for the birds: osprey hunt

For whatever reason I have decided to record my bird sighting and experiences on the blog.  Last Saturday, the local bird club went osprey hunting.  The osprey usually arrive on the south coast of Massachusetts toward the end of March.  We traveled around the towns of Fairhaven, Mattapoisett, Marion, and Wareham (map) and checked the local osprey platforms for any activity.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we were hoping to see the first glimpses of the osprey for the year.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any osprey.

We did however see lots of other birds.  We listed for the day:
 Common Loon (in breeding plumage), Double-crested Cormorant, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Mallard, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Red-tailed Hawk, Killdeer, Herring Gull, Gull, Great Blacked-Back Gull, Mourning Dove, Northern Flicker, Tree Swallow, Carolina Wren, American Robin, Blue Jay, American Crow, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch (in basic or winter plumage), House finch, Song Sparrow, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, and the very common House Sparrow.  27 Species in all.  

Bird of the week: Double-crested Cormorant.  It was the first one of the year for me.  And I spotted its head near the shoreline before anyone else.

First sighting for the year:  Double-crested Cormorant, Common Merganser, and Tree Swallow

Life Birds: None 


(Life) Birds I want to see this year:   
American Kestrel (seen on 2/27/2010) 
Horned Lark 
Eastern Meadowlark
An owl