June 2012 Central Mass Bird Sightings

Sightings are listed in reverse chronological order. The email address of birders submitting reports, as well as other Central Massachusetts birding info can be found via the Central Mass Bird Update homepage.

Bird News:

Bird Sightings:

6/28/12 -- North Brookfield
I followed up on a tip from Jeff Smith of North Brookfield and had at least 3 Whip-poor-Wills on Hines Bridge Road in North Brookfield. There is a gravel pit area on one side of the bridge where there were at least 2 birds calling and a gated dirt road on the other side where at least one bird (possibly 2) was calling. Jeff told me he heard the first one on May 7. (report from Rodney Jenkins)

6/28/12 -- Wood Island, Wachusett Reservoir
I went to view the Wood Island loon platform at the Wachusett Reservoir this morning about 9 AM and saw the adult loon still sitting on the nest. Then Inoticed a loon chick behind the adult on the edge of the nest.  Eventually I caught a glimpse of a second loon chick tucked under the wing of the adult.  I watched for awhile with a scope and finally got to see the adult loon slide off the nest into the water, immediately followed by the two loon chicks.  Here is a photo of this adult with the two chicks just after they entered the water.  The other adult was nearby and was soon offering tiny fish to the two young chicks.  (report from Richard Beaudreau).

6/28/12 -- Institute Park, Worcester
Highlights at noon today were 1 DC Cormorant (imm), 1 Black-crowned Night-Heron (ad, perched high in trees on island), Mute Swan (7, 2 ad & 5 imm -- one of the 6 original young seems to have perished), 1 Killdeer, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 N flicker and 1 E Kingbird. Also yesterday (6/27) there were 1 Gray Catbird and 2 Warbling Vireo (singing). (report from Rick Quimby).

6/27/12 -- Royalston
An Indigo Bunting was sighted today on Neale Road, turning from Neale Place. (report from Lynn Anair).

6/27/12 -- Fitchburg
Two Black Vultures were soaring near the junction of Routes 2 and 31 in Fitchburg, just north of the Westminster landfill. (report from Tom Pirro).

6/24/12 -- Broad Meadow Brook Sanctuary, Worcester
  • Hummingbird nest continues. She's feeding two chicks now. Still occassionally sits on the nest but spends a lot of time off the nest. photo 1| photo 2.
  • Spent much of the weekend chasing butterflies. For those interested here are 18 photos Lot's of nice species are flying now.
    (report from Garry Kessler).

    • 6/24/12 -- Ashby
    Today we birded in the small town of ASHBY, in north central Worcester County on the NH border. Looking at some maps we realized it was the last town in the County for which we had no records, and off we went. Ashby is a pleasant town, with some nice small ponds, a number of beaver marshes, State Wildlife Management properties, a large (and popular) State Park (by the time we got to the SP, it was noon and the park, was crowded, so we avoided the area) and some local conservation property with trails. But we also saw many "land for sale" signs and a number of areas have been recently developed. But for now there are quite a number of places to enjoy some quality birding in Ashby and we only scratched the surface. I am sure a number of other species breed in the town that we missed.
  • Birds recorded: Common Loon (2 very vocal adults on the small Fitchburg Reservoir. They swam in close proximity to each other and looked like they could be a pair, but we could see no signs of young birds); Great Blue Heron (2); Turkey Vulture (1); Canada Goose (1ad w/6yg+2ad w/3yg); Wood Duck (1f); Broad-winged Hawk (1); Wild Turkey (1); Virginia Rail (4: Sheila got some nice shots of 1 bird walking across a log); Mourning Dove (14); Chimney Swift (4); Downy Woodpecker (1); Hairy Woodpecker (pr feeding yg in nest hole+3other ad); N Flicker (1); E Wood Peewee (4); Least Flycatcher (4); E Phoebe (13); E Kingbird (7); Warbling Vireo (6); Red-eyed Vireo (73); Blue Jay (14); A Crow (6); C Raven (2); Tree Swallow (27); Barn Swallow (45+); Black-capped Chickadee (21); Tufted Titmouse (18); White-breasted Nuthatch (8); Brown Creeper (2); House Wren (7); E Bluebird (1); Veery (11); Hermit Thrush (5); A Robin (38); Gray Catbird (56); Cedar Waxwing (4);
      WARBLERS: Yellow (2); Chestnut-sided (9); Black-throated Blue (7); Black-throated Green (3); Pine (3); Black and White (3); A Redstart (4); Ovenbird (31); C Yellowthroat (29);
    Scarlet Tanager (5); E Towhee (6); Chipping Sparrow (32); Song Sparrow (32); Swamp Sparrow (4); N Cardinal (3); Indigo Bunting (4); Bobolink (8); Red-winged Blackbird (62); Brown-headed Cowbird (2); Purple Finch (4); House Finch (3); A Goldfinch (6);
  • PLUS: butterflies included Tiger Swallowtail; Red-spotted Purple; Great Spangles Fritillary and a good showing of Least Skippers.
    (report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).

