18 May Bird report – PENS and Village in the evening

See more photos and list of species below.

We had a lively burst of activity in the first section of the PENS trail with a black and white warbler, black-throated green warbler blue warbler, chickadees and other birds that we could hear.  After this generous treat our group of 8 birders hiked about a half km without hearing anything.  Then the sounds started again.  First an oven bird, then a chickadee and hermit thrush. To our surprise two young black bears were seen climbing down a tree!  We turned around at that point and started heading down still with a lot of bird song.  A blue headed vireo kept our attention, 2 black-throated greens and all the while the hermit thrush sang its beautiful song.

We divided our hike in 2 parts with the second part in the Sutton village near the bike path and water source.  We heard northern waterthrush on the bike path and continued listening for the American bittern.  However, I heard its call coming from the other direction in the marshy lake that is not easily accessible.  We gave up on spotting the bittern and headed to where I had previously seen the American woodcock.  Some other members met us in that location, and we were all rewarded by the American woodcocks display that started at sunset but still with plenty of light to watch, photograph and take videos of the bird calling from the ground. Once it took flight it circled above with high pitched twittering to return to the same spot and repeat the ritual several times about every 2 minutes. The group was very pleased and lucky to witness this.

2 checklists, total 29 species

1. PENS TRAIL

May 18, 2022 6:09 PM – 7:46 PM

1.787 kilometer(s)
15 species

Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
Winter Wren  1
Hermit Thrush  1
American Robin  1
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Ovenbird  2
Black-and-white Warbler  2
Black-throated Blue Warbler  2
Black-throated Green Warbler  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S110617516

2. Sutton Village

May 18, 2022 8:05 PM – 8:50 PM
0.732 kilometer(s)
14 species

Canada Goose  2
American Woodcock  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
American Crow  1
European Starling  1
Gray Catbird  1
Veery  1
American Goldfinch  1
White-throated Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  9
Common Grackle  1
Northern Waterthrush  2
Common Yellowthroat  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S110622906