Monday Waterbirds May 18, 2020

Today on Monday, May 18th, I went out into the field for bird for water bird observations. The site that I went to to take the observations for the day was in the Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge on the Black Creek/Maquam Creek Trails. When got into the field after leaving home in the morning it was a few minutes after 7:00 am and the weather was beautiful. In the early morning it was slightly overcast with light gusty winds, but as the day proceeded the sun came out and about 55 degrees climbing as time passed. as the trail started there was grassland landing the railroad bed. On the other side of the railroad bed the trail lined a system of creeks and ponds that I travelled. Mature deciduous trees were everywhere, with shrubs and fern plants growing on the forest floor.

A total of four Red-winged Blackbird were seen the first was perched in a tree and I spotted another one flying across the grasslands. The other two were seen along the edge of the train in shrub trees calling. As I walked along the edge of a creek a single male Mallard with a striking green head was swimming quietly up the creek. Along the trail an American Robin was moving across to the edge to feed but was spooked and flew away when it spotted me. As I was heading to the lookout point of the Maquam trail I believe I saw a Belted Kingfisher leave its perch and zoom along the creeks because of the chattering call. Further up the creek a sound caught my attention a Downy Woodpecker was pecking on the side of a tree on the banks edge, and then again on the loop back a second Downy Woodpecker caught my eye feeding on a tree along a swamp edge. While walking to the lookout point I heard the alarm call of a Blue Jay but never saw the individual, later on a second Blue Jay called as I moved along the trail and flew across the river bank. A third Blue Jay was seen along the railroad bed in a group of trees beside the parking lot.

I was very excited during this outing to see a total of three Great Blue Herons. Two of the Great Blue Herons were seen flying high above, the first one was when I was in the thicker trees along the creek side, and the second one was seen flying towards the opening of the lookout point two hours apart. The third Great Blue Heron was standing on the creeks edge on one of the trail extensions on the way back, I did not see it until the last minute and it got spooked and flew away. Moving towards the lookout point two American Black Ducks were hidden behind a short bush and flew off when I got too close. Once I was at the lookout point I sat down to take a few more bird observations. Across the water opening in a large tree I used my binoculars to identify an Osprey that was perched in it. While sitting at the lookout point I saw a total of six Canada Geese. Two flew from behind and landed in the opening of the swamp. As they started honking back and forth two more geese came out of the swamp to join them, and then another two came around the corner of the creek bend to join as well.

Heading out of the field I was able to identify the bird species that I was having trouble with throughout the duration of the observation period. The bird was all grey and similar to American robin size but more slender. I was able to ID the bird as a Gray Catbird. Four different Gray Catbird sightings were along the trails edge in the short brush and thickets. The call of a Northern Cardinal was recognized when I was almost out of the field for observation period. I recognized the "machine gun" sounding end to the call. Overall I saw an abundant amount of bird species and was able to research and find what I believe to be their ID's while in the field and completed the observation period at 11:30 and headed back home.

Posted on May 18, 2020 08:05 PM by ajchagnon