Cranberry Bogs 3/6--Eastern Phoebe, Tree Swallow

Eastern Phoebe

Precursor of spring: The Eastern Phoebe? 

I looked up the dictionary definition of "precursor" to see if the modifier "early" was redundant. It isn't, though "late" would be nonsensical. The usage example cited was "The first robin is a precursor of spring." Of course, it isn't, but accuracy isn't necessary when showing usage. Maybe in Maine it's true. 

Phoebes aren't all that unusual in winter either--I remember that the January day after Shari & I found the lapwings in New Egypt, I had a phoebe at Double Trouble. There's been one at Wells Mills Park this year reported off and on all winter. I didn't bother to go there; I figured I'd get a phoebe this year or else I had much bigger problems. But the cranberry bogs (the undeveloped section of Double Trouble, I'd like to know the history, whether it was part of the original Double Trouble cranberry operation or a separate entity) are only about 15 minutes away from here, so I've been traipsing around there a lot this season. 

Sunrise this morning was 6:23 and that is the precise time that my eBird list starts. It was very spring-like in terms of bird song. It seemed like everybody was singing at the proverbial crack of dawn. As soon as I got over the entrance hump, I could hear, among the cacophony of birds calling, the aggressive FEEBEE! from which the bird takes its name. The bird, however, was a good distance away, over by the buildings (a barracks, a storage shed, some kind of the cinderblock construction) and I walked over there to look for it. Normally, I wouldn't bother, but since this was FOY, I wanted to actually see it, and if possible, get some kind of photo to document it, as it is still flagged as "rare" for this time of year. 

I could hear the bird as if it was on top of me, standing by the barracks, but I have hard time locating birds by sound. They always seem like they're behind me, no matter what direction I'm facing. Of course, as soon as I finally found the bird, it flew off toward one of the bogs. I kept following it, as it moved from tree to tree, getting lots of crummy photos, until it relented and flew to the top of a tree where I was able to take a mediocre photo. More effort than I would normally put into a bird, but it was early. 

Tree Swallow

I then decided to walk back towards the big reservoir, which meant wading through a flooded path that seems to be getting deeper and longer each time I go there, which is why I always put on my muck boots there. There were lots of ducks along the way, mostly Ring-necked Ducks, and the blackbirds were singing, establishing territory. I don't think I've seen a female yet this season. When I got to the reservoir, I checked out the ancient swallow box that is stuck in the middle of the water--sometimes it is still used, but not today. Then I heard twittering. (Ever notice that Twitter's logo is a stylized swallow?) Looking up I saw 3 or 4 Tree Swallows swooping around. For me, this is pretty late in the year to get Tree Swallow--one or two are usually around one of the beaches I go to, living on bayberry fruit until the bugs come out, but until today, they managed to avoid me this year. 

After about an hour, the singing died down (except for the blackbirds). When I got back to the buildings, on my way out, I could still hear the phoebe's raspy "song," and I saw a Cooper's Hawk and a Hairy Woodpecker in the same area. For the morning, I tallied 26 species

Canada Goose  6     6+
American Black Duck  35     Flushed big flock from shallow bog
Ring-necked Duck  41
Bufflehead  2
Hooded Merganser  11
Mourning Dove  2
Herring Gull  2
Cooper's Hawk  1     
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Hairy Woodpecker  1     
Northern Flicker  1     Heard
Eastern Phoebe  1     
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  5
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tree Swallow  4     
Golden-crowned Kinglet  3
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1     Heard near big pit
Carolina Wren  1     Heard
Field Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  3
White-throated Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  15
Red-winged Blackbird  30
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  2