The avian community at the end of March is not dramatically different than the one that has been around for the past few months, but behaviors have changed. The birds are getting noisier.
2010 was not a good year for piping plovers on Laudholm Beach, though the overall Maine population held steady. Maine Audubon reports that 30 breeding pairs fledged 49 young along the state's sandy shorelines, with beaches from Kennebunk to Fortunes Rocks in Biddeford being the strongholds this year, but Laudholm put up zeros for nests and young.
An update of the Wells Reserve bird list has been overdue for some time. Now it's done.
I fell short this morning. An unfamiliar song kept me following a skulker in the thick shrubs along the Barrier Beach Trail. Sweet sisiswit switchew ended up in my notebook. With a Chestnut-sided Warbler behind me and a Common Yellowthroat in front, I kept trying to convince myself this was an aberrant song from a resident, probably an inexperienced yellowthroat stumbling through its early attempts. Still, it was consistent, except for those occasions when immediately after finishing a song it would repeat itself once or twice as if mumbling an addendum.
It's a 20-year tradition: In each season of every year since 1989, birders from the York County Audubon Society have scoured the forests and fields, marshes and beach of the Wells Reserve, intent on counting all the birds they can see or hear in 3 hours. Teams spread out to cover four routes, never knowing what they'll encounter.
At yesterday's post-survey compilation, it was clear that the Muskie and Pilger trails were the hot spot. That's where most of the 127 warblers of 15 species were found.
Survey coordinator Joanne Stevens and data handler Nancy McReel have shared the full results from one of the birdiest quarterly surveys the Audubon team has done—75 species.…
The pattern strengthens over time. Twice a year, in November and February, the Wells Reserve parking lot and adjacent grassy areas attract a small number of Snow Buntings. Without surveilling the area more regularly than I do, it's hard to say whether they're around every day. Whenever they do appear, it's a brightening experience.
The four that were pecking through sandy puddles and winter-worn weeds this morning provided a "life bird" for one lucky visitor. As spring approaches, I expect the opportunity for others to find them in the vicinity is getting short.
Time flies. It’s nearly a year since the last Winged Wednesday.
My 2007 quest for “99 Common Birds” has ended 19 species shy of the goal, even though I compiled a list of 112 species at the Wells Reserve during the year. It is an interesting coincidence that I also tallied just 80 of the 99 so-called common species during 2006.
Most of my misses in ‘06 were ticked in ‘07, but once again it is clear that had I gone afield specifically to find the 99 I would have been more successful than letting the ticks fall where they may.
The Wells Reserve Visitor Center has kept a wildlife sightings log for at least a decade. While updating the form today (it's now labeled Nature Observations), I pulled out the stack of sheets that have accumulated since May 1996.
Birds dominate visitors' sightings, though deer, weasel, garter snake, otter, praying mantis, mosquito, and other animals found their way in, too.
How reliable are those bird sightings? Hard to say. Not everyone who sees something knows exactly what to call it, but the report is probably okay; "blue hering" is a good example.
But what of the "yellow head blackbird" seen in the fields? It might truly have been a Yellow-headed Blackbird, but based on the misspelling Bobolink could be a better bet.
Cerulean Warbler? Prothonotary Warbler? Golden Eagle? All possibilities. Unfortunately, the wildlife sightings log holds no details for evaluating any of these rarities.
The vast majority of reports are expected species at expected seasons. Still, the collection of notes could bolster our knowledge of migrating, overwintering, and easy-to-see birdlife. These shared observations from scores of people may help us to better understand changes in the Reserve bird populations over time. Keep 'em coming!
Last week I came upon 15 species, usually in ones or twos, during an hour afield. Today, with a lot less time, I managed a single species, European Starling, but my "individuals" count was higher.
One-hundred-plus starlings perched in the shared crown of twin maples growing behind the old garages, silently congregated above a sagging shed, beaks windward.
I've made checkmarks on a copy of "99 Common Birds," our brochure listing the most expected species at the Wells Reserve, and although my Reserve bird list for 2006 contains 106 species, I only got 80 of the 99 "common" ones.
While I saw some tricky species — Snow Goose, Tricolored Heron, Laughing Gull, Fish Crow, Field Sparrow — I missed some that point to holes in my coverage and make me wonder if I simply forgot to write them down. How could I have missed Bufflehead, Broad-winged Hawk, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and American Redstart? By not being in the right place at the right time, I suppose.
