Ann, John and Jeff watching for birds at Wendemuth Meadow
Thanks to Jeff, Ann, John and Cynthia, we have a better handle on what birds are using Wendemuth Meadow and Mandell Hill during this breeding season. Early Sunday morning, we convened at Wendemuth and walked the longer loop trail that runs up and around the hill. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, though a bit windy.
Looking towards the hill at Wendemuth and the trail is beautifully maintained by Harrison. During bobolink breeding season all visitors, including dogs, need to stay on the mowed trails.
On the way we made four stops for five minutes each to watch and listen for birds. We focused on the birds in the fields, but could also hear others in the woods behind us at various spots. In total we saw nine bobolink males and one female. Plus lots of Red-winged blackbirds, Common yellow-throat, Song sparrow, House sparrow, Tree swallow, Gold finch, Great blue heron, Chimney swift, Mourning dove, Barn swallow, Red-tailed hawk, Starling, Sharp-shinned haw, Grackle, Tufted titmouse, House wren, Crow and five Canada Goose flying overhead.
Ann and Jeff stopping to look at birds on our way to the Chris Ellison Memorial Birding Platform.
At Mandell Hill we monitored the birds from the Chris Ellison Memorial Birding Platform. Here the male bobolinks were doing a lot of flying around, not settling or diving into the tall grass. We are speculating that they must still be looking for mates to be exhibiting that kind of behavior at this time of year. We saw seven male bobolinks. Other birds included: Vireo, Tree swallow, Red-winged blackbird, Starling, Mourning dove, American bluebird, Turkey vulture, American kestrel, Flicker, Kingbird, Mocking bird, Red-tailed hawk, Meadowlark, Yellow warbler, American robin, Black-billed cuckoo, Barn swallow, Song sparrow, Rose-breasted grosbeak, Great blue heron and Red-shouldered hawk.
It was a wonderful, relaxing morning to be out in the East Quabbin region enjoying nature!
