Bird Sightings: The Voice of Audubon

Ross's Goose, photo courtesy of David W. Baker, Wikimedia.

To submit bird sightings, call Mass Audubon’s Wildlife Information Line at (781) 259-2150, or send us an email.

The Voice of Audubon offers regular updates on birds sighted across the state to introduce you to the wide variety of species Massachusetts has to offer.

Below are the most recently published sightings. Sightings in the past month are also available.

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Cape Cod

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

At Race Point, seabirds tallied this week included 420 red-breasted mergansers, 39 red-throated loons, 6 red-necked grebes, 2170 greater shearwaters, a sooty shearwater, 4 Manx shearwaters, 1800 northern gannets, a great cormorant, 330 black-legged kittiwakes, 400 Bonaparte's gulls, 70 common terns, 2 pomarine jaegers, 4 parasitic jaegers, 2 Atlantic puffins, 2 thick-billed murres, and 165 razorbills.

At First Encounter in Eastham there were 60 brant, 18 long-tailed duck, 380 red-throated loons, 3 common loons, a red-necked grebe, 800 northern gannets, 4 black-bellied plovers, 8 greater yellowlegs, 75 dunlin, 96 black-legged kittiwakes, 200 Bonaparte's gulls, 2 common terns, a thick-billed murre, and 35 razorbills.

And at Corporation Beach in Dennis, seabirds passing on Saturday included 550 common eider, 420 long-tailed ducks, 680 red-throated loons, 11 common loons, 15 red-necked grebes, 1050 northern gannets, a great cormorant, 230 Bonaparte's gulls, 56 common terns, and 69 razorbills.

In other sightings this week a rose-breasted grosbeak visited a feeder in Brewster, a red-necked grebe was at the Herring River dike in Wellfleet, and 7 northern bobwhites were at Wellfleet Bay sanctuary.

If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to sightings@massaudubon.org.

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Eastern Massachusetts

Friday, November 20, 2009

A Henslow's Sparrow reported at the Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in South Dartmouth on last weekend was still present on Wednesday, and the Lark Bunting at the Cumberland Farms fields in Middleboro was present as recently as Thursday.  A Western Tanager spotted in the Boston Public Garden last weekend has not been relocated this week.  However, a MacGillivray's Warbler found in the Fenway Victory Gardens in Boston on Tuesday was still being seen as recently as Thursday.  The warbler has been seen most frequently near the Boylston Street Bridge.  As many as 3 Orange-crowned Warblers were also reported from the Victory Garden area.

A group of 7 Cackling Geese that have been moving between Parker River Refuge on Plum Island and the farm fields off Northgate Road in Ipswich have not been reported this week, although a careful scrutiny of the goose flocks in that area might well re-locate them.

At the Cherry Hill Reservoir in West Newbury there were 40 Ring-necked Ducks, a Long-tailed Duck, 15 Common Mergansers, and 200 Ruddy Ducks.

A Pacific Loon was seen at Andrew's Point in Rockport today, and at nearby Halibut Point there were 33 Harlequin Ducks and 4 Purple Finches.  At Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, a King Eider has been present for much of the week, and at the Mass Marine Station a Western Kingbird was seen.

At Duxbury Beach there were reports of 15 Red-necked Grebes, a Peregrine Falcon, 6 Ipswich Savannah Sparrows, and 52 Snow Buntings.

At the Cumberland Farms fields in Middleboro there were 400 Ring-billed Gulls, 250 American Pipits, 50 Savannah Sparrows, 60 Song Sparrows, 15 White-crowned Sparrows, and 400 Red-winged Blackbirds.

Seen from Race Point in Provincetown on Wednesday were 1700 Red-breasted Mergansers, 220 Greater Shearwaters, a Sooty Shearwater, 420 Northern Gannets, 300 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 520 Bonaparte's Gulls, a Little Gull, 2 Common Terns, 3 Pomarine Jaegers, 26 Razorbills, and 55 unidentified large alcids.

