eBird Report - Hubbardston Wildlife Management Area , 5/21/10

I decided to take up the offer and join Lydia Rogers and Dan Stimson of Sudbury Valley Trustees on a ramble through the woods and wetlands of Hubbardston Wildlife Management Area. This was my first time being there and was looking forward to the experience! While Dan and Lydia were focused on tracking animals that had been through the area (ie fox, deer, moose, raccoon, porcupine, beaver, etc.), I of course was interested to see/hear what birds could be found there! I would have to say Hubbardston is as diverse bird-wise as Bolton Flats is, though of course, there are is a much greater wooded area than the aforementioned.

Highlights of the excursion (from Noon to 4 pm) were the Black-throated Blue and Green Warblers, Eastern Wood-Pewees (though sadly, only heard....damn foliage) and my truly ultimate "Nemesis Bird", the Winter Wren (again, only heard....boooooo). I am so mesmerized and enthralled by that wee-little wren's explosive, complex and long song....just amazing....yet, sadly, no matter how many times I have heard that dastardly little bird (like the numerous Winter Wrens heard up at Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson, NH), I can NEVER GET ON IT!! GAAARR!!! Oh well, such is life. However, I plan on getting on one at Pondicherry....it will occur goddammit! Okay, enough ranting. Hubbardston is a wonderful area, comprised of "600 acres of hills and valleys" of "mixed hardwood and conifer forest interspersed with agricultural and brushy fields with some alder and grass hummock marshes" (State of MA Fish & Wildlife). Please note, do bring some bug spray and prepare to do a little bushwhacking (plenty of fallen trees down, probably still from the ice storm of 2008)!!

Directions: take Route 2 west to Exit 25 for Routes 2A & 140. Take 140 S/2A W briefly, then take a right onto 2A W/Main St. (at traffic light for on-ramp to Route 2 eastbound). About .75 miles on 2A, take a left onto South St. Follow this road (South St. will become New Westminster Road at Mare Meadow Reservoir) for a total of 6.4 miles. There will be a parking lot on your road just before the bridge spanning Joslin Brook. (Please note, there is a placeholder for a sign that would mention you are at Hubbardston WMA, but at present, it is not up yet.)

Location:     Hubbardston Wildlife Management Area
Observation date:     5/21/10

Notes:     Please note we only heard the following species: Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Brown Creeper and Winter Wren.

Number of species:     24

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     1
Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura     2
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     1
Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon     1
Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus     1

Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus     1 (heard only)
Eastern Wood-Pewee - Contopus virens     3 (heard only, but unmistakable)

Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus     3
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus     2
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     1
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor     2
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     3

Brown Creeper - Certhia americana     1 (heard only)
Winter Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes     1 (heard only.....damn you little bird!!)

Veery - Catharus fuscescens     2
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     1
Black-throated Blue Warbler - Dendroica caerulescens     2
Black-throated Green Warbler - Dendroica virens     4
Ovenbird - Seiurus aurocapilla     5
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas     6
Scarlet Tanager - Piranga olivacea     3
Swamp Sparrow - Melospiza georgiana     1
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     3
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     1

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

eBird Report - Wolbach Farm, Sudbury, 5/20/10 - B-T Green Warbler & Eastern Wood-Pewee

I apologize for the late posting (was exhausted after a long day yesterday). Nonetheless, I had some time to enjoy myself in between working on a farmer's rock wall and attending the SVT Volunteer Appreciation event, so I decided to ramble around the trails in behind Wolbach Farm itself and also whatever I could see on the rest of the property at Wolbach. Mainly a number of your usual suspects, but was pleasantly surprised to come across a Black-throated Green Warbler and an Eastern Wood-Pewee while walking along the Inner Loop Trail.  A Wood Thrush made it's presence known near the end of the Outer Loop Trail where it meets up with the fields in behind Wolbach Farm. 4 Chimney Swifts kept on seemingly chasing each other across these fields out towards the Sudbury River floodplain, intermingling with a few Tree Swallows.

If looking for a quick, easy little walk amongst some nice wooded habitat, check out SVT's Wolbach Farm (it is also its headquarters): http://www.sudburyvalleytrustees.org/.

Here are some directions: Directions: 

From Intersection of Route 128/95 and Route 20
Go west on Route 20 to Wayland Center which is the intersection of 20 and Route 27. Take Route 27 north towards Sudbury approximately 1.5 miles. Cross town line into Sudbury, crossing over the Sudbury River. Third road on the left is Wolbach Road, which is marked by SVT sign. Parking in lot just before the house on the right.

From 495
Take Route 62 east through Hudson. Continue straight when Route 62 goes north (towards Stow): this becomes State Road and then Hudson Road when you enter Sudbury. From the Hudson rotary to Sudbury Center is approximately 4.5 miles. Route 27 merges onto Hudson Road and goes through Sudbury Center. Continue approximately 1.0 mile on Route 27 after the Center; Wolbach Road will be on your right as you head downhill into a straightaway. If you cross the river, you have gone too far. Parking is in lot just before the house.

