Marsh Bird Surveys

The research staff has spent yet another Spring surveying marsh birds. Once a week for the past 6 weeks, staff arrive to work well before dawn and begin the survey approximately 30 minutes before official sunrise. The species of interest in this survey are Black Rail, Virginia Rail, King Rail, Clapper Rail, Least Bittern, Sora, and Common Moorhen. The data is ultimately used by the D.E.E.P., as we are just one place of many that perform this sort of survey. However, this data is also useful to us here at White Memorial because it tells us about the health of our wetlands. These birds are considered indicator species, ie, they indicate how much humans have disturbed that habitat. So, you can imagine our excitement when we find the birds we're looking for!

Interns Abby Wilson (Left) and Cheyenne Liberti (Right) during the
canoe portion of the survey on the Bantam River

The surveys start at first light (30 minutes before official dawn) and generally last about three to four hours. The survey consists of 16 points at which researchers drive or boat to. Once at the point, researchers play a CD provided by the D.E.E.P. The CD begins with 5 minutes of silence to allow the birds to settle after the initial disturbance of arriving on scene. Next, 7 different songs/calls are played for 30 seconds each, and separated by 30 seconds of silence. Whenever researchers hear a call or song of one of the birds of interest, we record the species heard, and at which point in the CD we heard it.

Pictured above is the CD player  a point on the survey which is accessed by truck.  

So far this season, researchers have heard Sora and Virginia Rail. As seen in a previous blog post, we were lucky enough to see a Virginia Rail calling to our canoe at the end of a recent survey. It called to us at the very last point on the survey, so once the CD was finished playing and the survey was over, we used an app to play Virginia Rail calls toward its direction. Within a few minutes we saw two, calling to us and back and forth to each other. The one pictured in the video in the previous blog post actually flew right into the gunwale of our canoe about 30 seconds after that video was taken. These birds are so mysterious. Not much is known about them, and they are presumed to be very secretive. In this encounter however, we witnessed some curious behavior by the birds.
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Here is a link to the blog post which highlights the Virginia Rail discussed above:Virginia Rail Call

Here is a D.E.E.P. special report from 1999 when state biologists first began these surveys :
Special Report Wetland Birds
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Photo of a Sora courtesy of Ian Davies -Macauley Library

Cornell Lab of Ornithology : SORA

Photo of a Virginia Rail courtesy of Evan Lipton - Macauley Library

Cornell Lab of Ornithology : Virginia Rail

White Memorial's Guide to Common Wildlife at Little Pond

We are pleased to announce the publication of White Memorial's Guide to Common Wildlife at Little Pond using the Encyclopedia of Life software.  This guide was developed to introduce you to 147 species of plants and animals that inhabit these critical habitats.  It includes a map of the various critical habitats for you to reference while walking through them on the Boardwalk that guides you around Little Pond.  It also introduces you to several conservation strategies that White Memorial employs which insures that this ecosystem serves future generations.  

2013 Wetland Bird Surveys Completed

                                    




Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola)
Courtesy of Utah Department of Natural Resources

Over the past few weeks, Mary Hawvermale and I have been searching around the property for evidence of rails, bitterns, and other wetland birds.  Rails are a type of secretive marsh bird that probe for invertebrates among plants in shallow water, while bitterns stalk fish and amphibians among dense reeds.  Both types of birds tend to remain deep in the vegetation and are very difficult to see. The Connecticut DEEP and similar organizations across the country are concerned about rail populations because of habitat loss.  The marshes these birds call home are increasingly subjugated to pollution and development.  As a result, rail populations have decreased, but we would like more information on their populations as we proceed with conservation projects. White Memorial's vast expanses of marsh makes this the ideal location to gather data for rail conservation.

Mary was kind enough to sample the Bantam River by kayak between Whites Woods Road and Bantam Lake, while I sampled the remaining locations by foot.  The protocol was relatively straightforward:  we would arrive at a predetermined site, listen silently for rails calling for five minutes, and then play calls on a boom box to elicit calls from the rails.  Rails are difficult to see, but they tend to call back to a recording of their voice.  This habit made it easier for us to determine the presence of rails. 

