Wompatuck State Park, May 12, 2016

Eighteen birders set out for our x-rated walk around Triphammer Pond on a sunny warm day. Love was certainly in the air as Chipping Sparrows started the mating show while numerous other birds joined the bandwagon as the morning progressed. Baltimore Orioles filled the airwaves with their exuberant songs and a pair of Broad-winged Hawks circled over the pond affording great looks.  A Pileated Woodpecker sang lustily numerous times, but didn't put in an appearance.  The highlight of the return to the parking lot was a trio of Hermit Thrushes perching, then chasing each other, and circling our group through the woods a few times.


Triphammer Pond, Plymouth, Massachusetts, US
May 12, 2016 6:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.2 mile(s)
Comments:     Sunny with temps rising from 50 to high 60's.  Walk around Triphammer Pond from main parking lot of Wompatuck; A SSBC trip
42 species (+1 other taxa)

Canada Goose  2
Wood Duck  1     Also a flyover, but GISS determined species
duck sp.  1     a flyover past the sun so no details could be discerned
Turkey Vulture  1
Osprey  1
Broad-winged Hawk  2
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Mourning Dove  1
Chimney Swift  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Pileated Woodpecker  1     not seen, but vocalized numerous times
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Eastern Kingbird  3
Red-eyed Vireo  5
Blue Jay  5
American Crow  3     3 seen; many others mobbing an unknown bird out of sight
Black-capped Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  9
White-breasted Nuthatch  3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Hermit Thrush  3
Wood Thrush  6
American Robin  6
Gray Catbird  8
Ovenbird  13
Blue-winged Warbler  1
Black-and-white Warbler  9
Common Yellowthroat  4
Northern Parula  2
Yellow Warbler  4
Pine Warbler  2
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
Chipping Sparrow  6
Song Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  4
Scarlet Tanager  4
Northern Cardinal  3
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Common Grackle  1
Brown-headed Cowbird  4
Baltimore Oriole  7
American Goldfinch  5

Twelve participants continued on to Gate 9 for a walk in search of new species.  There were several great looks at Black-and-white Warblers, and two Blue-winged Warblers posed for at least 5 minutes on the path ahead of us allowing comparison of the sexes. Further along the rail path (toward Wildcat) a winter Wren sang loudly for a period, then hopped down along the ground where most of us got numerous fleeting looks, and one longer view, as he progressed from one side of the trail to the other. After a quick drive down to the end of the park, we stopped at Boundary Pond to drink in the beauty and birdsong.  There, a Solitary Sandpiper fed along one of the mud bars and a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers was seen entering and leaving their nest in a nearby snag.

Sally Avery

Wompatuck State Park, Plymouth, Massachusetts, US
May 12, 2016 9:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments:     A walk from gate 9 and environs, followed by drive to end of park and stop at Boundary Pond; 70 degrees and sunny; SSBC trip
37 species

Turkey Vulture  1
Solitary Sandpiper  1
Mourning Dove  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Downy Woodpecker  2
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Pileated Woodpecker  1     unmistakeable loud drumming
Eastern Phoebe  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  3
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  8
Tufted Titmouse  5
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Winter Wren  1     after it was heard well, it was seen well hopping along logs and across to stream on other side of path
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2
Wood Thrush  1
American Robin  2
Gray Catbird  4
Ovenbird  13
Northern Waterthrush  1
Blue-winged Warbler  4
Black-and-white Warbler  11
Common Yellowthroat  3
American Redstart  4
Yellow Warbler  2
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
Chipping Sparrow  6
Song Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  10
Scarlet Tanager  1
Northern Cardinal  6
Red-winged Blackbird  4
Common Grackle  1
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
Baltimore Oriole  6
American Goldfinch  3