Groton, Ma. Birds 10/10/07

This noon I birded Fitch's Bridge Road in Groton, walking about 1/3 mile along a dirt section that bisects agricultural fields. The fields are a mixture of corn, pumpkin and squash, with mixed weeds (in the "squash sections) and adjacent irrigaton ditchs making for excellent sparrow habitat. During October and through the autum there is generally good numbers Song, Swamp, Savanah, White-throated, Junco and Chipping Sparrows...though Chipping will be essentially gone by early Novemeber and replaced by American Tree Sparrow. Fewer numbers of Field, Lincoln's, White-crowned and an occasional Vesper maybe mixed in during October.
Savanah Sparrow(D-B)

Over the years I have found a few more species (considered unusual in this area) of sparrow and sparrow types birds in the fields. Which include Nelson's Sharp-tailed, Grasshopper, Clay-colored and Dicksissel.

Swamp Sparrow (D-B)

10/10 lunch list:
Canada Goose...2
Northern Harrier...1
Cooper's Hawk...1
Mourning Dove...8
Red-bellied Woodpecker...1
Downy Woodpecker...1
Hairy Woodpecker...1
Blue Jay...3
American Crow...5
Black-capped Chickadee...4
Tufted Titmouse...5
White-breasted Nuthatch...1
Golden-crowned Kinglet...1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet...2
Eastern Bluebird...4
American Robin...2
Gray Catbird...2
Yellow-rumped Warbler...15
Palm Warbler...8
Common Yellowthroat...1
Chipping Sparrow...40
Field Sparrow...1
Savannah Sparrow...15
Song Sparrow...15
Lincoln's Sparrow...4
Swamp Sparrow...25
White-throated Sparrow...30
White-crowned Sparrow...4
Dark-eyed Junco...2
Northern Cardinal...3
Red-winged Blackbird...300
Rusty Blackbird...6
Common Grackle...8
American Goldfinch...5

Keene Airport 10/7/07 (Swanzey, NH)

I birded the Keene Airport, after visiting my girlfriend today, ( a two airport day!) area later this afternoon, walking the back road to the waste water treatment plant and back. Over the past few years I have seen good reports from here by local birders, so I figured it was worth the effort. While there were no big surprises I was pleased to see 9 White-crowned (7 Imm. and 2 adults) , 1 Lincon's and 1 Field Saprrow along with a Rusty Blackbird and several Cedar Waxings. Any time I see an Owl during the daylight is special and this afternoon I had a nice look at this Barred Owl (below).

Barred Owl (digi-binned)
Barred Owl (D-B)

The bird list:

Canada Goose...50
Mallard...1
Turkey Vulture...2
American Kestrel...1
Mourning Dove...3
Barred Owl...1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker...3
Downy Woodpecker...6
Hairy Woodpecker...2
Northern Flicker...5
Eastern Phoebe...7
Blue-headed Vireo...2
Blue Jay...20
American Crow...6
Black-capped Chickadee...10
Tufted Titmouse...1
White-breasted Nuthatch...2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet...1
Hermit Thrush...1
American Robin...2
Gray Catbird...3
Cedar Waxwing...50
Black-throated Blue Warbler...1
Yellow-rumped Warbler...8
Palm Warbler...6
Common Yellowthroat...4
Field Sparrow...1
Savannah Sparrow...8
Song Sparrow...6
Lincoln's Sparrow...1
Swamp Sparrow...10
White-throated Sparrow...20
White-crowned Sparrow...9
Dark-eyed Junco...8
Eastern Meadowlark...1
Rusty Blackbird...1
Purple Finch...3
American Goldfinch...5
House Sparrow...2

Northern Wheatear 10/07 (Orange, Ma.)

The Northern Wheatear, first found by Mike Polana on Friday 10/5/07, was still present this morning between 7:30 and when I left the area at 8:20am. It perched atop an orange snow plow shortly after I arrived and showed nicely for 8 birders that where present. It moved from the plow to a short fence in front of the airport office, to a picinic table then to edge of the runway and to the back of a truck.

Northern Wheatear perched on a picinic table.

After having nice looks a few birders left and the rest of us moved to a different vantage point scan the airfield for other species. Upon walking back to my car, alone, I noticed the bird had moved closer to parking lot and I managed to snap a few more digi-bin photos though my 8x binoculars (below).

Wheatear foraging near a pile of scrap wood.

Perched atop the fence (note the differnce in buffy color from the picture above and the previous..which are much lighter, sometimes the angle of view, lighting and exposure can give very different impressions as to coloration of the same individual). With subtle colors, caution should always be used when making judgements.

How long will the stay in the area is alway a question that might come up, and it did. With the recent warm and summery weather it is not a surprise that it did not move Friday or Saturday nights. But with a cold front coming through today it may very well move on tonight and today could be the last day its present. Typically this species does not tend to linger very long, especially in inland locations! Time will tell.

Back yard birds 10/5 and 10/6

White-throated Sparrow numbers are at a high level in the area right now. When I wake up in the morning I can hear several of their chip notes from the back yard and the occasional "broken" and incomplete song. Along with the White-throats have been was a Yellow-bellied Sapsuck and Chestnut-sided Warbler on 10/5. There is now a pair of Carolina Wrens in the thicket that borders my yard as well, here is a digi-bin photo of one below.
Carolina Wren

And...the big news in north central Massachusetts was a Northern Wheatear found by Mike Polana at the Orange, Ma. airfield yesterday 10/5! It sounds like Mike got the news out quickly and many birders have been able see this rare thrush. There are only a handfull of records of this species from the interior of Massachusetts. I may not have a chance to chase this one today, maybe tomorrow if its still present.

Pepperell Birds 10/4

This noon I took a lunch break along the back-waters of the Nashua River to see what might be in the area for waterfowl. The visit turned out to be quite productive for a few species that tend to be locally uncommon. First I noticed 5 American Coot, while this species is a regular on certain bodies of water, such as the impoundments at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refudge (Concord, Ma.) I have not seen this species in the immediate area before, though my efforts haven't been extensive.
A few other nice species were 14 Blue-wing Teal, 10 Pied-billed Grebes and an Osprey that had just "pulled up short" on a dive for a fish. Ospreys tend to be very localized breeders in massachusetts away from the coast, but there are a few pairs the nest in this general area.

2 of 14 Blue-wing Teal rest on a downed tree

While pulling out of the parking lot at work (In Groton, Ma.), I notice a sparrow hopping on the lawn. Three evenings ago there was a White-crowned Sparrow in this very spot and thats what it was, still present.

A Handsome adult White-crowned Sparrow working the lawn