Field Ornithology Journal 3: Forest Interior Birds

On May 20, 2020, I went to two locations to observe woodland habitats from 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Throughout the day it was sunny with partial clouds at 50Fº - 60Fºs range with slight wings. My first location was Crane Swamp Conservation Area located in Marlborough, MA where I traveled 2.77 miles over 3 hours from 6:00 AM -9:00 AM. Crane Swamp Conservation Area is mostly a riparian forest with wetlands, shrublands, and meadows. However, I starting off my birding in the parking lot. At 6:00 AM taking the morning check-in call, I observed parking lot birds such as Northern Mockingbird, Blue Jay, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, and a Gray Catbird reacting to the phone call. Once the call ended I exited my vehicle to find a stretch of shrublands of primarily Staghorn Sumac and a cattail marsh. To no surprise, I saw a pair of Warbling Vireos, Swamp Sparrow, Prairie Warbler, and the full variety of Swallows (Tree, Barn, and Northern Rough-winged). In addition, I saw flyover events by Canada Goose and Wood Ducks oh my. The shrubland was a busy spot, yet I needed to spend most of my time in the forested area so I proceeded into the oak-red maple stand. Here I listened to my first forest species such as American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler, Ovenbird, and Yellow Rumped-Warbler. Being excited at this concert of songbirds they still remained hidden among the newly emerged leaves. Continuing forward I entered another cattail marsh where I met Common Yellowthroat, Osprey, Northern Waterthrush, and Marsh Wren. This was marsh most likely a forest that flooded as marked by the standing snags and dams (most likely done by seen beaver and muskrats). Fed by Road Brook this wetland acts as prime habitat as seen by Black-capped Chickadees picking the fluff of cattails for their nests (no rookeries sadly). Passing this wetland, I met the source, Road Brook. Road Brook has been managed into a canal for water treatment making it clear open water habitat for Great-Blue Heron, Double-crested Cormorant, and Spotted Sandpiper. Marking near the treatment site there was a small meadow with Eastern Bluebird, House Wren, and American Goldfinch. Wanting to make way to the forest habitat I soon entered the main forested block comprised of black and red oak, pignut hickory, red and sugar maple, and eastern white pine. Here I fixated on Veery, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Red-eyed Vireo. My favorite of the three was Red-eyed Vireo for its monotonous song giving me enough time to find it high in a black oak presenting its black eye stripe. From there on I continued to hear birds, yet it was more difficult to see them. Wanting to see more of these beautiful songbirds I moved to Wayne McCallum Wildlife Management Area. Overall, I saw 49 species and 179 individuals at Crane Swamp Conservation Area.

Wayne McCallum Wildlife Management Area, named after the former director of Mass Wildlife, is a mosaic of different managed habitat types including meadows, ponds, wetlands, shrublands, and forests. At this location, I traveled 3.45 miles over 2.5 hours from 9:30 AM-12:00 PM. Once again, I primarily focused on forested habitats, yet I did indulge in some of the other habitats. First starting off with the open water there were two isolated ponds that held Great Blue Heron, Chimney Swift, and Belted Kingfisher. At the first pond, there was a surrounding red maple wetland filled with singing Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Mourning Dove, Eastern Phoebe, and Blue-winged Warbler. Taking all the sights with less leaf cover, I later moved uphill to the meadows with the second pond being surrounded by sprouting goldenrod and grasslands. I have been here in the past to once again see Song Sparrow, House Wren, Tree Swallows, Eastern Towhee, and now for a first time BOBOLINKS! Eastern Bluebird and Tree Swallows breed here so I hope this trend continues here with Bobolinks. However, I did not want to get side trekked so I proceeded to the forest block made up of a regenerated younger forest stand and a mature stand. This transition is seen as in the younger stand I saw Black-and-white Warbler and American Redstart, yet as I entered the mature stand I saw Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, and Black-throated Bluebird. Other forest species I found included: Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Chipping Sparrow, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Black-capped Chickadee (they mobbed me while looking at the Scarlet Tanager). Finally seeing all the species I aimed for I moved to the parking lot to meet one last Blue-winged Warbler. For practice I searched for it, yet to my surprise it was a LAWRENCE WARBLER marked by its black chin making. What a great end to a morning of birding. Overall, I saw 40 species (including Lawrence Warbler) and 154 individuals at Wayne McCallum Wildlife Management Area and for the day 58 species and 33 individuals.

Species Observed