This past Wednesday, Susan Yurkus and I led Wednesday Morning Birding in sunny, mild conditions. We first took a look at the Common Pasture on Scotland Road, but it was very quiet this week, with reduced numbers of Green-winged Teal, and few other ducks. We were very happy to find three Palm Warblers, however, making last week’s “quiz birds” a bit more meaningful. Lots of birds were singing along the way back to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Chipping Sparrows had moved in and set up territories all along our route, and a Carolina Wren was announcing the season among other birds setting up early territories. We found Turkey Vultures, sometimes in groups of several birds, all along our route.

At parking lot #1 on the refuge, we found a pair of Ospreys on the platform off of the boat ramp. An American Kestrel performed above the dunes; many are passing through, counted by the Eastern Mass Hawk Watch volunteers. The Purple Martin houses were up, but not full of martins, though one Tree Swallow and two Barn Swallows passed over, heading north with determination. Great Egrets were scattered all over the North Marsh.

The Main Panne was strangely empty, though a few ducks were scattered in the south pannes. Song and Chipping Sparrows fled before the van as we pushed south for a stop at the Joppa Flats Bird Banding Station. Special, unplanned trips to visit the station are only available to groups that Joppa Flats staff lead in, so what a treat! After Ben explained the process of migratory banding stations to our group, the banders came back with a Brown Creeper, one of several that they had been catching throughout the day. Such cool little birds! Ruby-crowned Kinglets were cavorting in the thickets, and a Downy Woodpecker and a FOY Brown-headed Cowbird also came through. Two Ospreys hovered impressively as we exited the banding station lane, and they continued for the rest of the time we were there.

At Hellcat Swamp, Bill Forward Pool was strewn with Buffleheads, and one Double-crested Cormorant patrolled. There were more cormorants about the marsh this week, the first before the horde that will burst on the scene any day now. The strong winds we are experiencing from the southwest last night and tonight should surely bring us a new batch of migrants; Ben Flemer said they caught lots of Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers at the banding station today. We certainly hope this weather holds up through the migration season we have coming. Those westerlies really help boost our numbers of migrants here on the coast, so we are crossing our fingers for an influx in the coming days! We hope we see you soon.

Our Lists –
Scotland Road, and along the way to Plum Island:
Canada Goose – 1.
Mute Swan (2) – Scotland Road, beaver pond.
Green-winged Teal (25) – Scotland Road, Common Pasture.
Blue-winged Teal (1) – Scotland Road, Common Pasture.
Ring-necked Duck (2) – Scotland Road, beaver pond.
Bufflehead (25) – Merrimack river behind Joppa Flats.
Great Blue Heron (3) – Artichoke Reservoir.
Turkey Vulture – common.
Killdeer (1) – Scotland Road, Common Pasture.
Mourning Dove (1) – along route.
American Crow – common.
White-breasted Nuthatch (2) – Newbury Village.
Eastern Bluebird (2) – Scotland Road, Common Pasture.
American Robin – common.
Carolina Wren (1) – along route.
European Starling – common.
Palm Warbler (2) – Scotland Road, Common Pasture
Song Sparrow – common.
Northern Cardinal (2) – along route.
Red-winged Blackbird – common.
Common Grackle – common.
House Finch (3) – along route.
American Goldfinch – common.

Plum Island:
Canada Goose – common.
Gadwall (4) – Pannes.
American Black Duck (15) – various.
Bufflehead – (15) Bill Forward Pool.
Red-breasted Merganser (1) – Salt Pannes.
Wild Turkey (3) – S-curves.
Double-crested Cormorant (7) – various.
Great Blue Heron (3) – Hellcat Salt Marsh.
Great Egret (12) – various.
Osprey (5) – various.
Killdeer (1) – Maine Panne.
Herring Gull – common.
Great Black-backed Gull (1) – North Marsh.
Downy Woodpecker (1) – Banding Station.
Northern Flicker (3) – roadside.
American Kestrel (1) Parking lot #1.
Eastern Phoebe (2) – Parking lot #1.
American Crow – common.
Tree Swallow (1) – Parking lot #1.
Barn Swallow (2) – Parking lot #1.
Black-capped Chickadee (2) – Hellcat.
Brown Creeper (1 in hand) – Banding Station.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2) – Banding Station.
American Robin- common.
Eastern Towhee (1) – roadside.
Chipping Sparrow (7) – roadside.
Song Sparrow – abundant along roadside.
Red-winged Blackbird – common.
Brown-headed Cowbird (1) – Banding Station.

