Bird Sightings: The Voice of Audubon

Ross's Goose, photo courtesy of David W. Baker, Wikimedia.

To submit bird sightings, call Mass Audubon’s Wildlife Information Line at (781) 259-2150, or send us an email.

The Voice of Audubon offers regular updates on birds sighted across the state to introduce you to the wide variety of species Massachusetts has to offer.

Below are the most recently published sightings. Sightings in the past month are also available.

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Cape Cod

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

At Race Point, seabirds tallied this week included 420 red-breasted mergansers, 39 red-throated loons, 6 red-necked grebes, 2170 greater shearwaters, a sooty shearwater, 4 Manx shearwaters, 1800 northern gannets, a great cormorant, 330 black-legged kittiwakes, 400 Bonaparte's gulls, 70 common terns, 2 pomarine jaegers, 4 parasitic jaegers, 2 Atlantic puffins, 2 thick-billed murres, and 165 razorbills.

At First Encounter in Eastham there were 60 brant, 18 long-tailed duck, 380 red-throated loons, 3 common loons, a red-necked grebe, 800 northern gannets, 4 black-bellied plovers, 8 greater yellowlegs, 75 dunlin, 96 black-legged kittiwakes, 200 Bonaparte's gulls, 2 common terns, a thick-billed murre, and 35 razorbills.

And at Corporation Beach in Dennis, seabirds passing on Saturday included 550 common eider, 420 long-tailed ducks, 680 red-throated loons, 11 common loons, 15 red-necked grebes, 1050 northern gannets, a great cormorant, 230 Bonaparte's gulls, 56 common terns, and 69 razorbills.

In other sightings this week a rose-breasted grosbeak visited a feeder in Brewster, a red-necked grebe was at the Herring River dike in Wellfleet, and 7 northern bobwhites were at Wellfleet Bay sanctuary.

If you have questions about these sightings, or want to report a sighting, call the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at 508-349-2615 or send e-mail to sightings@massaudubon.org.

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Eastern Massachusetts

Monday, November 16, 2009

A Henslow's Sparrow was reported today from the Allens Pond Sanctuary in South Dartmouth, the Lark Bunting at the Cumberland Farms fields in Middleboro was still there at least as recently as yesterday, and the Western Tanager that was first seen in the Boston Public Garden on Friday was also still present there at least as recently as yesterday. Also noted in the Garden was a Barred Owl.

The 7 Cackling Geese in the fields off Northgate Road in Ipswich were joined by an 8th individual on Saturday, and other weekend reports from the fields included roughly 1700 Canada Geese, 2 Green-winged Teal, 5 White-rumped Sandpipers, and 3 Wilson's Snipe.

A seawatch from Andrew's Point in Rockport on Saturday yielded 32 Harlequin Ducks, 470 Long-tailed Ducks, 374 Red-throated Loons, 44 Common Loons, 4 Red-necked Grebes, 4 Northern Fulmars, 1 Cory's Shearwater, 660 Greater Shearwaters, 1 Sooty Shearwater, 1350 Northern Gannets, 283 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 3 late Laughing Gulls, 10 Pomarine Jaegers, 2 unidentified jaegers, 4 Common Murres, 97 Thick-billed Murres, 302 Razorbills, and 14 Black Guillemots.

Seen from Race Point in Provincetown on Saturday were 175 Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Red-necked Grebes, 2170 Greater Shearwaters, 4 Manx Shearwaters, 1800 Northern Gannets, 330 Black-legged Kittiwakes, 230 Bonaparte's Gulls, 30 Common Terns, 2 Pomarine Jaegers, 2 Parasitic Jaegers, 2 unidentified jaegers, 2 Thick-billed Murres, 165 Razorbills, and 1 Atlantic Puffin, and seabirds noted at First Encounter Beach in Eastham later the same day included 380 Red-throated Loons, 800 Northern Gannets, 8 Greater Yellowlegs, 96 Dunlin, 2 Common Terns, 1 Thick-billed Murre, 35 Razorbills, and 265 unidentified murre/Razorbill-type alcids.