    • 6/22/12 -- Tatnuck Square, Worcester
    Today while driving home from work I saw a bald eagle flying over Tatnuck Sq. Three times I had to look to realize, yes, it was a bald eagle (white head and tail); OMG! Can't believe my eyes!. I feel pretty lucky to have seen this glorious bird. This wonderful experience will never fade away!!! (report from Monica Lopez).

    6/21/12 -- Downtown Worcester
    There are now THREE juvenile Peregrine Falcons in downtown Worcester. I was able to confirm two of them on top of City Hall at 1:30 PM (one is much smaller than the other and I believe the one I saw yesterday on the People's United Building) and the other is the falcon who fledged over the weekend. The third juvenile falcon is on the ledge to the People's United building and can be seen from Front Street. (report from Kim Allen).

    6/20/12 -- Downtown Worcester
    I was able to confirm a SECOND juvenile Peregrine Falcon a little after noon today. The bird has yet to fledge but based upon what I observed, it could be anytime now. It is on the People's United Building on the side facing Front Street where the adult female is as well. The other juvenile remains around Notre Dame church where it is perched on one of the crosses. On another note, I went up to the 24th Floor of the 446 Main Street building early this morning in an attempt to view the nesting area and could vaguely see two Peregrine Falcons (they would have been hidden via street view). Not sure if they were the female adult and this juvenile or if there's another one so will keep an eye on it). While up there I was thrilled to see the male Peregrine perched on the building before he flew off toward City Hall. (report from Kim Allen).

    6/19/12 -- Northbridge
  • I found a Red-eyed Vireo nest in my yard on 6/16, and finally confirmed it was active today. Here is some footage of both parents feeding.
  • Also, I was in West Hill Park on 6/16 and found a Yellow-Throated Vireo nest and got to see one of the nestlings fledge. There was also a pair of Orchard Orioles along the SE corner of Harrington Pool that seemed to be looking for a nest site.
    (report from Jenifer Glagowski).

    • 6/18/12 -- Downtown Worcester
    I was able to get a pretty good look at the recently fledged juvenile Peregrine Falcon this afternoon as it perched on the roof of the Notre Dame church. The male would be on one of the crosses keeping an eye on it. The female continues to remain near the People's United building where she appears to still be in defense mode so I'm guessing there is at least one more chick who has yet to fledge. I was able to get distant shots of the juvenile that I will post on my blog later this evening. (report from Kim Allen).

    6/17/12 -- Broad Meadow Brook Sanctuary, Worcester
    Visited a hummingbird nest at BMB this weekend. Smaller than a shotglass and made of spider webs and lichen. She's incubating for 20-30 minutes and takes a 4-5 minute break. Chicks may have hatched today as I saw her bring an insect and possibly fed it to a chick in the bottom of the nest. That would make fledging in about 4 weeks from now. The hummingbird photos are followed by a couple photos taken at Poutwater Pond in Sterling for those into bogs. (report from Garry Kessler).

