Gardner Ashburnham Birds 6/30 (Fitch 1 block)

This morning I put in 7 hours of birding, starting at 5:15Am and completed the 20 hours of preliminary observation for Fitchburg 1 block (Mass. Breeding Bird Atlas). I started at High Ridge WMA to cover the marsh for rails, and struck out again ( both Sora and Virgina Rail have been present in past years) but managed to get a decent view of an American Bittern pair. There were singing Swamp Sparrows, an Alder Flycatcher, Baltimore Orioles and a male Evening Grosbeak was calling as it flew overhead, I would hear a few more later. A few confirmed breeders were Mallard with young, House Wren feeding a fledgling and Yellow Warblers feeding young.

There were many Cedar Waxwings in the area, one pair was gathering nesting material but later, at a near by industrial park, I found waxwing entering a nest in white pine tree (below).
Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing Nest

In the same area as the as the waxwing nest was a Red-breasted Nuthatch, Nashville Warbler, Eastern towhees and this White-throated Sparrow (below).

White-throated Sparrow

In South Ashburnham I walked an abondonded RR track, I was targeting Winter Wren, which I had yet to find in this block. I first walked a few streets, for suburban type birds where I managed to find a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on wild flowers. Along the RR trail there were several Hermit Thrushes(one was feeding a begging fledgling), a few veerys and the typical assortment of woodland birds such as Ruffed Grouse, Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, Red-eyed vireo, Ovenbird and Scarlet Tanager. Ebony Jewelwing along a stream

I must have walked into the nesting area of a Broad-winged Hawk, as it persistantly called moving about the forest canopy. This agitated some a nearby Hairy Woodpecker and a Winter Wren, which gave its charactoristic double chip note, one of two I heard on this walk.

The detail for the preliminary 20 hours between 5/5/07 and 6/30/07, details on the code definitions are at atlas codes

Canada Goose....CO(ON)
Wood Duck....CO(PY)
Mallard....CO(PY)
Hooded Merganser....CO(FL)
Ruffed Grouse....CO(DD)
Wild Turkey....PR(S)
Common Loon....CO(PY)
Double-crested Cormorant....OB(O)
American Bittern....PR(P)
Great Blue Heron....PO(X)
Green Heron....PR(P)
Cooper's Hawk....PO(X)
Broad-winged Hawk....PR(A)
Killdeer....CO(DD)
Rock Pigeon....PO(X)
Mourning Dove....PR(S)
Black-billed Cuckoo....PO(X)
Barred Owl....PR(S)
Chimney Swift....PR(P)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird....PO(X)
Belted Kingfisher....PO(X)
Red-bellied Woodpecker....PO(X)
Downy Woodpecker....PR(S)
Hairy Woodpecker....PO(X)
Northern Flicker....PR(S)
Pileated Woodpecker....PR(S)
Eastern Wood-Pewee....PR(S)
Alder Flycatcher....PR(S)
Willow Flycatcher....PR(S)
Eastern Phoebe....PR(S)
Great Crested Flycatcher....PR(S)
Eastern Kingbird....CO(CF)
Blue-headed Vireo....PO(X)
Warbling Vireo....PR(S)
Red-eyed Vireo....PR(S)
Blue Jay....PR(S)
American Crow....PR(S)
Common Raven....PO(X)
Tree Swallow....CO(FY)
Barn Swallow....PR(A)
Black-capped Chickadee....CO(FL)
Tufted Titmouse....PR(S)
Red-breasted Nuthatch....PR(S)
White-breasted Nuthatch....PO(X)
Brown Creeper....PR(S)
House Wren....PR(S)
Winter Wren....PO(X)
Marsh Wren....PO(X)
Veery....PR(S)
Hermit Thrush....CO(FL)
Wood Thrush....PR(S)
American Robin....CO(CN)
Gray Catbird....PR(S)
Northern Mockingbird....PO(X)
European Starling....CO(CF)
Cedar Waxwing....
CO(ON)
Nashville Warbler....PR(P)
Yellow Warbler....PR(S)
Chestnut-sided Warbler....PR(S)
Magnolia Warbler....PO(X)
Black-throated Blue Warbler....PR(S)
Yellow-rumped Warbler....PR(S)
Black-throated Green Warbler....PR(S)
Blackburnian Warbler....PO(X)
Pine Warbler....CO(CN)
Black-and-white Warbler....PR(S)
American Redstart....PR(S)
Ovenbird....PR(S)
Northern Waterthrush....PR(S)
Common Yellowthroat....CO(CF)
Canada Warbler....PR(S)
Scarlet Tanager....PR(S)
Eastern Towhee....PR(S)
Chipping Sparrow....CO(CF)
Song Sparrow....CO(CF)
Swamp Sparrow....PR(S)
White-throated Sparrow....PR(S)
Northern Cardinal....PR(S)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak....PR(S)
Indigo Bunting....PR(S)
Bobolink....CO(CF)
Red-winged Blackbird....CO(CF)
Common Grackle....CO(CF)
Brown-headed Cowbird....PO(X)
Baltimore Oriole....PR(S)
Purple Finch....PR(S)
House Finch....CO(CN)
American Goldfinch...PR(P)
Evening Grosbeak....PO(X)
House Sparrow.........PR(S)