Attack of the Woodcock

At our last Naturalist Gathering we were lucky enough to flush not one but three woodcock from the shrub lands surrounding Aton Forest Headquarters.  Though these bird's entertaining breeding rituals have came and went, they still persist in their preferred scrubby habitat.  These sightings were certainly welcomed by all of the folks who came by that Thursday, though some of us almost got clipped by one particular woodcock that flew right at us.  Everyone walked away without a scrape, but it was close.  Just another exciting wildlife encounter at the forest.

American Woodcock

Breeding Bird Survey Results

On June 15th and 16th Aton Forest conducted its annual Breeding Bird Survey.  Two AF staff members and four volunteers followed two bird lines with a total of 20 observation points.  These lines follow both North Colebrook Road and South Sandisfield Road, passing a number of habitat types.  Here's a compiled list of species observed over the two days (specific species counts were recorded but are not present here).  Data from the survey was entered into eBird, a database managed by Cornell and the National Audubon Society.

1. American crow
2. American goldfinch
3. American redstart
4. American robin
5. Barred owl
6. Black-and-white warbler
7. Blackburnian warbler
8. Black-capped chickadee
9. Black-throated blue warbler
10. Black-throated green warbler
11. Blue jay
12. Blue-headed vireo
13. Bobolink
14. Broad-winged hawk
15. Brown creeper
16. Brown-headed cowbird
17. Cedar waxwing
18. Chestnut-sided warbler
19. Chipping sparrow
20. Common yellowthroat
21. Downy woodpecker
22. Eastern bluebird
23. Eastern kingbird*
24. Eastern phoebe
25. Eastern towhee
26. Eastern wood-pewee
27. European starling*
28. Great blue heron
29. Grey catbird
30. Hairy woodpecker
31. Hermit thrush
32. House wren
33. Least flycatcher
34. Mourning dove
35. Northern flicker
36. Northern waterthrush
37. Ovenbird
38. Pileated woodpecker
39. Pine warbler
40. Purple finch
41. Red-breasted nuthatch*
42. Red-eyed vireo
43. Red-shouldered hawk*
44. Red-winged blackbird
45. Rose-breasted grosbeak
46. Ruby-throated humingbird
47. Scarlet tanager
48. Slate-colored junco
49. Song sparrow
50. Tree swallow
51. Tufted titmouse
52. Veery
53. White-breasted nuthatch
54. Wild turkey
55. Winter wren
56. Wood thrush
57. Yellow warbler
58. Yellow-bellied sapsucker
59. Yellow-rumped warbler
60. Yellow-throated vireo

* Heard/seen between point counts

We'd like to thank our volunteers Ayreslea Denny, Mike Aurelia, Bob Barbieri, and Fran Zygmont.  If you are interested in helping us out with bird related projects please drop us a line at contact@atonforest.org.

Bears Make An Appearance

Black bears have been stirring in the area for a few months now and have just recently waltzed right in front of Headquarters.  About a week ago I was working in the driveway and noticed from the corner of my eye an apple tree moving violently around.  I thought to myself that the wind wasn't blowing that hard, and then I saw a big black object through the shrubs.  At first I thought bear, but then came to think maybe John was out in the field checking on the tree..then I thought bear again as I saw its brown muzzle (also because of the fact that John wasn't in the field after I called out to him).  The beast took its time heading down the hill to Balder Brook and it was at this time that we could see a second bear following closely behind (both adults) - they left behind a pile of scat and some deep tracks through the waterlogged soil.  We suspect they were checking out the tree for apples, though they were quite small at that point.  I'm sure they'll start to smell the blueberries soon enough - it looks like we're going to have a bumper crop.

-Ryan

Black Bear Tracks

Nantucket Shadbush Opens Up

A couple of days ago (Tuesday, May 7th to be exact) we noticed that out Amelanchier nantucketensis (Nantucket Shadbush) has decided to bloom.  This was observed at our largest patch, there now being five separate sites located throughout Aton Forest, two recently discovered.  Once thought to be restricted to coastal areas centered around Nantucket Island, it has somewhat recently been accepted that it is established outside of these areas and has been identified in upland locations such as the Taconic Plateau and Aton Forest.  On Tuesday the plants at this site were about 10% in bloom, yesterday that jumped to about 50%.  Sadly, these flowers won't last long.  We're glad we got to see them!

A. nantucketensis shares the genus of three other shadbush native to Aton Forest (more in the region) that have all been in bloom: arborea, canadensis, and laevis.  For more information check out the New England Wildflower Society's GoBotany website:

http://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/species/amelanchier/nantucketensis/

Warblers & Spring!

Members of the Litchfield Hills Audubon Society were here at Aton Forest on today, April 20th, 2013, and the birding was productive, despite storms last night and rain this morning. The skies cleared and temps were in the upper 40's by 8 am and we observed 41 bird species. Thanks to Fran Zygmont for setting up this event.

• turkey vulture
• Canada goose
• mallard
• wood duck
• common merganser
• hooded merganser
• ring-necked duck
• Cooper’s hawk
• sharp-shinned hawk
• broad-winged hawk
• red-tailed hawk
• belted kingfisher
• yellow-bellied sapsucker
• downy woodpecker
• hairy woodpecker
• northern flicker
• pileated woodpecker
• eastern phoebe
• tree swallow
• barn swallow
• American crow
• common raven
• black-capped chickadee
• tufted titmouse
• white-breasted nuthatch
• brown creeper
• winter wren
• golden-crowned kinglet
• eastern bluebird
• American robin
• yellow-rumped warbler
• pine warbler
• palm warbler
• white-throated sparrow
• song sparrow
• dark-eyed slate-colored junco
• red-winged blackbird
• brown-headed cowbird
• purple finch
• house finch
• American goldfinch