Kathie’s April Birds 2012

 Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker Lake Hayward, CT 4-29-12

It’s been a busy and birdy month around here with many new species arriving. I was gone for the last four day of the month with a visit to Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire! This helped fill out my monthly bird lists and more birds are arriving daily. I have already added one new species to my yard list for May with a Blue-headed vireo that showed up yesterday!

 Lake Hayward 4-29-12

With my visit down to Connecticut I was finally able to get back to Lake Hayward to count a few birds. Most of the ducks seem to be gone but I did see swallows swooping over the lake and I found a Yellow-rumped warbler in the woods near my brother's cabin. Lake Hayward is in Middlesex County which is separate from New London County where my mother lives. With a stop off in Killingly, which is in Windham County, on the way down I counted birds in three of Connecticut's eight counties this month.

Eastern Phoebe 4-7-12 Stirling Street Bog, Andover, MA

I started seeing and hearing phoebes at the beginning of the month.

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker at Bog 4-7-12

 

Red-bellied woodpecker at Sacred Heart Park, Andover, MA 4-7-12

I’ve been counting birds at the bog and the park on a regular basis. I saw a Palm Warbler here at the park on April 16th, but I haven’t seen ANY warblers since then.

Savannah Sparrow at Great Meadows NWR, Concord, MA 4-14-12

Taking a stroll through Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was so much fun, especially since I saw and photographed a Virginia Rail! This made species number 424 on my Life List!

Virginia Rail, Great Meadows NWR 4-14-12

 

Northern Cardinal at Sacred Heart Park 4-17-12

 

 Canada Goose in flight at the bog 4-23-12

I’ve seen Canada Geese just about everywhere, but this is one of my favorite photos I have taken of this species.

 Killdeer at Killingly Commons Mall, CT 4-26-12

I often stop here at Killingly Commons on my travels up and down the highway to take a restroom break and count birds. There is a retention pond and a wetland at the back of the parking lot where I have seen many different species.

Retention Pond at Killingly Commons 4-26-12

 

Song Sparrow at the Geremonty Marsh, Salem, NH 4-30-12

After returning from Maine the day before I headed up to New Hampshire to do errands on Monday. Of course, while I was there I did stop at the Geremonty Marsh first to count birds. Beside the numerous song sparrows I saw a pair of Tree Swallows coursing over the marsh. They were a new species for this location and I was so happy to add them to my eBird list! However, Swallows in flight are very hard to photograph and I never did get a decent shot, though I tried!

 Springtime at the Geremonty Marsh 4-30-2012

Though many of the trees are in flower or bud at the marsh I was surprised at how dull and gray the old marsh grasses and cattails look. The green has not begun to creep up here yet!

Geremonty Marsh and the Kelley Library in Salem, NH 4-30-2012

In my bird listing obsession I also counted birds at Petsmart, Target, and the Rockingham Mall before I finally left to go home.

 Turkey Vulture 4-30-12 Andover, MA

It was so funny to come home on Monday and find this turkey vulture roosting on the chimney across the street! He and his four companions formed a Committee of Vultures in the nearby trees!

My April eBird Stats

	Life	Year	Month
Total Species	424	97	58
Total checklists	4270	514	89
States Birded
Massachusetts	169	88	54
Connecticut	136	50	30
Maine	110	36	15
New Hampshire	63	30	27

All in all I counted birds in 4 states and 12 counties in the Month of April.

May Flowers/Bluets in Norridgewock, ME 4-29-12

With May Flowers in bloom now I wonder how many species I will see this month!