The Wrack

An update of the Wells Reserve bird list has been overdue for some time. Now it's done.

Download the latest Wells Reserve bird list

Donald and Lillian Stokes attracted 68 people to the Wells Reserve at Laudholm last night for their presentation, "You, Birds, and Birding". The Stokes provided a behind the scenes account of the development of their field guides, and described the many features that are includ…

On September 17, 2009, this bird was caught in a mist net at the Wells Reserve and brought to the banding station under the copper beech. June Ficker, our highly knowledgeable and experienced bird bander, wanted photo documentation of this individual to share with other experts. Was she overly cautious or onto something? How would you identify this bird?

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.…

"You never know what the day will bring!" That is especially true of my job as Natural Resource Specialist here at the Wells Reserve. For instance, last week my task was to walk down the length of Laudholm Beach with Nancy Viehmann in search of beached birds. This is part of a monthly survey for a nationwide program called SEANET.

The Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET), based at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, is an ongoing project assessing seabird mortality along the eastern seaboard of the United States. Over 100 citizen scientists volunteer to walk an assigned stretch of beach once or twice a month, record environmental data and report both dead and live birds seen on the beach.

After our most recent snow fall, I had a visitor behind my home on the Alheim Property. I am not an Ornithologist by a long shot but I believe it is a Barred Owl. A beautiful bird and I thought I would share the Photo. Any birders out there think it's something else? …

It's the 20th anniversary of bird banding at the Wells Reserve this year. The master bander who has been at the heart of the program all this time, June Ficker, recently looked back at her 1988 records and provided this summary: Operated 6 12-meter mist nets from May 27 to August 31 for a total of 14 Wednesdays from 6 to 10:30 am. Species banded: 19Birds banded: 69Gray Ca…

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 …

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…