A frosty May morning turned into a perfect day at West Rutland Marsh.
With starting temperatures in the 30s, May’s walk certainly didn’t start out feeling much like spring, but sunny skies and warming turned it into a perfect day at West Rutland Marsh.
Despite not hearing a Virginia Rail or an American Bittern (one person heard a bittern before the official start of the walk), ten participants managed to tally 82 species. This doesn’t include the Blue-winged/Golden-winged Warbler, which we could only identify by sound (neither of these species are reliable voice alone as they can frequently sound like each other and there are many hybrids) along with a falcon, not identified to species.
The morning started off with Marsh Wrens and Swamps Sparrows singing all around the boardwalk. The Alder Flycatchers returned within the past few days and today was the first time hearing Willow Flycatchers for many of us this season.
A Spotted Sandpiper was standing on the railing of the boardwalk and soon after that a Green Heron flew over, landing and disappearing nearby.
This may be shaping up to be a good year for cuckoos. Four Black-billed Cuckoos were heard and we saw plenty of tent caterpillars for them to eat.
Raptors included a Broad-winged Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk and a falcon we could identify, a Merlin.
May is warbler month! We tallied 16 species including Tennessee and Bay-breasted. We were fairly sure we heard the Bay-breasted Warbler high in the trees along the Whipple Hollow Trail (it was identified by the Merlin ID app as well). Finally, perseverance paid off and some of us saw enough of the bird to confirm its presence visually. Northern Waterthrushes were singing enthusiastically especially along the Whipple Hollow Trail.
Our next marsh walk is scheduled for Saturday, June 20, at 7 a.m., meeting at the Marble Street boardwalk.
A complete list of today’s birds can be found here.