Ashburnham Birds 6/03/07 (Part 1)

Looking toward Cheshire Pond (Ashburnham)
From 5 am till noon I birded in the Ashburnham 3 block of the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas. Despite living and birding in the general area for 20 years I have (sadly) only birded this area a few times. I walked up Old Country Road off Rte 101, just outside of South Ashburnham, toward a piece of Ashburnham State Forest and Cheshire Pond, via an old rail road bed. Some of the views across this small pond and associated wetlands gives one the impression of being in northern New Hampshire or Maine. Unfortunately, since the last time I visited (15 years ago) a small housing sub-divison has been developed on the east side of the pond, across from the power lines that "skirts" the pond.

I had hoped for an American Bittern, as the habitat had looked promising, and while I didn't hear "them" calling ...one flew overhead and landed a 100 meters away. A Virgina Rail called in the distance from the same marshy area at the edge of a beaver pond (below).

Beaver Pond (Ashburnham State Forest)

Mosquitoes were out in full force, hearing the more distant bird song was an issue over the buzzing vampires. A Barred Owl and Turkey called soon after I left my car and a bit further up the road a Northern Goshawk passed silently overhead (obviously I wasn't too near its nest sight!). There were good numbers of Black-throated Blue , BT Green, Canada Warblers, White-throated Sparrows and a few Blackburnian and Magnolia Warblers. I was fortunate to hear a few Ruffed Grouse drumming and Pileated Woodpeckers calling. Alder Flycatchers are back in force I saw and heard a few calling from the various open wetlands, in one spot a Willow Flycatcher was calling providing a good comparison between these two apparent identical looking species.

Alder Flycatcher

After this 4 mile walk I stopped by the Raven's nest sight, previous report here, where there was only 2 juveniles left in the nest and one adult. Further down in a wetland off Depot Road I was fortunate to find the Great Egret, Digi-binned below.

Great Egret

In addition to birds White-tailed Deer, Muskrat, an upclose Porcupine and flowers.

Blue Flag
The "business end" of a Porcupine
Cinnamon Fern

Later I checked out a few sand pits and found nesting Bank Swallows and Belted Kingfisher.

This morning's bird list:
Canada Goose 4
American Black Duck 1 flying overhead
Mallard 1
Hooded Merganser 2 females in flight
Ruffed Grouse 2
Wild Turkey 1
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 1
Green Heron 1
Northern Goshawk 1
Virginia Rail 1
Killdeer 1
Mourning Dove 8
Barred Owl 1
Chimney Swift 2
Belted Kingfisher 2 (1 at nest hole)
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Alder Flycatcher 6
Willow Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 3
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 8
Blue Jay 12
American Crow 9
Common Raven 3 2 juv and 1 adult on nest
Tree Swallow 13
Bank Swallow 4 nesting a small colony
Barn Swallow 12
Black-capped Chickadee 26
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
Winter Wren 1
Veery 8
Hermit Thrush 9
Wood Thrush 1
American Robin 9
Gray Catbird 6
Cedar Waxwing 7
Nashville Warbler 6
Yellow Warbler 5
Chestnut-sided Warbler 4
Magnolia Warbler 4
Black-throated Blue Warbler 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Black-throated Green Warbler 14
Blackburnian Warbler 4
Pine Warbler 8
Prairie Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 10
American Redstart 1
Ovenbird 22
Northern Waterthrush 2
Common Yellowthroat 18
Canada Warbler 8
Scarlet Tanager 4
Eastern Towhee 5
Chipping Sparrow 4
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 5
Swamp Sparrow 7
White-throated Sparrow 9
Northern Cardinal 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 21
Common Grackle 39
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Baltimore Oriole 2
Purple Finch 3
American Goldfinch 8

Osprey Nests in Pepperell (5/31)

During my lunch hour , on thursday 5/31, I took the opportunity to visit the two Osprey nests in Pepperell (and Dr. Dave's ice cream stand). The first nest , which I first posted about on this site back in April, is off Elliot Street "centered" in a beaver pond. An adult was standing in the nest and I could make out the head of at least one young Osprey moving just below the rim of the nest.

