Bird Sightings: The Voice of Audubon

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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, May 22, 2013

A late king eider was seen off Town Neck Beach in Sandwich on the 17th.

Two chuck-will’s-widows have returned to Pochet Island in Orleans and another was reported from Elaine Rd. in East Falmouth.

A swallow-tailed kite was reported from Highland Rd in Truro on the 20th and a Mississippi kite was seen in Provincetown on the 16th.

Some Cape Cod highlights from Mass Audubon’s Bird-a-thon weekend included a Eurasian collared-dove in a yard in Eastham, 3 clapper rails and 10 marsh wrens on the Herring River in Wellfleet, a sora on Frost Fish Creek in Chatham, a glaucous gull, 3 lesser black-backed gulls, and a black tern at South Beach in Chatham, 3 ruddy ducks and an American coot on Herring Pond in Eastham, a common merganser on Pilgrim Lake in Truro, 16 white-winged crossbills in Wellfleet, and 2 red crossbills in Eastham.

Seen at South Monomoy in Chatham on the 21st were a northern shoveler, 3 northern pintails, 2 green-winged teal, 2 northern harriers, a sora, and 5 white-rumped sandpipers. A summer tanager was seen near the lighthouse on the 17th.

Birds in Provincetown this week included a thick-billed murre at Race Point, a clay-colored sparrow at the airport, 14 species of warbler including Canada warbler plus a summer tanager and 8 pine siskins at Foss Woods on the 22nd, and 15 species of warbler including an Audubon’s yellow-rumped warbler and 2 bay-breasted warblers also on the 22nd.

Other sightings this week included a prothonotary warbler in Bourne, a ruffed grouse, a golden-crowned kinglet, and a worm-eating warbler at Long Pond in Falmouth, an American kestrel and 3 grasshopper sparrows at Crane WMA in Falmouth, a late bufflehead at Seagull Beach in Yarmouth, 8 red knots off Tonset Rd in Orleans, and 13 glossy ibis at Wellfleet Bay sanctuary on the 19th.

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Eastern Massachusetts

Friday, May 17, 2013

Migration was in full swing this week, culminated by the first appearance of several new species and good numbers of many others.  Among the more recent arrivals were reports of Semipalmated Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, Least Tern, Yellow-billed and Black-billed cuckoo, Common Nighthawk, Whip-poor-will, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Willow and Least flycatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo, Cliff Swallow, Swainson’s Thrush, warblers including Cape May, Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, Blackburnian, Blackpoll, Canada, and Wilson’s, as well as White-crowned Sparrow, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, and Bobolink.

In Newburyport Harbor there were 58 Greater Yellowlegs, 6 Lesser Yellowlegs, 30 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 250 Dunlin, 4 Short-billed Dowitchers, 140 Bonaparte’s Gulls, and an immature Little Gull.

Reports from Parker River Refuge on Plum Island this week included 15 Glossy Ibises, a King Rail, 3 Caspian Terns, a Black-billed Cuckoo, a Willow Flycatcher, 3 Least Flycatchers, a Blue-headed Vireo, a Common Raven, 2 Veeries, a Swainson’s Thrush, 19 species of warblers including a Kentucky Warbler, a Clay-colored Sparrow, and a White-crowned Sparrow.

In the salt pans near Pikul’s Farm on Rt. 1A in Rowley, 25 Glossy Ibises, a Ruff and 3 Wilson’s Phalaropes have been present for most of the week, and not far away a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron has been seen on several occasions in the vicinity of the Newbury boat ramp by the bridge crossing the Parker River.

A survey of the Kettle Island heron colony this week produced nest totals of 201 Great Egrets, 167 Snowy Egrets, 6 Little Blue Herons, 46 Black-crowned Night-Herons, and 65 Glossy Ibises.

Observed at Point of Pines in Revere were 15 Manx Shearwaters, 5 Piping Plovers, and an Iceland Gull, and at Marblehead Neck Sanctuary in Marblehead a Summer Tanager has been present since last weekend.

Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge has hosted many migrants all week, most notably 19 species of warblers, and several Scarlet Tanagers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.

A report from Pond Meadow Park in Braintree included an Eastern Wood-Pewee, 9 Red-eyed Vireos, 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a dozen species of warblers including Blue-winged, Nashville, 14 Northern Parulas, Chestnut-sided, Blackburnian, Blackpoll, American Redstart, and Northern Waterthrush.

In the Boston Public Garden there were sightings of Black-billed Cuckoo, Willow and Least flycatcher, Cedar Waxwing, and several species of warblers.

Among the many migrants reported from Franklin Park in Boston this week were Yellow-throated Vireo, Wood Thrush, a good variety of warblers including  Blackburnian, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, and Wilson’s as well as 24 White-throated Sparrows, 2 Bobolinks, and an Orchard Oriole.

At Gooseberry Neck in Westport, many migrants were noted this week coming in off the waters of Buzzards Bay at first light including 18 species of warblers including Orange-crowned, Kentucky, Bay-breasted, and Canada.

Miscellaneous reports this week included 2 Yellow-billed Cuckoos at Fowl Meadow in Canton; 4 Common Nighthawks in Wayland; 7 Cliff Swallows at the Hanover Street Bridge in Newbury; and a Vesper Sparrow at Denehy Park in Cambridge.

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Western Massachusetts

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Some uncommon migrants found in the region over the weekend were common nighthawk, olive-sided flycatcher, Swainson’s thrush, Cape May warbler, Tennessee warbler, bay-breasted warbler, Wilson’s warbler, Lincoln’s sparrow, white-crowned sparrow and pine siskin. 

Uncommon nesting birds reported were American bittern, upland sandpiper, black-billed cuckoo, alder flycatcher, willow flycatcher, Canada warbler, worm-eating warbler and grasshopper sparrow. 

Three sandhill cranes continue in Worthington and a single crane was found at the Arcadia sanctuary in Easthampton. A pair of northern shovelers was also reported at Arcadia. 

A summer tanager is still coming to a yard in Great Barrington.

A greater scaup and a great egret continue in Longmeadow.

A pectoral sandpiper, a yellow-bellied flycatcher and a golden-winged warbler were found in Holyoke.

A yellow-bellied flycatcher was seen in Hadley, and a cerulean warbler was on Mt Holyoke. 

A white-winged scoter was reported on Onota Lake, and a long-eared owl was seen in Richmond. 

A grey-cheeked thrush was found in Agawam and 11 American pipits were seen in Sunderland.

Yellow-billed cuckoos were found in West Springfield and New Salem.

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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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