Nice walk in the AM coolness. Still lots of bird activity although the singing has waned a bit. Sapsuckers and Pine Warblers seem to be more vocal after being quiet for a while. The deer flies and mosquitoes ganged up on me in spots but were better along the shoreline. As I walked near the Spotted Sandpiper nest with 4 eggs I had found on 6/15 I heard an adult call very close by. I figured the eggs had hatched by now and when I looked in the nest there was one dead nestling. I guess they all don’t make it out. Both cuckoos was nice and the Merlin was a bit of a surprise.
Quabbin Reservoir--Gate 35, Franklin, Massachusetts, US Jul 3, 2025 7:23 AM - 11:15 AM Protocol: Traveling 2.65 mile(s) 63 species
Mallard 3 Female and 2 young Common Merganser 7 2 adults, 5 young Mourning Dove 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2 Black-billed Cuckoo 1 Killdeer 1 Spotted Sandpiper 2 Ring-billed Gull 5 Common Loon 3 2 seen together and another at least a mile apart. Double-crested Cormorant 10 Turkey Vulture 2 Bald Eagle 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Belted Kingfisher 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4 Hairy Woodpecker 2 Pileated Woodpecker 2 Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1 Merlin 1 Took off from trees on shore ahead of me and flew right in front of me. Small dark falcon, pointed wings and steady flight. Eastern Wood-Pewee 5 Least Flycatcher 3 Eastern Phoebe 3 Great Crested Flycatcher 1 Eastern Kingbird 2 Yellow-throated Vireo 2 Red-eyed Vireo 18 Blue Jay 3 American Crow 2 Black-capped Chickadee 2 Tufted Titmouse 3 Tree Swallow 1 Barn Swallow 4 White-breasted Nuthatch 3 Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 Brown Creeper 1 Gray Catbird 3 Veery 6 Hermit Thrush 1 Wood Thrush 1 American Robin 6 Cedar Waxwing 4 Purple Finch 2 Pair near beaver pond American Goldfinch 3 Chipping Sparrow 6 Song Sparrow 3 Eastern Towhee 5 Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) 7 Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Common Grackle 9 Ovenbird 14 Black-and-white Warbler 3 Common Yellowthroat 5 American Redstart 10 Yellow Warbler 3 Chestnut-sided Warbler 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler 1 Female Pine Warbler 9 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2 Prairie Warbler 1 Powerline Black-throated Green Warbler 1 Scarlet Tanager 3 Northern Cardinal 1 Indigo Bunting 1