In Connecticut, we have six rail species, several of which are State-listed:

-King rail (Rallus elegans) breeding population State Endangered
-Black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) breeding population State Endangered
-Sora (Porzana carolina)
-Virginia rail (Rallus limicola)
-Clapper rail (Rallus longirstris)
-Yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis), very rare in Connecticut

In addition to the rails, we also surveyed for the presence of least bittern and common moorhen, two other State-listed wetland species.

Over the course of the past few weeks, Mary and I have heard Sora, Virginia rail, and King rail.

Virginia rail was our most common species, being heard in eight out of our sixteen study points.  These rails were consistently around Little Pond and Mallard Marsh.  One interesting observation was that these birds shifted locality during last week's heavy flooding.  Last Saturday, there was about a foot of water covering the boardwalk at Little Pond, and the Virginia rails were nowhere to be found.  However, we observed Virginia rail at Duck Pond and near Catlin Woods, two places we have not seen them this year.  The flooding also brought the rails out of the marsh onto puddles on the trails.  Here it was easier for the rails to forage.  We observed a total of seven rails, as opposed to the four or five rails we observed when the water levels were closer to normal.

Mary heard a single Sora along the lower Bantam River, but we did not hear any Sora near Cranberry Pond, where they were last year.

In addition to these species we expected to find, we were pleasantly surprised by a King rail calling from the marsh northwest of Little Pond.  We first received reports of this King rail from the first week of June during our BioBlitz. Apparently this individual has continued to live around Little Pond.

 

                                                                
Altogether, we observed a total of about six individual Virginia rails, one Sora, and one King rail.  We hope that continuing research can help us shed more light on wetland bird conservation.

 

You can read more about the State's wetland bird project here and at the December 2012 edition of Connecticut Wildlife.  You can learn more about King rail in Connecticut here.

White Memorial's Winter Waterfowl Survey Protocol Developed

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
http://wiseacre-gardens.com/wordpress/category/winter/page/22/

Rationale:  Certain local waterfowl species are difficult to survey during the breeding season because they breed in isolated and protected water bodies.  Federal and State wildlife agencies conduct various waterfowl surveys in the winter to assess the population for management objectives.  These surveys include harvest waterfowl surveys, aerial surveys, and site specific surveys.  Bantam Lake and adjacent water bodies are commonly utilized by a variety of waterfowl during the winter months.  Since waterfowl harvesting is not permitted on these water bodies and aerial surveys are more feasible when surveying large flocks or rafts of birds in concentrated areas, Bantam Lake is best surveyed by counting birds from the lake shore.  All waterfowl species are counted including loons, grebes, cormorants, swans, geese, ducks, coot, and gulls.  The data collected in this survey is shared with wildlife agencies and other organizations that express an interest.

Survey Time and Dates:  Each survey will be conducted on one day on each interval in Late-November, January, and Early-March.  The survey will be conducted during daylight hours, primarily between 0800 – 1615 EST. 

Methods and Materials:  All waterfowl species, sex, and age are tallied.  Waterfowl will be counted using binoculars and spotting scopes at several predetermined locations.  Each survey count site will be conducted for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.  Waterfowl will be counted as surveyors drive between the locations such as birds in flight or birds in small water bodies along the way.  Ice cover, weather, number of counters, and potential disturbances to birds (ice fisherman, ice boats, etc.) will be recorded.  Counts will not be conducted when wind is over 15 mph, heavy fog, or when winter road conditions are not safe to drive. 

