Sunday Bird Survey and Trail Cam Update

The Sunday bird survey crew (the few, the proud) met at 7:30 am sharp by the flagpole, ready to census the campus.  Our route took us to the dock, down to the entrance road swamp, and back along the lower fields to the Chapel.  Weather had not been favorable for north-bound migrants over the past couple of days, with winds out of the north and northwest, but we found some new arrivals nonetheless.  A small mixed flock along the entrance road held Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers as well as Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, none of which species were here in any numbers just last week.  The highlight of the walk was probably the smashing view we had of a male Wood Duck near the dock.  We failed to get photos, unfortunately, but a female did pose for a picture earlier in the morning as she inspected trees for potential nest cavities behind BP.

Along the way, we succeeded in getting this male Tufted Titmouse all riled up by imitating his whistled call, "Peter, Peter!"  His mate was close by with nesting material in her bill, so he was feeling especially pugnacious.  We left them alone quickly, though, as it is a waste of valuable time and energy for birds to be defending territory against phantom threats like us when they should be finding food, building nests, and warding off real challenges from actual titmouse neighbors.

The full species list from the survey follows.

Middlesex School, Middlesex, US-MA
Apr 26, 2015 7:49 AM - 9:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Comments:    Inaugural MIDDLESEX Earth Week Bird Walk. <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.8
33 species

Canada Goose  9
Wood Duck  3
American Black Duck  1
Mallard  4
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  4
Mourning Dove  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  3
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Eastern Phoebe  2
Blue Jay  6
Tree Swallow  10
Black-capped Chickadee  8
Tufted Titmouse  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
American Robin  30
European Starling  3
Palm Warbler (Yellow)  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  8
Chipping Sparrow  10
Song Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  1
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Northern Cardinal  2
Red-winged Blackbird  12
Common Grackle  20
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  3
House Sparrow  5

When the birding was slow, we turned our attention to other organisms, like the snails of Bateman's Pond, which are easily visible this time of year before aquatic vegetation obscures the view in the shallows.  The predominant large snail is most likely a non-native Asian species, the Chinese Mystery Snail (Cipangopaludina chinensis).  These snails made their way to North America first as a food item in west-coast Chinese markets in the late nineteenth century, with the first documented record from Boston in 1914.  So far, the Mystery Snail's negative ecological impacts appear minimal, though it likely competes with native gastropods.  

Escargot, anyone?

An finally, on another note, the trail cams were placed in new locations last week, but there was very little activity detected; mostly brief fly-by birds and quick glimpses of squirrels.  A small doe White-tailed Deer triggered the camera as she made a dawn pass along the trail at the east end of the pond, but let's hope that we have better luck in yet another new location.

Frog Frenzy

The Bateman's bog behind Clay dorm and the library is hoppin'.  Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) are in full song, and the evening chorus can be heard from almost anywhere on campus.  If you want to go looking for them, though, you'll need boots, a flashlight, and, ideally, earplugs.  The songs of individual males at close range (50 cm) may reach 92.4 decibels (to put this in context, a jackhammer at 50 feet away is in the 95 dB range).  My ears are still ringing from shooting the video you see above! 

Given the enormous sound they produce, you may be surprised to find that Spring Peepers are actually quite small.  Here is one in the hand of a relatively small twelve-year-old boy.

The primary purpose of the deafening chorus is, of course, reproductive, and therefore mating pairs are not an uncommon sight.  Shown below, the male is the darker, smaller individual on top of the larger, paler female.  As you can see from these images, there is considerable variation in individual coloration, with some peepers showing much more contrast in their skin pattern.

Peepers are not the only frogs active in the Bateman's bog these days, however.  The rattling calls of Leopard Frogs can be heard alongside the short grunts of Green Frogs like this one:

Trail Cameras

At long last, the wildlife cameras are going back up this week.  They were just about to be repositioned when the snows came (and stayed) this winter, but now that the woods are more accessible again, they will be up and running soon.  So just in case you missed it the first time, or if you need your appetite whetted for more, here is the Fisher that was hanging out across the pond from Clay dorm last November.  Stay tuned for more critter cam action!

