We had a great morning at Turner's Pond today. A quick fly-by of a Coopers Hawk at the parking lot proved to be a good beginning. We found a few more nests, in addition to those that were found last week. These included a few more American Robin nests, another Black-capped Chickadee cavity, a few Common Grackle nests, a Yellow Warbler nest, and a couple of Warbling Vireo nests. It always amazes me how much easy to see bird activity there is at the pond. We also saw the Green Heron perched above the creek. Apparently right before I got to the pond, the heron was perched low to the water hungrily watching a line of ducklings passing below. There seems to finally be an Orchard Oriole advertising territory. Surprisingly (or maybe not) it is another immature male like the one that nested there in 2012. My guess is that the pond is suboptimal territory but still viable and so the immature males get pushed out of breeding at the prime spots by the adult males and end up in places like this. This also might be why they seem to show up a little late in the season at the pond when they've probably already been in the state for a while.
We ended the walk back at the parking lot with a great view of a male Northern Flickr rooting about in the lawn for insects.
I think the best part for everyone was probably some close views of a couple of Cedar Waxwing low in a tree.


Turner's Pond, Norfolk, US-MA
May 31, 2014 6:45 AM - 9:20 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
35 species

Canada Goose  4
Mallard  20
Green Heron  1     Perched above the creek on a conifer, harassed by AMRO and SOSP. Still no sign of nesting behavior.
Cooper's Hawk  1     Nice start to the walk. Quick fly-over at the parking lot with an escort of COGR.
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Spotted Sandpiper  1     Glimpsed for a second, stuttering in flight around an overhanging willow branch.
Herring Gull  2
Mourning Dove  5
Chimney Swift  6     As usual, many very low flying birds.
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  3
Eastern Phoebe  1
Eastern Kingbird  2
Warbling Vireo  4     Two nests seen, both with singing occupants. This seems to be a (very dumb) Warbling Vireo trait..?
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  10
Tree Swallow  2
Black-capped Chickadee  4     Two nest cavities, both with active visiting parents with mouthfuls of inchworms.
American Robin  15     At least two active nests.
Gray Catbird  8
European Starling  2
Cedar Waxwing  6     They are finally here.
Yellow Warbler  10     One nest, quite high in a tree... seems unusual
Chipping Sparrow  1     One bird, as usual, singing very loud in the parking lot.
Song Sparrow  4
Northern Cardinal  2
Red-winged Blackbird  6
Common Grackle  20     Several nests with screaming young.
Orchard Oriole  1     Finally an immature male is here, advertising his territory.
Baltimore Oriole  3
American Goldfinch  1
House Sparrow  10

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18632984

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

One of the first birds we heard and saw on my bird walk at Turner's Pond this morning was a Scarlet Tanager. I can't think of a better way to start the day off. This bird brought my count for the pond up to ninety one. We listened to it singing in the distance for a few minutes until I finally spotted it in the crown of a far off tree. 
Soon after, a few meters down the trail, there was a singing Common Yellowthroat. I couldn't seem to remember at that point but I've checked now, and it is indeed another bird I've never seen before at Turner's. This brings my tally up to ninety two. 
Numbers aside, I think I coolest thing about this morning was the number of nests we found: an Eastern Kingbird nest on a branch over the water and a Red-winged Blackbird nest in the same tree; two Mourning Dove nests each occupied by a hunkered-down bird; an American Robin nest and two Common Grackle nests; a pair of Black-capped Chickadees bringing inchworms to their cavity; two Northern Flicker cavities, one, or maybe both, active. Also, there are rumors of a Green Heron building a nest. And if all of that wasn't enough, a brood of twenty two Mallard ducklings finished hatching this morning in the courtyard of the Glover elementary school and were escorted through the hallways and down to the pond.