    6/17/12 -- New Salem
    We spent a fun Sunday morning birding NEW SALEM, the town that sits atop the north end of the Quabbin Reservoir like an askew toupee. Development is certainly happening along many of these quiet dirt and paved roads, and we saw quite a number of "land for sale" signs, but plenty of forest habitats is still to be found. An array of solar panels has been erected in back of the ball field behind the firehouse, which was nice to see. At times we wandered over into the adjacent towns of Wendell and Shutesbury but tried to stay in New Salem as much as possible. This also brought us to the area where we got nailed by the Moose Friday, but thankfully we had no close encounters Sunday.
  • Complete list: Great Blue Heron (3); Wood Duck (3); Mallard (1); Northern Goshawk (1ad); Red-shouldered Hawk (1); Broad-winged Hawk (3); Wild Turkey (3); Mourning Dove (13); Belted Kingfisher (2); Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (6); Downy Woodpecker (5); Hairy Woodpecker (5+pair feeding yg in nest hole); E Wood Peewee (16); Alder Flycatcher (2); Least Flycatcher (7); E Phoebe (11); Great Crested Flycatcher (1); E Kingbird (1); Yellow-throated Vireo (1); Blue-headed Vireo (12); Red-eyed Vireo (98); Blue Jay (17); A Crow (8); C Raven (2); Tree Swallow (11); Barn Swallow (14); Black-capped Chickadee (17); Tufted Titmouse (11); Red-breasted Nuthatch (5); Brown Creeper (6); House Wren (4); Winter Wren (6); Golden-crowned Kinglet (2); Veery (36); Hermit Thrush (9); A Robin (28); Gray Catbird (19); Cedar Waxwing (7);
      WARBLERS: Nashville (1); Yellow (11); Chestnut-sided (18); Magnolia (4); Black-throated Blue (13); Yellow-rumped (14); Black-throated Green (38); Blackburnian (11); Pine (17); Prairie (1); Black and White (15); A Redstart (12); Ovenbird (74); Northern Waterthrush (1); Louisiana Waterthrush (1); C Yellowthroat (48); Canada (1);
    Scarlet Tanager (23); E Towhee (14); Chipping Sparrow (18); Song Sparrow (20); Swamp Sparrow (7); White-throated Sparrow (1); Dark-eyed Junco (1); N Cardinal (14); Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2); Indigo Bunting (4); Red-winged Blackbird (41); Brown-headed Cowbird (1); Baltimore Oriole (9); Purple Finch (6); A Goldfinch (6)
  • PLUS: a really nice display of the orchid ROSE POGONIA at several of the boggy ponds and seeps.
  • BEFORE we birded New Salem, we visited the BARRE transfer/recycling/dump area and found (partial list): Great Blue Heron (1); Turkey Vulture (42); Black Vulture (4: we first spotted a pair sitting atop a large bin. They stayed close, mutually preened each other and when one hopped to another perch, the other quickly followed. Then another Black Vulture flew up from the ground, followed by another and began to furiously chase 1 bird from the original pair which was followed by the bird it was originally with. There was a lot of low flying around and chasing and I really lost track of which birds were which. BUT Sheila got some incredible shots); Red-tailed Hawk (pr); Broad-winged Hawk (1); Belted Kingfisher (1); Prairie Warbler (1); Indigo Bunting (1);
    (report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).

    • 6/16/12 -- Downtown Worcester
    Peregrine Falcon (3). This morning accompanied by my 8 year old daughter and 2 of her friends we went in search of the Peregrine Falcon. Initially as we waited for the friends to join us, we had 1 Adult perched on a balcony of the Peoples United Building as viewed from the corner of Salem and Franklin Street. The bird flew away towards Washington Square. About 45 minutes later we found 2 birds, 1 Adult and 1 sub-Adult perched on adjacent window ledges of the former Mechanics Bank Tower (now Bank of America) We were facing the front entrance of the BOA, standing near the WRTA bus stop, on the Notre Dame end of Front Street. My daughter then spotted a third bird perched on a ledge several floors above the other two. This one was another adult. The sub adult was overall browish gray, the feathers with dark centers with light edging. It also had a few pin feathers on its head. It could be a trick of the lighting, but the first bird we had on the People's United Building seemed paler overall than the other 2 adults we had on the BOA building. We didn't observe any nestling action. (report from Lisa and Zoe Hennin).

    6/15/12 -- Sutton
    This morning at 3.45  I got a call from one my truck drivers telling me there was a weird bird flying around the lights in our parking lot. I went out to see a CommonNightHawk feeding around the lights. I tried to get a pic with my cell phone no luck, but I did get a pic of what was left of a moth ( I think )  it managed to catch . Bird seen at Atlas Box and Crating on 146 south of Toni's Pizza. (report from Michael Joubert).