I hope everybody is able to get out this weekend to enjoy this fine weather and all the birds that there are to observe and enthrall in! Happy birding!

Location:     Wolbach Farm, Sudbury
Observation date:     5/20/10
Number of species:     19

Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis     2
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     1
Chimney Swift - Chaetura pelagica     4
Eastern Wood-Pewee - Contopus virens     1
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     3
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor     3
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     9
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     3
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis     1
Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis     2
Wood Thrush - Hylocichla mustelina     1
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     10
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     3
Black-throated Green Warbler - Dendroica virens     1
Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina     2
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     1
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     5
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     2
American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis     4

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

eBird Report - Wompatuck State Park--IBA, 5/16/10 - Worm-eating Warbler & Blackburnian Warbler; Cerulean Warbler heard (not seen)

Kirk Marshall and myself decided to make a day of it at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, MA (being there from 8 am to about 3:45 pm). Our target birds were three-fold: Cerulean Warbler, Black-billed Cuckoo and Worm-eating Warbler. Alas, we batted 1 for 3, getting extremely fantastic looks at a WORM-EATING WARBLER off the bike path near trail junction "N6". Thanks be to 2 fine gentlemen for locating the warbler (the song of the Worm-eating drew Kirk and myself in to the general area). Liam and David(?; sorry man, I need repetition with many things for stuff to sink in) spotted the Worm-eating, helped us get on him and let us get amazing looks through their spotting scope.

The CERULEAN WARBLER apparently has been a regular to Wompatuck every year for the past 4 years (according to fellow birders there; Kirk also knew that the Cerulean had been seen there the past couple of years). We sadly never got on him, but we heard the Cerulean's call several times, in and around Boundary Pond near the back gate/entrance of Wompatuck. We tried our darndest for at least 2.5 hours, hoping patience would pay off, but to no avail. Perhaps next weekend! Nonetheless, the Cerulean was seen by other birders earlier in the morning, so the bird is without a doubt there!

Ovenbirds were seemingly everywhere, like every quarter-mile you went, there was another 1 to 2 Ovenbirds singing their hearts out! American Redstarts, a Common Yellowthroat and a BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER were seen off of South Pleasant St. (end closest to gate off of Union St.) We also heard a number of Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers, but were never able to get on them.

Yet another amazing day (3 more Life birds; Red-eyed Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler) however, I am thoroughly exhausted after having done some fantastic birding for the past 3 days.....time to unwind! To everyone, happy birding!

Location:     Wompatuck State Park--IBA
Observation date:     5/16/10
Notes:     Blue-winged Warbler actually seen in Burlington near wetlands adjacent to Wheeler/Blanchard Rd and Seven Springs Road; Norther Flicker seen at edge of parking lot for 128 Corporate Center off of Blanchard Road in Burlington.
Number of species:     36

Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura     3
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis     1

SOLITARY SANDPIPER - Tringa solitaria     1 (Boundary Pond near back gate; same vicinity as Cerulean Warbler)
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus     1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) - Colaptes auratus [auratus Group]     1 (Burlington, MA)
Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus     1 (Boundary Pond)
Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus     1
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus     2 (several others heard)
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     2
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     4
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     6
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     2
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis     1
Brown Creeper - Certhia americana     1
Veery - Catharus fuscescens     1 (a handful of others heard singing)
Wood Thrush - Hylocichla mustelina     1 (ditto)
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     4
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     2
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos     1
Blue-winged Warbler - Vermivora pinus     1 (Burlington, MA)
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER - Dendroica fusca     1 (Off of South Pleasant St.)
Black-and-white Warbler - Mniotilta varia     1
American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla     2
WORM-EATING WARBLER - Helmitheros vermivorum     1 (Off of bike path near trail jct. "N6")
Ovenbird - Seiurus aurocapilla     X (everywhere you turned, there was an Ovenbird!)
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas     1

Scarlet Tanager - Piranga olivacea     1 (off of trail leading to Wildcat Pond; a few others heard singing/calling)
Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus     3 (several others heard)
Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina     2 (several others heard)
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     1
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     4
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     5
Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater     2
Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula     2 (several others heard)
American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis     3

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

And here some directions from DCR's website:

Park Directions
Wompatuck State Park is located near Hingham on Boston's South Shore.

From the south and Cape Cod: Rte 3 North to Exit 14 and the intersection with Rte. 228. Follow Rte. 228 North approximately 5 miles to Free Street on the right. Turn right onto Free Street one mile to the park entrance on the right. The camping area is 1.5 miles into the park on the right.

From the North: Follow Rte 3 South to exit 14 and the intersection with Rte. 228. Follow Rte. 228 North approximately 5 miles to the intersection with Free Street on the right. Turn right onto Free St. and follow it one mile to the Park entrance on the right.