Note: To those who are unfamiliar, these social distancing “walks” are not in-person walks but rather a group chat where members share their experiences for the morning and stay connected. South Shore Bird Club is strict about (and very impressed by its members) adhering to social distancing guidelines, which includes avoiding populated areas, large groups, and close social interaction. We fully support members enjoying the healing and mindfulness that nature can provide and want to foster a social environment for those who may feel isolated- these walks are intended to achieve both of these goals with safety at the forefront of our mission.
On Sunday, April 19th South Shore Bird Club hosted its fourth installment of Social Distancing “walks”. 22 people participated in the "walk", sharing their experiences with nature for the day.
On Sunday, April 19th South Shore Bird Club hosted its fourth installment of Social Distancing “walks”. 22 people participated in the "walk", sharing their experiences with nature for the day.
The morning started early (as birders often do) with several
people hearing Great Horned and Barred Owls as well as drumming Ruffed Grouse.
The phenomena of migration had become even more apparent with Hermit Thrushes,
Tree Swallows, and Osprey back on breeding grounds, and early passerine migrants
like Palm Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets showing up in numbers.
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| Palm Warbler by Brian Vigorito |
Birds we had we had been looking forward to coming back just a few
weeks ago had become abundant; a dozen oystercatchers, several dozen Greater
Yellowlegs, over 400 Double-crested Cormorants and over 100 Pine Warblers were
observed. And still the thrill of passerine migration continued to
precipitate, with early arrivals of Louisiana and Northern Waterthrushes and a
Yellow Warbler observed. What new arrivals will we observe next week? It will
be interesting to see what difference just a few days can make.
Some people had to work to avoid large groups while others didn’t
see anyone.
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| Empty parking lot (besides my car!) at John's Pond |
Christine and Steven headed home after finding the trails to be
too busy to find this guy at in their yard:
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| Wild Turkeys by Christine Whitebread |
On the non-bird front multiple people observed several species of
leps like Mourning Cloak and Spring Azure. Carol observed a red fox making -1
red squirrel. Pete spent a bit of time exploring and botanizing in the
Hockomock, and Conor observed a seal up at Squantum.
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| A pukwudgie-less Hockomock Swamp. Photo by Pete |
-Nate
| Species Name | Species Count | Sample Size |
| Brant | 136 | 4 |
| Canada Goose | 289 | 30 |
| Mute Swan | 23 | 7 |
| Wood Duck | 17 | 7 |
| Gadwall | 1 | 1 |
| Mallard | 65 | 20 |
| American Black Duck | 68 | 6 |
| Mallard x American Black Duck (hybrid) | 1 | 1 |
| Green-winged Teal | 42 | 2 |
| Ring-necked Duck | 9 | 3 |
| Greater Scaup | 3 | 2 |
| Common Eider | 33 | 5 |
| Surf Scoter | 89 | 7 |
| White-winged Scoter | 60 | 6 |
| Surf/Black Scoter | 6 | 1 |
| Long-tailed Duck | 13 | 3 |
| Bufflehead | 360 | 21 |
| Common Goldeneye | 1 | 1 |
| Hooded Merganser | 9 | 3 |
| Common Merganser | 5 | 2 |
| Red-breasted Merganser | 237 | 10 |
| Ruffed Grouse | 7 | 4 |
| Wild Turkey | 19 | 10 |
| Pied-billed Grebe | 2 | 2 |
| Horned Grebe | 26 | 4 |
| Rock Pigeon | 17 | 5 |
| Mourning Dove | 46 | 18 |
| American Coot | 1 | 1 |
| Sandhill Crane | 1 | 1 |
| American Oystercatcher | 10 | 4 |
| Piping Plover | 2 | 1 |
| Killdeer | 22 | 9 |
| Wilson's Snipe | 13 | 3 |
| Greater Yellowlegs | 38 | 9 |
| Willet | 5 | 2 |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | 1 | 1 |
| Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs | 2 | 1 |
| Laughing Gull | 25 | 1 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 51 | 5 |
| Herring Gull | 243 | 18 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 31 | 10 |
| gull sp. | 28 | 3 |
| Red-throated Loon | 10 | 5 |
| Common Loon | 16 | 9 |
| Northern Gannet | 97 | 4 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 409 | 18 |
| Great Blue Heron | 8 | 7 |
| Great Egret | 11 | 7 |
| Snowy Egret | 22 | 3 |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | 3 | 2 |
| Glossy Ibis | 20 | 2 |
| Turkey Vulture | 26 | 11 |
| Osprey | 39 | 21 |
| Northern Harrier | 5 | 3 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 8 | 7 |
| Bald Eagle | 3 | 3 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 8 | 7 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 1 | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 19 | 14 |
| hawk sp. | 5 | 2 |
| Great Horned Owl | 2 | 2 |
| Barred Owl | 2 | 2 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 9 | 8 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 9 | 1 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 31 | 19 |
| Black-backed Woodpecker | 2 | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 48 | 22 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 15 | 11 |
| Pileated Woodpecker | 2 | 1 |
| Northern Flicker | 45 | 32 |
| American Kestrel | 19 | 6 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 1 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 31 | 15 |
| White-eyed Vireo | 1 | 1 |
| Blue Jay | 141 | 33 |
| American Crow | 110 | 32 |
| Fish Crow | 10 | 7 |
| crow sp. | 2 | 1 |
| Common Raven | 5 | 5 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 201 | 35 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 140 | 27 |
| Horned Lark | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | 4 | 3 |
| Tree Swallow | 53 | 14 |
| Barn Swallow | 1 | 1 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 2 | 2 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 21 | 9 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 14 | 6 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 45 | 14 |
| Brown Creeper | 8 | 4 |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 8 | 7 |
| Winter Wren | 10 | 3 |
| Marsh Wren | 1 | 1 |
| Carolina Wren | 28 | 20 |
| European Starling | 21 | 7 |
| Gray Catbird | 4 | 4 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 15 | 10 |
| Eastern Bluebird | 1 | 1 |
| Hermit Thrush | 18 | 11 |
| American Robin | 169 | 39 |
| House Sparrow | 31 | 9 |
| House Finch | 26 | 14 |
| Purple Finch | 3 | 1 |
| American Goldfinch | 104 | 29 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 60 | 18 |
| Field Sparrow | 5 | 4 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 3 | 3 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 28 | 14 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 17 | 8 |
| Song Sparrow | 165 | 41 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 21 | 8 |
| Eastern Towhee | 33 | 15 |
| sparrow sp. | 4 | 1 |
| Eastern Meadowlark | 15 | 3 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 164 | 29 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 55 | 20 |
| Rusty Blackbird | 2 | 1 |
| Common Grackle | 149 | 25 |
| Louisiana Waterthrush | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 2 | 2 |
| Yellow Warbler | 1 | 1 |
| Palm Warbler | 22 | 7 |
| Pine Warbler | 104 | 20 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 12 | 8 |
| Northern Cardinal | 97 | 32 |
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