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Owl Surveys: 01 January - 30 April
Though relatively common, the presence of breeding Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls in an area is always interesting. Winter
is the time to seek these species, as the cold months are the time when they are most actively calling to attract a mate and
define their territories. The Owl surveys will be the most casual of all the scheduled surveys. Basically, it can be assumed
that a calling Great Horned or Barred heard during the survey window is on a territory, therefore, simply reporting the observation
can give an idea about the number and distribution of these owls in an area. Observations can be collected opportunistically
(heard in the driveway while getting out of car, etc...), or actively (walking roads, driving at night and making stops to
listen, etc...). Just submit the time, date and location. Generally, Great Horned Owls inhabit uplands while Barred Owls
will be heard from wooded swamps. Click on the links below to hear the calls of each owl...
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
American Woodcock Surveys: 15 April - 01 June
- Woodcock fill a specific, and important, ecological niche at the interface of early successional habitat and open areas.
During spring and early summer evenings Woodcock can be seen and heard as they participate in elaborate display rituals that
include the nasally peent-ing heard from field edges to their dramatic courtship flights over the darkening landscape. These
surveys will attempt to create a baseline of known display grounds in the area so that habitat use of these birds can be better
quantified in the midst of sprawling development and habitat succession. Surveyors can chose any fields and openings to survey,
and for the most part, each field needs to be surveyed just once per year. Watching the Woodcock display is a true rite of
spring, and really, there is nothing much better than sitting on a stonewall at a pasture edge on a May evening as these birds
perform before you.
download data sheet
- Link to a great overview of Woodcock display by Marj Rines
Powerline Surveys: - 01 June - 15 July
- Powerlines are important areas of early successional habitat that support such declining species as Blue-winged Warbler,
Prairie Warbler, Indigo Bunting, Field Sparrow and Eastern Towhee. These surveys are designed to get a feel for what species
are using which sections of our local powerline easements while generating a baseline for determining just how important these
areas are when compared to other areas of local early successional habitat. These will be somewhat casual morning surveys
where participants will simply walk their chosen easements while noting the species and numbers of individuals observed.
This is a great opportunity to learn the songs of early successional breeders.
Grassland Bird Survey: - 01 June - 15 July
- Grassland birds are one of the fastest declining suites of birds in North America. In the East Quabbin area our grassland
birds (Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, Savannah Sparrows) are for most part restricted to active hayfields for their breeding
habitat. Unfortunately, the triple-threat of development, habitat succession and early hay cutting has made fields that are
consistently available for successful breeding increasingly rare in our area. These surveys will attempt to a) find fields
that are supporting breeding grassland birds and gauge their numbers, and b) note how many of these populated fields are able
to fledge young before they are hayed. These are relatively easy surveys that require an observer to spend 15-30 minutes
at the edge of the fields of their choice counting singing birds of the target species, and them, keep an eye on the field
to get the general date that it's been hayed. This is a great way to get to know an often-overlooked ecosystem.
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