Sunday Bird Survey (and more)

Downy Woodpecker (male),
photographed along the main drive.

Communing with the natural world requires no skills or technology, but when it does, we call it data collection.  These days, citizens can be scientists, and a Sunday morning stroll can suddenly become an opportunity to conduct an avian census.  In a nutshell, here's how it works.  The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has revolutionized birding (yes, that is a real word) by developing a database of crowd-sourced bird sightings, easily accessible and open to anyone with an internet connection.  The database is called eBird, and it is managed by a team of expert birders and ornithologists who review and analyze the sightings in order to minimize false identifications, typos, or other "noise."  Even better, there are now apps tied to the eBird database that allow observers to upload sightings and lists from the field in real time.  The result is an exploding amount of information that can be used to evaluate bird movements and populations, leading to rapid advancements in avian conservation.  Now, that Downy Woodpecker that you see by the driveway instantly becomes a valuable statistic as well as a stunning work of natural beauty.

So anyway, this morning, the birds were in full song, with many of the resident species already on territory and some migrants returning to set up shop for the season, and I grabbed my binoculars, camera, and smartphone to see what I could find. Here is a list (generated using the iPhone app, BirdLog NA, and eBird) of the species observed during a walk around MX from the main entrance to the turf fields: 

Middlesex School, Middlesex, US-MA
Apr 19, 2015 7:23 AM - 9:40 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments: <br />Submitted from BirdLog NA for iOS, version 1.8
40 species

Canada Goose 3
Wood Duck 5
Mallard 4
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Broad-winged Hawk 1 Soaring over turf fields.
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Killdeer 1
Mourning Dove 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 7
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 2
Eastern Phoebe 3
Blue Jay 22
American Crow 3
Fish Crow 2 Calling, flying south over tennis courts toward pond.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Tree Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 10
Tufted Titmouse 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 7
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 15
European Starling 2
Palm Warbler (Yellow) 1
Pine Warbler 3
Chipping Sparrow 7
Song Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 6
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 12
Rusty Blackbird 4 One calling from Bateman's outflow swamp, one flyover. Two perched, seen well from bridge to turf fields.
Common Grackle 15
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 5
House Sparrow 6

In the morning skies, a few hawks were soaring on thermals created by the warm spring sun, and it was a good opportunity to compare a recently-arrived migrant Broad-winged Hawk with the resident Red-tailed Hawks. If you look at the photos of the birds below, you might be able to see the diagnostic black-and-white bands on the tail of the broad-wing versus the orange ("red") of the red-tail:

Broad-winged Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

The red maples are finally in bloom:

A few Rusty Blackbirds are moving through the red maple swamps on the way north to their breeding grounds in the boreal forests of Canada.  This species has decreased significantly in recent decades, and projects like eBird have focused on trying to gather information on its populations and movements in order to understand the causes of decline.  To distinguish a Rusty from the more common Red-winged, look for a lack of red in...you guessed it...the wing.  Clicking on and looking closely at this photo (taken from the bridge to the turf fields), you may also be able to pick out the bird's yellow iris.

While in the swamps, you might see Skunk Cabbage emerging.  This wetland plant is so named because its leaves release a skunky odor when broken or crushed.

And finally, you never know when you might come across a stunning male Wood Duck like this one (poorly photographed in the middle of Bateman's Pond), so keep your eyes peeled!

Welcome to EstaBlog!

As part of the various activities planned for the week of Earth Day (April 22), we are rolling out ESTABLOG, which will primarily be a series of rambling observations of the natural world around Estabrook Woods, Bateman's Pond, and the campus of Middlesex School.  The hope is that anyone who reads this blog will afterward find themselves more connected to the wild world beyond the campus walls.  Phenology, the seasonal changes that occur in organisms and their ecosystems, will be a particular focus of this project, but we will also include wildlife sightings, curious facts, and pretty pictures (when we can).  So, without further ado, here is Establog, and thanks for reading!