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, February 3, 2010

The Townsend's solitaire continued to make appearances this week at the edges of the golf course in the King's Way neighborhood in Yarmouthport.

Despite the cold snap and decreasing areas of open water on ponds, uncommon ducks were still being reported from Falmouth this week, including 4 redheads, 4 green-winged teal, and a Eurasian wigeon at Perch Pond, 2 wood ducks at White's Landing Rd. in East Falmouth, plus 4 canvasbacks, 9 ring-necked ducks, 85 greater/lesser scaup, all three species of merganser, and 2 American coot elsewhere in town.  Some non-ducks were also seen in Falmouth, including a turkey vulture, a northern harrier, a Bonaparte's gull, a belted kingfisher, a brown creeper, 2 red-breasted nuthatches, 4 eastern bluebirds, 2 hermit thrushes, 2 gray catbirds, and an eastern towhee.

Birds at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary this week included 2 northern bobwhites, 2 red-breasted nuthatches, a field sparrow, 2 swamp sparrows, 4 yellow-rumped warblers, 100 red-winged blackbirds, and 4 brown-headed cowbirds.

Among the 21 species reported from a Truro yard for Cornell's Project Feederwatch were an encouraging 19 northern bobwhites, plus a field sparrow, 2 northern flickers, and 2 yellow-rumped warblers.

Miscellaneous reports this week included a glaucous gull at Race Point in Provincetown, 2 harlequin ducks in Provincetown Harbor, a hermit thrush in Orleans, and 2 horned larks at Scusset Beach in Sandwich.

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

Monday, February 8, 2010

The Tufted Duck that's been frequenting the Sudbury River between the Rt. 20 and Rt. 27 bridges in Wayland was still present today, and other recent reports from the area have included 10 Mute Swans, 2 Lesser Scaup, 9 Common Goldeneyes, 12 Hooded Mergansers, 14 Common Mergansers, and 1 Common Raven.

The Townsend's Solitaire in Yarmouth was last reported on Thursday.

A report from Race Point in Provincetown included 12 Iceland Gulls, 30 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 220 Razorbills, and 1 Common Murre, and seen at Nantucket were 3 Wood Ducks, 1 Northern Shoveler, 23 Ring-necked Ducks, 6 Redheads, 10 Harlequin Ducks, 1 Barrow's Goldeneye, 1 Common Moorhen, 1 Black-headed Gull, 118 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 38 Iceland Gulls, 3 Pine Warblers, 1 White-crowned Sparrow, and 30 Snow Buntings.

Miscellaneous reports from the weekend included a Bald Eagle and a Snowy Owl at Plum Island, 2 Barrow's Goldeneyes on the Merrimac River in Dracut, a Red-headed Woodpecker in Lowell, a King Eider and a Barrow's Goldeneye in Gloucester, a Bald Eagle and 2 Peregrine Falcons in Boston, a Bald Eagle in Cambridge, 2 Common Ravens in Lincoln, a Eurasian Green-winged Teal in Newton, 2 Common Ravens at Millennium Park in West Roxbury, a Bald Eagle and a Rough-legged Hawk in Quincy, 2 Barrow's Goldeneyes on the Charles River in Dover, 3 Rough-legged Hawks at the Cumberland Farms fields in Middleboro, and a Northern Shrike in Barnstable.

On Saturday, March 6, Mass Audubon and the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences will cosponsor the 18^th annual Massachusetts Birders Meeting. For further information or registration, visit our website at massaudubon.org or call 781-259-2150.

 

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Western Massachusetts

Monday, February 8, 2010

A glaucous gull,  26 mute swans, a two Iceland gulls, and two lesser black-backed gulls were seen in the Turners Falls area.

Two northern shrikes were reported in Windsor, including an adult in the Moran Wildlife Management Area and an immature at Notchview Reservation. A flock of 25 pine grosbeaks was also seen in Windsor.

A barred owl, 150 American robins, 135 cedar waxwings, and four red-winged blackbirds were found in Florence.

Five common mergansers, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, a northern flicker, five golden-crowned kinglets, and 15 American robins were reported in West Springfield.

A northern shrike was seen in Lenox, two red-breasted nuthatches were found in Hinsdale, another red-breasted nuthatch was seen in Savoy, and a barred owl was reported in Cummington.

A great horned owl, a barred owl, two northern saw-whet owls, a northern flicker, a pileated woodpecker, 22 red-breasted nuthatches, six brown creepers, 28 golden-crowned kinglets, and 32 purple finches were seen in the Ware River watershed.

A green-winged teal was on the campus pond at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and six eastern bluebirds were also seen in Amherst. A merlin was reported in Northampton, and two eastern bluebirds and 20 cedar waxwings were seen in Conway. A northern flicker was found  in Hadley, 35 cedar waxwings were seen in Westfield, and a rough-legged hawk was reported in Deerfield.

A pileated woodpecker, four eastern bluebirds, 75 American robins, a gray catbird, and an eastern towhee were seen in Southwick.

 

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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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