Summer 2025 Bird Report

June 1 to August 31, 2025

Illustration by ARL

Bird Facts I Found Notable Enough to Save in a Note:

As of June 2025, scientists estimate there are roughly 50 billion birds on Earth.
There are approximately 11,500 species of birds as of August 2025.
Birds are very fragile animals.
Birds are truly dinosaurs (the term dinosaur needs a revamp)
Dinosaurs slept like modern birds do, sometimes tucked their heads under their arms/wings.
Birds are incredibly successful evolvers.
The predawn bird chorus is most likely caused by the fact that sound travels further in cool morning air.
Feathers were developed before flight.

Bird-related Media Consumed:

Birds of Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of North America by Pete Dunne, Kevin T. Karlson
The Science of Birds podcast
Weekly Bird Report podcast
eBird, Merlin, talking to bird people, and tons of random articles and websites (I’ll try to do a better job at tracking these)

Catalogus specierum

American robin (Turdus migratorius)

Photo (AMRO1) of a robin too fat to fly.

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

On Bald Eagle nestmaking: “Both sexes contribute sticks to the structure, but the female does the arrangement.” — Birds of Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of North America by Pete Dunne, Kevin T. Karlson. June. First time I truly encountered a Bald Eagle in the wild was at Nonquitt Marsh on June 18, 2025, at 6:45pm. I had Merlin open and it picked up one Bald Eagle and then another.

Did catch a photo of one in the trees across from the Observation Deck.

BAEA1

July. Didn’t see another Eagle until July 7 at 3:25pm. Got a great look.

Then grabbed an audio recording at 7:26pm on July 18.

There have been many interactions between Osprey and Eagles. This video was taken on July 23 at 7:12pm after the Eagle landed and conveyed its annoyance to a tailing Osprey.

BAEA4

The next day I briefly saw the same Eagle back at the Marsh. A month later, August 23, I immediately saw an Eagle alone across from the Deck but it took off soon after I arrived back towards the ocean. Apparently it was a big loop because shortly after the Eagle returned and at least 10 Osprey took flight making a racket while chasing the Eagle Northwest. Caught the audio.

BAEA6

On August 28, a Bald Eagle landed on a sunken log out in the roadside pond part of the marsh. Still sitting there looking around spreading its wing as a couple times walked back-and-forth.

The Eagle took off, flying towards me and the Ospreys intercepted it as it went Northwest.

Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

Photo (CEDW1) taken at the Marsh on July 27. True to its form on every puzzle and in every book, it was eating berries. Lifer.

BAEA8

Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)

Lifer at the Marsh on June 18.

Cooper’s hawk (Astur cooperii)

Photo (COHA1) taken down the street of a Cooper’s hawk with a fresh kill on July 10.

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

Photo (GLIB1) taken at the Marsh on June 18. Saw them in pretty large groups of 7 or 8 a few times at the Marsh this summer.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Photo (GBHE1) taken in Bellingham, Mass., on June 21. Nearly twenty nests are all clustered.

Photo (GBHE2) taken at Carolyn’s Pond at Egypt Lane in Fairhaven on August 24.

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Photo (GRHE1) taken at Egypt Lane in Fairhaven on August 24.

Harris’s hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)

Photo (HRSH1) taken of a female Harris’s hawk (non-native) during a beginner falconry course in Hadley, Mass. She was the demonstrator bird, and it was so much fun to watch her. She’d fly off into the trees, with a bell on her leg, and you would hear her come up from behind you. Apparently, last class she killed a catbird right in front of everyone. In the photo, she is hunting for snails, which are abundant in wet summer fields. Harris’s hawks and, I believe, most other birds of prey can see snail trails through the UV spectrum. Thus making it quite easy for her to collect a bunch.

The video features a younger male who wasn’t flown. He seemed less cool than her.

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)

Photo (HOFI1) taken on my front porch. The technology I use to keep my grill free from overhead bird bombs seemed no issue for a late-season (August 2) clutch.

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferous)

Photo (KILL1) taken on the UMass Dartmouth campus on July 10. They had a nest next to where I park every day.

Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)

Lifer at the Marsh on July 24.

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

Lifer at the Marsh on July 28.

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)

Photo (MODO1) taken at the Tripp Athletic Center in Dartmouth, Mass., on the morning of August 12. Great look at its hallux.

Northern House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

Lifer at Tully Pond in Orange, Mass., on July 1.

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis)

“Osprey’s long, crooked wings may in fact be an adaptation to withstand the jolting impact of a large bird striking water.” — Birds of Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of North America by Pete Dunne, Kevin T. Karlson. Osprey “Breeding pairs may be solitary or —where food is plentiful and suitable nest sites are few but clustered-birds may form loose breeding colonies, which provides a greater degree of nest defense and perhaps offers adults greater freedom to forage.” — Birds of Prey: Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of North America by Pete Dunne, Kevin T. Karlson. Osprey data was not collected until July 25, but appears in its entirety below (OSPR1).

July. Photo (OSPR2) taken of a bustling nest at Apponagansett Beach on July 10.

Late July had birds separated in small clusters, a few Ospreys at the north and northwest edges, with the front treeline largely vacant. Observed interactions were minimal until July 29, when one Osprey displaced another from a perch. On July 30, numbers climbed to double digits across the front, north, and northeast trees (OSPR3).

August. Similar numbers were held in early August, mainly divided among the front, north, and northwest trees. On August 13, a flock of gulls clashed noisily with several Ospreys circling overhead. Ten birds clustered together in one tree, and others fed nearby. By August 14, at least 14 were present, with many arriving and vocalizing from the south. August 16 totaled 15 Ospreys in the front trees alone, with more in the north and northwest stands. Many were stuffed with fish, sunning themselves with wings held open or bent in curious angles. They are always eating. From that point on, counts regularly exceeded 20. On August 17, 21 Ospreys were recorded, and hunting behavior became more visible. Diving attempts were observed at close range for the first time. Great photo (OSPR4) taken by Stephen Petto at the Marsh on August 22.