden
cemetery much like Mt. Auburn in Cambridge MA.
Areas birded: Southwest end woods, Northwest end
woods, Eastern woods along river, Northeast river overlook, some of central
cemetery, particularly between SW and NW woods.
General observations: Very few migrants, one tiny
migrant wave running along west end from 0600 - 0645. Migrant and PR breeders
singing like crazy. Migrants passing through were pretty quiet, not singing at
all or singing intermittently. No sexual predominance noted. No hawks seen.-
Species seen/heard:
Mallard 23
Osprey 1
Spotted Sandpiper (0, but one had been at the
river overlook on other days)
Ring-billed Gull 15
Herring Gull 4
Mourning Dove 6
Black-billed Cuckoo 1
Common Nighthawk 1 (not seen by me, reported by
Rachel)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 (male, displaying)
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 1
Great-crested Flycatcher 6
Warbling Vireo 7
Red-eyed Vireo 12
Black-capped Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 2
House Wren 6
Veery 1
Swainson’s Thrush 1
Wood Thrush 4
American Robin 22
Gray Catbird 14
Northern Mockingbird 2
Cedar Waxwing 2
Nashville Warbler 1 (not seen by me, reported by
Rachel)
Yellow Warbler 5
Magnolia Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 4 (5 reported by Rachel)
Black and White Warbler 3
American Redstart 3
Ovenbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Chipping Sparrow 18+
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 10
Indigo Bunting 2
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
Common Grackle 12
Baltimore Oriole 10
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 12
non-avian: 1 Snapping Turtle digging and laying
eggs in woods along river.