For a multitude of reasons, I chose to do myself a favor and enjoy myself after a dull and monotonous day at work by doing what I love best....birding! Of course, one never needs any sort of excuse to go birding, for its always a good idea to get your bird on! I chose to hit up the Concord subdivision of Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge because 1) this was the best day weather-wise for this week; 2) I usually go birding on Sundays, whether by myself or with my good buddy Kirk, and so, I want to sleep in this upcoming Sunday; 3) needed to find some solitude in one of my favorite locales to visit; 4) it had been quite some time since last I was at Great Meadows; and 5) just a few days ago, Brian Cassie reported seeing 13 immature Black-crowned Night-Herons at Great Meadows! So, there ya have it! The last reason being the main reason I just had to get out after work!
And so I spent 2 hours and 20 minutes at Great Meadows (5:20 to 7:40 pm), trekking around the dike trail that runs along and bisects the Upper and Lower Pools. Since my main objective was the Black-crowned Night-Herons, I made my way to the man-made pools found near the border of Great Meadows just beyond the Upper impoundment. And most fortunately, I was blessed to observe 4 of these mysterious, skulking freshwater wader! Yet another Lifer for me (though such things happen relatively often when you are a novice birder like myself). Its too bad no full-fledged adult Night-Herons were around, but no complaints here, for I take what I can get, ya know?!
Other highlights were as follows: An Osprey gliding low overhead, heading towards the Lower Pool; 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and 2 Warbling Vireos while searching for the Night-Herons; a Pine Warbler along the dike trail running in between the Upper Pool and Concord River; a Spotted Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage teetering and tottering its rear-end whilst perusing the juncture of the spillway into the Concord River that enters from the Upper Pool; and lastly, an immature Green Heron warily keeping an eye on me from about 75 yards out from the bridge spanning the spillway that leads into the Concord River from the Lower Pool. Oh, and while trekking along the Upper Pool, from best I can tell, and from what I just read online, a Meadow Jumping Mouse went hopping across the path from the riverside into the reeds. It had to be one, for I have never seen a mouse hop in any manner, for every mouse prior to today has always just hurriedly scampered along! Its hops were about 3 inches in length, and like most mice, was a wicked cute little bugger!
Ultimately, a wonderful, tranquil and leisurely stroll of about 3 miles I had at GMNWR, enjoying the solitude and taking in all the sights and sounds such a wonderful array of habitats that Great Meadows offers! I'll be back again soon enough for the shorebird migration and for the Nighthawk migration as well! Happy birding everyone!
Location: Great Meadows NWR--Concord Unit
Observation date: 8/2/10
Notes: Snowy Egret, 4 immature Black-crowned Night-Herons seen along the edge of the man-made pools found beyond the Upper Pool; immature Green Heron seen on edge of creek going down center of Lower Pool nearest the Concord River.
Number of species: 34
Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 28
Wood Duck - Aix sponsa 2
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 13
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 7
Snowy Egret - Egretta thula 1
Green Heron - Butorides virescens 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax 4
Osprey - Pandion haliaetus 1
Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius 1
Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla 1
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 3
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 2
Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe 1
Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus 5
Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus 2
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 3
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 5
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor 11
Bank Swallow - Riparia riparia 5
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica 6
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus 11
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis 5
Marsh Wren - Cistothorus palustris 6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea 2
American Robin - Turdus migratorius 37
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis 2
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum 6
Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia 2
Pine Warbler - Dendroica pinus 1
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas 1
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 2
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 4
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 21
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis 22
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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