Warbler Fallout!

Black-and-white Warbler

 This was quite the morning. I ate my breakfast on the back steps and enjoyed the morning bird song chorus. So far this spring, I've only had palm warblers and yellow-rumps, so imagine my surprise when I heard northern parulas and black-and-white warblers singing up a storm in the backyard and neighborhood (The black-and-white picture is here from Newton). All of last spring I only had 3 warbler species total for the yard, so finding 2 in one morning was quite a treat. Both of these were also firsts for the yard. I continued to hear parulas and black-and-whites all the way into Newton Center. Its hard to imagine how many warblers this must have been.

American Redstart

Then I very briefly stopped at Riverway, off of the T in Boston, and was immediately assaulted by warbler song. Black-throated green and black-and-white warblers popped up first and I just enjoyed them as I left my camera at home. But as I started finding more and more warblers, yellows and common yellowthroats, I started wanting to take pictures so I pulled out my phone to line them up through my binoculars (at least you can tell which warbler is which). I kept hearing songs that sounded like parulas and black-throated blues (I love the color of the BT-Blue) so i thought I was just confused until I realized

Black-throated Blue Warbler

that they were both present. As I kept scanning the trees I also turned up a veery, an American redstart and an ovenbird! I regularly hear ovenbirds in the spring, but this was only my second time seeing one. The trees were full of our little gems of wood warblers and there were even some yellow-rumps chasing each other around to round out the morning with 9 warbler species! There were a few warbler-like songs that I didn't hear well or recognize, so maybe there were a few more that I missed, but it was still one of my best warbler days so far. That doesn't even include the joy of seeing the veery and finding a singing Baltimore oriole. Of course there were many more of the usual suspects too.

Veery

Then I later read a Massbird email from Marshall Iliff indicating that there was a major coastal fallout of migrants today, making it probably one of the best birding days of the spring. I hope some of these will stick around for the weekend!

Turkey Tussle

Wild Turkeys

 My wife came home a little late one day this week, but said I would think it was well worth it. Then she pulled out this video as way of explanation. While she isn't a birder, she was still enthralled watching these two toms have it out in the middle of Newton Center (the original video is quite long I am only showing a portion). It is interesting to note that half way though the video, you can see the object of desire that inspired this battle royale.

P.S. The still photograph was taken in December at Newton City Hall during this outing.

Upcoming Events

While I've already missed the April walk, here are some of the bird and nature walks around Newton this Spring. For more information check out the Newton Conservators or Brookline Bird Club websites.

May 4. Saturday 8am. Bird Walk at Cold Spring Park.

May 5. Sunday 6:30am. Hammond Pond with BBC.

May12. Sunday 8am. Nahanton Park Mother's Day Bird Walk.

May18. Saturday 1pm. Canoe/kayak trip at Nahanton Park.

May 19. Sunday 6:30am.  Hammond Pond with BBC.

May 19. Sunday 2pm. Webster Woods Walk.

May 22. Wednesday 7am. Cold Spring Park with BBC.

June 2. Sunday 2pm. Aqueducts Bike Ride.

June 8. Saturday 1pm. Fern Walk at Houghton Gardens.

Green Heron at Hammond Pond

House Sparrow

 It was slow at Hammond Pond yesterday. Granted my noon time stop at the pond following errands probably wasn't the greatest time; I'm sure if I had ventured into the woods earlier in the morning there would have been more birds. The most numerous birds present were house sparrows and Canadian geese. Though I did catch the lively song of a house finch and a chorus of calling blue jays. And of course there were some robins and grackles present as well. The rowdy red-winged blackbirds livened up the pond as the males jockey for territory. I was surprised that a single mallard was the only duck accounted for. The highlight though was a green heron on a mudflat on the far side of the pond. While the heron was too far away for a half-way decent picture, I think you can still kinda tell it is a green heron. The oddest thing though is that the heron appeared to have sat down! At least I couldn't see her legs. This made me wonder if she could have been on a nest, but this sighting is quite early for green herons around Boston (and the earliest at Hammond Pond), so I doubt they've stated breeding already. Then I read at All About Birds that they build their nests in trees, so I have no idea what this heron was doing. I did however learn a really cool fact while looking up their nesting habits, apparently green herons are one of the few birds that uses tools. They apparently drop bait in the water, such as bread, bugs, or feathers, and then they catch fish as the swim up to investigate!

Green Heron

P.S. As an aside, I just learned that a team from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology just broke the North American record for most birds seen in a single day with 294 species. I haven't seen that many in my lifetime! To read more and see some pictures you can read an article here.

Earth Day Birding at Chestnut Hill Reservoir

Palm Warbler

 I haven't gone birding the way I would like recently, but I had to go birding yesterday morning in honor of Earth Day! With that in mind, I made a quick stop at Chestnut Hill Reservoir on my way to work. I had pine warblers on the brain as I had a lot of fun last April observing one at this location.