This nest, and I would suppose many other large raptor's nests , is a "multi-cultural" dwelling as both House Sparrows and European Starlings were bringing nesting materials into the lower portions of the large stick nest. Occasionally a Starling would get a bit too close to the rim of the nest would and get "THE evil stare" and a vocal warning from the adult Osprey. The Starling was perfectly willing to comply and retreat, knowing it has a good deal going with the "first floor lease" arragement.

The second nest in located high atop a cell tower at Lomar Industrial Park off Rte 111. The adult was standing and did not appear to be incubating eggs, so hopefully young have successfully hatched out in this nest.

Raven Nest in Ashburnham 5/28/07

Northern Ravens have not been an uncommon species in northern Worcester County for many years. None the less, I was pleased to find a Raven's nest, with an adult and 4 fully grown young and another adult calling from the wood , near by, in a nest a few hundred yards off Rte 12 in Ashburham. In the Ashburnham 3 block of the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas project.
Note the Raven's nest toward the upper left side of the support tower
The adult Croaking away, I cut my trip short so as not to upset these birds for too long.

Veery Nest Pisgah State Park (NH) 5/25/07

Chuck Caron and I were birding on Old Chesterfield Road in Pisgah State Park, in south west New Hampshire, on Firday 5/25. I noticed a bird flushed from only 5 feet in front of us, this thrush was a Veery and perched about 20 feet away. We immediatley suspected it had a nest in front of us, only a few feet from the road (a lightly used dirt road). I was able to find a nest (with a dead leaf in it) and said "here is a nest", Chuck pointed out "it must be last year's, because here is one with 4 eggs in it". These 2 nests, the old and new, were only about 12 inches apart and a foot or two off the road.

An old Veery's nest
Veery nest with eggs

New Hampshire Birdathon (Monadnock Region) 5/26/07

Chuck Caron, Paul Meleski, Mike Resch and I birded the Monadnock region of New Hampshire from 4:30AM to 9:30PM on Saturday 5/26/07. Starting our birding in Winchester, at the old landfill we heard singing Whip-poor-wills and a Barred Owl to kick the day off, then we were able pickup several common species via song while driving with the windows down. We stopped at a covered bridge over the Ashelout River, missing the Common Merganser seen the previous day, but seeing dozens and dozens of bats flying over the river was impressive! The "setback" area along the Conn. River was a key stop for us at dawn, as we heard Virginia Rail and Sora calling from large fresh water marsh. A few other notable species from the area were Red-bellied Woodpecker, Willow Flycatcher, Marsh Wrens, a few Blackpoll and a Wilson's Warbler were nice additions.
We headed away from the river, to gain elevation along a back road up toward Chesterfield adding on species such as Nashville, Black-throat Blue , Blackburnian Warblers, Lousiana Waterthrush and Pileated Woodpecker. We missed Winter Wren and Northern Waterthrush but still had planned stops for these species later. Near the open fields in Chesterfield we picked up Wild Turkey, Savannah Sparrow and Bobolink....we took a few moments to feed a few friendly horses a little bit of grass.
Next stop was Krif Road in Keene, there was very little water left from recent rains for shorebirds, but we managed a few Least and Spotted Sandpipers along with a Brown Thrasher. The Keene Airport in Swanzey was an important stop were we found target species...Eastern Meadowlark, Mockingbird and Grasshopper Sparrow....But missed American Kestrel, Horned Lark and Vesper Sparrow (which was just too cooperative the previous day, when Chuck and I had great looks from less than 20 feet!).
Old Dublin Road, a 5 mile section of dirt road along the north side of Mt. Monadnock, is a great spot for northern type species, we added Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Magnolia and Canada Warblers and White-throated Sparrow. Key species missed, we'd hoped for along this section, were Northern Waterthrush and Winter Wren!
We birded the old ski slopes of Temple Mtn and picked up Prairie and Mourning Warbler (that sang only once!) and Field Sparrow.....but missed Dark-eyed Junco (we didn't feel like paying the $3/head fee, to drive up to Miller State Park for this species!). This was the end of our "planned route", it was about 1PM and our total species list was about 105, now was time to start mopping up. A few "easy species" missing were Rock Pigeon! , Red-tailed Hawk and Bank Swallow!
Paul fell asleep while we were driving through Keene, so we had to elbow Paul from his cat nap....."Paul..... look.... Pigeons" ..."Got'em"... "Ya"... "go back to sleep"?! After getting "skunked" on new birds at Surry Mtn Lake, we were traveling along toward the Conn. River in Walpole. Cliff and Bank Swallow made it onto our list over the river and a Red-tailed Hawk was picked up along River Road.