Count Sites:  Sites will be visited in this order

1. Litchfield Town Beach looking south and east throughout North Bay.
2. North Shore Rd. Bantam River Outlet Bridge looking down river and in close proximity to the bridge.
3. Point Folly Observation Platform looking throughout the mouth of the outlet and points south and east towards Marsh Point.
4. Point Folly Peninsula looking along Marsh Point, Deer Island, and southeast Bantam Lake shoreline.
5. Point Folly/White Memorial Campground Store Parking Area looking west and south toward Deer Island.
6. Keeler Cove for a short stop to look in the cove.
7. CT DEEP Boat Launch, Morris, CT looking throughout South Bay.
8. White Memorial Canoe Club, Van Winkle Rd., Morris looking further south and north into North Bay.
9. Cemetery Pond, Litchfield counting from Whites Woods Rd.
10. Little Pond Boardwalk counting birds throughout the pond.

Wildflowers In Bloom

As temperatures warm up and rain showers become more regular; I have noticed beautiful spots of bright colors dotting open, grassy fields and trail edges. It’s that time of the season for wildflowers to emerge and bloom. In my opinion, the occurrence of wildflowers officially marks the start of summer. Not only are wildflowers aesthetically pleasing, but they also provide medicinal uses, food, habitat, erosion control, and ecosystem stability for fish and wildlife. There are approximately 215 species of wildflowers listed in Connecticut, each with a distinctive appearance.

Since not everyone, including myself is a professional botanist; when identifying wildflowers you should try to observe the following characteristics. First, count the number of petals, which is usually three to seven or more. Next, note the flower arrangement. Is it a single flower on a stem or several flowers on a stem? The most obvious flower characteristic is color. Wildflower colors usually range from shades of blue, white, yellow, pink, purple, or green. Also, record the date that the flower blooms; although flowering time can vary based on weather fluctuations. For instance, last week, James Fischer and I spotted Mountain Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium montanum) flowering at Apple Hill. When we discovered its correct identification, we learned that it typically flowers during June and into July. Finally, measure or estimate plant height and flower size. Also note the leaf margin (entire, serrated, wavy), and arrangement; meaning whether they are compound (many leaves per stem) or simple (one leaf per stem). If possible, take a photograph, but try not pick or trample the flower.

The Connecticut Botanical Society website (http://www.ct-botanical-society.org) is an excellent source to use when identifying Connecticut’s native wildflowers. Also, the Peterson Field Guide to Wildflowers is a handy book to own when out in the field. As wildflowers continue to bloom throughout the next several months, identifying them can be a fun way to get outside and learn about Connecticut’s flora.

The following pictures are some of the wildflowers that I found at various locations around White Memorial’s property. I walked through wetlands (Little Pond and Cranberry Swamp), grassland (Apple Hill), old growth forests (Catlin Woods), and even stopped the truck several times along curbs to take a photo or two of a roadside wildflower.

Yellow sedge
Carex flava

Robin-plantain
Erigeron pulchellus

True Forget-me-not
Myosotis scorpioides

Yellow Goat's-beard
Tragopogon dubius

Blueflag
Iris versicolor

Heart-leaved Alexanders
Zizia aptera

Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum

Rail Callback Survey

On Wednesday, May 23^rd James Fischer and I did a Rail Callback Survey for the CT D.E.E.P. at seven locations in White Memorial. The Rallidae family consists of predominately small to medium-sized wetland birds that are often seen walking along muddy areas or shallow water. The expression “thin as a rail” comes from the rails’ body form, which is laterally compressed, allowing them to escape into dense grass or reeds making them extremely difficult to visually spot. Recent wetland habitat loss and degradation has resulted in population declines in many wetland dependent species. In order to protect these birds and their habitats, biologists need to know which wetlands are being used by the birds. The survey that we conducted was targeted towards nine species of wetland birds that can be found in Connecticut. The species include Black Rail, Least Bittern, Sora, Virginia Rail, King Rail, Clapper Rail, American Bittern, Common Moorhen, and Pied-billed Grebe. The survey must be performed either during sunrise or sunset, which are when the rails are most vocal. Due to a forecast of unfavorable weather in the afternoon it was decided that sunrise, 5:26 a.m. would be best to take the survey. We could not have asked for better rail surveying weather; calm wind, temperature in the 60s, and foggy. Prior to the survey we mapped out possible locations at White Memorial to conduct the callback. The callback is a pre-recorded tape, 12 minutes long of each of the previously listed species calling for 30 seconds, then 30 seconds of silence in-between calls. During the 30 second silences we tried to listen for any calls. Wetlands birds are typically secretive and difficult to study, and it has been discovered that the callback method provokes a vocal response from them if they are in close proximity.