A report from Nantucket included 300 Brant, 100,000 Long-tailed Ducks, a Great Egret, a Cattle Egret, 15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and 10 Eastern Meadowlarks.

Miscellaneous reports included single Common Ravens in Acushnet and Abington, a Barred Owl at Quincy Market atop the Christmas Tree, an Orange-crowned Warbler in Plymouth, and another Orange-crowned Warbler and a Nashville Warbler at Daniel Webster Sanctuary in Marshfield.

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Western Massachusetts

Monday, November 16, 2009

A few wintering songbirds are making brief visits to feeders throughout the region, but plentiful wild food supplies continue to keep them away for the most part. Migrating land birds are also being seen, including golden-crowned kinglet, brown creeper, red-breasted nuthatch, hermit thrush and fox sparrow, but northern finches are completely absent. Migrating waterfowl are making news for the fourth straight week.

Ducks found at the north end of Quabbin Reservoir included three gadwalls, four American wigeons, two blue-winged teal, three northern pintails, 17 green-winged teal, 69 ring-necked ducks, four greater scaup, three surf scoters, four black scoters, a long-tailed duck, six buffleheads and four common goldeneye.

Also seen were an osprey, a merlin, a peregrine falcon, a Wilson's snipe, a Bonaparte's gull, a white-crowned sparrow and 11 snow buntings.

A cackling goose, 25 common goldeneyes, an eastern screech-owl and an unprecedented late warbling vireo were found at Turners Falls..

A red-throated loon, three common loons and two horned grebes were reported in Quabbin Park at the Quabbin Reservoir. A bufflehead, seven ruddy ducks, a common loon and an American pipit were seen on Ludlow Reservoir.

American wigeon were reported in Chicopee and Agawam. A peregrine falcon, 120 horned larks and a Lapland longspur were found in the east meadows of Northampton. An eastern screen-owl and a purple finch were seen in Hadley and 10 green-winged teal and an American wigeon were reported in Longmeadow.

A bufflehead, three common goldeneyes, 80 common mergansers, two common loons, four horned grebes and four red-necked grebes were seen on Pontoosuc Reservoir in Pittsfield.

Two bufflehead, a red-breasted merganser, two common loons, a horned grebe, a red-necked grebe, a Bonaparte's gull and a pectoral sandpiper were found at nearby Onota Lake.

Ten snow buntings found were in Pittsfield and one in Cheshire. Two lesser scaup and six red-necked grebes were on Laurel Lake in Lenox and a redhead duck was seen in Sheffield.

A white-winged scoter, three red-breasted mergansers, four horned grebes, seven red-necked grebes, a merlin and a rusty blackbird were seen on Stockbridge Bowl.

A redhead duck, a bufflehead, nine common goldeneyes, four horned grebes, two red-necked grebes, a fish crow and a northern shrike were reported in Richmond.

 

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About the Voice of Audubon

These bird sighting reports are transcripts of recorded messages from each of three regional "bird alerts" maintained by Mass Audubon, known as the Voice of Audubon. The phone number for the Voice of Audubon is (781) 259-8805. All three recorded reports from throughout the state are accessible through this number, and the transcripts are available anytime at www.massaudubon.org/voa). Not all sightings that are submitted are included in the VOA reports. Those that are included are intended to provide a "snapshot" of the current, noteworthy bird activity in each region within Massachusetts, and might include, for example, rarities, early/first-arriving migrants, late-departing migrants, high counts, unusual sightings (e.g., a seabird found on an inland lake), or simply those that represent exemplary sightings for the time and place.

The Boston Globe publishes one or more of the transcripts (with limited editing) each Sunday. To submit bird sightings call (781) 259-2150.

The Voice of Audubon is the oldest phone-based bird alert in the United States, first established on December 1, 1954 (original phone number, KEnmore 6-4050). See the original 1954 press release*.

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