eBird Report - Chesterfield Gorge Reservation/Gilbert A. Bliss State Forest, 8/15/10 - A surprising variety of birds out in the Highlands!

Its been a little while since last I left ya'll with my whereabouts in terms of birding. And so, here I am! Did ya miss me??! I suppose not, but who cares, because whats important is that I have more birdiness to share!!


I chose to join my Dad on a little excursion to the rolling hills of the Highlands of Western Massachusetts in Hampshire and Hampden counties. Our target location was Chesterfield Gorge Reservation (well, for me it was). My Dad's goal, since he is an avid fly fisherman, was to check out the Westfield River. He hadn't been there since probably around 2001. This was, to my recollection, my first time visiting this area. Plus, I am finally putting my Trustees of Reservations membership to good use!


Both of us expected for the river to be low in volume, and it sure was. This bit of a drought we are in seems to be worse than I thought. A Trustees staff member at the parking lot of Chesterfield Gorge commented on this, saying that a good friend and local had not seen the Westfield River that low since 1953! Here is hoping for a good tropical system or two to come through, for all of the Bay State could use the rain!


Anyhow, onwards-ho we must go. While Dad tended to the fish in the Westfield (there were not many to be had, as unfortunately expected due to the low water levels), I followed the East Branch Trail from Chesterfield Gorge through the Gilbert A. Bliss State Forest all the way down to near the Indian Hollow Campground just over the Chesterfield/Huntington town-line in Huntington. I approximate I hiked 4.5 to 5 miles down, so thus, a total of 9 to 10 miles of hiking all told. I honestly did not expect to see much in the way of species of birds, at least in variety. I figured I would come across a good number of the usual suspects, but beyond that, not much else.


It had started out as I had feared (though I would've enjoyed my day nonetheless), but around Noon-time and from thereon out, it became much more active in terms of numbers of birds and variety! Such highlights are as follows:


Cedar Waxwings were virtually everywhere up and down the Westfield, as well as copious numbers of the Massachusetts State Bird, the infamous Black-capped Chickadee (definitely got sick of seeing Black-caps after a while....even the Waxwings!) A surprising number of Belted Kingfishers were observed, surprising because the waters were so low. But to no surprise, the Kingfishers stuck to areas near the bigger pools and the gorges themselves. 5 Common Mergansers were floating and diving along together in one of the broader stretches of the river with deeper waters. It was also a bit surprising to see these birds since again, the water levels were so low (but not low enough in that section apparently). For me, the biggest and loveliest surprise of all was the variety of warblers seen for this time of year here in MA! 3 Blackburnian Warblers, 3 Common Yellowthroats, 4 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers, 4 American Redstarts, 5 Black-and-white Warblers and lastly, 1 Canada Warbler were observed! Just lovely! I know the fall migration has not started quite yet, so all these birds must've been breeding in this area! The most wonderful of these warblers was seeing the Blackburnians, Black-and-whites and the Canada, much to my delight! Anyhoo, the full list of birds seen is below, as always!


As you can see, considering the numbers of times I used the word "surprise" in some form in this post, I was very pleasantly surprised to come across what I did out in Western Mass! Goes to show, no matter what time of the year it is, ya never know what you'll come across.....another reason why I love bird watching so very much.....its just a pity I cannot go out more often! Happy birding everyone!!

Location:     Chesterfield Gorge Reservation/Gilbert A. Bliss State Forest
Observation date:     8/15/10
Notes:     Hiked approx. 4.5 miles down the East Branch Trail paralleling the Westfield River down to the meadows that are just southwest of the Indian Hollow Campground, then obviously, reversed direction. Numbers of waxwings and chickadees (particularly waxwings) are conservative.
Number of species:     30

Common Merganser - Mergus merganser     5
Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius     1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Archilochus colubris     2
Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon     4
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     3
Eastern Wood-Pewee - Contopus virens     4
Blue-headed Vireo - Vireo solitarius     1
Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus     3
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus     7
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     9
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     2
Common Raven - Corvus corax     1
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor     8
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     46
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     13
Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis     2
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis     9
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     13
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     1
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum     38
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - Dendroica coronata coronata     4
Blackburnian Warbler - Dendroica fusca     3
Black-and-white Warbler - Mniotilta varia     5
American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla     4
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas     3
Canada Warbler - Wilsonia canadensis     1
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - Pheucticus ludovicianus     2
Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula     2
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis     14

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

eBird Report - Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, 5/5/10

I probably should've gotten up earlier (I was there from 9 to 11 am), or else there is a lull in-between waves of migrants, but a decent day of birding nonetheless at Oxbow! FOY ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK along Tank Road, as well as 4 WARBLING VIREOS. Another Life bird as well, that being the YELLOW-THROATED VIREO seen along Turnpike Trail (boardwalks section). Also FOY VEERY and OVENBIRD (many calling). GRAY CATBIRDS were everywhere and just before getting back to the parking lot, a COMMON RAVEN came crahnking along, a pleasant sight at Oxbow! In my neck of the woods, Oxbow NWR is my little piece of paradise! Happy birding everyone!


Location:     Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge
Observation date:     5/5/10
Number of species:     28

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis     2
Wood Duck - Aix sponsa     2 (Turnpike Trail)
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     1
Barred Owl - Strix varia     1 (near parking lot/boat ramp across Nashua River)
Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon     1 (Nashua River)
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus     3
Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus     2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) - Colaptes auratus [auratus Group]     1
Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe     2 (Tank Road and bathroom at parking lot)
Yellow-throated Vireo - Vireo flavifrons     2 (Turnpike Trail boardwalks)
Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus     4 (Tank Road)
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     4
Common Raven - Corvus corax     1 (near parking lot/Tank Road)
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor     5
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     9
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     4
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis     4
Veery - Catharus fuscescens     1 (Riverside Trail)
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     9
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     7
Pine Warbler - Dendroica pinus     1
American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla     1 (along Riverside Trail)
Ovenbird - Seiurus aurocapilla     1 (Riverside Trail)
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis     3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - Pheucticus ludovicianus     1 (Tank Road)
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     6
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     10
American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis     8

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/massaudubon/)


Directions to Oxbow NWR: From Massachusetts Route 2, take Exit 38 (Route 110/111) south toward Harvard; bear right to stay on Route 110 at Harvard Center; and, turn right onto Still River Depot Road at the Still River Post Office. The refuge parking area is at the end of Still River Depot Road, past the railroad tracks.