Distraction Displays: Mass Breeding Bird Atlas 2

Adult Merlin Greeting a Fledgeling

From The Department of Immigration

 

This deserves a full screen. Merlin was one of those species which, 20 years ago, was a real pie-in-the-sky as a breeding bird in Massachusetts. During the Atlas we confirmed 3, and have another 2 probables. One of those probables, in Williamstown, was likely a nesting bird too. My money says in 10 years we will have many more, and welcome to them!

Photo: Great Barrington, Merlin adult feeding a fledgling. From Rene Laubach, photo by James Schumacher, sometime in July 2011.

Greenfield 09 Cliff Swallow

From the Department of Punctual Returns

Greenfield 09 is a humble block, situated in the heart of the Connecticut River Valley not too far from Deerfield, MA.  With an impressive count of species (92 at last reckoning), this unassuming rural block clearly offers a lot to the dedicated Atlaser.  Many of these species are the ones we confirm in most every block - Gray Catbird, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird - but there were also a bevy of rarer species.  Whip-poor-will, Brown Thrasher, and Eastern Meadowlark may be repaidly declining birds, but they can still be found out in Greenfield 09.  Another cool surprise found in the block was the mud nest of a Cliff Swallow, with one of the parents peeking coyly out from the entrance.  Follow the cut to see the picture taken by Atlaser Sara Griesemer.

Martin Nest

From the Department of Purple Martins' Majesty

No Tuesday Tune-Up this week (everyone is off Atlasing!), but here are some adorable photos to satiate your need for exciting breeding bird news.  Mary Keleher's Purple Martin colonies are prospering, and she was kind enough to share some photos of the latest generation of Massachusetts' rarest breeding swallow.  These little guys are fresh out of the egg, and some of their siblings haven't even hatched yet.  Check out a close-up of the nestlings in their willow-lined haven under the cut!

Killdeer at Day Care Center in Waltham

From the Department of Early Childhood Education

Getting people to care about all birds is difficult. But it seems they are naturally passionate about birds they "own", like this Killdeer on a nest along a parking lot at a Waltham day care center.

Click for a full-sized image - from Thomas Dodd.

Chester 03 - The Jewel of the Pioneer Valley

From The Department of Parulas and Minor Miracles

Chester 03, my new home for June 12 and 13, 2011. Hampden County -  unexplored, sparsely populated, and rich in historical and natural wonders. Chester fit right in with my other atlas rambles in Tolland Center and Sandisfield.

The SW corner of Massachusetts is a gem - the pike swings north out there, and there is 30 miles between the Westfield and Lee exits, so it doesn't have the "exit sprawl" you see along major highways. There is little development, and lots of public land.

My best bird was a singing Parula - we'll see if that stays - it was right on Rt. 20, about 1/4 mile west of Sanderson Brook State Park. There is a store with a parking lot (for rent sign on the building, unoccupied) across from a stand of tall spruce (?) trees. He was singing all afternoon on June 13.  

Hen Common Eider with Young - Muskeget

Dispatches from West Ireland - aka ACK

by Vern Laux

Baby Turkey Vultures: by Matt Kelly

From The Department of Heavenly Objects

 

Atlasing the Rocky Mountain State

 
Once you get started atlasing, you can't help yourself from doing it all the time. On a recent trip to Colorado I found myself jonesing for a data entry portal after stumbling across this Eurasian collared-dove nest and eggs at the Hanover (CO) Fire Department building. Luckily, Colorado is doing its atlas right now, and if they accept my record, it'll be my third atlas - I completed 4 hours of effort for the Maritime Provinces Atlas in Canada last year.

By the way, is this a picture that may appear in Breeding Bird Atlas 3 in Massachusetts 20 years from now?

I guess the trick is to keep moving. It's like happy hour. Even if the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 2 project comes to a close this year, it's always atlasing time somewhere in the United States.

Let's Call Him Russ

 
Ah, back from Colorado and California (more on that later). For me, today's Friday Morning Birders trip to Plymouth was the first local birding experience in more than three weeks. So much has changed since mid-April, including what you see above. This great horned owl, marginally successfully digiscoped at Russell Mill Pond in Plymouth 06, had just left the nest for the first time when we got there. Its sibling was not to be seen, nor was the mom, nor, more interestingly, the nest we had been watching for weeks. It had apparently been destroyed by recent rain and wind. Seems like this little guy was lucky.

We started our trip with an owlet and ended with a blue-gray gnatcatcher sitting on her nest in Marshfield, sandwiching cygnets and a kingfisher nest hole in Kingston in between. Too early in the season to atlas, you say? Never!

Wisdom and Chick Survive Tsunami

The Mother of All Mothers

This is a great story for all us breeding bird aficionados. The oldest living bird known has chick this year (her 35th, at least), her island gets hit by the tsunami, and her and the chick survive.

 She's named Wisdom (no, I had nothing to do with that name, I'd have gone for something like Aphrodite!), and the young ought to be named Lucky.

The bad news, 110,000 chicks did die in the tsunami.

Read on....

 

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42220011/ns/world_news-world_environment/from/