Trip Highlights

Twelve participants spent 3 hours covering about a half mile of the Norwottuck Rail Trail starting at the Station Rd entrance.  

Birds seen or heard included Great Blue Heron 1, Canada Geese 4 adults with 5 goslings, Turkey Vulture 1, Woodcock 2, Nighthawks 2, Chimney Swifts 3, Downy 1 and Hairy 1 Woodpecker, Barn 2 and Tree 2 Swallows, Blue Jay 2, Bluebirds 2, Robins 6, Woodthrush 1, Brown Thrasher 1, Catbird 4, and Warbling Vireo 1.  Warblers, one of each, included Yellow, Common Yellowthroat, Black-and-white, Northern Waterthrush.  There were Red-winged Blackbirds 6, Grackles 4, Cowbird 1, Bobolink 3, Swamp and Song Sparrows 2 of each, Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2, and Baltimore Oriole 4.

The weather was sunny and in the 50s as 14 participants enjoyed three hours of birding the Refuge.  

Birds seen or heard included Bald Eagle, Raven, Red-tailed Hawk, Mute Swan 4, Mallard 2, Wood Duck 4, Canada Goose 20 including goslings, Great Crested Flycatcher 1, Eastern Kingbird 2, Flicker 4, Red-bellied Woodpecker 10, Catbird 10, Robin 30, Warbling Vireo 2, Yellow Warbler 10, Common Yellowthroat 4, Canada Warbler 2, Goldenwing Warbler 1  (J.Hutchison),  Blackpoll 2, Yellow-rumped Warbler 2, Parula 3, Magnolia Warbler 1, Chestnut-sided warbler 1, Tree swallow 40, Red-winged Blackbird 50, Grackle 50, Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2, Baltimore Oriole 2, Crow 4, Blue Jay 5, Titmouse 6, White-breasted Nuthatch 2, Gnatcatcher 1, Northern Waterthrush 3, and Black-throated Blue Warbler 1.

We started the trip under a rainy sky, but it let up some so we proceeded with light rain for most of the trip.  Six people showed up and when we parked, we were delighted to and hear and see plenty of birds.  

We started with a group of around a dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers and in this group were also our first Black-and-white Warbler of the day and a Yellow Warbler.  The water also had some action, as we had a brief look at a Kingfisher, who then seemed to disappear for the rest of the trip, and a pair of Hooded Mergansers.  

The field was filled with swallows that darted right around us (you could almost reach out and grab them) and we were able to easily see the differences between the Tree, Northern Rough-winged and a lone Barn Swallow that were flying so close.  As we worked our way along the shore, we spotted a pair of Canada Geese with 4 goslings and had a Baltimore Oriole singing over our heads.  We saw Great Blue Herons fixing up their nests and occupying at least one of them.  We also had a low flyby of a single Raven.  

As we reached the small concrete bridge, we got so see a pair of Bluebirds and a Hermit Thrush.  The woods did not yield a ton of birds, but we got good looks at some Black-and-white Warblers and flushed a pair of Wood ducks.  No sign of the Sora or Virginia Rails.  As we headed back to the cars, we caught sight of our lone sparrow of the day, a Chipping Sparrow.  

I think the rain kept some of the birds quiet, as usually I would expect some vireos, gnatcatchers, more variety of sparrows and a number of flycatchers all of which seemed absent (ie staying out of the rain), but still an enjoyable trip with some good birds.  We walked a little over a mile and ended the day with 32 species (usually a trip at the end of April/start of May would yield 40-50 species in this area).

The morning began with an Osprey flyover.  We were just four members to enjoy a quiet walk through one section of the Bear Hole area.  All the usual species were present, though some only heard, and not seen.  We counted nine species of warbler, 3 Parula, 1 BT Green, 2 BT Blue (excellent views of both perched very close to us on a bare branch), 2 Black-and-white, 2 Pine, 3 Ovenbird, 3 Yellow-rumped, 2 Redstart, and 2 Lousiana Waterthrush (also good views).  

There were birds of all sizes, from the little Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers to Redtails and Great Blue Herons.  We even caught looks at Mallards and Wood Ducks, and heard a turkey call in the distance.  There were Tree Swallows and Chimney Swifts, Grackles and Red-wings, Great-crested Flycatchers, an Oriole, and one lone Yellow-throated Vireo singing from across a small pool of water.  We got several species of woodpecker; 4 Downy, 2 Red-bellied, 1 Flicker, 2 Pileated, and ended the walk with 2 Crows flying overhead.

Photo Gallery

The trip started in the rain at 7:30 when Janet joined me at the meeting point.  No one else showed up, but since the rain seemed to be letting up we decided to give it a shot.  We headed in by the Elks Club and our first treat was a pair of FOY Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.  The pair was flitting around the trees as they often do, but then settled on a branch next to each other, where it appeared the male did a courting display by cocking it's head straight up and tail down.  The female watched for a moment or two and then they both started flitting about again.  This was the first time either of us had seen this behavior from Gnatcatchers.  They were very vocal as well.

The next notable sighting was a group of warblers made up of mostly Yellow-rumps, but also included a FOY Black-and-white.  We also had a palm and a pine warbler in the same area.  We then proceeded down to the ponds where we saw a number of the usual suspects and got a little sparrow group as we reached the area by the water tanks.  This consisted of Chipping, White-throated and Song sparrows.  We had fly overs of a Common Merganser, a Double-crested Cormorant and a pair of Osprey.  By this point the rain started to pick up again so we headed back to the cars and cut the trip short.  While the weather was not the greatest by any means, we still had a good time and had good looks at some good birds.  Our species count was low for the end of April at 27, but that was to be expected with the weather and shorter trip duration.