Westminster/ Gardner Birds 4/27/07

With the day's fowl weather, I thought it might be worth while to check out some local lakes and ponds on the drive home from work. Occasionally, migrating waterfowl may "put down" on inland bodies of water, so I hoped for perhaps a few sea ducks or grebes. My first stop at Round Meadow Pond had a nice concentration of swallows including Tree, Barn, Rough-winged and a Cliff. Meetinghouse Reservoir had nothing, Mare Meadow Reservoir had a dozen plus Double-crested Cormorants and a Common Loon (Which may have been a local breeder as they nest close by on Bickford Pond).

Along Minot Road I came across Wild Turkeys in 3 different locations, all acting fairly tame so long as I remained in the car. With this year's Massachusetts breeding bird atlas beginning, one can't help think of the population expansion of this species since the first atlas. There were a few warblers in a wetland along the road, a few Yellow-rumped, 1 Palm and an early male American Redstart.

Continuing on to Wright's Reservoir and an un-named pond (that's always been good for Goldeneye and Ring-necked Ducks) yielded nothing of note. But, my last stop, I managed to find a nice pair of Red-breasted Mergansers on Crystal Lake in Gardner....never a common bird up this way.

Wild Turkeys along Minot Road in Westminster

This evening's list:
Canada Goose 2
American Black Duck 1
Mallard 3
Red-breasted Merganser 2
Wild Turkey 11
Common Loon 1
Double-crested Cormorant 18
Great Blue Heron 2
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
Tree Swallow 50
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3
Cliff Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 15
Black-capped Chickadee 5
American Robin 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler 8
Palm Warbler 1
American Redstart 1
Swamp Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 1