eBird Report - Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, 6/8/10 - WHITE-EYED VIREO!!

I am never sure what to expect when I visit Oxbow NWR, but I always know that there is usually a good variety of birds there besides the fact I just love the landscape. I was rewarded with a few good birds I had already seen, but by far the highlight was seeing the WHITE-EYED VIREO around 9 am (I was there from 8:15 to 10:30 am). Before I got on him, I had thought it was a really weird sounding, whacked-out Gray Catbird. I chose to stick around to verify whether or not it really was a catbird, and by-god it was not.  This vireo had all the field markings, the white eye, the yellow specs, the bold wing bars, the yellowish flanks, the olive-green back. When I came home, I quickly hopped onto Cornell's All About Birds, and sure enough after listening to the song (from Peterson: "...sharply enunciated CHICK-a-per-weeoo-CHICK. Variable; usually starts and ends with chick.", I was 100% positive that it was a White-eyed Vireo, which of course, was obviously a Lifer for me! I found the White-eyed Vireo while walking the Turnpike Trail heading east towards Tank Road. He was active within some shrubbery and thickets off to my left before you come to the beaver lodge that you essentially walk over whilst on Turnpike Trail (He did not fly off when I walked passed him to continue down the trail).

Whew, so yes, I was very excited to come across this bird, knowing he is fairly uncommon in our neck of the woods. I do wish I had a quality camera, or else I would've tried to take pictures. Sadly, I am a poor fool. So, if others want to confirm, please do, though I know I am 100% sure of what I saw and heard! Other notable birds was a Yellow-throated Vireo along Riverside Trail, several Great Crested Flycatchers (Tank Road and Riverside Trail), a few Veerys and a female Wood Duck with 6 ducklings in tow in the swamp off of Tank Road.

I do hope this bird sticks around and others can enjoy him!

Directions to Oxbow NWR from USFWS: 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.

Happy birding to all!!!

Location:     Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge
Observation date:     6/8/10
Notes:     White-eyed Vireo seen and heard on Turnpike Trail in between bridge closest to beaver lodge and the beaver lodge (walking eastbound towards Tank Road); viewed for at least 10 minutes, did not fly off when I walked passed it; song and ID verified via All About Birds website as well as pouring over my Sibley, Peterson and Smithsonian guides. I initially thought it was a whacked-out catbird before I got on him. Had distinctive white eye, yellow spectacles, yellowish flanks, wing-bars, the whole nine-yards. I wish I had a good, quality camera, otherwise I would've tried to take pictures.
Number of species:     34

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis     2
Wood Duck - Aix sponsa     1
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     7
Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus     1
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     2
Eastern Wood-Pewee - Contopus virens     5
Great Crested Flycatcher - Myiarchus crinitus     6
Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus     1
WHITE-EYED VIREO - Vireo griseus     1 (Turnpike Trail heading towards Tank Road near beaver lodge that one walks over along the trail)
Yellow-throated Vireo - Vireo flavifrons     1
Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus     4
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus     5
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     10
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     5
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis     7
Brown Creeper - Certhia americana     2
Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis     2
Veery - Catharus fuscescens     3
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     17
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     5
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum     9
Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia     4
Black-throated Green Warbler - Dendroica virens     3
American Redstart - Setophaga ruticilla     2
Ovenbird - Seiurus aurocapilla     6
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas     6
Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina     2
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     4
Scarlet Tanager - Piranga olivacea     1
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     6
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     11
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     9
Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula     2
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis     8

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

eBird Report - Plymouth Beach, 6/6/10 - Terns everywhere!!

Sundays are usually reserved as the day both Kirk and I would go out birding together. We had initially planned on visiting Pondicherry National Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson, NH, however, the weather forecasted for up north was less than desirable. Kirk and I had our reservations about doing any birding any where in New England yesterday due to the chance of getting rained upon, struck by lightning or being whisked away by a tornado (being sarcastic there....freaking Tornado Watches.....just trying to scare us, as always).

So, we just had to get our BIRD on, so we headed to the South Shore seeing as the rain was supposed to hold off until later down there. And hold off it did!

Our first stop was Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield. I had been there last Tuesday to get the Sedge Wren, but I went there again so Kirk could get that lovely little wren as well, since it would be a Lifer for him. And we got fantastic looks at the Sedge Wren, even better than the first time I saw him. Of course, there were still numerous Bobolinks around, as well as the Purple Martins and Willow Flycatchers.

We left there say around 10:30 am and headed to Plymouth Beach to see if we could score of some terns. Our target birds were as follows: The Forster's Tern, the Arctic Tern, the Roseate Tern and the Least Tern (for me, Kirk had already seen Leasts). We struck out on all except the Least Terns, as there is a very large colony there of them, intermingling with the Piping Plover nesting colony. Those Least Terns are great little gull-like birds! So noisy, so graceful, so fast and active! I also got another Lifer besides the Least Tern, that being the Laughing Gull. I had never seen one before, and as Kirk had commented, they kinda looked and acted like a couple of cartoon characters, their funny laugh-like call (hence their name of course) and their black-hooded heads with white eye-rings. The Piping Plovers put on a display as well, darting here and there across the beach to the shoreline! Despite getting burnt to a crisp since we did not realize how sunny it would be, it was well worth it. Sure, it would've been nice seeing the Forster's, Arctic and Roseate Terns, but oh well, dems da breaks, ya know!

Happy birding to all!!

Location:     Plymouth Beach
Observation date:     6/6/10
Notes:     We did not walk the entire beach facing Plymouth Bay, roughly 3/4 of the way before the sun exposure did us in and we had to turn back. Numbers of Least Terns are conservative, same applies to Common Terns. I would suggest that they were more Piping Plovers there as well then the ones we had seen, since all seen were along the beach outside their nesting colony.
Number of species:     21

Northern Gannet - Morus bassanus     2
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus     1
Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola     1
Piping Plover - Charadrius melodus     8
Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla     2
Bonaparte's Gull - Chroicocephalus philadelphia     13
Laughing Gull - Leucophaeus atricilla     9
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis     7
Herring Gull - Larus argentatus     15
Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus     6
Least Tern - Sternula antillarum     42
Common Tern - Sterna hirundo     10
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     1
Common Nighthawk - Chordeiles minor     1
Willow Flycatcher - Empidonax traillii     1
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor     2
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica     1
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     3
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     4
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     2
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus     4

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