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INSTITUTE FOR FIELD ORNITHOLOGY

2004 IFO Birding by Ear Report

Instructor: Mark Suomala . 6 - 11 June 2005 . Gorham, New Hampshire

Mourning Warbler. Photo by Mark Suomala.

This year's Birding by Ear Workshop was once again based in Gorham. Our first field-trip was to the Pondicherry Sanctuary and Wildlife Refuge and the nearby Whitefield Airport Marsh. There were so many species to hear that the first day was a bit overwhelming with highlights including a Black-billed Cuckoo calling from the parking lot of our lodging in the early morning (!), 9 warbler species including Canada and Nashville, Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos, and Veery, Hermit and Wood Thrushes. White-throated Sparrows sang their trademark "Sam Peabody" song from many locations, and the Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers "rat-a-tat-tatted" their Morse code-like drumming from the aspens. In our classroom session, we listened to recordings of some of the species we had just heard in the field and considered various approaches to learning and memorizing them.

A Mourning Warbler singing persistently from an open perch within 50 feet, and a nice flock of Evening Grosbeaks calling were some of the highlights of our next day's activities, as we explored the wetlands and mixed forest found in the York Pond Fish Hatchery area. We managed to locate the song of a Philadelphia Vireo singing among the birches where we had seen one on a nest the previous year, and with careful listening, we could just manage to hear the difference in its voice from the more numerous Red-eyed Vireos. Later in the morning, one of our last stops enabled us to see and hear a pair of Rusty Blackbirds in a wooded swamp. New warblers for us to hear on this day included Blackburnian and Bay-breasted Warblers, and Northern Waterthrush.

Pontook Marsh. Photo by Mark Suomala.

At Pontook Marsh in Dummer on our third morning out, we heard and saw several Wilson's Snipe, both winnowing and giving their "beak, beak, beak" calls, an American Bittern, and several Virginia Rails. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak landed nearby in the open and gave us all a good look as it sang its robin-like song. The Bald Eagles that we saw sitting near their nest didn't vocalize for us, but no one seemed to mind. After briefly using a broadcast tape, and discussing the ethics of using recordings, we headed farther north along the Androscoggin River and made several stops. We heard Olive-sided Flycatcher, Winter Wren, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Black-throated Blue Warbler, and we also were lucky enough to see both an American Kestrel and a Cooper's Hawk on territory. We kept practicing identifying the birds and used a combination of mnemonics, field-drawn sonograms, and written descriptions of the song to keep building our skills. In the evening we went out to listen for owls and we were rewarded with a close-encounter with a Barred Owl that flew close to us and called from a nearby tree branch.

On Friday morning we headed over to Cannon Mountain and took the tram to the summit area. As we started along the trail, we heard a Bicknell's Thrush calling its "veer" call note, and with a little exploration we were able to find several more that were both calling and singing, as well as several Swainson's Thrushes. Blackpoll and Yellow-rumped Warblers flitted through the Red Spruce and Balsam Fir trees, while three Broad-winged Hawks soared overhead, and vocalized their high-pitched whistles. We then went back down the mountain and walked a nearby trail through some low-elevation spruce-fir forest and were thrilled to encounter a Black-backed Woodpecker about 20 feet away and calling its soft chip-note. In the afternoon we reviewed what we had learned during the week, and then had an enjoyable final dinner together.

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ABA Institute for Field Ornithology, ABA
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