After encountering some of the year round residents, a song I didn't recognize drew me to spot a palm warbler. Interestingly it was not the palm that was singing, but as my first migrant warbler of the spring I took a few minutes to bask in his presence and enjoy the rich yellow and chestnut plumage. When I started to get back into birding, a palm warbler was the first warbler that I encountered and was able to identify ( I was already familiar with yellow-rumps). The palm warbler is probably one of the birds that sparked my return to birding, so I always feel like I need to spend a little extra time with them. My palm warbler from yesterday morning though must have flown in last night as he seemed rather tired and as though he needed to rest and warm himself in the sun.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Male)

When the palm warbler finally had enough sun and flew off (I did not tire of him), I started focusing more on the odd exuberant song that first brought me to this spot. Finally something clicked in the back of my brain and it dawned on me that it was a ruby-crowned kinglet! My first for MA! Sure enough he finally came down out of the pines where I could enjoy this slightly less conspicuous kinglet. Shortly there after I also found a male yellow-rumped warbler and two blue-gray gnatcatchers. Their wheezy little voices are so endearing and their coloration reminds me of a miniature mockingbird. From what I can tell they were both males as they had strong black "eyebrows". I had my work cut out for me trying to photograph warblers, kinglets, and gnatcatchers. A smaller and more restless group of birds would be hard to find.

While mindful of the time, I primarily birded around the wooded hill in the eastern edge of the reservoir. That probably limited the water birds I found to, Canada geese, a mallard, and a common merganser. But the large raft of ruddy ducks more than made up for it. I kept hoping to see a blue bill, but they all seemed intent on napping in the sun with their bills tucked away.

As I left the reservoir, it barely even registered that I didn't find the pine warblers this trip.

Full List

Canada Goose

Mallard

Common Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Ruddy Duck

gull sp.

Downy Woodpecker

Blue Jay

Tree Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

Palm Warbler (Yellow)

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

Chipping Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Common Grackle

House Sparrow

Easter at Millenium Park

Female Downy Woodpecker

 I got a late start this morning but wanted to swing by Millenium Park as it has been quite a while since I last visited. I started down by the boat ramp and was instantly assaulted by the sounds of blackbirds, song sparrows, and chickadees. It was quite the welcome. I enjoyed seeing the goldfinches back in their summer plumage and noted a few new spring arrivals, like the brown-headed cowbird and tree swallows.

I was trying to stay away from large groups of dog walkers when this beautiful female downy flew into a tree right in front of me. I had time to raise my camera and get off three shots before she decided that it was time to find another tree. I like to think maybe it was the dogs that scared her, but my proximity probably didn't help. It was great to see her so close, even if for a moment. I had a similar encounter with a pair of white-breasted nuthatches, though that time it was only my presence that they were uncomfortable with.

Male Robins fighting

Down in the Saw Mill Brook, a pair of Mallards were mating and by the bridge over the brook two male robins were having a turf war trying to decide who got the best real estate. It is always nice to remember that Robins aren't native to lawns. Also present were starlings, blue jays, pigeons, a mockingbird, a tufted titmouse, anda singing Carolina wren. I was able to find a few fly over Canada geese, a couple of red-tailed hawks, and what could only have been a calling killdeer.

Walking further along the path, the beaver work becomes quite striking. Most of the trees that once lined the walk have since been felled. The good thing though is that the beaver pond is now a waterfowl favorite with its woody wetlands. This pool today had mallards, black ducks, green-winged teals (American), and my best find of the day, a pair of American Wigeons! Wigeons have remained elusive for me in the Bay State, so it was fun to watch them feed and preen. I had thought that I saw a wigeon at Chestnut Hill Reservoir, but after looking back at pictures it was a hybrid mallard x black duck that had a similar green head patch (the same patch is also evident on green-winged teals).

American Wigeons

The increased birdsong in and of itself was a lot of fun too. I kept my eyes and years on alert for pine warblers and phoebes which should be returning soon as well. By far the most common song (if not most common bird too...) was that of the song sparrow, who has earned its name. It was interesting to observe the plumage variation, some with crisp breast streaks, and a bird had such broad smudgy streaks that I had to look twice to make sure it wasn't a fox sparrow. But having so many singing song sparrows made me decide to try to make an actual movie, not just pair an audio recording and pictures. The song sparrow starts with three introductory notes followed by a more variable section that include many other notes and trills. The variety of song from one individual to the next is striking. In this video there is still a fair amount of background noise from the running water of Saw Mill Brook that make it sound a little underwater. While I love birdsong for the pure auditory joy of it, watching a bird sing gives the song some extra gravitas by showing how much effort they pour into their songs.

First Crocuses and Some Readings

First Crocuses of Spring

 Saturday morning I noticed the first crocus buds in the garden and by Sunday morning there were a handful of fully opened flowers. Even though the air had a chill and there is snow in the forecast again, I can’t help but feel the inexorable march towards Spring. Earlier this week I had to stop my walk to work just to watch three downy woodpeckers chasing each other around a tree. I couldn’t help wonder if they were males arguing over territory if one of them was a female who had two fine suitors.

As I was unable to get out birding this weekend I enjoyed the crocuses and incidental birds, but my most vicarious birding came through two readings. My first reading was from the Newton Conservators Newsletter and I enjoyed reading Pete’s article on the rare birds around Massachusetts this winter (including a LeConte’s Sparrow that Pete found himself). There was also news of the newest Newton park, the rail trail that will go from Newton Highlands to Newton Upper Falls. There was also lists of upcoming nature walks for the spring, so I'll do a separate post for upcoming events soon.

My second reading this week came from the Bird Observer. They are trying to determine if birders would be interested in an electronic version of the publication, so they made the February issue freely available online. I think that one of the most popular features every month is an article on Massachusetts birding spots, including all the details you would need to bird the selected location. But I was fascinated, instead, by the article about the Bicknell's Thrush. Actually, the article was equal parts about the biology of the Bicknell's Thrush and a history of  studying the thrush. Maybe I just like my birds, science and history rolled into one, but I thought it was a great read and if you haven't already seen it, definitely download the February issue of the Bird Observer and read it!