We "stooped" to looking in manure pits for shorebirds.."Sh*t happens"

While Birdathon teams along the seacoast were struggling with traffic and parking, to view their shorebirds, we found ample parking beside "ripe" manure pits, along River Road in Walpole, were had seen a Solitary Sandpiper in one the previous day! There was still plenty of manure in the one that had held the Solitary Sandpiper, but essentially no water (not the pit photo'd above) and no sandpiper, we canvased the pit area for several minutes adding no new birds. Suddenly Paul shouts, from the back seat of the car, "its half way up the side of the pit"! BINGO

We followed the river south then cut into the forest on the backside of Wantastiquet Mtn back down to the Hinsdale Setbacks, picking up a few new birds a Hooded Merganser and Osprey. With 114 species on the list we birded near the boat ramp and picked up an Orchard Oriole and Yellow-throated Vireo, that we'd missed in the morning. From there it was out to the powerline tower, in the marsh, to look and listen for marsh birds, Nighthawks , waterfowl or anything! 3 distant yellowlegs passed the marsh at a long distance, then a Green Heron (flushed by another birdathon team that had the same day end plan as us). After much waiting and no new bird we walked back to the car and scanned the marsh to the north, an American Bittern called from the north and a moment later a Kingfisher was heard, first by Mike, rattling away.

part of a huge freshwater marsh in Hinsdale, Vernon Nuclear Power Plant in the back ground
A nice sunset looking north on the Conn. River


120 species was the day list, we were essentially done before 9 PM choosing not bird until mid-night. On the drive back to Massachusetts we stopped at a few spots to listen for Woodcock and would miss the species, in New Hampshire. Ironically when we dropped Mike at his car in Ashburnham, Ma. and we heard a woodcock calling in the distance!

