SSBC Hockomock Swamp Breeding Bird Survey, June 19th 2021

     South Shore Bird Club started their summer of breeding bird surveys on June 19th with their survey of the Hockomock Swamp. The survey had a total of 9 participants which split up into 7 parties and had almost complete coverage of the area, with the exception of a small trail or two. The total time spent by all parties was 28 hours and 5 minutes, and the distance traveled was 22.56 miles. 

Map of Hockomock BBS. Orange denotes Hockomock boundaries, pink lines are mapped trails covered, purple "P" symbols denote parking areas, in which some unmapped trails were covered.

    The weather was perfect for a breeding bird survey, with temps in the high 60's-low 70's, light winds and partly cloudy- bird song was in full bloom! I think this was reflected within our totals, with 80 species seen and 1,777 individuals counted. Unfortunately no pukwudgies were observed during the survey, but other secrets of the Hockomock revealed themselves. Of these, 5 Winter Wrens, 3 Alder Flycatchers, 3 Black-throated Green Warblers, and 2 Canada Warblers were perhaps the highlights of our investigations. An adult with a juvenile Sandhill Crane took the cake for the greatest mystery of all raising the question; were these birds from Burrage or could this be another breeding pair?

Singing Alder Flycatcher, photo by Vin Zollo

Species Wood Duck	Totals 10
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)	3
Mourning Dove	21
Black-billed Cuckoo	3
Chimney Swift	8
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	7
Sandhill Crane	2
Killdeer	1
American Woodcock	1
Spotted Sandpiper	1
Laughing Gull	1
Herring Gull	31
Double-crested Cormorant	2
Great Blue Heron	8
Green Heron	2
Turkey Vulture	1
Red-shouldered Hawk	1
Red-tailed Hawk	7
Belted Kingfisher	1
Red-bellied Woodpecker	8
Downy Woodpecker	21
Hairy Woodpecker	11
Northern Flicker	18
Eastern Wood-Pewee	18
Alder Flycatcher	3
Willow Flycatcher	1
Eastern Phoebe	4
Great Crested Flycatcher	22
Eastern Kingbird	16
Yellow-throated Vireo	4
Warbling Vireo	10
Red-eyed Vireo	10
Blue Jay	21
American Crow	9
Fish Crow	3
Black-capped Chickadee	31
Tufted Titmouse	27
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	3
Purple Martin	3
Tree Swallow	11
Barn Swallow	15
Red-breasted Nuthatch	3
White-breasted Nuthatch	15
Brown Creeper	9
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	19
Winter Wren	5
Carolina Wren	15
European Starling	14
Gray Catbird	201
Veery	74
Wood Thrush	8
American Robin	98
Cedar Waxwing	18
House Sparrow	6
Purple Finch	1
American Goldfinch	26
Chipping Sparrow	18
Field Sparrow	1
Song Sparrow	38
Swamp Sparrow	57
Eastern Towhee	31
Orchard Oriole	1
Baltimore Oriole	14
Red-winged Blackbird	123
Brown-headed Cowbird	15
Common Grackle	102
Ovenbird	69
Northern Waterthrush	31
Blue-winged Warbler	8
Black-and-white Warbler	24
Common Yellowthroat	110
American Redstart	10
Yellow Warbler	167
Pine Warbler	29
Black-throated Green Warbler	3
Canada Warbler	2
Scarlet Tanager	8
Northern Cardinal	21
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	1
Indigo Bunting	2
Total # of Individuals	1777