Winter Birds

On Saturday January 18th we headed out for a walk around the property in hopes of finding some of the birds that call Aton Forest home for the winter.  Joining John and myself were Mike Aurelia (AF President) and birder Ayerslea Denny.  Here's what we saw (and heard):

1. Great horned owl
2. Downy woodpecker
3. Blue jay
4. American crow
5. Black-capped chickadee
6. Tufted Titmouse
7. Red-breasted nuthatch
8. White-breasted nuthatch
9. Eastern bluebird
10. American robin
11. Dark-eyed junco
12. Purple finch
13. American goldfinch

- Ryan Williams (Conservation Assistant)

A male Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)

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.