Trip Highlights

Most field work for this 14th annual project was done during cool and breezy weather Friday evening and Saturday, with the compilation on Sunday evening, June 4 at the home of Joanne Fortin.  There were 9 teams and 15 observers in the field covering hilly, wooded, and sparsely populated parts of Granville, Blandford, Westfield, Russell and Southwick.  The counters recorded 115 species, the highest total since 2007.  The 85 total hours of coverage was close to the highest ever in 2006 (88.25) and ten higher than the historical average.  However, the 3776 total individuals and the 44.4 average of individuals per hour were both well below average.

Notably low species counts compared to average were for Red-eyed Vireo 258 (302), Ovenbird 203 (238), and Veery 121 (142).  Other species also lower were Hermit Thrush 9 (24), Wood Thrush 34 (47), Yellow Warbler 34 (46), Yellowthroat 81 (102), Magnolia Warbler 11 (19), Black-throated Blue Warbler 55 (84), Yellow-rumped 9 (17), Black-throated Green 34 (59), and Rose-breasted Grosbeak 11 (16).

The next 27 species average from 47 to 112 individuals per year.  The next 33 species average from 10 to 40 per year.  There are 56 more species with less than 10 individuals average per year.  That adds up to 120 species record-ed over the 13 years of counting.  This year, high counts were set for Hummingbird (21), Phoebe (54), Tree Swallow (92), Rough-winged Swallow (10), Red-breasted Nuthatch (12), Eastern Bluebird (22), Gray Catbird (104), Louisiana Waterthrush (9), Pine Warbler (24), Prairie Warbler (15), Bobolink (96), Red-winged Blackbird (138), and Grackle (67).  The Common Merganser, Bald Eagle, and American Kestrel were found for only the 5th time, Brown Thrasher for the 4th time, Sora for the third time, and Hooded Warbler for the first time.

Click below to view or download complete count results.

2017 June Count Results

The weather was cloudy and cool, never making it out of the 50s, but that did not stop four participants from enjoying this hotspot birding trip.  A total of 40 species were found.   Highlights include, Raven, Turkey, Olive-sided, Alder and Willow Flycatchers, Kingbird, Wood-Pewee, Blue-headed Vireo, Solitary and Red-eyed Vireos, Field Sparrow, Towhee, Prairie, Blue-winged, Pine, and Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, and Gnatcatcher.

Four observers had a good, close sighting of a Mourning Warbler at Laughing Brook, where we also heard a Louisiana Waterthrush.  Five male bobolinks were in the field at the top of North Road, while on Hollow Rd we heard a possible Worm-eating Warbler.  We had good looks at a singing Alder Flycatcher, heard and observed several Chestnut-sided Warblers, Redstarts, and various other local species.  One observer spotted a Black Vulture.

There were eight members who braved the weather forecast to visit the Island this year, some staying at The Island Inn and others opting for the Shining Sail’s Fish and Maine location.  We counted a total of 74 species over the weekend.

‍Day 1 - The ferry ride over to the island was a bit rough, but calmer than the usual morning departure would have been.  On the way we spotted a Common Loon and some Black Guillemots.  The Island Inn had their fireplace in the lobby going when we arrived, but the rooms upstairs were quite cold.  We ventured out for a late afternoon walk, wandering to the little Ice Pond and then back to the Cove, hearing a Mourning Warbler that only gave us a glimpse.  A few other warblers also only gave us brief looks, probably also due to the cold temperatures.  A Sora was heard in the marsh and again many times each day. At the two ends of the small Island there were flocks of Guillemots with a total count of about 75.  A Perergine was circling overhead, chased by Grackles.

Day 2 – Breakfast was good with variety and quality, and much appreciated after a short morning bird walk.  Song-birds came out more easily as the day warmed.  Some highlights were a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, a White-eyed Vireo, a Philadelphia Vireo, 2 Wilson’s Warblers, a Canada Warbler, and a Summer Tanager female that another group was looking at near the back of marsh on our return from an afternoon walk to the cliffs of Whitehead.  Another big moment of the day was when the Mourning Warbler came out in the open to sing quite a few times. Two Cattle Egrets showed up browsing in the lawn across from the Monhegan House where we search and found the Orange-crowned Warbler with other groups.  

‍Day 3 – The morning walk was on a trail to Burnt Head and back on the trail leading to a grassy hilltop overlooking town.  It was our first experience with this trail.  From the cliff heads our scoper had two Gannets going by, and 2 Razorbills, and elsewhere 5 Laughing Gulls and 5 Common Terns.  A group of 5-6 Kingbirds and a Spotted Sandpiper were on rock levee behind Fish and Maine Inn. The most common songbirds of the trip were 6 Red-eyed Vireo, 20 Yellowthroats, 12 Redstarts, 12 Parula, 25 Yellow Warbler, 6 Magnolia, 8 Chestnut-sided, 20 Blackpoll, and 8 Black-throated Green.  There were smaller numbers or singles of Black-billed Cuckoo (heard), Wood Pewee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Swainson’s Thrush, Brown Thrasher, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-White, Blackburnian, Black-throated Blue, and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Towhee, Chipping and Savannah Sparrow, and Baltimore Oriole.  We saw a Green Heron in the marsh and heard a Least Bittern call once.

Four members of the Allen Bird Club, George Kingston, Jean Delaney, Kathy and Myles Conway joined together to enjoy the birds at this lovely location.  A total of 40 species were identified, highlights included, Black Vulture, Purple Martin, Bank Swallow, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Bobolink, Scarlet Tanager, Veery, Wood Thrush, Blue-winged Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Willow Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Double-crested Cormorant, Raven and Turkey.   We finished with lunch at the Vanilla Bean Café.