Category: Sightings

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/19/19 Observation Time: 7:30 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Northern Flicker Scientific Name: Colaptes auratus Comments: Flickers are woodpeckers, but they are unusual in that they eat ants and beetles on the ground. They are sometimes called yellow-shafted flickers. The last photo below shows the yellow feathers on the underside of its tail. This individual was […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/19/19 Observation Time: 6:55 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: American Goldfinch (male) Scientific Name: Carduelis tristis Comments: This common finch travels in groups. Its song sounds like “per-chick-o-ree, per-chick-o-ree” interspersed with an occasional mewing sound. More Information: All About Birds

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/13/19 Observation Time: 11:00 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Hairy Woodpecker Scientific Name: Picoides villosus Comments: Hairy woodpeckers look like downy woodpeckers, but they are larger. This one worked for hours to hollow out a hole for nesting high up in a dead tree. Woodpecker species can be differentiated by the drumming sound they make, as […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/13/19 Observation Time: 11:00 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Eastern Bluebird Scientific Name: Sialia sialis Comments: This male was guarding the territory near a nesting box where his mate had laid her blue eggs. More Information: All About Birds

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/13/19 Observation Time: 10:00 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Ovenbird Scientific Name: Seiurus aurocapilla Comments: This is one of the most common birds in the woods at Moose Hill. Learn to recognize its song, an insistent, piercing ‘tea-Cher, tea-Cher, tea-CHER, Tea-CHER, TEA-CHER’, and you will be able to find them. Ovenbirds are warblers. Their name comes from […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/13/19 Observation Time: 9:00 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Wild Turkey Scientific Name: Meleagris gallopavo Comments: As wild turkey numbers dwindled through the early twentieth century, people began to look for ways to reintroduce this valuable game bird. Initially they tried releasing farm turkeys into the wild but those birds didn’t survive. In the 1940s, people began […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/13/19 Observation Time: 8:20 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Magnolia Warbler Scientific Name: Setophaga magnolia Comments: These gorgeous little birds pass through Sharon in early May on their northward migration. Learn to recognize their song to improve your chances of seeing one. More Information: All About Birds

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/13/19 Observation Time: 7:45 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Black-throated Blue Warbler Scientific Name: Setophaga caerulescens Comments: Black-throated blue warblers pass through Sharon in early May on their northward migration. Learn to recognize their buzzy “zree–zree–zreeeee” song to improve your chances of seeing one. Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPKuQB1bEqs. You can monitor the bird migration in spring by keeping an […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/13/19 Observation Time: 7:30 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Mourning Dove Scientific Name: Zenaida macroura Comments: The mourning dove is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American bird species. It is also a leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S., both […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/13/19 Observation Time: 7:00 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Baltimore Oriole (female) Scientific Name: Icterus galbula Comments: Baltimore oriole females are much drabber than the bright-orange males. This acrobatic individual seemed to be eating the petals of this flowering crabapple tree. More Information: All About Birds

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/11/19 Observation Time: 7:45 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Yellow-rumped Warbler Scientific Name: Setophaga coronata Comments: The western sub-species of yellow-rumped warbler has a bright yellow throat. The eastern sub-species, also known as a myrtle warbler, has a white throat. More Information: All About Birds

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/11/19 Observation Time: 10:50 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: House Wren Scientific Name: Troglodytes aedon Comments: This house wren was nowhere near a human habitation. House wrens often fill bluebird nesting boxes chock full of twigs, presumably to prevent other birds from nesting in their territory. More Information: All About Birds.org

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/11/19 Observation Time: 10:30 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Black-and-white Warbler Scientific Name: Mniotilta varia Comments: Black and white warblers make a high-pitched squeaking sound like a turning wheel that needs to be oiled. They are most often found scurrying up and down tree trunks and branches looking under the bark for insect larvae. The one in […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/11/19 Observation Time: 9:45 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Black-throated Blue Warbler Scientific Name: Setophaga caerulescens Comments: Black-throated blue warblers pass through Sharon in early May on their northward migration. Learn to recognize their buzzy “zree–zree–zreeeee” song to improve your chances of seeing one. Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPKuQB1bEqs. You can monitor the bird migration in spring by keeping an […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/11/19 Observation Time: 8:15 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Magnolia Warbler Scientific Name: Setophaga magnolia Comments: These gorgeous little birds pass through Sharon in early May on their northward migration. Learn to recognize their song to improve your chances of seeing one early on a clear morning at the end of April or in early May. More […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/11/19 Observation Time: 8:00 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Pileated Woodpecker Scientific Name: Dryocopus pileatus Comments: I found this bird by following the sound of its hammering. It was in the exact same location as it was on May 7, 2019. Shortly after I took this photo, I saw it mate with another pileated woodpecker. More Information: Audubon […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/11/19 Observation Time: 7:30 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Eastern Towhee (male) Scientific Name: Pipilo erythrophthalmus Comments: Towhees are common birds in Sharon, especially along edges between woods and open fields, but they are heard more than seen. The male’s song sounds like he’s singing, “Drink your tea.” They are sometimes seen scratching among dead leaves on the […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/9/19 Observation Time: 6:45 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Scarlet tanager (orange variant) Scientific Name: Piranga olivacea Comments: Male scarlet tanagers are typically bright red with jet black wings (females are drab green). This male, however, was as orange as a Baltimore oriole. Its song was unquestionably that of a scarlet tanager. More Information:  Flickr

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/8/19 Observation Time: 11:13 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Ovenbird Scientific Name: Seiurus aurocapilla Comments: This is one of the most common birds in the woods at Moose Hill. Learn to recognize its song, an insistent and loud ‘tea-Cher, tea-Cher, tea-CHER, Tea-CHER, TEA-CHER’, and you will be able to find them. More Information: All About Birds

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/8/19 Observation Time: 11:10 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Scarlet Tanager Scientific Name: Piranga olivacea Comments: Scarlet tanagers often play host to eggs of the brown-headed cowbird (male and female shown below), particularly where the forest habitat has been fragmented. When a pair of tanagers notices a female cowbird approaching, they aggressively drive her away. If they […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/8/19 Observation Time: 10:20 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Red-bellied woodpecker Scientific Name: Melanerpes carolinus Comments: I kept hearing their distinctive kwirr call in a certain area, so I investigated. When I finally spotted them, I saw they were nesting in a cavity high in a dead tree. Sharon is at the northern edge of the red-bellied […]

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/8/19 Observation Time: 9:40 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Eastern Bluebird Scientific Name: Sialia sialis Comments: This male was guarding the territory surrounding a nesting box where his mate had laid her blue eggs. More Information: All About Birds

Observer: Paul Lauenstein Observation Date: 5/8/19 Observation Time: 9:15 a.m. Observation Location: Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary Common Name: Blue-gray gnatcatcher Scientific Name: Polioptila caerulea Comments: The blue-gray gnatcatcher is the northernmost-occurring species of gnatcatcher, and the only truly migratory one. Most members of its genus are resident in Central and South America. The nesting range of blue-gray gnatcatchers has been shifting northward since the early twentieth […]