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.
In Nate’s
President’s Message he states, “As the days get longer, we begin to daydream
more and more of warmer weather, an influx of migrants and the return of many
of our breeding birds.” After the cold, wet and windy month of April with only
one day reaching above 60 degrees, the first weekend in May didn’t disappoint,
and our dreams and wishes came true! The weather was an A plus and the migrants
showed up right on cue.
The sixth
South Shore Bird Club social distancing birding day was held on Sunday, May 3. Some
of our “early risers” again heard calls of barred and great horned owls. Participants observed
many migrant and breeding birds as they pushed into our area after stormy
weather had loomed.
Some went
afar. Glenn was north in Essex County watching large groups of glossy ibis,
yellowlegs, willets and egrets.
Some of us
stayed closer to home. Kathy spent part of her day birding at Wompatuck State
Park listing eight warbler species, red-eyed and blue-headed vireos and hearing
the sweet sound of wood thrushes.
At Squantum
in Quincy, Steven and Christine had eight types of warblers, and Steven
captured a photo of beautiful, bold black and white. They saw a green heron,
which is a rarity at Passanageset Park.
PHOTO-Black
and white warbler, Steven Whitebread
As Burrage
Pond never disappoints, Pete had a blue-headed and three warbling vireos,
kingbirds and many warbler species. Also, he reported that bobolinks have shown
up at Cumberland Farm fields.
South Cape
Beach State Park was one of Nate’s destinations with seven species of warblers
and a white-eye vireo. He always seems to find a rail! This time-a Virginia rail.
Common terns
and other shorebirds were seen at the cape, Squantum and West Island in
Fairhaven. As migrants were coming in, Vin spied a late female or juvie common
goldeneye in Cohasset.
Moe and I finished
our birding day with fantastic views of an American bittern feeding on eels in
the tidal pools at Egypt Lane.
PHOTO-American
Bittern, Moe Molander
All of us
had a terrific time sharing what we were seeing during the day; birds and other
wildlife. For a while, we could forget about how our lives have recently
changed, but not the month of May and the joy that migration brings to us!
-Carol
Number of
Species 164 (compiled by Brian Vigorito)
Species Name
|
Species
Count
|
Sample Size
|
Brant
|
183
|
5
|
Canada Goose
|
128
|
27
|
Mute Swan
|
72
|
7
|
Wood Duck
|
16
|
5
|
Gadwall
|
4
|
2
|
Mallard
|
37
|
11
|
American Black Duck
|
28
|
6
|
Green-winged Teal
|
2
|
1
|
Ring-necked Duck
|
31
|
2
|
Common Eider
|
62
|
5
|
Surf Scoter
|
28
|
4
|
White-winged Scoter
|
15
|
3
|
Black Scoter
|
2
|
1
|
Surf/Black Scoter
|
5
|
1
|
Long-tailed Duck
|
50
|
1
|
Bufflehead
|
74
|
6
|
Common Goldeneye
|
1
|
1
|
Red-breasted Merganser
|
44
|
9
|
Wild Turkey
|
11
|
6
|
Pied-billed Grebe
|
1
|
1
|
Rock Pigeon
|
4
|
2
|
Mourning Dove
|
71
|
28
|
Chimney Swift
|
2
|
2
|
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
|
5
|
4
|
Clapper Rail
|
3
|
2
|
Virginia Rail
|
4
|
2
|
Sandhill Crane
|
4
|
1
|
American Oystercatcher
|
7
|
5
|
Semipalmated Plover
|
1
|
1
|
Piping Plover
|
5
|
2
|
Killdeer
|
26
|
9
|
Ruddy Turnstone
|
3
|
1
|
Dunlin
|
55
|
1
|
Purple Sandpiper
|
24
|
1
|
Least Sandpiper
|
24
|
3
|
Short-billed Dowitcher
|
2
|
1
|
Wilson's Snipe
|
17
|
5
|
Spotted Sandpiper
|
2
|
2
|
Solitary Sandpiper
|
1
|
1
|
Greater Yellowlegs
|
117
|
16
|
Willet
|
53
|
10
|
Lesser Yellowlegs
|
4
|
2
|
Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs
|
1
|
1
|
Laughing Gull
|
3
|
1
|
Ring-billed Gull
|
17
|
3
|
Herring Gull
|
375
|
23
|
Great Black-backed Gull
|
73
|
12
|
gull sp.
|
46
|
4
|
Caspian Tern
|
4
|
3
|
Common Tern
|
111
|
4
|
tern sp.
|
600
|
1
|
Red-throated Loon
|
2
|
2
|
Common Loon
|
29
|
9
|
loon sp.
|
4
|
1
|
Manx Shearwater
|
1
|
1
|
Northern Gannet
|
38
|
4
|
Double-crested Cormorant
|
472
|
23
|
cormorant sp.
