A Big Year at DNRT – February Recap

BY LINDA VANDERVEER, LAND MANAGER AND JAMES WARNER, LAND STEWARD

If you missed our last email, DNRT’s Land Management team is making an effort to visit every DNRT reserve in 2026 and to document as many bird species as we can! New this issue – Development and Outreach Specialist Kendra Parker has dusted off a sketch book after many, many years (please be gentle with your criticism!) and, in an attempt to practice drawing, will be including a sketch of one of the birds that Linda and James has seen.

As we continue into the year, February had some interesting sightings. We observed 8 new bird species for a total of 44. As our observations continue, we will see varying influxes each month as species migrate or we get to different reserves that have ecosystems that support birds during different seasons.

One property we were excited to visit was Flag Swamp Reserve. Currently in the process of being readied for public visitation (stay tuned!), it is a place we are excited to share with the community. During a recent visit we saw Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Hermit Thrush. These birds stick around throughout the winter, unlike other warblers and thrushes, which migrate south for the colder months. Yellow-rumps are also known as “Butter Butts” because of the bright yellow plumage on their rump.  We also got to see a Northern Harrier soaring and diving over the old bogs chasing prey. These birds prefer hunting open spaces like bogs, marshes, and fields. The Northern Harrier is a state-listed Threatened species so it is exciting to see them on another one of our properties.

At Dike Creek we also saw a group, or the more fun alternative term, a “bouquet”, of Yellow-rumped Warblers sipping water from one of the streams. It was fun to watch as they traveled  up the stream looking for the best spot to get fresh water. We also got to see a Northern Flicker scavenging around the trunks of trees. Being a type of woodpecker, the northern flicker can hammer trees like other woodpeckers, but prefers to scavenge for bugs on the ground or bases of trees.  Populations of flickers in northern New England are short-distance migrants, while populations in Massachusetts are largely year-round residents. Our stand-out bird of the month was a Merlin, seen perching at a field edge at Dike Creek. This small falcon is an uncommon winter visitor to Dartmouth.

We had two other stand-out species for the month, seen at Helfand Farm and around Knowles Padanaram. At Helfand we had fun spotting a species that is not common during the winter but very common during the summer. Amid the other plump, round, brown birds stopping to get an easy meal of loose seed at the feeder, was a female Eastern Towhee. Typically a migratory bird, the Eastern Towhee on rare occasion will overwinter in southern New England, getting an early start on the spring breeding season. Around Knowles Padanaram Reserve we saw a pair of Hooded Mergansers. In Massachusetts we have three species of merganser. We previously saw the Red-breasted Merganser at Bergh last month. We hope to be able to see the Common Merganser at some point in the year to round out the trifecta. As we (hopefully) head into spring we are excited to see some of our migratory birds begin to arrive back!

Below are some photos and images of the birds we’ve seen so far this year. Click to enlarge; thumbnails may be slightly distorted.