juliannamason's Journal
Today is May 1st, 2020. I went to my backyard again in North Andover, MA from about 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM after it had stopped raining and the sun had come out. It was around 60 degrees. My backyard is pretty open and surrounded by dense trees and with a vernal pool right next to my house. The American Robin babies have hatched!
Today is May 18, 2020. My birding site today was Crane Pond in Georgetown, MA. It was around 50 degrees with a slight drizzle when I first arrived around 6:45 AM and. As it got later in the day, the sun came out and it came to around 60 degrees. There were a couple nice trails along the pond that I followed until I left around noon. The area was a wetland and had a couple different ponds and swampy areas that were not attached to each other and had a lot of dead trees. The forest next to the pond was not very dense and had trees like Pines, Maples, White Birch, and Shagbark Hickory. I saw a couple Red-winged Blackbirds defending their territory from another species I was unable to identify, although might have been a Gray Catbird. I also observed that a lot of the birds seemed to gather closer to the water, as it got quieter the deeper I went into the woods.
Today is May 19, 2020. I headed to Nelson Island in Rowley, MA. The wind was blowing very high speed towards the south and it was about 52 degrees and sunny. I arrived around 7:23 AM and stayed until around 11:00 AM because it was very cold. There was a very wide trail I started on, but was not very long because it had flooded over. The beginning of the trail was pretty shrubby but after that it was a beautiful open grassland with little ponds spread throughout it. Although it was beautiful out, the wind made it a little to difficult to hear some birds clearly and record them. I noticed a lot of Sandpipers in the grassland area. I also saw a couple (what I believe were) Red-winged Blackbirds trying to defend themselves against an American Crow which was pretty cool.
Today is May 20, 2020. I arrived at the Martin Burns WMA in Newbury, MA around 7:10 AM. It was about 45 degrees when I first arrived and as I left around 11:30 AM it was 58 degrees and sunny. On either side of the trail I was on was dense forest with a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees. It's kind of crazy how I see American Robins literally everywhere I go.
Today is May 21, 2020. I went to Boxford State Forest in Boxford, MA and arrived around 7:05 AM. It was 48 degrees at that time and when I left around 11:45 AM, the temperature had risen to 60 degrees and sunny, with little to no wind. The trail I went on was dense forest with a mix of deciduous and coniferous trees, but about an hour and a half in, I arrived at a pond where I was able to see a lot more birds. I thought it was interesting that I heard and saw a lot of common birds and uncommon birds. It was also satisfying to recognize certain songs I did not know before without looking them up, like Eastern Wood-Pewee and Wood Thrush.
Today is May 22, 2020. I went to the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield, MA, which was beautiful. I arrived around 7:07 AM and it was 62 degrees with a little sun peeking through. When I left around 12:05 PM, the temperature had risen to 79 and sunny! I believe I saw and heard the most species yet. Most of the trails were surrounded by deciduous and coniferous trees, but it was not very dense. There were a few points where I was walking along the edge of a swampy, pond. It seemed like a lot of the birds there were comfortable with humans because I had a couple just land right next to me, look at me, and just tilt their head like they were wondering what I was going to do next, which was pretty cool.
