HBC Trip-Yellowstone 2009

Hampshire Bird Club- Wyoming, Trip July 2009. Part two- Yellowstone.

We left Jackson Hole early on a raining Friday morning as we made our way towards Yellowstone National Park. We made a few stops along the way, but for the most part headed directly to the gates. The bottom line…Yellowstone was everything we thought it was going to be and more. The beauty of the Mammoth Hot Springs, (and smell) Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake, Mt.Washburn, Lamar and Hayden Valley’s were simply spectacular. Hard to believe, but birds were not our only focus. Our group quickly got caught up in the hunt for large mammals around the park. Undoubtedly we were far better prepared than most of the other visitors to Yellowstone. With are high powered telescopes and binoculars we fast became a crowd favorite at certain roadside haunts.

Everyone in the group was on the constant lookout for the two most sought after mammals-Grizzly Bear and Wolves, and we were not going to be disappointed. In mid afternoon on day two in Yellowstone we found a fairly large Grizzly Bear in Lamar Valley. Although not close, we were afforded nice looks through are scopes and watched the bear for over fifteen minutes. A little further down the road a Black Bear made an appearance as it slowly worked its way through the field.

This of course was a birding trip….and we did have some interesting sightings. We had one of only ten Trumpeter Swans currently in Yellowstone in the summer. Close to 180 Barrow’s Goldeneye’s, Common Loon, American White Pelican, Swanson’s Hawk, Golden Eagle, American Kestrel’s (many-nice to see since they are becoming scare in New England) Prairie Falcon, Sora Rail, Sandhill Crane, White-throated Swift (3), Clark’s Nutcracker, American Dipper, Lazuli Bunting, Red Crossbill and abundant Pine Siskins.

Early Monday morning- it was decided not to head to Red Rock National Wildlife Refuge, but instead head to Hayden Valley and look for the Wolf Pack. We missed the Wolves by only 10 minutes the other day and wanted to give it one more shot before heading back to Jackson Hole. We made a beeline directly for Hayden Valley on Monday morning. After waiting for the road construction that was on going throughout the park we made it to the lookout…only to learn that we just missed the wolf pack by 10 seconds!!!! Quickly following the advice of one of the volunteer naturalists, we got back in the cars and back tracked a few hundred yards to the next turn out and waited.
The naturalists predicted the wolves would cross the road between the two pullouts to get to a recent carcass- BINGO!! Right on cue the wolf pack came out from the forest and cross about 200 yards in front of us. Plain and simply, it was just an amazing amount of luck. After the wolf encounter, we just worked are way back towards Jackson Hole and finish off our adventure with a trip up to Rendezvous Mountain and a rafting trip down the Snake River.

Next blog entry….HBC trip to South Beach.

Scott





Old Faithful

Yellowstone

Elk- Along the West Entrance Road.

Elk

This was anything but uncommon in Hayden Valley. On one occasion, the Buffalo caused a 45 minute delay. To move the herd along- The Park Rangers would drive up and down the road making some type of clicking sound over their PA system. This seem to work reasonably well.

The sign going into Teton N.P. said....Hitting a 2000 lbs Buffalo will ruin your day and your car.

Another Buffalo jam about to begin....

Buffalo coming out of the Snake River. These animals were very good swimmers.

Sandhill Crane in West Yellowstone, Montana.

White-throated Swift- Yellowstone. Not a great photo, but not bad considering the speed of these guys.

Mountain Bluebird- on top of Mt. Washburn.

River Otter- at the base of the Jackson Hole Dam.

American White Pelican- Hayden Valley.

Bald Eagle- This adult had a nest right along the West Entrance Rd into Yellowstone.

One of four wolves that made up the Hayden Valley Wolf Pack.

Wolf- Talk about luck...that guy in the first car had a look of a lifetime.

Just coming out of the forest.