I'll keep listing the birds I see at the Wells Reserve, where about 240 species have been recorded by scores of observers. By the end of 2007, I hope I can tally all 99 "common" birds and half again as many "less common" ones.
Weather permitting, I'll start my list on January 3 at 9 am. Join me?
UPDATE January 3: To the beach and back, an hour out, and 15 "common" species in the log.
That was the bird of the day!
A woodland hawk hunting for breakfast found its course suddenly interrupted by the woven nylon of our bird bander's mist net. It was a Cooper’s Hawk, just a few months old, and with its 285 mm wing chord proved to be a female.
Too hot to move. That's what the birds must be thinking. The banders had the nets up soon after 5:30, by which time it was already over 80 degrees. Six hours later, they closed them down, having completed the requisite duration. By then it was 95.
Just three birds in those six hours, all hatch-year captives — two Black-and-white Warblers and an American Robin.
Three. That's the banders' lowest total ever. It's got to be cooler next week.
Overheard…
I've seen the mosquitoes here before, but not like that. They were swarming.
Yes, the Culicidae conditions can cause consternation. Bring the bug dope.
The intrepid banders caught 14 birds today; it has been a consistently modest summer for the nets so far...
| June 7 | rainout |
| June 14 | 16 birds |
| June 21 | 15 birds |
| June 28 | 15 birds |
| July 5 | 14 birds |
Eight more weeks to go… it's always a mystery what will happen on banding days.
[ Winged Wednesday VIII ]
As the month of May closes, so does most of the major passage of migrating birds. The movement is not over; it just isn't so obvious.
Summer approaches and with it come myriad winged creatures without feathers, so in coming weekly reports some insects might find themselves the objects of attention.
Today's butterflies (to get things started entomologically) included sulfurs, ladies, and blues, just a few of the many species that can be found here between spring and fall. Exactly how many species might appear on site is unknown; the reserve has no comprehensive list of its butterflies. Surveying them would be fascinating and beneficial.
Several Least Terns were over the Webhannet marsh today, scanning for fish in the pools and salt-marsh pannes below and diving to snag them when the moment was right. Before long they will be gathering on Laudholm Beach and elsewhere along the Maine coast to begin their breeding season.
Bobolinks were back in force at the Wells Reserve today. Their song might be the craziest in the region — it's so much fun to hear them bubbling with enthusiasm! Today, at least four sang from fields near the main campus, sharing the space with Eastern Meadowlarks.
It's fortunate that the reserve's Resource Advisory Committee created a grassland management plan several years ago, recognizing the value of nearly 100 acres of open fields for birds like Bobolinks and meadowlarks. The mowing regimen, needed to keep shrubs from taking over, specifically avoids the nesting period for these birds.
This morning in the rain sang a mimic, repeating phrases once or twice then moving on. The bird was by the pumpkin patch — or maybe in the stand of lilacs. I was on my routine approach to the big house.
I had to take a couple of steps toward the sound to enjoy it — and to be sure I wasn't hearing a mockingbird. No: Thrasher. First of the spring.
That's this Winged Wednesday. Next one starts at the Forest Learning Shelter at 9:30 on the 10th. Rain or shine.
More singing in the air today. The avian highlight of a brief noontime walk was a Merlin winging northward low over a field beyond the barns.
A flock of 45 Canada Geese flew north along the shoreline this morning. Below them, in the Webhannet Marsh along Wells Harbor Road, stood a solitary Great Blue Heron. Somewhere way up, a Tree Swallow scratched out a few notes. They're hints of spring movement that ought to start in earnest any day now.
Green-winged Teal, American Black Ducks, Canada Geese, and Mallards were the waterfowl close at hand. Red-winged Blackbirds and Song Sparrows were singing strongly, as was a sole Northern Mockingbird.
At mid day near the Wells Reserve campus, a Red-tailed Hawk got mobbed by crows and a Turkey Vulture rocked over the grasslands. The woods were mostly quiet — still mostly chickadees. American Robins, though, are hopping about by the dozens where the grass is packed down.
Showing blog posts tagged winged wednesday: 1–5 of 20
