Breeding Survey Route and High Ridge WMA visit

On June 14th I conducted the Ware River Breeding Bird Survey route, the 24.5 mile route canvases areas outside and within the bird rich Ware River Watershed/ Barre Fall Dam areas. Clear and calm conditions made for good listening and a nice tally of 64 species for 494 individuals; leading the way were Ovenbirds with 72 and Red-eyed Vireo with 48, each being present on 38 of the 50 3 minute stops (76%).

This recently Fledged raven was the only bird photo of survey route, it was in between stops.

A complete list of species tallied on the BBS Route.

Species Count

Mallard 1

Hooded Merganser 1

Wild Turkey 1

Broad-winged Hawk 7

Mourning Dove 14

Black-billed Cuckoo 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker 1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 5

Downy Woodpecker 7

Hairy Woodpecker 8

Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 3

Pileated Woodpecker 7

Eastern Wood-Pewee 7

Willow Flycatcher 1

Least Flycatcher 3

Eastern Phoebe 4

Great Crested Flycatcher 1

Blue-headed Vireo 1

Red-eyed Vireo 48

Blue Jay 22

American Crow 7

Tree Swallow 18

Barn Swallow 2

Black-capped Chickadee 17

Tufted Titmouse 16

Red-breasted Nuthatch 1

White-breasted Nuthatch 1

Brown Creeper 1

House Wren 1

Winter Wren 2

Veery 16

Hermit Thrush 6

Wood Thrush 4

American Robin 8

Gray Catbird 13

Cedar Waxwing 24

Ovenbird 72

Northern Waterthrush 1

Blue-winged Warbler 1

Black-and-white Warbler 10

Common Yellowthroat 17

Blackburnian Warbler 1

Yellow Warbler 3

Chestnut-sided Warbler 8

Black-throated Blue Warbler 9

Pine Warbler 21

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2

Prairie Warbler 2

Black-throated Green Warbler 6

Canada Warbler 1

Eastern Towhee 6

Chipping Sparrow 7

Song Sparrow 3

Swamp Sparrow 3

Scarlet Tanager 12

Northern Cardinal 2

Rose-breasted Grosbeak 3

Indigo Bunting 4

Bobolink 3

Red-winged Blackbird 4

Brown-headed Cowbird 6

Baltimore Oriole 4

Purple Finch 2

American Goldfinch 1

On Saturday 2/20 I took a late morning walk at High Ridge WMA. Within the Great Blue Heron colony were 19 active nests, with over 50 individual young and adults tallied. While I did not cover all the hay fields, nearly 50 Bobolinks were seen and/or heard. The mowing had begun, but typically some fields go unmolested until the "Bobos" are done with their nesting season (mid-late July).