Ludlow G. makes 200

With the Great Meadows survey sighting of a Snow Egret on Monday, August 12, Ludlow G. has reached his putative year goal of 200 birds during 2013 in Concord, Massachusetts.  Clearly, his original goal was conservative, and with the bulk of fall migration still to come, how high will he go?

Thanks to all who have contributed their field lists and shared their eBird reports as we have built this collaborative Big Year in Concord in 2013.

Shorebird Season at Great Meadows, Concord (August 2013)

For the first time in several years, a good variety of shorebirds are visiting the mud-flat (such as it is) at Great Meadows.  So far there have been concentrations of Least Sandpipers (20-30) and a surprising number (for an inland location) of Semipalmated Sandpipers, which on some counts have outnumbered Leasts. Killdeer have been joined by Semipalmated Plovers in small numbers (under 10).  Solitary Sandpipers have actually outnumbered Spotteds on most counts.  Since August 5 one or two early Pectorals have been seen most days, but are still scarce.

Lesser Yellowlegs have been fairly regular since the beginning of August, with the occasional Greater. Several observers have seen the occasional pair (or more) of Short-billed Dowitchers.  On August 9th a cold front passed through the area and immediately afterward Willy Hutcheson found 17 Stilt Sandpipers preening on the mud, but as soon as the rain stopped, they flew out.  No word yet on whether they have returned.

With at least 8 species of shorebird seen most days, this bodes well for the rest of August.  Fingers crossed for a Baird's, or a Whimbrel, or some phalaropes.

Fall Migration Update: 200 and Up

With late July has come relief from the blistering heat of the first three weeks.  Ludlow G. doesn't take the heat well any longer, so he's in a fall mood.  Sure enough, we have had some fall-like days, and with them a first influx of shorebirds and dispersal of post-breeding egrets and ibis.  For two weeks now small groups of Least Sandpipers have been at Great Meadows, and all the ones I have been able to see up close have been worn adults.  This morning (July 30) I found three worn Leasts with a very tattered Pectoral, looking for all the world like their bigger brother.  Two Blue-Winged Teal have been seen my many, and a single immature Green-Winged has been spotted by a few.  Immature Black-Crowned Night Herons arrived last week, along with (briefly) an adult and an immature Glossy Ibis. Also last week, for two days small flocks of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs were using the shallow pools along the north side of the lower impoundment.  That is, until the water level rose.

Water levels at Great Meadows went down with the drainage almost two weeks ago, but the heavy rains last Friday seemed to have raised it back part way.  But there is another problem:  beavers have rapidly closed off the drainage to the lower impoundment, and the USFWS was going to clear it.  We'll see how that goes!

Incredibly, we had thought our initial goal of 200 species this year was ambitious, but even by the end of May it was looking easily attainable.  And indeed, as of July 30 Ludlow G. has crowd-sourced a list of 198 species.

You read it right: 198 species!  We still have real shorebird season to come (although my expectations aren't high for many rarities), sparrow and vagrant season, and a Concord specialty, errant geese.  I have been thinking it, but now I'll say it: I think we can beat the de-facto local checklist of 220 species.

So, an incentive for 200.  I will send whomever reports #200 their choice of either Ludlow Griscom's Birds of Concord or Griscom and Snyder's Birds of Massachusetts.  Share your birds, all of them, with "Ludlow G." on eBird.

Happy (early) Fall migration.

More Rails!

On the day following the session with the Sora, I did some wading to a dry section along the back dikes where a family of Virginia Rails have been active.  I saw one juvenile and an adult.  Some pictures.

Great Meadows Rail Show

When people talk about the "rail trail" at Great Meadows in Concord these days, they don't mean the old Reformatory Branch rail bed.  This is the rail trail:

Heavy rains in early June have the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord rivers at flood stage, and over the weekend Great Meadows became a water world.  And with flooding, birds and all manner of wildlife come out of hiding.  For several days now people have been reporting spectacular Virginia Rail shows, with at least one Sora making frequent appearances near the parking area.  Today, two Sora put on a show, with many photographers in attendance.  With the birds virtually at our feet, I managed a few shots.

One bird had been carrying food to a location off the dike, and while foraging a second rail, presumably its mate, joined it for several minutes.

Showing some wing.  This is a handsome bird.

"Uncommon and Local"

Here in eastern Massachusetts we have a lot of trees, but we lack extensive, unbroken forest.  Concord is blessed with one of the biggest (over 1000 acres) tracts of unbroken forest: Estabrook Woods.  So, it is there we go looking for specialty interior forest species that breed locally, like Winter Wren and Northern Waterthrush.  One species, the Black-Throated Green Warbler, prefers hemlock stands, but these are now threatened by wooly adelgid infestation, and healthy hemlock stands are very uncommon and highly localized.  While this bird is quite common on migration, come late May and early June, it is tough to find them in eastern Massachusetts.  However, according to Breeding Bird Atlas 2 data, they are on the increase in the east.

I had heard reports of breeding B-T Greens in Estabrook in a remote hemlock stand, and Willy Hutcheson confirmed one bird while running.  Today I hiked in to this marvelous area, located on a rocky knoll upslope and east of the large and mysterious white cedar swamp in northern Estabrook, and immediately heard two singing males.  One was very cooperative and posed, sort of, for a few quick shots.

Breeding Season

Migration was very busy and I posted little because I was in the field as often as possible.  Overall, this year's migration was a bit strange, with very delayed birds due to some high-pressure blocking patterns which recurred.  These were followed by storms systems and a dump of migrants, especially on days like May 11th when several coastal and inland areas experienced "fall-out" conditions.  The following Saturday was Birdathon, with a significant arrival of Bay-Breasted and Wilson's Warblers, along with many Black-Billed Cuckoos.  Overall, though, migration sort of sputtered along and trees were fully leaved by the time the "good birds" arrived.

I was asked yesterday whether the Concord Birds project "missed anything."  Yes:  Louisiana Waterthrush and Olive-Sided Flycatcher, but those are stretches anyway.  It would have been nice to have had Kentucky Warbler and Red-Headed Woodpecker and Grasshopper Sparrow, but these are recorded infrequently (if at all) in Concord.  Birds that barely registered, however, were more frustrating:  King Rail and Common Gallinule (Moorhen) were observed only a few times at Great Meadows.  It is unknown if Pied-Billed Grebes stayed to breed, but perhaps two pairs of American Coots definitely have stuck it out at Great Meadows.  A potential Worm-Eating Warbler just over the Carlisle line hasn't been confirmed yet.

Our current focus is to confirm (or at least observe) Black-Throated Green Warblers and Hermit Thrush in Estabrook Woods, where they have historically bred in a stand of hemlock east of the Cedar Swamp near the Carlisle line.  This area might contain other scarcities—potentially Blue-Headed Vireo or even Blackburnian (although this species is even scarcer in eastern Mass since Breeding Bird Atlas 1).  Coming soon will be post-breeding wading birds.

Now to Ludlow G.'s list!  My five readers will recall that our year goal was 200 birds.  We are now at 191 (192 provisional pending confirmation of Worm-Eating), which means shorebirds, waders, fall sparrows, geese, and vagrants will push us well past 200 and into the territory of the historical checklist for the area established by Dick Walton in his Birds of the Sudbury Valley in 1984.

Now it gets interesting!