Ipswich River – 105th annual ECOC canoe trip

We put in at the Rt. 97 pull off in Topsfield and took out at Willowdale Meadow, also in Topsfield. Almost our entire trip today was in the IPS 6 atlas block, and most of it was in the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. The weather was perfect–cloudy and windless all morning until the end, when it got sunny.

Number of species: 79

Canada Goose 100 rough estimate, including many young

Wood Duck 16

American Black Duck 1

Mallard 41 one hen had 10 babies

Pied-billed Grebe 1 calling rather constantly in Bunker Meadow, IRWS

Double-crested Cormorant 5

Great Blue Heron 7

Great Egret 1

Cooper’s Hawk 1

Broad-winged Hawk 1

Red-tailed Hawk 2

Eagle sp. 1

Spotted Sandpiper 1 very low due to high water

Solitary Sandpiper 2 very low due to high water

Greater Yellowlegs 1

Least Sandpiper 6

Herring Gull (American) 150 rough estimate of gulls soaring over a composting operation; they were too distant to identify other species

Mourning Dove 22

Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 seen and heard at IRWS canoe landing giving both the slow caow-caow-caow and the guttural songs

Black-billed Cuckoo 1 heard clearly at IRWS canoe landing giving typical cu-cu-cu song (both species are regular at the sanctuary)

Chimney Swift 3

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 3

Belted Kingfisher 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker 10

Downy Woodpecker 10

Hairy Woodpecker 2

Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 5 one pair at nest

Pileated Woodpecker 4

Eastern Wood-Pewee 5

Empidonax sp. 1 silent; we were not in a position to see field marks well

Eastern Phoebe 2

Great Crested Flycatcher 16

Eastern Kingbird 30 nest-building by several pairs

White-eyed Vireo 1 adult male sang clearly at Willowdale Meadow where we took out

Yellow-throated Vireo 15 This is a riverine species! These were all singing males

Warbling Vireo 47 This one too!

Red-eyed Vireo 2

Blue Jay 2

American Crow 8

Tree Swallow 200 rough estimate; nesting everywhere in the multitude of snags

Barn Swallow 20 rough estimate

Black-capped Chickadee 9

Tufted Titmouse 12

White-breasted Nuthatch 14 one pair at nest

House Wren 4

Marsh Wren 1

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 20 another riverine species

Eastern Bluebird 11

Wood Thrush 1 our only spotted thrush of the entire morning

American Robin 16

Gray Catbird 12

Northern Mockingbird 2

European Starling X very few, actually

Cedar Waxwing 8

Blue-winged Warbler 1

Northern Parula 12

Yellow Warbler 46

Magnolia Warbler 3

Black-throated Blue Warbler 1

Pine Warbler 5

Blackpoll Warbler 8

Black-and-white Warbler 7

American Redstart 9

Ovenbird 7

Northern Waterthrush 2

Common Yellowthroat 84 they greatly outnumbered the yellow warblers today

Eastern Towhee 1

Chipping Sparrow 5

Song Sparrow 18

Swamp Sparrow 5

Northern Cardinal 7

Rose-breasted Grosbeak 13

Indigo Bunting 1

Red-winged Blackbird 250 rough estimate

Common Grackle 150 rough estimate

Brown-headed Cowbird 2

Orchard Oriole 1 immature male singing

Baltimore Oriole 37

House Finch 2

American Goldfinch 11