Atlasing North Brookfield 10 and 11

Alan, my birding pal and I spent the day atlasing the North Brookfield 10 and 11 blocks as I wanted to tag along and see what it was like. For those of you unfamiliar with altasing, it is basically an attempt to collect information on breeding birds throughout specific geographical footprints. It is not as simple as it sounds as you have to have specific evidence for certain sightings and they all have to fall within specific safe dates so it's a lot of hard work but for a very good cause. It makes for interesting birding as you are not doing it for pleasure per say, but more for citizen science.



That's not to say that it isn't enjoyable of course. It was a wonderful learning experience with a couple of great surprises here and there like the Red-tailed Hawk we saw shown in the pictures above.

In case you haven't noticed I have a deep fondness for raptors and could search for them all day if allowed. Oh sure, I love warblers, woodpeckers, gulls and shorebirds, but there is something about a raptor that captivates me and leaves me transfixed as I observe it. I think its because birds of prey are the epitome to me of wild and untamed which I appreciate in a world that dictates perfection and self-discipline on a daily basis.

Anyhow, Alan and I were in a wetland like habitat with plenty of snags and cat tails in search of a nesting Red-bellied Woodpecker that Alan saw earlier this week as well as more evidence of an Eastern Bluebird nesting in a natural cavity. Suddenly I could hear some rustling in some brush that caused my ears to perk up as we searched for the two target birds we came to find. Alan saw this Red-tailed fly up onto a snag and proceed to have breakfast right in front of our startled eyes.

I couldn't get any decent shots of that as it had its back to us, but it did indeed see us and didn't seem threatened by our presence what so ever so I decided to maneuver my way through swampy water and branches to get a better angle of him with the sun in my favor.

We were able to get within 15 feet of this hawk and all it did was stare at us on occasion as it preened itself and relaxed a little after its snack.

Definitely one of my most memorable birding experiences and one that will last forever in my mind.

Preening and perching!

There were also quite a few Indigo Buntings at both blocks we went to. Such gorgeous birds but ones I find hard to photograph due to the fact that they are almost entirely the color blue so it's hard to get a good contrast on them.

Since we were there for evidence of breeding we kept our eyes and our ears open for any signs of evidence including a small flock of approx. 6 Bobolinks who were all in a hay field mingled in together with food being carried in their bills. This would equal a confirmed for an atlas code. Other birds seen carrying food included Pine Warblers and Black-capped Chickadees.

A blurry shot of other Bobolink carrying food.

A Red-bellied woodpecker at its nest cavity.

A Black and White Warbler which was a welcome sight for me because it appears as if they have been in hiding the past few weeks. I saw my first one last evening and then another one today.

And finally a confirmed nesting cavity of the Hairy Woodpecker. We could hear the nestlings begging (boy are they loud!), so we decided to stick around for a while to see if we could see one of the parents bring food for their hungry young. We stuck around for a while but the parents were nowhere to be found so we ventured on just in case they were not going to the nest because of us being there.

I will be doing more citizen science tomorrow for a breeding survey at Wachusett Meadows. Who ever knew science could be so much fun. ;o). Take care all.