    6/14/12 -- Goddard Memorial Drive, Worcester
    Today around noontime, I was on Goddard Memorial Drive just past the road to the airport when I saw a Ruffed Grouse in the middle of the road. I managed to avoid it and did a u-turn, slowed down near it, from the other side of the island to get a better look, and fortunately, it decided to turn around and go into the woods.  (report from Joan Zumpfe).

    6/13/12 -- Institute Park, Worcester
    At noon highlights were 1 Black-crowned Night-Heron (ad), 7+ Mute Swan (one maybe in grass), 1 Spotted Sandpiper, and 1 Hairy Woodpecker. Also, tons (well, 30+) of grackles, many of them young birds chasing their parents and begging for food. (report from Rick Quimby).

    6/10/12 -- Winchendon
    We spent the morning birding birding in the OTTER RIVER STATE PARK and the adjacent BIRCH HILL DAM areas mostly in WINCHENDON. Otter River SP is a popular park, with a recreational lake and campgrounds run by DCR. But there are also numerous dirt roads and trails in the area , some along the length of the Otter River. The forest is mostly mixed, with some nice stands of hemlock and other conifers. The river has lots of brushy, grassy habitat. In the Birch Hill area, there are some medium-sized ponds favored by fishermen. There are numerous gated traisl and roads to explore. We only hit a few areas.
  • Birds recorded: American Bittern (1: flying low north up the Otter River); Great Blue Heron (1); Turkey Vulture (2); Canada Goose (2); Wood Duck (1); Cooper's Hawk (1ad); Red-shouldered Hawk (1); Broad-winged Hawk (2); Red-tailed Hawk (1 at Bank Swallow colony in Templeton en route); Ruffed Grouse (1f w/8 yg in Phillipston seen en route); Red-bellied Woodpecker (1); Downy Woodpecker (1); Hairy Woodpecker (6); N Flicker (4); Belted Kingfisher (pair at Bank Swallow colony in Templeton en route); E Wood Peewee (2); Alder Flycatcher (12); Least Flycatcher (6); E Phoebe (13); Great Crested Flycatcher (1); E Kingbird (5); Blue-headed Vireo (8); Warbling Vireo (1); Red-eyed Vireo (57); Blue Jay (22); A Crow (3); Tree Swallow (27); Bank Swallow (c.40 at colony in Templeton en route); Barn Swallow (4 In adjacent farmland); Black-capped Chickadee (32); Tufted Titmouse (7); Red-breasted Nuthatch (9); White-breasted Nuthatch (4); Brown Creeper (7); House Wren (3); Winter Wren (2); Veery (3); Hermit Thrush (24); Wood Thrush (2); A Robin (32); Gray Catbird (16); Cedar Waxwing (11);
      WARBLERS: Yellow (9); Chestnut-sided (16); Black-throated Blue (2); Yellow-rumped (6); Black-throated Green (29); Blackburnian (3); Pine (13); Black and White (3); Ovenbird (66); Louisiana Waterthrush (1 in Petersham en route); C Yellowthroat (26);
    Scarlet Tanager (3); E Towhee (4); Chipping Sparrow (18); Field Sparrow (1); Song Sparrow (25); Swamp Sparrow (26); White-throated Sparrow (24 singing birds); Indigo Bunting (8); Red-winged Blackbird (72); C Grackle (7); Baltimore Oriole (5); Purple Finch (1); A Goldfinch (3);
  • PLUS: MANY odonates, the most common by far were CALK-FRONTED SKIMMER; lots of butterflies too including (20); Red Spotted Purple and (3); Pine Elfins. A Banded Watersnake, many Green and Bull Frogs. Flowers we identified included a nice display of VIPER?S BUGLOSS at the Bank Swallow Colony.
    (report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).

    • 6/9 -- Sterling
    Bruce deGraaf and I checked out some bank swallows in some dirt piles in Sterling. I suspect that there is also a kingfisher hole nearby which means that visiting the swallows disturbs the kingfisher. Here is the first in a series 4 photos from that outing. (report from Garry Kessler).

    6/9/12 -- Worcester County owls
    Owls today: Royalston (2 barred); Winchendon (great horned; 2 barred); Athol (3 barred)

    Previous records during 2012:

  • February 6 -- Mendon (screech); Millville (screech);
  • February 14 -- Upton (screech); Milford (great horned; screech); Hopedale (great horned; screech)
  • March 6 -- Lancaster (screech); Bolton (great horned; screech);
  • April 12 -- Uxbridge (screech); Douglas (barred); Webster (barred; screech); Dudley (great horned; screech); Charlton (saw-whet);
  • May 12 -- Petersham (6 barred)
  • May 28 -- Harvard (3 barred)
    (report from Brian Cassie).