Collecting data at the first Little Pond survey point.

Three survey points were conducted at different parts of the boardwalk surrounding Little Pond. One of the points gave us our first response of a Virginia Rail, which is a wheezy, and accelerating wep wep wep grunt. Two other points, at Mallard Marsh and Cranberry Pond also had a callback from Virginia Rails. An individual Sora was heard multiple times as well at Cranberry Pond. The Sora call sounded very close to us, but we were still unable to see it, emphasizing its stealth. Other locations that were not successful for rail callbacks were Miry Brook and the North Bay observation tower. There are many other marshy rail habitat locations on White Memorial’s property, so hopefully before the breeding season is over we can conduct surveys there to get the most accurate population abundance and location of these elusive birds.

Virginia Rail
Photo by Gerry Ellis
http://ridgefieldnwr.wordpress.com

Sora
Photo by Gerry Ellis
http://ridgefieldnwr.wordpress.com

Small Mammal Inventory -- Little Pond -- Swamp White Oak/Basswood Stand

Juan Sanchez measures the hind foot of a white-footed mouse.

The animal was released after measurements were recorded.
If high speed indicates alertness and health, then this animal was very alert and healthy!  

We continued our inventory of small mammal species associated with various critical habitats.  This week we surveyed a unique stand of Swamp White Oak/American Basswood/Red Maple that has Carex tussocks and Skunk Cabbage in the understory and was densely colonized by the invasive Morrow's Honeysuckle bushes located near the Little Pond Boardwalk.  Although this area had muddy soils and would normally have been flooded with  knee-deep water, this area had very little water due to our dry spring season.  We have only captured White-footed Mice in this location.  All of the mice exhibited signs that they were reproductively active.  We will try to return to this site in the future to see if other small mammal species can be captured.  As the warm season progresses this area is usually very dense with ferns and other wetland associated species.