Jackson Hole/Grand Teton National Park

The Hampshire Bird Club trip to Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park was simply AWESOME! The flights to and from Jackson Hole, Wyoming couldn't have been better and the weather was outstanding. A total of 11 birders made the trek from western & central Massachusetts, and the leader was Tom Gagnon. Tom once worked for a few summers in Teton N.P. in the mid sixties and has been back a few times since then-his knowledge of the area was most impressive.

The trip was billed as a birding trip (of course) with an intense focus on Mammals! We came away with 118 species of birds (not bad-could have been a little better) and 23 species of mammals. We did very well with large mammals!! Buffalo, Pronghorn Antelope, Elk, Mule Deer, Moose, Big Horned, Sheep, Black Bear, Grizzly Bear, Coyote and 4 Wolves :)

As I mentioned, the weather was absolutely fantastic. Mornings started out anywhere from 39-48 degrees and climbed to mid 70"s, a couple of days made it to the low 90's. A few passing thunderstorms, (one with hail) and one foggy morning was the extent of the bad weather.

Some of the birding hightlights around Jackson Hole & Teton N.P. .......Trumpeter Swan (4), Dusky Grouse (7), White Pelican (2), Swainson's Hawk (8), Golden Eagle (2), Sora Rail, Sandhill Crane, Great Gray Owl (1), Calliope, Broad-tailed & Rufous Hummingbirds, Williamson's & Red-naped Sapsuckers, Lewis's Woodpecker (1), Dusky Flycatcher, Gray Jay (2), Clark's Nutcracker, Black-billed Magpie, Violet-green Swallows,
Mountain Chickadee, Mountain Bluebird, Sage Thrasher (2), Macgillivray's Warbler (9), Western Tanager, Green-tailed Towhee, Brewer's Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting (2), Western Meadowlark (6), Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Cassin's Finch, Red Crossbill and many Pine siskins. ( To enlarge the photos...just click on photo.)

Early morning view of the Tetons from signal Mt.

Dusky Grouse (female) Signal Mt. Parking lot.

Dusky Grouse (male)

Rainbow on Elk N.W.R. in Jackson Hole. After the roughly (7500) Elk depart the refuge in the spring, the Boy Scouts go out and collect all the Elk Antlers. At some point in time- they hold an auction somewhere around Jackson Hole and sell the Antlers....Last year they took in 98,000.00 of which half is theirs to keep. NOT A BAD FUND RAISER!!!

Scott & Valerie

Trumpeter Swans...Flat Creek at Elk N.W.R.

A huge surprise was this Lewis's Woodpecker! The Woodpecker was nesting in the park.

Swainson's Hawk

Green-tailed Towhee

Big Horned Sheep. We found a group of three just outside Jackson Hole, our only ones of the trip.

A view of the Tetons

Another great Surprise was this Great Gray Owl in Teton Park.

Moose

Western Tanager- Very common around the Tetons and Yellowstone.

Photos of Yellowstone will appear in the next few days,

Cheers,

Scott

Crown of Maine - June 18-22

Crown of Maine- Hampshire Bird Club Trip

On June 18Th, roughly 15 birders from the Hampshire Bird Club made the ten hour trek to Caribou, Maine for what would turn out to be a wonderful, although extremely soggy weekend in Aroostook County. We were greeted Early Friday morning (5am) by our exceptionally talented and enthusiastic leader-Bill Sheehan. Over the next three days, Bill led us through Aroostook N.W.R. ( old Loring A.F.B.), Lake Josephine in Easton area and to wilderness areas in the North Country. Despite the weather- we totaled over 118 species and we really were exposed too some really beautiful regions of Northern Maine. The list below may differ slightly from member to member, but it gives a pretty good idea of what we had. (Above photo-Bill Sheehan)

Moose!

Closer View

(Loring Airforce base-OLD) The old bunkers where Nuclear Warheads were stored.

Another Bunker

Wood Duck-female

Upland Sandpiper- Aroostook N.W.R. (Loring Base)

Upland sandpiper

Wetlands around Lake Josephine

Young Great Horned Owl- Nice spotting by David Peak-Jones!

