Carroll Lake

I went with some students to their site this morning to do bird surveys in the bog and forest around Carroll Lake. We stumbled across a few good finds, including a hermit thrush nest on the side of a forest road, where I almost stepped on the incubating female before she flushed!

hermit thrush nest

Otherwise, we heard a Canada warbler near the bog, with the usual Nashville warblers and golden-crowned kinglet. American redstarts seemed to be out in full force today, from morning birding through surveys, adding a bit of audible confusion for identification. For birding this morning, we went further down the red pine stand off Woodruff road to hear singing veeries and plenty of chestnut-sided warblers in the early succession area. Our raven flock was as noisy and present as ever, giving an entertaining show overhead.