Summary of Bird Activity at White Memorial and Bantam Lake in December, 2011

Bantam Lake's North Bay, 12/10/2011, showing

ice-free conditions in a photo by Ashley Hayes

Red-necked Grebe photo from www.utahbirds.org

Red-breasted Merganser photo by Dick Daniels

from www.carolinabirds.org

Great Cormorant photo by Paul Fusco from

www.paulfuscowildlifephotography.com

Great Blue Heron photo by Bob Stanowski

Belted Kingfisher photo by Darlene Knox

Bald Eagle 2nd-year immature photo by Paul Fusco

from www.paulfuscowildlifephotography.com

December, 2011 will be remembered by us birders as an incredibly good month for the bird numbers and variety that it produced at White Memorial and Bantam Lake. We can thank unusually mild weather for much of the month for this. Though there were a few cold nights, and fewer cold days, Bantam Lake never froze-over more than 50% of its surface area. Little Pond was at least 50% open for the first 3 weeks of the month, and Cemetery Pond had open water at various times this month. Even our marshes and swamps remained at least partially ice-free for much of the month. Amazingly, there was no snow cover at any time this month. The 20" of snow which fell last October 29 and 30 had long-since melted. These favorable conditions, coupled with an abundance of wild food of all types, made life relatively easy for birds around here. It also allowed many birds to linger and not migrate farther south. Waterbirds, especially, benefited from the mild conditions and resultant open water. An abundance of fish in Bantam Lake also helped attract and keep a good variety and number of these birds. Imagine how many fish must have been consumed there on 12/31 when the Lake hosted 1,000 Common Mergansers, 87 Hooded Mergansers, a Red-breasted Merganser, a Pied-billed Grebe, a Great Cormorant, 7 Bald Eagles, and 2 Belted Kingfishers. The Great Cormorant is a rare species in this part of CT., having been found on Bantam Lake only 4 times in the past. It stayed around for almost 2 weeks, so it must have found the fishing to be good. That was probably also true for the Pied-billed Grebe, which was found here all month. They are common in October and November, but seldom stay beyond that time. Its much rarer cousin, the Red-necked Grebe, has occasionally lingered into the first week of December at the Lake, but never as late as 12/20, as it did this year. Consequently, it was a first for the Christmas Bird Count. Other "goodies" found on the Lake this month included as many as 10 Gadwalls, American Wigeons on a few occasions, Northern Shovelers all month, 2 Northern Pintails almost all month, a Green-winged Teal 1 day, as many as 9 Lesser Scaup during the second half of the month, 2 White-winged Scoters and a Long-tailed Duck 1 day, single Red-throated and Common Loons each 1 day, and a Horned Grebe during the first week of the month. The Gadwalls and N. Pintails were also seen at Little and Cemetery Ponds when they were ice-free. Landbirds of note seen this month included a Red-shouldered Hawk at the Morris Town Beach, an Eastern Screech-Owl at Little Pond, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker around the Museum Area, Common Ravens, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, a Carolina Wren at the Campground Store, a Winter Wren at Pike Marsh, a Hermit Thrush and Yellow-rumped Warbler at Little Pond , a Fox Sparrow at Van Winkle Rd., Swamp Sparrows, 86 Rusty Blackbirds at Little Pond on the 1st, and 13 Purple Finches at the Museum Feeders on the 18th. While most of the birds not noted at an exact locality in the last run-on sentence were seen around the Museum Area, some were also regularly seen at Pine Island. In general, spots around Bantam Lake, the Museum Area, and Little Pond were the most productive for birds at White Memorial in December.

Summary of Bird Activity at White Memorial and Bantam Lake, November 2011

Purple Finch photo by Bob Stanowski

Bonaparte's Gull photo from

www.pugetsound.edu

Long-tailed Duck photo by Paul Fusco from

www.paulfuscowildlifephotography.com

Black Scoter photo by Paul Lewis from

www.carolinabirdclub.orgLesser Scaup photo from www.utdallas.edu

Greater Scaup photo from www.flyways.us

Northern Pintail photo from www.fws.org

Snow Goose photo from www.nv.wikipedia.org

November, 2011 produced quite an abundance of birds on White Memorial property and at Bantam Lake. A total of 89 species were seen or heard, which is at least 10 more than average for this month. The new ebird gadget on the right side of this blog has been great in keeping readers abreast of what's around the area. The photos above depict a representative sampling of some of the uncommon species detected. Waterbirds by far and away dominated the scene, which is typical for November. The "most bang for the buck" for birders has been to visit Pt. Folly and the Litchfield Town Beach for excellent views of Bantam Lake. Land habitats around these places have also produced plenty of birds. Among the more notable finds at Bantam Lake were a flock of 105 Snow Geese that dropped in for an hour on the 22nd, as many as 7 Northern Shovelers which stayed for the whole month, as many as 3 Northern Pintails present during the second half of the month, 3 Greater and 6 Lesser Scaup present on the 1st, Surf, White-winged, and Black Scoters that dropped in periodically, Long-tailed Ducks that visited during the first half of the month, a Red-throated Loon seen on the 22nd, and Horned and Red-necked Grebes present all month, and 3 Bonaparte's Gulls on the 1st. Little and Cemetery Ponds also produced their fair share of waterfall and other birds. The most notable were Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, and Gadwalls. Landbirds of interest included a Northern Goshawk at Marsh Pt. on the 19th, a Northern Shrike at the Morris Town Beach on the 22nd, Winter Wrens a few times, an American Pipit on the 1st in the Museum Area, a Field Sparrow at Apple Hill on the 8th, and Rusty Blackbirds and Purple Finches on several days in various places. As for numbers, our summary from ebird showed a range from 1,805 individuals during the last week of the month to 11,436 individuals during the middle of the month. Species with the highest number of individuals counted were Canada Goose (240), Ring-billed Gull (330), American Robin (7,500), and Common Grackle (200). So, what caused the bird list for November to be so good? It was undoubtedly the combination of nice, mild weather all month (despite the October snowstorm), an abundant supply of all types of food, and a large number of birders visiting the area.

