Wood Frogs (and some locations)

   

   Right now is the right time to see Wood Frogs in vernal pools in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Wood Frogs take to vernal pools to find a mate and spawn in early spring. The males try to impress a female by making a quacking sound. I make a point every spring to see the Wood Frogs in the vernal pools. For me it feels as though I am saying hello to old friends. Seeing them, along with catching trout (in Mass) is truly the very beginning of spring.

   Over the weekend I went to multiple locations many of which had more than one vernal pool. Every single vernal pool I went to had Wood Frogs in it. I even went to a location in Norton, MA owned by the town preservation society that I had never been to before. I found eight different pools ranging from small ponds to puddles and all eight had Wood Frogs!

   I'd like to help you out with locations throughout the state that have vernal pools but I have enough places close to me in MA that I don't really have to chase them so I only know a couple spots in Rhode Island.

 In South County the Kettle Pond NWR has a vernal pool (I think it is actually Kettle Pond). If you pull into the lot and walk down the trail to Kettle Pond you should hear them before you see them.

   The Cumberland Monastery has multiple places where you will at least hear the frogs. You have a better chance of seeing them if you wear muck boots as the trails are muddy this time of year. If you wander the backside of Lincoln Woods off trail there are multiple vernal pools. I discovered them one year, too late to see any frogs. 

   

   Another good spot is Lime Rock Preserve, Lincoln owned by The Nature Conservancy. Once parked walk the trail that goes up the hill to the right. Once up the hill, just after you crest it, you will see a pool to your right. Walk to any spot with an opening and wait. Bring a towel to sit on because the ground can be wet.

   I have heard Wood Frogs in vernal pools at Great Swamp. There are many pools. Though I have never heard/seen any in the little pools just up from the parking lot, I have seen tadpoles of some species of amphibian. There are also pools hidden from trails that I only know about because  I heard frogs and went exploring ( I'm not holding out here, I just wouldn't know how to explain where they are)

   There are two very good spots not too far from Rhode Island. The closest is the Attleboro Springs Sanctuary in Attleboro. Once parked walk straight down the trail. Take a right at the first trail junction. You will walk along a pond which is loaded with bullfrogs and green frogs during warmer months. You will pass a dock at the far corner of the pond. Keep hugging the pond anther fifty feet. Just passed the pond there will be a vernal pool that goes under the boardwalk. There are many Wood Frogs and since boardwalk goes right over them, they have no fear of people and make wonderful photo subjects.

 

   My favorite place in the world to see Wood Frogs in Moose Hill Sanctuary in Sharon, MA. At the parking lot there is a wooden fence, where there is a space in the fence, walk through it and take the trail that goes right. Follow this trail over a couple of small hills for about five minutes. You will come to two vernal pools, one on each side of the trail. The first, on the right, is down a very steep hill. Don't bother going down there. Though you will see Wood Frogs from the trail in your binoculars. Keep walking and within thirty more seconds another pool will be on your left. There are a couple of side trails that lead to the water's edge. Again, a towel is helpful. You won't need to wait long to see frogs. Some of them will be curious about you and come to within a foot of the shoreline. All the little bumps in the water are Wood Frogs and not the top of sticks. I could sit here for hours. 

   The best piece of advice I can give is go see Wood Frogs as soon as you can. They don't stay long. There have been multiple times I've found Wood Frogs and brought a friend just a few days later and the water was deserted.

   Lastly, as I've said before the birding community is stronger if we help each other. If anyone reading this knows of other easy spots to see Wood Frogs, I ask you to write it in the comments on the OSBC Facebook page under this link.  Hopefully, we can have spots listed all across the state. Thanks for reading.

 

Woodcock Locations and Tips

 

You're not going to get a look like this when they 
display, but they will be interesting to watch.

   Right now is the right time to see American Woodcocks do their mating dance. Their ritual is one of the weirdest for a North American bird. They start the ritual a little past sunset when the male repeatedly makes a sound that sounds like a "peent". Then it flies up into the air in a strange flight that can go up to three hundred feet. Then it comes almost straight down at lightning speed and lands to do it all again.

  Woodcocks start their dance near dark. I tell people that they will start flying the second it is too dark to take a photo. I know many people are interested in seeing the Woodcock mating display. I suspect some people just don't know where to start while others may be put off because they will be driving home in the dark. I can't help you with the latter, but I can shorten the trip. I asked a bunch of birders throughout the state where to see Woodcocks display. They gave me spots throughout the state. Hopefully one of them is close enough for you to go see them.

  First some tips (and a story). I went to Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield, MA last week. We walked the trails and stayed late enough to see the Woodcocks. Also there was a lady that has heard them "peent" but hadn't actually seen one take off in her life. Daniel Webster is a great place to see Woodcocks display. There are a lot there and they are pretty much a sure bet. We talked to the lady as she staked out her spot near the field. We went up the small hill to the observation stand (I can't call it a tower, it is only three feet high. From our vantage point we had the same field in front of us. The tree line was at least 150 feet from us and we looked towards the sunset. 