Last Wednesday, Susan Yurkus and I led WMB, and felt that it was not too optimistic to promise plenty of Dark-eyed Juncos. There had been a big influx of migrating juncos early in the week. The beginnings of the build-up of Wilson’s Snipes and other early shorebirds had been steady at Scotland Road’s Common Pasture. It was time for early warblers, as they have been reported across the region. What we witnessed was a lull, a pause in the waves of migrants, where it appeared that birds moved out without others moving in!

At Scotland Road, there were still plenty of ducks. Watching the ducks there is like staring at a big fish tank, where you know that it may take a while to see all the species, and they are always doing something entertaining and at times even mesmerizing. Most of them are Green-winged Teal, last week, only about 60 or so. Three drake Northern Shovelers served as the “chips” in that “duck dough” that included a few Mallards and American Black Ducks. Zero shorebirds!

With reasonable hope, we moved on to Artichoke reservoir on either side of Rogers St. Indeed there were lots of Ring-necked Ducks, a pair of Pied-billed Grebes, a few Great Blue Herons, Mute Swans and a couple of Wood Ducks. The later were another case of birds captured by quick-draw photographers, but not too many other observers! Watching those little grebes diving and resurfacing together was a treat. We were serenaded by a number of resident species, including a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers setting up a nest in a snag full of holes.

At Cherry Hill Reservoir, the number of Common Mergansers was underwhelming, but we enjoyed the ones that were there, along with more Ring-necked Ducks, another grebe, and a couple of our first Tree Swallows. The Ruddy Ducks were around the corner at the south end, which is always their preferred section of the lake.

Then we were on to Plum Island, with a short pit stop at parking lot #1 on Parker River NWR, where the Eastern Mass Hawk Watch folks let us know they would appreciate it if we could send them a few more falcons. Sure, why not? An Osprey cavorted near the nest platform there, dispelling the notion bandied about earlier in the season about eagles appropriating the site. Sue McGrath’s Purple Martin houses are up, though it should be a while before the colony is fully populated. In the meantime, those volunteers will be busy warding off House Sparrows, non-violently, of course.

Hoping to observe some remnant of the “sparrow fallout” Tom Wetmore extolled only a few days before, we pushed past the many ducks in the salt pannes to Hellcat. Indeed a good number of Song Sparrows fled our caravan as we moved along, but. Not. One. Junco! Nature is fun in the way our expectations are often refuted. One of the species that had recently arrived in numbers was evident, however, as we flushed several Northern Flickers along the way.

When we arrived at Hellcat, the usual urge to rush up to the dike took hold, and when we got there the scene was mildly grim. A stiff northwest breeze had come up, the temperature was quite cool, and most of the ducks on Bill Forward Pool were at the other end. We could dimly make out Northern Pintails, some Buffleheads, and Mallards, but we may well have missed others. The Northern Shrike reported there earlier was no where to be seen. Hoping we might scare something up in the thickets, we began poking around the parking lot and the main road. It was very quiet, but we found two Eastern Phoebes hanging around the entrance to the parking lot, then a third further along. Only a few little sparrow call notes could be discerned, and the phoebes never uttered a syllable.

I was packing up the show, when a knot of birders decided to perseverate on the phoebes in the entry circle. Eastern Phoebes are sweet little things, and not everyone had heard of the foraging technique flycatchers use called a “sally.” So we watched them a bit more, and by hanging around, a few of us got a glimpse at a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that shot through. One “FOY” Eastern Towhee crossed the road in front of us as we departed, and that was it for this week, other than cataloging the usual dabbling ducks in the Main Panne and slowing down for this magnificent Wild Turkey on our way out.

The “quiz birds” we looked at this week were Wilson’s Snipe and Palm Warbler, as we expect them, but I had to wait until a quick visit to Belle Isle Marsh later in the week to find them. Every week will be another exciting spin of the wheel of spring migration as we move forward, until summer haze, Greenhead Flies, and beach-goers put us into our own lull in the heart of the breeding season. We hope you can join us for one of the many outings we have in store in the coming season!

Our Lists –
Scotland Road, Artichoke Reservoir, Cherry Hill Reservoir:
Canada Goose – common.
Mute Swan (4) – Artichoke Reservoir.
Wood Duck (2) – Artichoke Reservoir.
American Black Duck (4) – Scotland Road, Common Pasture.
Mallard – common.
Green-winged Teal (~60) – Scotland Road, Common Pasture.
Ring-necked Duck (~20) – Artichoke Reservoir and Cherry Hill Reservoir.
Bufflehead (~10) – Artichoke Reservoir and Cherry Hill Reservoir.
Common Merganser (~25) – Cherry Hill Reservoir.
Ruddy Duck (12) – Cherry Hill Reservoir.
Pied-billed Grebe (3) – 2, Artichoke Reservoir 1, Cherry Hill Reservoir.
Great Blue Heron (3) – Artichoke Reservoir.
Turkey Vulture (3) – along route.
Osprey (1) – Artichoke Reservoir.
Red-Tailed Hawk (1) – along route.
Mourning Dove (1) – along route.
Red-bellied Woodpecker (2) – using nest cavity at Artichoke Reservoir.
Blue Jay (1) – Artichoke Reservoir.
American Crow – common.
Tree Swallow (2) – Cherry Hill Reservoir.
Black-capped Chickadee (2) Artichoke Reservoir.
Tufted Titmouse (3) – along route.
American Robin – common.
Northern Mockingbird (1) – Scotland Road.
European Starling – common.
Song Sparrow – common.
Northern Cardinal (1) – Artichoke Reservoir.
Red-winged Blackbird – common.
Common Grackle (3) – Cherry Hill Reservoir.
House Sparrow – common.

Plum Island:
Canada Goose – common.
Mute Swan (1) – Bill Forward Pool.
Gadwall – (~40) – Pannes.
American Wigeon (4) – Main Panne.
American Black Duck – common.
Mallard – common.
Scaup sp. – Bill Forward Pool.
Bufflehead – (2) Bill Forward Pool.
Red-breasted Merganser (1) – Salt Pannes.
Wild Turkey (9) – S-curves.
Double-crested Cormorant (1) – Bill Forward Pool.
Great Blue Heron (1) – North Marsh.
Great Egret (2-3) – North Marsh.
Osprey (1) – North Marsh.
Northern Harrier (2-3) various.
Killdeer (2) – Maine Panne.
Herring Gull – common.
Great Black-backed Gull (1) – North Marsh.
Northern Flicker (~10) – roadside.
American Kestrel (1) Hellcat.
Eastern Phoebe (3) – Hellcat.
American Crow – common.
Black-capped Chickadee (2) – Hellcat.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1) – Hellcat.
American Robin- common.
Eastern Towhee (1) – Hellcat.
Song Sparrow – abundant along roadside.
White-throated Sparrow (2) – Hellcat.
Red-winged Blackbird – common.

Susan Yurkus and I led a small band of hearty folks out into the wilds today, with some interesting results. We started at Scotland Road, with a variety of ducks including a pair of Northern Shovelers, a few Wilson’s Snipe, and, after much searching, a Reeve (presumably the continuing bird from the weekend.) We checked the wet field on Turkey Hill Road without finding any more snipes. Then we headed out to the Parker River NWR on Plum Island.

On the refuge we motored determinedly down to Sandy Point to check for Piping Plovers and found one just over the line in the refuge. In the large crashing surf at high tide there were scoters, eiders, long-tailed ducks, and one Horned Grebe. We headed back north on the refuge looking for ducks or anything moving. At the blind on the Bill Forward Pool we had Northern Pintails, Hooded Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, and American Black Ducks and Mallards. We added Gadwall and a marvelous display of three male Red-breasted Mergansers competing for one female’s attention at the main pannes. With the sun coming out, it turned out to be a glorious day.
Dave Larson

Our List: Scotland Rd/Plum Island
Scotland Rd:
Canada Goose – common.
American Wigeon (2).
American Black Duck (4)
Mallard common.
Northern Shoveler (2)
Northern Pintail (2).
Green-winged Teal (10)
Common Goldeneye (1)
Great Blue Heron (1)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
Killdeer – Common.
Reeve (Female Calidris pugnax) (1)
Wilson’s Snipe (3).
Herring Gull – detected.
Rock Pigeon – common.
Mourning Dove – detected.
American Robin – common.
Song Sparrow – common.
Dark-eyed Junco (2)
Northern Cardinal (1)
Red-winged Blackbird – common.
Common Grackle – common.

In transit:
Turkey Vulture (3) – at Joppa Flats.
Cedar Waxwing (12) – at Joppa Flats.

Plum Island:
Canada Goose – detected.
Mute Swan (2)
Gadwall – common.
American Wigeon (4)
American Black Duck – common.
Mallard – common.
Northern Pintail (20)
Common Eider – common.
White-winged Scoter – detected.
Black Scoter – common.
Long-tailed Duck (4)
Bufflehead – common.
Common Goldendeye (7)
Hooded Merganser (7)
Red-breasted Merganser – detected.
Horned Grebe (1)
Great Egret (2)
Osprey (3) – t Pines Trail platform, 2 copulating.
Piping Plover (1) beach/south end of PRNWR
Killdeer – detected.
Herring Gull – detected.
Great Black-backed Gull (2)
Mourning Dove – detected.
American Robin =- common.
Northern Mockingbird (1)
Song Sparrow – common.
Dark-eyed Junco (2)
Red-winged Blackbird – common.
Common Grackle – common.