Field Orno Journal: Good Birding Spot 2
On Friday May 22, 2020 I went to Cumberland Farms IBA in Halifax, MA. The side of Cumberland Farms was in Halifax but stretched to other towns like in Middleborough, MA. The weather was sunny with clear skies and the temperature was 55 degrees F. The habitat consisted of some forest with Eastern White Pines, Oaks, and Maples. Some areas had a swamp in the woods. I saw some grasslands and there was one that had solar panels in it. There were lots of houses along the roads by the area. When I was going to Cumberland Farms IBA, I did not see any access points. I found a lot of private property signs and there were no trails. We drove around for 2 hours (6:30 am-8:30 am) since we knew we were by the land and decided to find birds that way.
Some birds I saw were 7 Gray Catbirds that were on the trees in the forest. A few landed on the ground by the road, so I could clearly see them. I saw approximately 9 American Robins that were either in the trees, on people's lawns, or flying across the road. There were 2 (male and female) Northern Cardinals on an Eastern White Pine tree and 1 Mourning Dove that was sitting on an electrical wire. A bird by the swampy forest that my mom saw and was trying to figure out ended up being 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Also I got a really close look at 1 male breeding American Goldfinch, 2 Common Yellowthroats, and 2 female House Sparrows. In the grassland section, I heard and saw 6 male Red-winged Blackbirds. Behind them I was able to see 25 Canada Geese sitting in the field. There were 2 Northern Harriers that were flying high above in the air in the distance. Some birds I heard by song were 2 Song Sparrows by the side of the road, 2 Red-eyed Vireos, 1 Eastern Wood-Pewee, 1 Ovenbird, 1 Great Blue Heron, and 1 American Redstart. Overall, my favorite bird I saw was crossing the road when we pulled over the car. It turned out to be 1 male Ring-necked Pheasant which my mom and I have never seen before. The pheasant was taking its time crossing the road and noticed the car was there. After it had crossed, we didn’t see it for a few seconds, and then it poked just its head around the shrub, realized we were there, and started walking away slowly where we couldn’t see it. After this my mom and I decided to try to find another location. Earlier this week, I was supposed to go to the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, so I checked to see their website if there were any updates. Apparently they just reopened on Wednesday (and I tried going Tuesday), so that’s where we decided to drive to next.
At 9:04 am, my mom and I arrived at the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield, MA. The weather was sunny with clear skies and the temperature was 68 degrees F. The habitat consisted of grassland in the center. There were trails to the right that led into the forest which had Maples, Eastern White Pines, Oaks, and Paper Birches. There was another trail that had a bridge going over a river and that led into a marsh with lots of cattails. The first bird I saw was 1 European Starling in the parking lot as well as 12 Canada Goose directly in front of the car. The trail led us through a small shack at the entrance and there was a window that you could look out and see birds at the bird feeder. I saw 3 Blue Jays, 2 Northern Cardinals (male and female), and 1 female House Sparrow. We looked on a map that showed us a trail that led us to a Purple Martin Colony where I saw approximately 20 of them going into and from birdhouses. This was the first time I had ever seen them. This trail eventually led us to a pond where I heard and saw 2 Song Sparrows along the edge. Then we went into the forest where I heard 1 Tufted Titmouse, 1 Ovenbird, and 1 Gray Catbird sing. We had previously passed a pond where I was able to hear 1 Great Blue Heron in the distance.
After exiting the forest we arrived in a grassland habitat. There were approximately 12 Red-winged Blackbirds that were close to us and constantly seeing. We thought we saw another blackbird, but it turned out to be a Bobolink. I heard and saw approximately 10 Bobolinks and 2 of them were female. There was 1 Wild Turkey right next to us foraging for food. They were flying all over the grassland and sometimes would land on shrubs near us. We decided to walk up a hill where there was a lookout over the grassland. You could see many wooden birdhouses in the grasslands where I could see 4 Tree Swallows. A lot of them were either sitting on top of the birdhouses or flying in the area to try to catch insects. After we continued on the trail where we saw 2 Common Grackles and 5 American Crows walking in the grassland area. We decided to go on another trail.
This new trail we walked over the bridge over the river where we saw a beaver! It disappeared before we could see it again and try to take a picture. There was a shrubby area where we heard 1 Common Yellowthroat and 1 Yellow warbler. There was another bird that we heard and saw, but could not figure out what it was (the bird was very yellow). We walked through a marsh with really large cattails and could not see any birds. As we were leaving, there was 1 Red-tailed Hawk flying in the air and other birds were trying to go after it. Lastly, as we were close to the parking lot there was a small brown bird in the grass. I was unable to tell what kind it was, because it reminded me of a sparrow, but I feel it was a different type of bird. After this we passed the Canada Geese again and left in the car around 12:15 pm.