Location: Topsfield
Saturday, May 23
7:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Guides:
Marion Bates
Fee: No additional fee
Description
This tour will have a workshop feel because there will be a heavy focus on reliable visual and audio clues for bird identification, close views of birds for the beginner or photographer, habitat preferences of breeding birds, and how to make your backyard or woodlot more bird-friendly.
Half of the time will be spent in boreal forest. Habitat loss has made it much more difficult to find Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, Canada Jay, and Boreal Chickadee, but we will be visiting areas with the best chance of finding these species, plus Olive-sided and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, and both Crossbill species.
A quarter of the time will be spent in northern hardwood forest, enjoying Scarlet Tanagers and Blackburnian Warblers as we search for Mourning Warblers in spots with early regeneration.
The final quarter of the time will be spent on my 38 acre woodlot, Hunt Ridge Sanctuary, where you will learn how careful management can produce a backyard, field, or forest that is a magnet for birds, during any season of the year.
We will likely saunter 4-5 miles, on easy walking surfaces, and the blackflies and mosquitoes will be swarming. Bring plenty of bug repellent, clothing that covers your skin, plenty of water, and lunch.
Meeting Place
Topsfield Post Office
GPS Coordinates: 45.415112, -67.735104
Meet at the Topsfield Post Office, on the left on US 1 just before the junction with Rte 6. This is 34 miles north of the Moosehorn NWR HQ in Baring. Travel time from the Festival HQ in Trescott is close to two hours. The closest location to fill up on gas, pick up drinks and snacks, and use the restrooms is the Irving Station in Princeton, 16 miles south on US 1.
Meeting Place Map