April 28/29/30 - Great Gull Island

This past weekend we did the move out to Great Gull Island to start the 2017 field season. Matthew Male has actually been out on the island for a couple of weeks now clearing areas with the tractor. We were supposed to go out last weekend, but the seas were too rough for a landing so we had to put it off for a week. This week we made it out with all the gear from the Museum as well as loads of lumber and firewood. Matthew had seen a few tern scouts during the week and about sixty birds Friday (04/28) morning. A couple of hundred Common Terns and three Roseate Terns came in Saturday before sunup and more birds on Sunday. Saturday morning in the fog a number of migrants also dropped out of the sky. The pines by the Carpenter Shop attracted most of the passerines seen. Over the weekend we found 55 species, with 50 on Saturday alone. The list is below with a few pictures.

Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Common Eider
White-winged Scoter
Red-breasted Merganser
Common Loon
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Purple Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Roseate Tern
Common Tern
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Blue-headed Vireo
American Crow
Barn Swallow
Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Gray-cheeked Thrush (1, early for this species and rare on Great Gull Island)
Hermit Thrush
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Ovenbird
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbbird displaying

Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch