The SSBC Assawompsett Ponds Complex Important Bird Area (IBA) breeding bird survey was held July 25th, 2023. For the second year in a row, we had to shift the date from initially being scheduled on a Saturday to the following day on Sunday. You can pick the day, but you can't pick the weather! As a result, we lost a few surveyors due to scheduling conflicts, but still had a good turnout with 8 participants representing 5 survey parties. The survey was split up into 7 distinct sections, and some finished their surveys early allowing for each designated survey area to be covered. The five parties surveying covered a total of 33 miles on foot and a total time of 28 hours was spent surveying (total of all hours surveying by each party).
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| IBA Survey Area |
Our efforts resulted in the observation of 78 species and a total of 1,970 individuals. The habitat here is mostly forested and as a result woodland species were well-represented, with high numbers of Ovenbirds and Pine Warblers as one might expect. Other woodland birds which are uncommon in the area were also detected like several Broad-winged Hawks, Pileated Woodpeckers, Northern Parulas, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and an Acadian Flycatcher. Of particular interest during our survey were Common Loons of which we detected a minimum of two, and Bald Eagles which we were only able to detect a single immature bird of (a known nest was observed to be unoccupied). Results can be found in the table below as well as in this eBird Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/141197 . Highlights presented in bold, species with asterisks have commentary on count below the table.
|
Canada Goose |
51 |
|
Mute Swan |
11 |
|
Wood Duck |
1 |
|
Mallard |
18 |
|
duck sp. |
1 |
|
Mourning Dove |
34 |
|
Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
1 |
|
Chimney Swift |
11 |
|
Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
15 |
|
Common Loon |
4* |
|
Double-crested Cormorant |
9 |
|
Great Blue Heron |
15 |
|
Green Heron |
1 |
|
Osprey |
5 |
|
Cooper's Hawk |
1 |
|
Bald Eagle |
1 |
|
Red-shouldered Hawk |
4 |
|
Broad-winged Hawk |
4 |
|
Belted Kingfisher |
8 |
|
Red-bellied Woodpecker |
17 |
|
Downy Woodpecker |
22 |
|
Hairy Woodpecker |
10 |
|
Pileated Woodpecker |
3* |
|
Northern Flicker |
12 |
|
Eastern Wood-Pewee |
36 |
|
Acadian Flycatcher |
1 |
|
Eastern Phoebe |
14 |
|
Great Crested Flycatcher |
43 |
|
Eastern Kingbird |
13 |
|
Warbling Vireo |
4 |
|
Red-eyed Vireo |
39 |
|
Blue Jay |
29 |
|
American Crow |
27 |
|
Fish Crow |
7 |
|
Black-capped Chickadee |
84 |
|
Tufted Titmouse |
100 |
|
Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
2 |
|
Purple Martin |
16 |
|
Tree Swallow |
53 |
|
Bank Swallow |
25 |
|
Barn Swallow |
12 |
|
swallow sp. |
5 |
|
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
14 |
|
White-breasted Nuthatch |
44 |
|
Brown Creeper |
16 |
|
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
10 |
|
House Wren |
9 |
|
Carolina Wren |
50 |
|
European Starling |
16 |
|
Gray Catbird |
133 |
|
Eastern Bluebird |
5 |
|
Veery |
75 |
|
Hermit Thrush |
10 |
|
Wood Thrush |
11 |
|
American Robin |
40 |
|
Cedar Waxwing |
59 |
|
House Sparrow |
17 |
|
American Goldfinch |
28 |
|
Chipping Sparrow |
57 |
|
Field Sparrow |
1 |
|
Song Sparrow |
30 |
|
Swamp Sparrow |
9 |
|
Eastern Towhee |
29 |
|
Orchard Oriole |
2 |
|
Baltimore Oriole |
3 |
|
Red-winged Blackbird |
51 |
|
Brown-headed Cowbird |
35 |
|
Common Grackle |
28 |
|
Ovenbird |
160 |
|
Northern Waterthrush |
4 |
|
Black-and-white Warbler |
3 |
|
Common Yellowthroat |
20 |
|
American Redstart |
11 |
|
Northern Parula |
5 |
|
Yellow Warbler |
48 |
|
Pine Warbler |
112 |
|
Prairie Warbler |
1 |
|
Scarlet Tanager |
19 |
|
Northern Cardinal |
35 |
|
Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
1 |
|
Total: |
1970 |