|
6
|
1
|
American Bittern
|
4
|
3
|
Great Blue Heron
|
40
|
8
|
Great Egret
|
34
|
15
|
Snowy Egret
|
18
|
8
|
Green Heron
|
3
|
3
|
Black-crowned Night-Heron
|
2
|
1
|
Glossy Ibis
|
67
|
3
|
Turkey Vulture
|
20
|
9
|
Osprey
|
28
|
16
|
Northern Harrier
|
1
|
1
|
Sharp-shinned Hawk
|
48
|
2
|
Cooper's Hawk
|
9
|
7
|
Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk
|
2
|
2
|
Bald Eagle
|
3
|
2
|
Red-shouldered Hawk
|
4
|
2
|
Broad-winged Hawk
|
9
|
4
|
Red-tailed Hawk
|
9
|
7
|
Great Horned Owl
|
1
|
1
|
Barred Owl
|
1
|
1
|
Belted Kingfisher
|
6
|
6
|
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
|
9
|
1
|
Red-bellied Woodpecker
|
21
|
15
|
Downy Woodpecker
|
45
|
19
|
Hairy Woodpecker
|
6
|
5
|
Downy/Hairy Woodpecker
|
1
|
1
|
Pileated Woodpecker
|
1
|
1
|
Northern Flicker
|
33
|
21
|
American Kestrel
|
6
|
3
|
Merlin
|
1
|
1
|
Peregrine Falcon
|
1
|
1
|
Least Flycatcher
|
1
|
1
|
Eastern Phoebe
|
19
|
13
|
Great Crested Flycatcher
|
3
|
3
|
Eastern Kingbird
|
14
|
8
|
White-eyed Vireo
|
2
|
2
|
Blue-headed Vireo
|
35
|
15
|
Warbling Vireo
|
7
|
4
|
Red-eyed Vireo
|
2
|
2
|
Blue Jay
|
127
|
33
|
American Crow
|
64
|
23
|
Fish Crow
|
16
|
7
|
Common Raven
|
2
|
2
|
Black-capped Chickadee
|
114
|
26
|
Tufted Titmouse
|
110
|
31
|
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
|
17
|
9
|
Purple Martin
|
2
|
1
|
Tree Swallow
|
210
|
20
|
Barn Swallow
|
65
|
18
|
swallow sp.
|
40
|
1
|
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
|
41
|
15
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch
|
2
|
2
|
White-breasted Nuthatch
|
32
|
19
|
Brown Creeper
|
2
|
2
|
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
|
43
|
13
|
House Wren
|
10
|
7
|
Winter Wren
|
1
|
1
|
Marsh Wren
|
2
|
2
|
Carolina Wren
|
28
|
18
|
European Starling
|
41
|
12
|
Gray Catbird
|
78
|
26
|
Brown Thrasher
|
3
|
3
|
Northern Mockingbird
|
15
|
12
|
Eastern Bluebird
|
1
|
1
|
Veery
|
3
|
2
|
Hermit Thrush
|
13
|
7
|
Wood Thrush
|
6
|
3
|
American Robin
|
179
|
42
|
House Sparrow
|
35
|
12
|
House Finch
|
8
|
7
|
American Goldfinch
|
114
|
34
|
Chipping Sparrow
|
73
|
22
|
Field Sparrow
|
15
|
6
|
White-crowned Sparrow
|
2
|
2
|
White-throated Sparrow
|
270
|
23
|
Savannah Sparrow
|
150
|
15
|
Song Sparrow
|
186
|
38
|
Swamp Sparrow
|
109
|
13
|
Eastern Towhee
|
110
|
23
|
Bobolink
|
5
|
1
|
Eastern Meadowlark
|
6
|
2
|
Orchard Oriole
|
4
|
3
|
Baltimore Oriole
|
28
|
15
|
Red-winged Blackbird
|
382
|
36
|
Brown-headed Cowbird
|
83
|
23
|
Rusty Blackbird
|
1
|
1
|
Common Grackle
|
236
|
34
|
blackbird sp.
|
30
|
1
|
Ovenbird
|
85
|
22
|
Northern Waterthrush
|
22
|
11
|
Blue-winged Warbler
|
2
|
2
|
Black-and-white Warbler
|
80
|
19
|
Nashville Warbler
|
1
|
1
|
Common Yellowthroat
|
18
|
11
|
American Redstart
|
3
|
2
|
Cape May Warbler
|
1
|
1
|
Northern Parula
|
17
|
8
|
Yellow Warbler
|
143
|
30
|
Black-throated Blue Warbler
|
4
|
3
|
Palm Warbler
|
31
|
13
|
Pine Warbler
|
44
|
14
|
Yellow-rumped Warbler
|
331
|
22
|
Prairie Warbler
|
11
|
7
|
Black-throated Green Warbler
|
3
|
3
|
Northern Cardinal
|
97
|
38
|
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
|
2
|
1
|
passerine sp.
|
170
|
2
|
New species seen this week:
White-crowned Sparrow
|
Northern Parula
|
Black-throated Blue Warbler
|
Prairie Warbler
|
Solitary Sandpiper
|
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
|
Least Sandpiper
|
Warbling Vireo
|
Orchard Oriole
|
Sharp-shinned Hawk
|
American Bittern
|
Red-eyed Vireo
|
Wood Thrush
|
Blue-winged Warbler
|
Veery
|
American Redstart
|
Spotted Sandpiper
|
Chimney Swift
|
Black-throated Green Warbler
|
Semipalmated Plover
|
Short-billed Dowitcher
|
Common Tern
|
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
|
Least Flycatcher
|
Nashville Warbler
|
Cape May Warbler
|
Bobolink
|
Ruddy Turnstone
|
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