The Birdathon List:
Species ........town of first observation
Common Loon ..........Spofford
Double-crested Cormorant ...........Spofford
American Bittern ...........Hinsdale
Great Blue Heron ..................Hinsdale
Green Heron .............Hinsdale
Turkey Vulture................ Peterborough
Canada Goose ..............Hinsdale
Mute Swan (I) ..............Hinsdale
Wood Duck .................Hinsdale
Mallard .............Hinsdale
Hooded Merganser ............Hinsdale
Common Merganser .............Dublin
Osprey ..................Hinsdale
Bald Eagle .............Hinsdale
Cooper's Hawk ...............Westmoreland
Broad-winged Hawk ...........Hinsdale
Red-tailed Hawk .............Westmoreland
Wild Turkey ..............Swanzey
Virginia Rail ................Hinsdale
Sora ................Hinsdale
Killdeer ................Hinsdale
Yellowlegs Species ..............Hinsdale
Solitary Sandpiper ...................Walpole
Spotted Sandpiper ..................Keene
Least Sandpiper ............Hinsdale
Ring-billed Gull .............Spofford
Rock Dove (I) ..................Keene
Mourning Dove.................. Hinsdale
Black-billed Cuckoo Hinsdale
Barred Owl ..................Winchester
Whip-poor-will .................Winchester
Chimney Swift ..............Hinsdale
Ruby-throated Hummingbird............ Hinsdale
Belted Kingfisher ...................Hinsdale
Red-bellied Woodpecker ..............Hinsdale
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker................ Dublin
Downy Woodpecker............. Hinsdale
Hairy Woodpecker .............Hinsdale
Northern Flicker ..............Hinsdale
Pileated Woodpecker ...............Chesterfield
Eastern Wood-Pewee ................Hinesdale
Alder Flycatcher ...........Hinesdale
Willow Flycatcher ............Hinsdale
Least Flycatcher.............. Hinsdale
Eastern Phoebe ...........Winchester
Great Crested Flycatcher ..........Hinsdale
Eastern Kingbird .........Hinsdale
Blue-headed Vireo ............Hinsdale
Yellow-throated Vireo........... Hinsdale
Warbling Vireo........... Hinsdale
Red-eyed Vireo........... Hinsdale
Blue Jay ............Hinsdale
American Crow ..............Hinsdale
Common Raven ............Peterborough
Tree Swallow ............Hinsdale
Northern Rough-winged Swallow ...........Hinsdale
Bank Swallow ..............Walpole
Barn Swallow .............Hinsdale
Cliff Swallow ............Walpole
Black-capped Chickadee............ Hinsdale
Tufted Titmouse .........Hinsdale
Red-breasted Nuthatch.......... Chesterfield
White-breasted Nuthatch ...........Hinsdale
Brown Creeper .............Hinsdale
House Wren ............Hinsdale
Marsh Wren ............Hinsdale
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher ..........Hinsdale
Eastern Bluebird........ Hinsdale
Veery............ Hinsdale
Hermit Thrush ...............Dublin
Wood Thrush ............Hinsdale
American Robin.......... Hinsdale
Gray Catbird.......... Hinsdale
Northern Mockingbird .........Keene
Brown Thrasher ...........Keene
European Starling (I) .............Hinsdale
Cedar Waxwing .............Hinsdale
Nashville Warbler............ Chesterfield
Northern Parula .............Dublin
Yellow Warbler ............Hinsdale
Chestnut-sided Warbler ..............Hinsdale
Magnolia Warbler ............Dublin
Yellow-rumped Warbler ............Hinsdale
Black-throated Blue Warbler........... Hinsdale
Black-throated Green Warbler .........Hinsdale
Blackburnian Warbler.......... Hinsdale
Pine Warbler ...............Winchester
Prairie Warbler ...............Peterborough
Blackpoll Warbler ...............Hinsdale
Black-and-white Warbler ............Hinsdale
American Redstart............... Hinsdale
Ovenbird ..................Hinsdale
Louisiana Waterthrush ..................Hinsdale
Mourning Warbler ................Peterborough
Common Yellowthroat ..............Hinsdale
Wilson's Warbler ............Hinsdale
Canada Warbler ...............Dublin
Scarlet Tanager............... Hinsdale
Eastern Towhee ................Chesterfield
Chipping Sparrow ............Winchester
Field Sparrow ................Peterborough
Savannah Sparrow ...........Chesterfield
Grasshopper Sparrow .........Swanzey
Song Sparrow .....................Hinsdale
Swamp Sparrow ....................Hinsdale
White-throated Sparrow ............Dublin
Northern Cardinal ...........Hinsdale
Rose-breasted Grosbeak .........Hinsdale
Indigo Bunting ........Hinsdale
Bobolink......... Chesterfield
Red-winged Blackbird......... Hinsdale
Eastern Meadowlark......... Swanzey
Common Grackle ............Hinsdale
Brown-headed Cowbird .........Hinsdale
Orchard Oriole......... Hinsdale
Baltimore Oriole.......... Hinsdale
Purple Finch .......Hinsdale
House Finch .......Hinsdale
American Goldfinch........ Hinsdale
House Sparrow .......Hinsdale