Bird Monitoring at Select Cranberry Bog Restoration Sites in Southeastern Massachusetts

Spring is always the most exciting time, for both bird scientists and bird enthusiasts: the anticipation of the new arrivals, the energetic increase in song, and the change in behavior and activity signifying a fundamental shift in the natural world. And of course, our nine spring surveys from April to mid-May documented all these changes - an increase in species and a beginning of breeding behaviors.

Shorter days and colder temperatures brought new species to the bogs in fall, both migrants passing through and new residents settling in for the winter.

On Sunday, I visited the Pinnacle Bogs in Plymouth (https://ebird.org/checklist/S115660071). I had noticed that shorebird migration had picked up significantly on the coast, and I was curious if I would find any shorebirds during my bog surveys. I was not disappointed. Thirty-four individuals of six species of shorebirds were using one of the basins at Pinnacle. Of particular note were seventeen Solitary Sandpipers, a Plymouth County high count for southern migration. These moderately sized shorebirds breed around ponds and marshes in the northern boreal forest, often using old songbird nests. In fact, they are the only North American shorebird to nest in trees. Solitary Sandpipers migrate south to Central and South America, passing through Massachusetts during spring and fall migrations, mainly using interior wet areas rather than beaches or ocean-side flats.

Over the last few weeks, Alan and Lisa have continued to conduct bird surveys visiting Mill Brook Bogs, Foothills Preserve, Pinnacle Bogs, South Meadow Reserve, and Holmes Bog. Nesting season is fully underway and on each visit, we've recorded a variety of energetically calling fledglings competing for their frantic parent's attention.

Lisa and Alan visited the Indian Brook Cranberry Bogs last Wednesday the 25th, their first visit to a DER Cranberry Bog Program Property. Even with restoration yet to start, the bird diversity was impressive. While the eBird checklist (https://ebird.org/checklist/S111237130) does not precisely reflect the data recorded for the actual DER survey, the 45 species they recorded during the morning show the potential this property has for birds.