   Sure enough we had Woodcocks. I heard at least seven all at once. We had great displays as we saw countless Woodcocks. They started while it was still light enough to follow them in the binoculars. We really couldn't see them go up until they cleared the tree line. Once in the sky they were easy to spot. It was cold and we had our fill after a few flights. We walked back towards the woman, pretty excited that she must have had great looks. She told us she didn't see any go up!

   I realized that she had put herself in a bad spot. Because she was so close to the trees she never saw them clear the tree line and get into the sky. I felt terrible for her. If I'd have known I'd have been happy to call her over. 

      Finally some useful advice-

So my advice is to try to give yourself a good sightline if you can. Back up to the far edge of a field. If you can get up high it will also help. Even if that elevation is only a few feet it could help. Lastly, the brightest part of the sky will be towards the setting sun. If Woodcocks happen to fly in that direction you will get better looks

Locations-

Honestly, when I want to go see Woodcocks in RI I just go to the Cumberland Monastery. It is only thirteen minutes from my house. However, I have seen them in other locations. Below is a list of locations I've seen them at or places birders I asked have seen them

Cumberland- Cumberland Monastery

Johnston- Snake Den (inconsistent)

South County- Trustom, Ninigret, Great Swamp

East Bay- Touisset Refuge (Warren) Mt Hope Farm (Bristol) Colt State Park (Bristol)

                I fully suspect Doug Raynor in Barrington

Aquidneck Island-  Norman Bird Sanctuary, Sachuest NWR (inconsistent) 

Jamestown- Fort Getty Rd,

Coventry area- Tillinghast Pond Management Area (loaded), the fields above Carbuncle Pond

Chepachet- Douglas Hill Road and Snake Hill Road

Thanks to Sue Palmer, Jess Bishop, Jan St Jean, Catherine Boisseau, Matt Schenck Al Schenck (not related), Mike Tucker, and Louise Ruggeri

Rhode Island Species Record broken in 2022!

   

Tim and Erin Metcalf on the pelagic
where we saw a Northern Pulmar.

   Under the category of better late than never, this blog post should have been written the first week of January. 

  Last year, the record for the number of species seen by a birder was broken by Tim Metcalf. The previous record was held by Carlos Pedro . Carlos ended up getting three hundred and nine species in 2020. This broke the previous record of 306 which was held by Jan StJean for many years.

   Tim shattered the record getting an unheard of number of 313. In December he tied the record with an Eared Grebe. After the grebe he got Red Crossbills, Ross's Goose, Tundra Swan,  and Sabine's Gull to end up at 313.

   I did two Rhode Island Big Year's and I chased every bird I could in 2019 and 2020. Those two years I ended up with 291 and 294 respectively. I can not tell you the level of commitment it took for me to reach those numbers. So it goes without saying, to get over three hundred species really is a year long commitment. So getting another thirteen species after reaching the holy grail of 300 is truly an epic year. 

  It is one thing to chase birds that other's have found but Tim is out just about everyday birding. His wife Erin told me that around 4 am Tim starts getting fidgety and restless in bed because he wants to be birding. The best bird Tim found on his own along with many others was a Sabine's Gull which I believe he saw at Pier 5 in Narragansett.

  Along with seeing birds on land, Tim was on the water a lot. He took the Block Island Ferry eleven times, not to visit the Block, but just look for birds in the water (best and really only place to see Black Guillemot are the waters below the cliffs at the north end while on the ferry). He took a dedicated pelagic on the Francis Fleet where he saw Norther Fulmar (I was on that trip and it was a lifer for me). He also went on multiple whale watches out of Galilee, again, not for whales but for birds. Between the dedicated pelagics and whale watches, he went out in the open ocean five times.

   Tim is a good friend of mine and we bird a lot. I had Friday's off from work in the spring and three weeks in a row we went to Great Swamp in the afternoon looking for early migrants. Each week while we were at the swamp we would get a message that a rare bird was reported. The rarest of these was a Common Gull found by Sam Miller at the Narragansett Sea Wall. We had to double time it back to our cars to go for these birds. We got very lucky with the Common Gull. We just made it to the seawall in time to see it. We watched for about 15 minutes then it decided to fly in a southernly direction. We were the last two to see it. I stuck around for another 90 minutes trying to help other birders that showed up to find it but it was no use. The bird was gone.

   I do not know if Tim's record will be broken any time soon. Anyone going for the record would need a lot of luck. First off, it would have to be a good finch year. Many years Crossbills, Grosbeaks, and Pine Siskins just don't come south. You'd need all the waterfowl to show including Canvasback and Tundra Swans along with rare geese such as Cackling and Ross's. You would also need quite a few rarities that you can never predict such as the Sabine's Gull Tim found.

   Lastly, you would need the burning drive to follow through all year. You can't take days off. Sure you might not plan on birding a particular day, but if that text comes in that there is a Tropical Kingbird at Watch Hill or a Pink Footed Goose in Tiverton you jump in the car and go try for it. You dip on one hundred percent of the birds you don't chase. Tim got lucky with so many rarities showing up, but he chased them all along with the finches. Most importantly, he put in his time. So this may be two months too late but congratulations to Tim Metcalf!