Monthly Archives: May 2022

We do see other Terns on rare occasions, but the resident Terns are the Common Tern and the Least Tern. Both breed along our coast. Least Terns nest in the same beach areas as the Piping Plovers on and near Plum Island. The smaller Least Tern has a yellow bill with a black tip andContinue reading “Terns”

The following photographs were taken at Sandy Point, Plum Island on the Plum Island Sound. This is a Massachusetts park and people are allowed in during the summer. But there is a large marked off portion of the dunes that are off-limits and reserved for nesting Piping Plovers and Least Terns. The first photo isContinue reading “Photos from the Shore”

I have been collecting photographs of other birds during this Warbler migration season. This a Swainson’s Thrush. Like all Thrushes except the familiar American Robin, they tend to be pretty secretive. This one was deep inside a thicket. Another bird that tends to be in deeply wooded areas is the Veery. I could hear thisContinue reading “Recent Sightings, Including a Hummingbird”

I participated in a group walk organized by Massachusetts Audubon with a dozen people recently. It was an overcast morning and a bit foggy when we started at 6:30 in the morning. But the Warblers were everywhere and we spotted or heard 18 different species in a three hour span. This long post has picturesContinue reading “Foggy Morning Warblers”

Warbler migration is extremely popular among bird watchers and photographers. There can even be traffic issues around well known sites. There is a short period in the spring, mostly mid-to-late May, where large numbers of Warblers in colorful breeding plumage appear. This makes for a frenetic time. But there are other birds migrating and residingContinue reading “Not Warblers”

May is the time when Warblers migrate into and through our area in great numbers. This attracts large numbers of birdwatchers as well. This is a long post but has a selection of the Warblers I have spotted in the past week. This is a Yellow Warbler that I caught in the open and aContinue reading “Some Warblers”

There is an old orchard near me that is now owned by a town and maintained as open space for nature and recreation. Someone or some group has scattered a number of nesting boxes around the three main meadows in the area. These attract Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds and there are some encounters. IContinue reading “Nesting Activity”

We see a lot of shorebirds during migration season. Most only stop over for a while before heading further north to breed. Piping Plovers, for example, do breed along the Massachusetts shore and many beach areas are closed off to protect them. But this Semipalmated Plover will keep moving north to breed in the Arctic.Continue reading “Shorebirds”

Warblers are arriving. These are some of the first I have seen. The first few pictures are representative of what it is like to pursue Warblers. Warblers (and Vireos, Gnatcatchers, Kinglets) are very active and stay in the foliage as they look for insects to sustain them on their long journeys. As a result, mostContinue reading “Early Warblers”

Sparrows may seem to be a bit nondescript but they are more than little brown birds. These are some arriving sparrows that have been sighted in the past week. They all have a distinctive look. Field Sparrows are a small sparrow with a pinkish beak and pinkish legs. The Savannah Sparrow is a bit largerContinue reading “Spring Sparrows”