Hello everyone:
New birds continue to trickle in at Gilsland Farm. The snow has completely retreated from the meadows and there was no ice left in the river. Highlights from the walk included:
4 American Wigeons (two pairs off the West Meadow's south blind), a drake Northern Shoveler and 6 drake Ring-necked Ducks all near the marsh of the North Meadow's blind.
Strutting tom turkeys really put on a show for us as we walked through the woods between the West and North Meadows. Three males were vying for the attention of four females and made it very clear who the dominant bird was.
New arrivals at Gilsland Farm this week include: Double-crested Cormorant, Belted Kingfisher, American Kestrel, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, and Golden-crowned Kinglet.
A complete list from the walk is available at: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17827026
TRIVIA: Time for what I'm sure you were all eagerly waiting for, more trivia!
First, thanks to everyone who participated! I did receive permission to post my favorite answer, coming from Eric Hynes (MA's naturalist from 2007-2011): "When I started hearing that song as I walked into the HQ, I knew to say goodbye for the season to AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS and start looking for my first Chipping Sparrow the next week." Here is a fun eBird illustration of Eric's point: http://tinyurl.com/pyu8wdf And here is the recording for anyone who missed it last week: https://soundcloud.com/dhitchcox/atsp-falmouth2apr14
Songs are not the only noises out there; woodpeckers have also been drumming like crazy. I've seen a lot of eBird submissions lately with "woodpecker sp." or "Picoides sp.", which is great, I definitely encourage using 'spuhs' if you are not positive of an identification, but being specific with 'spuhs' and 'slashes' is very helpful. "Downy/Hairy Woodpecker" has been added to all the filters to help with this and that leads us to this weeks trivia. Here are some drums I recorded yesterday morning: https://soundcloud.com/dhitchcox/trivia-bird-hollis-me-4-10-14 Is this even a woodpecker? Is it a "Picoides sp." or maybe "Melanerpes sp."? Does this fit in "Downy/Hairy"? Let me know what you would call this and I'll post the answer next week!
Good birding,
Doug Hitchcox
Staff Naturalist
Maine Audubon
207-781-2330 x237
dhitchcox@maineaudubon.org
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