    • 6/7/12 -- Downtown Worcester
    I checked on the Peregrine Falcons in downtown Worcester over at the People's United Building. The male was on the side facing the library and the female on a side ledge that can be viewed from the Bank of America tower. It diddn't take me long to hear the begging call of at least one (perhaps 2) Peregrine Falcon chicks coming from the ledge -- the mother was near. The female swooped down to take care of them and the male flew over to the side facing City Hall where he proceeded to land on the "U" of the People's United logo and ate what appeared to be leftovers. Was able to get some lousy photos of both adults that I will share on my blog later this evening. (report from Kimberly Allen).

    6/5/12 -- Westboro WMA
    Today at noon I birded parts of Westboro Wildlife Management Area before work. The biggest highlight was finding two Olive-sided Flycatchers. One bird was singing in the trees along the waters edge at the first Big Chauncy fishing pull off as you drive in to the Big Chauncy entrance of WWMA. The other bird I saw from the dirt pull off at the intersection of Lyman and Chauncy Streets from which I was checking Chauncy beach. The bird was seen well perched in bare snags at the top of the tree at the west end of the pull off. It flew further west along Chauncy Street. 35 species in total seen in 45 minutes of birding including some fledged Tree Swallows flying in and out of a natural nest cavity. (report from Nick Paulson).

    6/5/12 -- Institute Park, Worcester
    The highlight at noon was a singing Alder Flycatcher, also seen. I've only recorded one other Alder in the park, in 1999. The Mute Swans are doing well, with six young still thriving. (report from Rick Quimby).

    6/3/12 -- Barre Falls Dam & Rutland State Park
    Highlights of the Forbush Bird Club trip through a portion of the Ware River Watershed IBA included ten species of breeding warblers, Red-shouldered, Broad-winged, and Red-tailed Hawks, a female Hooded Merganser, an American Woodcock, and the Barre Falls nesting Northern Ravens. Here is the complete trip list . (report from Donna Schilling).

    6/3/12 -- High Ridge WMA, Westminster
    The following highlights were seen and/or heard during a 3.5 mile walk in the Westminster section of High Ridge WMA late this morning: Canada Goose 3; Great Blue Heron 3; Turkey Vulture 2; Broad-winged Hawk 1 ad.; Red-tailed Hawk 1 imm.; Chimney Swift 5; Pileated Woodpecker 1; Eastern Wood-Pewee 4; Alder Flycatcher 2; Least Flycatcher 1; Eastern Phoebe 2; Eastern Kingbird 1; Red-eyed Vireo 26; Tree Swallow 13; Barn Swallow 2; House Wren 6; Eastern Bluebird 3; Veery 4; Gray Catbird 5; Cedar Waxwing 2; Ovenbird 8; Common Yellowthroat 17; American Redstart 2; Yellow Warbler 2; Chestnut-sided Warbler 3; Black-throated Blue Warbler 2; Pine Warbler 2; Black-throated Green Warbler 2; Chipping Sparrow 5; Song Sparrow 2; Swamp Sparrow 4; Scarlet Tanager 3; Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1; Indigo Bunting 4; Bobolink 10; Brown-headed Cowbird 5; Baltimore Oriole 2; Purple Finch 1. (report from Tom Pirro).

    6/3/12 -- Barre Falls Dam, Barre
    Highlights on the Forbush Bird Club trip included Hooded Merganser (1 f), 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, 1 Alder Flycatcher, 1 Willow Flycatcher, 1 Least Flycatcher, 2 Great Crested Flycatchers, 1 Raven, 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches, several singing Brow Creepers, 2 E Bluebirds, 2 Veery, 2 Hermit Thrush, several Cedar Waxwings 2 Scarlet Tanager, 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 2 Indigo Bunting, 2 White-throated Sparrows, 1 Bobolink. A full report will be posted later.

    See if you can identify the birds singing, all recorded during the trip: track 1| track 2| track 3| track 4| track 5. You can check your answers here.
    (report from Rick Quimby).

    For previous sightings, see May 2012 Archives or Archive Index