Waterbird Migration Picks Up

Horned Grebe photo by Nancy Johnston

from www.nejohnston.org

Common Gallinule photo by Darlene Knox

Northern Shoveler photo by Paul Fusco

from www.PaulFuscoWildlifePhotography.com

Ruddy Duck photo from www.en.wikipedia.org

Surf Scoter photo by Paul Fusco

from www.PaulFuscoWildlifePhotography.com

Black Scoters photo by Paul Fusco

from www.PaulFuscoWildlifePhotography.com

Migration activity by waterbirds has really picked up in northwest Connecticut since 10/15. Since Bantam Lake and Little Pond are two of the best places in this part of the state to see waterbirds I and many other birders have been checking them almost daily this month. During this time we have been seeing a steady stream of Mallards, American Black Ducks, Wood Ducks, and Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal moving through. This past Tuesday, 10/18, they were joined by a pair of Northern Shovelers at Little Pond. Because the male is exhibiting a very distinctive transitional molt plumage we are sure that the pair of shovelers that we saw at Bantam Lake's Pt. Folly on the 21st and 23rd and back at Little Pond on the 20th and 22nd were the same birds. During this same time span the number of American Coots visiting Little Pond increased to 62. On 10/19 and 20 Mike Doyle saw a Common Gallinule mixed in with them. Mike, and later, Ray Belding also saw 5 White-winged Scoters at this pond on the 20th. This has been a good period of time to find scoters (as it usually is) because Mike saw White-winged, Black, and Surf Scoters on Bantam Lake on the 20th. Two days later, Samantha Foster and I saw a Black and a Surf Scoter on the Lake's N. Bay, along with a Horned Grebe feeding close to Litchfield Town Beach. That day also produced 2 American Wigeons for us at Pt. Folly. The wigeons were still there the next day when John and Tracy Eykelhoff joined me to look for ducks. We also saw a Surf and a White-winged Scoter swimming together in the Lake's central section. Every day during this period has produced between one and four Ruddy Ducks on Little Pond, and a couple of reports of up to 11 of them on Bantam Lake. Other species of water-oriented birds seen on these bodies of water during the past week have included an American Bittern at Little Pond, Common Mergansers, Pied-billed Grebes, quite a few Great Blue Herons and Double-crested Cormorants, an Osprey at Bantam Lake's S. Bay, Belted Kingfishers, and lots of Canada Geese and Ring-billed Gulls. The next 6 weeks should bring even more waterbirds moving through here.