Weekend reports from Plum Island included 25 Northern Shovelers, 12 Greater Scaup, 18 Lesser Scaup, 14 Hooded Mergansers, 8 Northern Harriers, 2 Peregrine Falcons, 3 American Golden-Plovers, 2 Semipalmated Plovers, 4 Greater Yellowlegs, 3 White-rumped Sandpipers, 24 American Tree Sparrows, and 1 Lark Sparrow, and miscellaneous reports included a Great Egret at Belle Isle marsh in East Boston, a Greater White-fronted Goose in Sharon, a very late Black-billed Cuckoo in Duxbury, a King Eider at Scusset Beach in Sandwich, 680 Red-throated Loons, 15 Red-necked Grebes, and 56 Common Terns at Corporation Beach in Dennis, and 1 Great Egret, 425 Brant, and 8500 Common Eider at Tuckernuck Island.

 

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Western Massachusetts

Monday, November 16, 2009

A few wintering songbirds are making brief visits to feeders throughout the region, but plentiful wild food supplies continue to keep them away for the most part. Migrating land birds are also being seen, including golden-crowned kinglet, brown creeper, red-breasted nuthatch, hermit thrush and fox sparrow, but northern finches are completely absent. Migrating waterfowl are making news for the fourth straight week.

Ducks found at the north end of Quabbin Reservoir included three gadwalls, four American wigeons, two blue-winged teal, three northern pintails, 17 green-winged teal, 69 ring-necked ducks, four greater scaup, three surf scoters, four black scoters, a long-tailed duck, six buffleheads and four common goldeneye.

Also seen were an osprey, a merlin, a peregrine falcon, a Wilson's snipe, a Bonaparte's gull, a white-crowned sparrow and 11 snow buntings.

A cackling goose, 25 common goldeneyes, an eastern screech-owl and an unprecedented late warbling vireo were found at Turners Falls..

A red-throated loon, three common loons and two horned grebes were reported in Quabbin Park at the Quabbin Reservoir. A bufflehead, seven ruddy ducks, a common loon and an American pipit were seen on Ludlow Reservoir.

American wigeon were reported in Chicopee and Agawam. A peregrine falcon, 120 horned larks and a Lapland longspur were found in the east meadows of Northampton. An eastern screen-owl and a purple finch were seen in Hadley and 10 green-winged teal and an American wigeon were reported in Longmeadow.

A bufflehead, three common goldeneyes, 80 common mergansers, two common loons, four horned grebes and four red-necked grebes were seen on Pontoosuc Reservoir in Pittsfield.

Two bufflehead, a red-breasted merganser, two common loons, a horned grebe, a red-necked grebe, a Bonaparte's gull and a pectoral sandpiper were found at nearby Onota Lake.

Ten snow buntings found were in Pittsfield and one in Cheshire. Two lesser scaup and six red-necked grebes were on Laurel Lake in Lenox and a redhead duck was seen in Sheffield.

A white-winged scoter, three red-breasted mergansers, four horned grebes, seven red-necked grebes, a merlin and a rusty blackbird were seen on Stockbridge Bowl.

A redhead duck, a bufflehead, nine common goldeneyes, four horned grebes, two red-necked grebes, a fish crow and a northern shrike were reported in Richmond.

 

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About the Voice of Audubon

These bird sighting reports are transcripts of recorded messages from each of three regional "bird alerts" maintained by Mass Audubon, known as the Voice of Audubon. The phone number for the Voice of Audubon is (781) 259-8805. All three recorded reports from throughout the state are accessible through this number, and the transcripts are available anytime at www.massaudubon.org/voa). Not all sightings that are submitted are included in the VOA reports. Those that are included are intended to provide a "snapshot" of the current, noteworthy bird activity in each region within Massachusetts, and might include, for example, rarities, early/first-arriving migrants, late-departing migrants, high counts, unusual sightings (e.g., a seabird found on an inland lake), or simply those that represent exemplary sightings for the time and place.

The Boston Globe publishes one or more of the transcripts (with limited editing) each Sunday. To submit bird sightings call (781) 259-2150.

The Voice of Audubon is the oldest phone-based bird alert in the United States, first established on December 1, 1954 (original phone number, KEnmore 6-4050). See the original 1954 press release*.

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