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WORDS ON BIRDS
Spring bird migration continues to trickle
April 7, 2007
Steve Grinley
I think that the only person excited with our weather
this past week was our friend, Doug. This weather will do nothing to
encourage early foliage, so sighting birds in trees and shrubs will
continue to be easy for some weeks ahead. But the birds have to arrive
to be seen and, so far, only a few have trickled in. Last weekend, I
was searching for a reported palm warbler in the Marblehead Neck
Wildlife Sanctuary. I was amazed at the blanket of purple crocus that
I encountered at the edge of the sanctuary. However, the bird life was
almost nonexistent. I encountered a few chickadees and golden-crowned
kinglets, but no warblers - not yet. A few pine warblers have been
seen, including one visiting a suet feeder in Ipswich. A couple of
yellow-rumped warblers have been reported, but most of the warblers
are waiting for May. Field sparrows have arrived on Plum Island, and a
few chipping sparrows have visited feeders in Essex and other
communities. These two sparrows are summer residents, but my wintering
tree sparrows are still at the store feeders. More Eastern phoebes
have arrived. I saw three of them on a stroll down Pike's Bridge Road
in West Newbury this past week. A few more were on Plum Island.
One customer told me that her phoebe was back,
investigating the same nests it had used in years past. Each year, the
phoebe will build another muddy nest on top of the previous one on a
ledge of the garage. She was afraid that there wouldn't be much more
room for another nest. Some bluebirds have already started to build
nests in nesting boxes. Soon, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and
woodpeckers will be searching out nest cavities and man-made houses
and start their nesting cycles as well.
Tree swallows are just beginning to arrive, but purple
martins are a few weeks away. House wrens won't arrive until May, but
resident Carolina wrens will begin nesting soon. A screech owl has
taken up residence in a flicker box in Reading. Whether it will stay
and nest is uncertain. Soon, large flights of kestrels will be
streaming over the dunes of Plum Island on their way north. A pair of
kestrels have been seen copulating in the Newburyport Industrial Park,
presumably the same resident couple that nested last year. Hopefully
more kestrels will stay and nest, and more nesting box sites may
encourage that. The competition from starlings is fierce, but we
continue to hope that kestrels will prevail in our area.
A pair of ospreys has reclaimed the nesting platform
behind the Pines Trail on the Parker River Wildlife Refuge. One osprey
was seen scouting out one of the platforms along Ferry Road in
Salisbury. With the number of man-made platforms in the area, and more
being added, it is hopeful that we can encourage a good-sized osprey
population throughout the Great Marsh.
More good news from farther up the Merrimack River: A
pair of bald eagles are attempting to nest once again. These are,
presumably, the same couple that nested successfully two years ago,
only to fail last year due to cold and heavy spring rains. They are
back in their "successful" nest and the incubation stage has already
begun. Exciting!
The numbers of Wilson's snipe in the Common Pasture
fields off Scotland Road in Newbury have climbed into the hundreds.
Tens of killdeer are also feeding in the grasses there. The snipe will
continue to travel north, but some of the killdeer will nest in gravel
areas, including on flat roof tops, in the area. The evening "peenting"
of woodcock can be heard in area fields and, as the weather warms,
they will begin their aerial courting displays. A few greater
yellowlegs and a black-bellied plover have been the only migrating
shorebirds to make an appearance thus far.
A single snowy egret and a few great egrets have been
seen of Joppa flats and on Plum Island. Black-crowned night herons
have appeared in Gloucester. More long-legged waders should be
arriving in the weeks ahead. Great horned owls are already sitting on
nests and, in some cases, young have hatched. We watched an owl
sitting high on her nest in Ipswich, looking around as if a threat
were near. Through our long scope views, there were no threats, and
she settled back down. One great horned owl is nesting among a colony
of great blue herons in West Boxford, which have recently arrived, and
the herons will soon begin nesting as well. Red-tailed hawks have also
begun claiming their nest sites.
As the weather does warm up, and it is bound to soon,
more birds will arrive and inhabit the woods, fields and marshes.
Though the foliage may start filling in, so will the birds. I look
forward to May, and I won't mind straining to see the colors of a
scarlet tanager or an indigo bunting among the green leaves of an oak
or maple. Steve Grinley
Bird Watcher's Supply & Gift and Nature Shop at Joppa Flats
Newburyport, MA
BirdWSG@Verizon.net
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