Forbush Bird Club-Mount Wachusett -May 16th

I am doing things in reverse order here as the photo above and below of the Prairie Warbler are my favorites. These pictures were taken in Lancaster, MA after the Forbush Bird Club trip. Alan and I went there looking for the Vesper Sparrow. We didn't see them but there were Prairie Warblers and Field Sparrows all over the place.

Here he is claiming his territory.

I spent the day around Mount Wachusett today. We started the day at the Mount Wachusett ski club and it was quiet for the most part but we did see plenty of Barn Swallows (FOY).

Check out that forked tail!

Fran then too us over to the visitor center of Mount Wachusett where we spotted a Winter Wren as well as a Red Eyed Vireo (no good pictures of that so I didn't even bother). The photo above is of the wren and while it isn't that good, it is pretty good considering these birds are so tiny and hard to capture on film (at least for me!). He was singing away and everyone sat there enchanted by his beautiful song.

We then proceeded to bird along Westminster Street and found a warbler haven of sorts. Thanks Fran for introducing us to yet another fantastic place to bird. The picture above is of a female American Redstart (LIFER!) gathering silk for her nest!! This one little area was so filled with birds that we spent a lot of time here and saw all kinds of warblers including the Chestut-sided and Common-yellowthroat.

Here is the American-redstart playing peek-a-boo with the camera!

I was also able to get my first half way decent photo of a Least Flycatcher.

Such a cute little bird

There was also a pair of Eastern Towhees nearby and one was decent enough to pose for the camera. ;o)

I saw my FOY Ruby-Throated Hummingbird and ironically enough it was out birding vs. my backyard feeder. Such a great site after the brutal winter we had. Yes folks, spring is certainly here and summer is nearby and this confirms it for me!

The bird I just had to see after seeing Tom Pirro's picture this week of one. Allow me to introduce you to the extremely shy Canada Warbler LIFER (thanks Bart for the good eye on this one)!. Not nearly as good as Tom's, in fact, it is horrible, but it's a picture just the same. Very hard bird to get a decent look at.

Here it is again.

An okay picture of a Black-throated Blue Warbler. I absolutely love the black under its chin.

We ended the day at Jack Frost Trail where I saw my FOY Scarlet Tanager. Such a gorgeous bird. His gal pal was around too but the photo I took came out lousy.

I will be out again tomorrow at another Forbush Bird Club trip in Spencer. I have Monday and Tuesday off as well and most will be spent birding. Extreme??? Perhaps but it is May after all. Pretty soon summer will take hold of the landscape and many of these birds will venture north or go into hiding for nesting. So therefore, birding takes priority. I have laundry to clean, floors to wash and blogs to read but remember, May only comes once a year so get out there and bird all!