April 29 BIG DAY Journal 7 (Westborough WMA, Assabet NWR, Desert Natural Area)

On April 29, 2020 for my last birding observation I decided to have a Big Day trying to identify at least 50 bird species from 9-3 hiking approximately 10 miles. It was a sunny day with clear skies and low winds at a temperatures roughly 50-60 Fº. To accomplish this goal, I went to Westborough Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and Desert Natural Area all roughly located at the border between Worcester and Middlesex County in Massachusetts. Westborough WMA was the only previous location I have made observations from, while Assabet River NWR, and Desert Natural area were new locations for me. Over this big day I identified 52 species of birds and 276 individual birds meeting my goal and more!

As previous reported Westborough WMA is mosaic made up of agricultural fields, disturbed mixed pine-oak forests, wetlands and ponds, and human developed areas (lawns and buildings). The variety of habitat types made this area ideal to see many different bird species. Starting a 9 AM I drove through the human developed areas to see American Robin, European Starling, and Brown-headed Cowbirds. Looking at all of the lawn birds I then parked my car near the shore of Lake Chauncy to view waterfowl to only see Bufflleheads, Mute Swans, Ring-billed Gull, and a lone Double-crested Cormorant. At 9:30 I then got on call for lecture for WFB 130 till 10:30. After lecture I then resumed birding till 11:00 and saw a total of 31 species and 112 individuals. The most notable mentions were a yellow warbler and savannah sparrows, both cute little yellow birds returning to breed. At noon I then travelled to Assabet NWR in search of warblers.

Assabet NWR is a large natural preserve made up mostly by mature eastern white pine stands and wetlands. Due to the immense size of the preserve birds were heavily spread out and were mostly identify through call. Between the trills of Palm and Pine Warbler in the towering pines I was able to see and hear both and was able to record a Pine Warbler call. Moving through the pines of singing Pine and Palm Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Brown Creeper, and Northern Cardinal I reached Puffer Pond and the general wetland habitat of the refuge. At the wetlands there was an abundance of paired birds. In the snags standing in the water there was a pair of Ospreys with the female sitting on the nest and a male sitting on an adjacent branch. Looking at the water bellow Canada Geese were seen where a breeding pair was grazing with goslings. Astonished to see these breeding a pairs a Sharp-shinned Hawk randomly appeared from the nearby tree stand as seen by round head, square tail feathers, and small body size. Sadly this hawk’s appearance was too random for me to get a photo quick enough. In total from 11:20-2:30 I saw 25 species and 131 individuals.

Lastly, I went to Desert Natural Area eight minutes south of Assabet NWR. Unlike Assabet NWR, Natural Desert Area was a well-drained forest with apparently more tree diversity of not only mature eastern white pines, but also pitch pine, oak species, shagbark hickory, and red maple. From 2:40-3:40 I needed 6 more species to reach 50 species. Walking in I heard the chirps of residential House Sparrows, the rattling of a Belted Kingfisher, the song of a Winter Wren, the drums and squeal of Pileated Woodpecker, the calls of a Tufted Titmouse, and the yelling of some Blue Jays. I have seen Blue Jays at the other locations, yet these Blue Jays were quite persistent. Curious I investigated these insistent Jays to see them mobbing a Barred Owl number 50! Sitting in an eastern white pine facing the sun the barred owl perch hunched over and then was startled and flew away due to the obnoxious Blue Jays with enough time for me to get a photo. Happy at number 50 and it being a long day I hiked back to then see a two Chipping Sparrow hop between overhead branches giving me species 51! In total I saw 15 species and 33 individuals at Desert Natural Area.

My big day was a large success. For me I was proud of meeting my goal, going over my goal, taking photos of nearly half of the species found, and most importantly being able to identify nearly all of these birds by call. As summer foliage approaches I will need to rely more on hearing for identification and glad I used this day as an exercise. I plan to continue to learn more call identifications and hopefully have another big day as more spring migrants arrive. In total these series of observations have been a great learning opportunity and I still plan to continue birding and now share my findings on iNaturalist and other citizen science platforms.

Big Day April 29, 2019 9:00- 3:30 List