I could hear its loud ringing song before it was anywhere within view. A bird well adapted to southern hardwood swamps, the Prothonotary Warbler is a golden jewel, as visible among the trees as a male Cardinal is in winter. I eventually found it singing away high in a tree. Flying from tree to tree it continued to do this the whole time I watched it. Every now and then it would take a break and feed near to the ground on branches and fallen logs. 
The Prothonotary Warbler is the only eastern wood-warbler to nest in cavities and they have the genus Protonotaria all to themselves. Lucy's Warblers in the southwest also nests in cavities. 
If you're wondering where the hell this bird got its name, it was named after officials in the Roman Catholic Church who wore golden robes and were known as the protonotarii."
Pretty simple explanation for a word that's that tough to say, huh? Yes, it's true, there are many other golden-colored things out there with names that are much easier to remember. However, it seems with bird names that if there is a possible Roman Catholic Church reference it simply must be used...
Back to the actual bird, I was able to re-find it after getting distracting by a cute little fox pup and get my friend Dan onto it. We both had some pretty great looks as it came down and bathed in a little area of water right in the middle of the path. It wasn't the most approachable bird but I managed some photos. After bathing it flew up to a low shrub to preen and dry out a bit. But like every bird this time of year, whether busy preening, or busy accumulating a mouthful of insects, it took the time to sing every twenty seconds or so. And I have to say, one of the funniest things I've ever seen is when a bird tries to call or sing when its mouth is stuffed full of something; either food or nesting material. Not that this bird was doing that. This bird barely has a one percent chance of finding a mate up here, let alone building a nest or gathering food to feed a brood.

I have to give a big thank you to John and Alison Barkla for taking me out to and showing me the Western Treatment Plant in Werribee during my stay in Melbourne. This 26,000 acre area is a major stop-over point for tens of thousands of birds, mainly ducks and shorebirds. Countless other bird species also use this area to hunt and to raise their young. During a full day of birding and with the expert eyes of John and Alison we found 103 species of birds with 47 new for me. The area is incredibly diverse and incredibly open and flat dominated by hundred of large 'pools' surrounded by dikes. Expansive reed beds and marshy areas also abound along with miles of rocky coastline.
Highlights during the day for me were many and varied (pretty much everything that happened was awesome). Just a few of the interesting shorebirds we saw were Red-necked Avocets, Banded Lapwings, Red-kneed Dotterels, Black-fronted Dotterels, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpipers, a single female Ruff (Reeve), Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, and many Red-necked Stints. The Red-kneed Dotterels were special as we came across a group of breeding individuals, and one approached the car doing the typical plover broken-wing display.

Black-fronted Dotterel (Elseyornis melanops)

We found six species of tern: Little, Fairy, White-winged, Whiskered, Common, and Great Crested. Of the two White-winged Terns, one was almost in full breeding plumage and the combination of black body and pale silvery wings made a striking contrast.
A male Flame Robin graced us with his presence on a roadside field while groups of tiny Purple-crowned Lorikeets fed above us on some flowering trees.
Whistling Kites, Black Kites, Australian Kites, and Swamp Harriers were all plentiful. A single male Spotted Harrier also showed himself a few times in addition to two Brown Goshawks, two Australian Hobbies, and three Brown Falcons.
Welcome Swallows were also plentiful and in amongst them we found one Fairy Martin and one Tree Martin.
Flocks of Zebra Finches were everywhere along with one Red-browed Firetail.
The reed beds were full of shy Golden-headed Cisticolas and we got a couple fleeting and very far away views of Little Grassbirds. 
With a little persistence we were awarded with good looks at a couple of Australian Crakes and a Buff-banded Rail. A couple Spotless Crakes also called but never showed themselves.

One of the most amazing things about the treatment plant was the sheer numbers of waterbirds. Ducks by the tens of thousands. Clouds of Australian Shelduck and Pink-eared Ducks rose into the air at every pond. The Pink-eared Duck is a tiny duck with a huge shovel-like bill (that I think also looks like a catamaran) named for an intense but very small pink patch locating at the ear and I've been thinking a much more appropriate name would be Zebra Duck for their intense full body black and white striping. Of course, I just looked that up, and they are also called Zebra Duck, just not as commonly.

Pink-eared Duck (Malacorhynchus membranaceus)

We saw many other ducks including extraordinary numbers of Gray and Chestnut Teal, and lesser numbers of Freckled Duck, Black Swan, Maned Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Australian Shoveler, White-eyed Duck, Blue-billed Duck, Musk Duck. I have to say, I doubt there is a another duck as un-duck-like as a displaying male Musk Duck with its huge leathery lobe under its bill and its thin tail feathers separated and raised into a fan shape.

Australian Darters were another very interesting species for me along with Royal and Yellow-billed Spoonbills, Straw-necked and Australian Ibis, Little and Cattle Egrets.
A couple far-away views of a pair of Brolgas (the Australian crane) was very memorable especially as they took off calling.
I also enjoyed the small White-fronted Chats as they ran about on any flat surface they could find.
At the end of the day a pair of Black-faced Cuckooshrikes were special as they flew about in a small wooded area.

Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus)

Thanks again to John and Alison for a truly awesome day.