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 May 31st, the South Shore Bird Club hosted its
9th installment of our Social Distancing Virtual “walks”, hereby
known as the early breeders edition.
This is the time of year where we are still seeing some
migrant warblers and late migrants like certain flycatcher species are popping
up but many raptors, early migrants, and resident species are either setting up
shop or are already caring for young.
It was clear that SSBC was keyed in on this and paying extra
attention to habits and behaviors of these birds, with the breeding of fourteen
different species of birds confirmed (that is, behaviors were observed
sufficient to determine the species is nesting in the area) including Canada
Goose, Mute Swan (yuck!), Mallard, American Black Duck, Common Eider, American
Oystercatcher, Osprey, two Common Raven
nests (!), Barn Swallow, American Robin, Tufted Titmouse, Common Grackle, Field
Sparrow, and Northern Waterthrush. A fine assortment of birds for such an early
date in the breeding season!
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| Common Raven nest |
As always a personal favorite of mine was the sharing of non-avian highlights, which included red foxes, dragonflies, plants, and fungi!
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| Chicken of the woods by Lisa |
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| Spiderwort by Conor |
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| Snapping turtle blocking the path by Brian |
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| Common Whitetail by Kim |
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| Cedar Apple Rust |
In other news; the SSBC Social Distancing walks are famous! Sue Scheible of the Patriot Ledger wrote a column about our walks, including an interview with two people that many of you might know pretty well! The article can be found here: https://www.patriotledger.com/news/20200601/good-age-birdwatching-together-is-virtual-pleasure
Best,
Nate
| Species Name | Species Count | Sample Size |
| Canada Goose | 50 | 5 |
| Mute Swan | 8 | 4 |
| Wood Duck | 3 | 1 |
| Mallard | 25 | 6 |
| American Black Duck | 8 | 1 |
| Common Eider | 13 | 2 |
| Wild Turkey | 1 | 1 |
| Rock Pigeon | 2 | 1 |
| Mourning Dove | 32 | 14 |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 9 | 6 |
| Chimney Swift | 24 | 9 |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | 2 | 2 |
| Clapper Rail | 1 | 1 |
| American Oystercatcher | 5 | 3 |
| Killdeer | 10 | 4 |
| Ruddy Turnstone | 9 | 1 |
| American Woodcock | 1 | 1 |
| Spotted Sandpiper | 1 | 1 |
| Willet | 12 | 4 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 10 | 1 |
| Herring Gull | 135 | 13 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 20 | 3 |
| gull sp. | 5 | 1 |
| Least Tern | 2 | 1 |
| Roseate Tern | 3 | 1 |
| Common Tern | 40 | 1 |
| Sterna sp. | 1,500 | 1 |
| Common Loon | 1 | 1 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 94 | 9 |
| Great Blue Heron | 6 | 4 |
| Great Egret | 10 | 4 |
| Snowy Egret | 10 | 2 |
| Green Heron | 6 | 3 |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | 4 | 2 |
| Glossy Ibis | 4 | 1 |
| Black Vulture | 1 | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | 11 | 8 |
| Osprey | 29 | 9 |
| Mississippi Kite | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Harrier | 1 | 1 |
| Cooper's Hawk | 1 | 1 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 3 | 3 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 2 | 2 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 8 | 7 |
| hawk sp. | 3 | 2 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 2 | 1 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 9 | 5 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 6 | 6 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 |
| Northern Flicker | 17 | 11 |
| American Kestrel | 2 | 1 |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | 13 | 8 |
| Acadian Flycatcher | 1 | 1 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 13 | 4 |
| Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher) | 1 | 1 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 11 | 7 |
| Great Crested Flycatcher | 24 | 14 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 11 | 5 |
| White-eyed Vireo | 1 | 1 |
| Yellow-throated Vireo | 2 | 2 |
| Warbling Vireo | 3 | 3 |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 13 | 7 |
| Blue Jay | 26 | 12 |
| American Crow | 28 | 15 |
| Fish Crow | 7 | 5 |
| Common Raven | 12 | 4 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 45 | 11 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 43 | 14 |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | 15 | 5 |
| Tree Swallow | 29 | 7 |
| Bank Swallow | 42 | 3 |
| Barn Swallow | 58 | 12 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 3 | 1 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 9 | 7 |
| Brown Creeper | 2 | 2 |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 9 | 4 |
| House Wren | 16 | 9 |
| Carolina Wren | 12 | 9 |
| European Starling | 71 | 10 |
| Gray Catbird | 78 | 19 |
| Brown Thrasher | 5 | 4 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 9 | 6 |
| Eastern Bluebird | 5 | 2 |
| Veery | 26 | 3 |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 | 1 |
| Wood Thrush | 3 | 3 |
| American Robin | 92 | 21 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 68 | 13 |
| House Sparrow | 27 | 10 |
| House Finch | 9 | 6 |
| American Goldfinch | 37 | 13 |
| Grasshopper Sparrow | 12 | 1 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 49 | 14 |
| Field Sparrow | 10 | 4 |
| Saltmarsh Sparrow | 2 | 1 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 5 | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 69 | 19 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 11 | 4 |
| Eastern Towhee | 28 | 8 |
| Bobolink | 40 | 1 |
| Eastern Meadowlark | 3 | 1 |
| Orchard Oriole | 4 | 3 |
| Baltimore Oriole | 34 | 13 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 160 | 19 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 26 | 11 |
| Common Grackle | 100 | 19 |
| Ovenbird | 71 | 9 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 7 | 2 |
| Blue-winged Warbler | 3 | 1 |
| Black-and-white Warbler | 16 | 5 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 80 | 17 |
| American Redstart | 11 | 6 |
| Magnolia Warbler | 1 | 1 |
| Blackburnian Warbler | 1 | 1 |
| Yellow Warbler | 78 | 18 |
| Blackpoll Warbler | 4 | 2 |
| Pine Warbler | 22 | 6 |
| Prairie Warbler | 13 | 4 |
| Canada Warbler | 1 | 1 |
| Scarlet Tanager | 3 | 3 |
| Northern Cardinal | 36 | 17 |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 4 | 2 |
| Blue Grosbeak | 1 | 1 |
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