Distraction Displays: Mass Breeding Bird Atlas 2

Happy 4th of July

We are Soooo Out-a-Here!

We are off to rack up some more hours in our Berkshire County and Nantucket blocks. We'll be back July 8.

Remember - everything is in Safe Dates, so every bird you see in nesting habitat is a Possible Breeder (except colonial species). So take this time to Incidentally Atlas.

Well leave you with two links - the first to the Perfect Hamburger article in the New York Times.

The second link is to the "Thrill of The Grill" recipie for slow cooked brisket. Hey, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Junco With Nest Material

It's Either Nest material or "Dress Like Salvadore Dali Day"

In case you are wondering how much nest material can one little sparrow carry, well....

From Regional Coordinator Sheila Carroll, photographed in Cheshire 09 (Berkshire County).

Then again, maybe it was "Dress Like Yosemite Sam Day"?

Green Herons in Essex County

From The Department of Closure

Remember way back on May 4 we posted about a woman in Marblehead who first found two birds she could needed help to identify, then Marj Rines suggested she look for a nest, she did, then she found a nest, then she photographed the nest? Remember that?

Well she has kept at it and continues to follow her Green Herons who are the proud parents of the following "youth".

I like the arc of this story because it sums up the why projects like a Breeding Bird Atlas work in the first place. There are a group of people out there who a fascinated by nature, and nesting birds grab their interest and don't let go. June, the human "Mom" of this story started out with just an interest in a cool bird, she photographed it, and Marj Rines guided her interest and the story played out perfectly.

We have hundreds of folks out in the field on BBA 2  - slogging through this rainy June and early-July - and each person has a story (or 100 stories) just like the one below. Its only with this sort of passion that we can start a project of this magnitude - and here, at the midpoint of the project,it is great to see interest still growing, discoveries being made every day, and people really making a difference for the breeding birds of Massachusetts.

Kudos to y'all.

First the bird...

Then the nest....

Now the youth....

Pileateds in Hampshire County

From The Department of Another One That is Probably Not an Ivory-bill

Zhongwei Shen took the following pictures near the Rail Trail in Amherst. They are so cool I need to post them all. Check out the difference in the eye color of the young and the adult.

Cool.

 

Ospreys in Plymouth County

From The Department of If Looks Could Kill

(From The MAS South Shore Sanctuaries Newsletter, photos by John Galluzzo)

Operation Osprey: Complete

On June 30 and July 1, Norman Smith, Director of the Trailside Museum in Milton, placed bands on most of the twenty-one osprey chicks found on nests from Quincy to Plymouth. We say "most" because, oddly, many chicks were far too young to be banded at this time, indicating delays in egg-laying this year. All the rain? We're not sure. The youngsters ranged in age from one week to six weeks, and broods ranged from one unhatched egg to four chicks. During the spring season, monitors watch the poles and around the end of June the banding team - Norman, Joe Grady, the Duxbury Conservation Agent, and John Galluzzo - coordinate efforts and visit the osprey families of the South Shore. The timing is geared toward finding the youngsters old enough to wear bands, yet young enough to not fly away when the bander approachers. A full report will be written up before July is out. For a copy of that report or to become a monitor for 2010, contact John Galluzzo.

Sandhill Cranes in Berkshire County

From The Department of Quite Large Birds That Even The Coordinator Can Find

Whilst perusing a block in The Wild West your sometimes alert coordinator stumbled upon these Sandhill Cranes. It is likely that they are the nesting pair that set-up-shop two years ago in Berkshire. This year they again reported for breeding duty, but their nest failed for unknown reasons.

If they are the same pair that is known to nest their post-breeding wandering collided with my July 1 atlasing, and Viola, here is a digiscoped image of them.

One of the birds (the smaller bird in the foreground) has one single bright white feather on its back. It is not glaringly obvious in a photo at this scale, but is clear in a full resolution photo. I'll check with Natural Heritage folks to see if they saw the birds that nested this year, and see if anyone noticed the feather - then we'll have at least some evidence that they are the same pair. If any atlasers happened to see the Sandhills this year, let me know if you did or did not notice a white feather on one bird.

It seems like it is too much to hope for, but wouldn't it be cool if it was another pair. Here's to more and more Sandhills roaming the Commonwealth - we just love the charismatic mega-fauna!

Atlas Folk Go Afield

Southwick, Tolland Center, and Nantucket Beckon

Time for the Atlas Folk to put down their pixels and pick up their bins and head out into the field. Simon is off (no fooling) to Nantucket and Tuckernuck. Joan is off with the whole darn family to Tolland Center and Southwick in the Berkshires.

We'll be back on Thursday July 2 - so keep those cards and letters coming (birdatlas at massaudubon.org), we'll catch-up on posting then.

Goshawk Young: Don't Tell Anyone Where You Find Them

From The Department of Homeland Security and Cautionary Tales

Julie Lisk and Tom Murray are sending us some exquisite photos of their Atlas exploits. Bravo!

As a reminder to everyone, there is a legal take (with the appropriate permits) of some hawks for falconry. Unfortunately there is a shadow trade in illegal hawks, and Goshawks are sometimes taken for the Black Market.

Do not post the location of Goshawk nests (or any raptor for that matter) - not even a post that guides people to a general area. Last year one nest in southeastern Mass. (which was not publicized) was raided by what appeared to be a tree-climbing human who took all young and destroyed the nest. The adults did not return to the area this year. That's a real bummer.

We could debate the take for legal falconry, if we had the time. We can all agree that we certainly do not want to give the illegal trade any information.

Common Merganser in Chester 02

From The Department of Cute

 Hello Joan and Simon,

I was out atlassing today (6/22/09) in one of my three blocks (East lee 11). In order to access it from the east, I have to walk through a portion of the neighboring block to the east (Chester 02). While on the way back to my car after atlassing in East lee 11 today at about 11 a.m., I came upon a female Common Merganser and her brood of four (see photo ). The Westfield River flows through both Chester 2 and East Lee 11 and I had previously seen a female flying over the river in my block, but not until today did I find evidence that confirmed breeding (albeit in the neighboring block). A real treat.

Take care,

Rene

Come Join Us For A BBA 2 Talk, Wellfleet, June 25, 2009

C'mon, The Bachelorette Isn't Even On

Birds of Cape Cod: Past, Present, Future
Sponsored by Wellfleet Bay

Thu, Jun 25, 2009 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Instructor: Joan Walsh - Coordinator, Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas II
Audience: Adult
Fee: Adults $3.00m/ $5.00nm

We'll look at general changes in the breeding bird populations on the Cape since BBA 1 was completed in 1979.  We'll follow that with a talk about some case studies of breeding birds whose breeding populations have dramatically changed.

Instructions and Directions: Registration not required.

Registration not required.

For more information, contact:

Wellfleet Bay
291 State Highway, Route 6
P.O. Box 236
South Wellfleet, MA 02663
wellfleet@massaudubon.org