Cranberry Bogs 4/17--Barn Swallow, House Wren

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

There is a sand pit at the Cranberry Bogs right off Dover Road that I so want to see nesting Bank Swallows in that this morning, when I saw brown swallows flying over it and landing on the side of the pit where there were holes in the side, I almost convinced myself that finally the Bank Swallows had found a new place to nest. Alas, both the swallows and the holes were too big and what I had were Northern Rough-winged Swallows and holes that looked more like dens for mammals than birds.  And when I consider it unselfishly, I actually don't want Bank Swallows to nest there because I'm certain some jerk in an ATV will destroy the side of the pit by driving down it. 

However, I did manage to find quite an assortment of birds there, including my first Barn Swallows of the year and my first House Wren, singing around the buildings, where one or two are reliably found at this spot. It is also getting a little trickier to walk around there--where the grass is high, which is about half the trails, the ticks are active, so I walked a route I don't usually take. That course doesn't take me past the bogs where the snipe and Killdeers have been, but fortunately, they've move to a different bog with mud flats and I was able to list both species

House Wren

42 species
Canada Goose  5
Wood Duck  2     Hen & drake
Mallard  5
Ring-necked Duck  2
Mourning Dove  4
Killdeer  1     
Wilson's Snipe  3     
Laughing Gull  1
Great Blue Heron  2
Great Egret  5
Turkey Vulture  1
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Phoebe  2
Blue Jay  4
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  1
Common Raven  1     Back reservoir
Carolina Chickadee  8
Tufted Titmouse  1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  5
Tree Swallow  25
Barn Swallow  6
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1     Heard woods
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
House Wren  1     Buildings
Carolina Wren  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
American Robin  5
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  1
Chipping Sparrow  2
Field Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  4
Eastern Towhee  15
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Brown-headed Cowbird  4
Common Grackle  1
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  5
Pine Warbler  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  4

Tree Swallow on very old nest box in middle of reservoir