Over 300 Bird Species this Year
On May 1, I reached 300 bird species for this year. I had hoped to get to 300 species on my Savannah to New Orleans bike trip, but I ended that trip a bit short at 294. However, spring migration is starting to occur here in Massachusetts, so I have picked up 10 more species since returning bringing my total to 304. Above is a Yellow Warbler which is currently common in the area. Some will stay here for the summer, but some will continue farther north.
The first bird I added upon returning home was a Brown Creeper. These can be found in Massachusetts year round, I just had not seen one yet.
While I had seen a number of vireos on my trip, I had not seen a Warbling Vireo which is by far the most common vireo here during the summer.
Another common bird here is the Baltimore Oriole. While the detail is not great on this shot because the bird was a long ways away forcing me to crop heavily, I do like the composition of the image.
Today, Kate told me that she could hear a Magnolia Warbler in the apple trees by the side of our house. Happily, it was still there by the time I got my camera and started looking.
In addition to the Magnolia Warbler, Merlin (my bird sound identifying app) was convinced there was a Black-Throated Blue Warbler in the trees as well. It took about 20 minutes for me to find and photograph it, but eventually and was able to get this image.
Having had good luck this morning in our yard, I decided to mix some biking and birding. I grabbed my camera and bicycled to Bolton Flats, a good birding spot about 5 miles from my home. I could not find any new species at the main entrance even though Merlin could occasionally hear birds that I have not seen. Eventually, I decided to bicycle to a more remote access point and try my luck there. This is a picture near the more remote entrance I used.
As I headed into the wildlife management area, I came across this snake. I am not sure of its identification, but I think it might be an Eastern Rat Snake.
Shortly thereafter, I saw this Common Gartersnake.
And if that was not enough, I stumbled into two North American Racers when they hissed at me. They both looked to be about 4 feet long and did not seem to be interested in slithering away. My guess is that their den was nearby, so I decided I would give them a fair berth as I walked around.
I use Merlin while I am walking to help me know what birds are in the area. As I wandered between the snakes, Merlin kept telling me that there was a Blue-Winged Warbler nearby. If I could find it, it would be a new life list bird for me. I used the app to listen to its calls, and soon I was able to identify it by sound, but finding it was another story. I spent about 40 minutes searching for it. Sometimes I would see it briefly, but be unable to get a photograph before it flew off to another tree. I almost gave up when a heavy rain burst came through, but I stuck it out and was finally rewarded with this shot.
The Blue-Winged Warbler is species 381 for my US life list. I started the year with 281 on my US life list, so this bird was also my 100th new species of the year. Of the 281 species I had seen prior to 2025, I have now seen 214 of them this year and have 67 that I have not seen. I would guess that about half of them I have the potential to see in Massachusetts, but some of them would require me to travel out west. I know that there are a number of hummingbirds that I could only see in Arizona for example.
As I started this year, I wanted to see at least 400 species and held a slight hope that I might get up to 500. At this point, I would be extremely surprised if I do not get to 400. However, 500 still seems a long ways off, but who knows.