Club Members- listening....

Val-Holding Jaw bone of a Moose .

Osprey

Common loon

Gray Jay- Juv & Adult

Gray Jay-Adult

Swainson's Thrush- Singing away

Western Tailed-Blue. Currently, only a handful of records for Maine.

American Bittern- The entire group watched this American bittern put on a roadside show like none of us has ever witnessed before. For over 25 minutes this bird preyed on Tadpoles, Dobsonfly larvae (nasty little things) and several adult Dragonflies!

Bay-breasted Warbler- Almost the last bird we had coming out of the North Woods.

Waterfowl-16 species.

Canada Goose

Wood Duck (5)

Gadwal (5)

Am.Wigeon (8)

Am. Black Duck (15)

Mallard (60+)

Blue-winged Teal (2)

Northern Shoveler (6)

Green-winged Teal (12+)

REDHEAD (1m)

Ring-necked Duck (20+)

Common Goldeneye (9)

Hooded Merganser (5)

Common Merganser (1)

Ruddy Duck (2)

Common Loons (8)

Pied-billed Grebe (1)

EARED GREBE (1-Sanford Sewer Plant-on way up to Caribou)

D.C.Cormorant (52+)

American Bittern (1- see photos)

Great Blue Heron (2)

Turkey Vulture

Osprey (4)

Bald Eagle (4)

Northern Harrier (3)

Broad-winged Hawk (2)

Red-tailed Hawk

Am.Kestrel (6)

Virginia Rail (2)

Common Moorhen (2)

Killdeer (4)

Spotted Sandpiper (8)

Upland Sandpiper (4)

Common Snipe (4)

Ring-billed Gull (57+)

Herring Gull (2)

Common Tern (35)

Rock Pigeon (10)

Mourning Dove

Great Horned Owl (2-1 young/1-adult)

Common Nighthawk (3)

Chimney Swift (4)

R.T. Hummingbird (3)

Belted Kingfisher (4)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (5+)

Hairy Woodpecker (4)

No.Flicker (8)

Olive-sided Flycatcher (1)

Eastern-Wood-Pewee (6)

Yellow-bellied flycatcher (5)

Alder Flycatcher (7)

Least Flycatcher (6)

Eastern Phoebe (2)

Great-crested Flycatcher (1)

Eastern Kingbird (5)

Blue-headed Vireo (12+)

Warbling Vireo (1)

Red-eyed Vireo (37+)

Gray Jay (7)

Blue Jay (14)

American Crow (30+)

Common Raven (8)

Tree Swallow (many)

Cliff Swallow (20)

Barn Swallow (12+)

Black-capped Chickadee

Boreal Chickadee (2)

Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)
White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper (4)

Winter Wren (10)

Marsh Wren (1)

Golden-Cr. Kinglet (5)

Ruby-cr.Kinglet ((10)

Eastern bluebird (1)

Veery (4)

Swainson's Thrush (11)

Hermit Thrush (5)

Am.Robin

Gray Catbird (4)

Northern Mockingbird (1)

E.Starling

Cedar Waxwing (30+)

Warblers

Nashville (29)

Northern Parula (15)

Yellow (22)

Chestnut-sided ((7)

Magnolia (16)

Cape May (2)

Yellow-rumped (12)

B.T.G. (4)

Palm (3)

Bay-breasted (1)

Black & White (3)

Am.Redstart (7)

Ovebird (17+)

Northern Waterthrush (8)

Mourning (3)

Common Yellowthroat (19)

Canada (1)

Chipping sparrow (11)

Savannah Sparrow (25+)

Fox Sparrow (4)

Song Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow (4)

Swamp Sparrow (10)

White-throated sparrow (25+)

D.E.Junco (10+)

Boblink (2)

R.W.Blackbird

Common Grackle (100+)

Brown-head Cowbird (2)

Baltimore Oriole (1)

Purple Finch (6)

Pine Siskin (3)

Am.Goldfinch (25)

Evening grosbeak (3)

House sparrow

A nice surprise on June 1st - While checking on the family homestead around noontime I heard this bird calling from the adjacent woods. As of this date the Kentucky is still calling consistently and as set up a territory, but the big question is...will he find a mate!

This bird has been very accommodating to most birders looking for him, in fact- he has been seen most of the time calling from a 25-35 ft perch.

Interestingly- This is the second Kentucky Warbler I've had on the family homestead, the first one was May 28th, 1983.


Kentucky Warbler- Amherst 6-7-09

Kentucky Warbler- Singing from high perch.

Kentucky Warbler- Nice close view, just missed the killer shot!

Hitchcock Center Trip- Quabbin Res. 5-10-09

Hitchcock Birding Class- May 10th.

Met the group at the Hitchcock Center in Amherst around 7AM for our trip to the Quabbin Reservoir. Upon arrival, I immediately had a Great Blue Heron and Common Loon moving high overhead-heading northeast. I thought this was fairly interesting considering the wind was already blowing pretty well out of the northwest.

Before leaving the Center, I heard a Wilson's Warbler and a White-Cr. Sparrow singing from the thicket near the center. Unfortunately, the Warbler was not as cooperative as I would have liked, but most folks had an adequate view., but the White-crowned just disappeared.

We arrived at Windsor Dam around 7:45am and the wind was even stronger! A couple of Eastern Kingbirds in the parking lot put on a nice show, but we started seeing Common Loons moving north. At the end of the morning, we had 11 Common Loons and 10 Double-crested Cormorants migrating north. This perhaps doesn't seem like a lot, especially D.C. Cormorants, but for Common Loons migrating inland- this was the highest number I've encountered in years.

Despite the strong winds, the rest of the day proved to be pretty good. We finished the day with over 75 species and sixteen species of Warblers. Partial trip list below.....

Good birding,

Scott



Wilson's Warbler- Larch Hill, Amherst

Veery- Quabbin Park

Enfield Lookout -Quabbin

Black & White Warbler- Quabbin Park

Baltimore Oriole- Goodell Street Feeder

Location: Quabbin Park/H.Q.

Wild Turkey 1

Common Loon 10

Double-crested Cormorant 10

Turkey Vulture 4

Bald Eagle 1

Red-tailed Hawk 3

Spotted Sandpiper 4

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1

Least Flycatcher 3

Eastern Phoebe 2

Great Crested Flycatcher 1

Eastern Kingbird 2

Yellow-throated Vireo 5

Red-eyed Vireo 6
Warbling Vireo 2

Barn Swallow 1

Brown Creeper 1

House Wren 2

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2

Veery 2

Gray Catbird 8

Blue-winged Warbler 2

Northern Parula 3

Yellow Warbler 1

Chestnut-sided Warbler 12

Magnolia Warbler 1

Black-throated Blue Warbler 11

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 5

Black-throated Green Warbler 11

Blackburnian Warbler 3

Pine Warbler 3

Prairie Warbler 3

Black-and-white Warbler 7

American Redstart 6

Ovenbird 9

Common Yellowthroat 2

Scarlet Tanager 5

Eastern Towhee 7

Chipping Sparrow 8

Field Sparrow 2

Lincoln's Sparrow 1

Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1

Indigo Bunting 2

Baltimore Oriole 11

House Finch 1

American Goldfinch 12

LARCH HILL CONSERVATION AREA-AMHERST

Common Loon 1

Great Blue Heron 1

Turkey Vulture 1

Chimney Swift 2

Red-bellied Woodpecker 1

Eastern Phoebe 1

Carolina Wren 1

House Wren 2

Veery 1

Gray Catbird 5

Northern Mockingbird 2

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 5

Pine Warbler 2

American Redstart 2

Common Yellowthroat 2

Wilson's Warbler 1

Chipping Sparrow 2

White-crowned Sparrow (Eastern) 2

Baltimore Oriole 2

Pine Siskin 2

American Goldfinch 4