Long-billed Dowitcher and other notable birds seen at Little Pond, 9/27/11

Long-billed Dowitcher photo from http://www.gobirding.eu/

Wilson's Snipe photo by Bob Stanowski

Rusty Blackbird photo by Bob Duschene

from http://www.pvcaudubon.org/

Blue-winged Teal photo by Rob Whitney

from http://www.ducks.org/

Green-winged Teal photo by Rob Whitney

from http://www.ducks.org/

Great Egret photo from

http://www.commons.wikimedia.org/

A visit to Little Pond this past Tuesday evening, 9/27, (before the latest rainstorms inundated this area with floodwaters) turned up White Memorial's first-ever (in recent times) Long-billed Dowitcher. While scanning the shoreline for shorebirds I spotted a gray bird with a very long bill probing like a sewing machine in the mud. Since Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers look very similar, and their bills are only 1/4" difference in length, it was initially very difficult to determine which species we had. Even with the spotting scope it didn't show a definite characteristic for either species. However, since Short-billed has been seen here approximately 8 times in the past 12 years, and Long-billed had not been seen here at all in that time span, I was leaning toward calling it Short-billed or just Dowitcher sp. Most of the previous sightings have been in the spring when the two species have enough differences in plumage to distinguish them. Plus, all of the previous birds gave their distinctive Short-billed "tu-tu-tu" call notes while we watched them. Fortunately for us this time, this bird let loose with its distinctive "keek" call notes several times when it flushed and flew around for no obvious reason. The call notes clinched this bird's identification as Long-billed. These calls, coupled with the lack of striping on the head and back ruled out Wilson's Snipe, which we had just seen a few minutes before spotting this bird. Other notable birds seen on and around the pond on this visit included 52 Wood Ducks, 5 Blue-winged Teal, 13 Green-winged Teal, 4 Double-crested Cormorants, 1 Great Egret, and 2 Green Herons. Notable by virtue of high numbers were Mallards (99) and Swamp Sparrows (45). The Little Pond Trail produced our first Rusty Blackbird of the fall season, 24 White-throated Sparrows, a Marsh Wren, and a hooting Great Horned Owl as notable species. In all, this visit tallied 44 species of birds in 1 hour and 45 minutes. Three days later, after 5.5" of rain had inundated the boardwalk and the rest of the area, we only came up with 34 species along the trail leading in from White's Woods Rd. and the overlook area on the west side of the pond. With no feeding habitat available for shorebirds we didn't find any, but we were surprised to find a Sora trying to forage along the edge of the woods where the floodwaters were intruding into them. For ducks, we only saw 2 Woodies, 2 Blacks, and 25 Mallards. The rest of the birds seen on this visit were common resident and migrant landbirds along the trail, including 35 White-throated Sparrows.

Little Pond Does It Again!

Glossy Ibis photo by Dave DeReamus

from www.pabirds.org

Pectoral Sandpiper photo by Paul Lewis

From http://www.carolinabirdclub.org/

Short-billed Dowitcher from http://www.nrdc.org/

Pied-billed Grebe photo by Bob Stanowski

Little Pond has produced again! As usual, it is notable birds. August is one of the best months to look for this group of animals at this place. On Thursday morning, 8/4/11, Mike Doyle spotted a Glossy Ibis at the south end of the Pond, near Sutton's Bridge. This may only be the 4th record for this coastal species on WMF property. It is a bird that is prone to wandering after the breeding season, and August is when most of this wandering to inland locales occurs. I went out to Little Pond to look for this bird about 4 hours after Mike reported it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it; and I presume that it had already moved on. However, in my search of the west side of the Pond for it, I turned up a Pied-billed Grebe with a flightless young one following it. We had seen this species sporadically here since April, and had heard it calling a few times in early May, but had given up hope of any breeding activity here this year. They did successfully nest here in 2002 and at Cemetery Pond in 2007. It is a species that is prone to nest late in the season, after water levels recede from spring flooding, so we shouldn't have given up hope for them as soon as we did. This young bird proves that. Virginia Rails will also nest late in the season, especially if they fail in their first attempts. On our visit on the evening of 8/8/11 we encountered a total of 10 of these birds along the north side of the pond. One was an adult, 2 were well-grown juveniles, and the others were all uttering fledgling food calls. One of the juveniles even hopped up on the Boardwalk, affording us excellent views of it. A major reason why Jim Kandefer, Marie Kennedy, and I went out there that day was to look for the Short-billed Dowitcher, Pectoral Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plover that Fran Zygmont saw out there on the mud and sand bar Sunday morning, 8/7/11. Unfortunately, water levels had risen about 6" due to heavy rains, so much of the mud was under water, and none of these sought-after shorebirds were present. We did see 4 Killdeer on the remaining portion of the sandbar and 2 flyover Solitary Sandpipers. We also saw 14 Marsh Wrens along the north side of the Boardwalk; many of which were fledglings. That evening's adventure produced a total of 31 species of birds. I tallied a total of 49 species of birds the previous Friday, 8/5/11, after we installed the Purple Martin nest box near Sutton's Bridge. Most of the birds that day were the usual, common residents, plus 3 Green Herons, an adult and fledgling Virginia Rail, 2 singing Alder Flycatchers, 3 Bank Swallows, and 8 migrant Bobolinks. No matter when you go to Little Pond in August, it will yield plenty of birds.