By Mark Blazis| Correspondent

Worcester County has a long and rich tradition of citizen scientists contributing to the greater understanding and appreciation of our local wildlife. Since 1931, the venerable Forbush Bird Club has annually published the Chickadee, their journal, named after our state bird, chronicling the records of bird sightings here.

Its a valuable asset that they share each summer. When I got mine in the mail last week, I couldnt wait to see the results of thousands of hours of observation and careful recording of club members put together by the editorial committee led by editor-in-chief, Kevin Bourinot, Sheila Carroll, Rodney Jenkins, Mark Lynch, Paul Meleskiand Thomas Pirro.

The 90th volume covering 2020 demonstrated how valuable our great outdoors is to us as a vital escape and sanctuary during stressful periods like the deadly Coronavirus outbreak. A remarkable 246 species were found during the year.

Lynch notes that county rarities included Mississippi kite, whimbrel and western kingbird. Remarkably, sandhill cranes were observed in Hardwick/New Braintree between March 15 and July 6. Two young established the first breeding record ever in our county.

Unfortunately, the young apparently succumbed to predation," Lynch said.

While countless great blue herons have been erroneously reported as cranes over the years here, the fact is that cranes are now a real possibility to see in Worcester County.

Birds that are normally seen at sea also found their way to Worcester County. Sooty terns, blown inland by severe storms, very briefly made Wachusett Reservoir a magnet for over a hundred serious birders. The first sooties I ever saw were in the islands of the Dry Tortugas, west of the Florida Keys, where they breed.

The black and white beauties that normally find themselves fishing for bait-sized prey and squid around coastal Florida and the adjacent Gulf of Mexico found themselves helplessly blown north and deposited here.

Our county also had three winter reports of the regionally rare yellow-throated warbler. This species, normally found in Americas southeast quadrant, is not to be confused with our abundant, breeding yellow throats that distinctively bear black masks. One of the birds that stayed certainly enjoyed the pine cones smeared with peanut butter that the hosting homeowner provided.

Winter finches were few, but Lynch and Carroll, who bird Worcester County as intensively as anyone now, surprisingly found many small flocks of red crossbills in mid-to-late summer just west of Worcester.

The Forbush Bird Club, named after Massachusetts first state ornithologist, Edward Howe Forbush, is one of the oldest bird clubs in the country. Its first president, Elmer Ekblaw (1931-1935) had a Worcester County sanctuary off Rt. 122 in Paxton named after him. The club has its monthly meetings at Mass Audubons Broad Meadow Brook Sanctuary in Worcester, and leads free field trips with competent leaders most weeks of the year. To join, contact Treasurer Barton Kamp at 508-753-7463.

Whether youre a pro or a rank beginner, youll be heartily welcomed, and the annual membership fee of $15 will prove one of the best investments you can make to have the doors opened to Worcester Countys birds.

On the birdfeeder front, just before we were advised to take our feeders down because of the novel disease spreading north into our region and infecting songbirds, I had done some successful experimenting. To attract orioles and catbirds, I had been using grape jelly effectively. I found grape jam to be just as good. Blueberry worked well when I ran out of grape jelly, but the birds didnt seem go for strawberry jelly at all.

As for hummingbirds, three feeders suspended from poles worked as expected, but one on suction cups attached to our picture window wasnt being very attractive until I tied on streaming red ribbons and a red mesh bag that had held oranges. Since then, hummingbirds have noticed the little feeder and actually come to it now more frequently than they attend the other conventional feeders.

This past week, Russ Therrien launched out of Galilee and fished off the east side of Block Island, catching numerous fluke and sea bass. Rather than striking buck tail jigs as Russ would have expected, the fluke eagerly took mackerel chunks intended for the sea bass. Most of the latter were big knot heads. Disappointingly, Point Judith Light later gave up no tautog.

Fluke, or summer flounder, are anatomically remarkable. Theyre one of our delicious flatfish that includes winter flounder and halibut. They have eye-like body spots, can change color and pattern to match their bottom background, can burrow and hide, and are left-eyed.

Amazingly, as they mature, bones in their head twist, causing one eye to migrate from one side of their head to the other. Flukes both eyes are on the colored left side of their body. Their right side becomes their belly and is all white. Both our winter flounder and halibut are right-eyed.

Big old fluke females, which are larger than males, can weigh over 20 pounds. Our state record, caught by Joseph Czapiga off Nomans island on September 25, 1980, weighed 21 pounds, 8 ounces. In contrast, our much smaller winter flounder state record was just 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and taken off Georges Bank by Tom Hillebrand on July 12, 1996. There are no state records for our other flatfish.

Fluke are sneaky and aggressive hunters. While hidden with just their heads exposed, they ambush prey like sand lance, menhaden, various minnows, small scup, squid, and crabs. After their winter spawning in deep water, they move into shallower waters from spring through fall.

Not everyone likes the regulations we currently have for harvesting stripers. Widely respected George Gavutis, former supervisor at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, is one of them. Today, fishermen may keep one striper between 28 and 35 inches per day. Gavutis, who lives in southern Maine near the coast has preferably fished in the past for smaller schoolies.

We primarily stick to the estuaries, trolling with fly rods and an electric motor," Gavutis said. "When we hook a rare keeper, we get to experience a bit of a Nantucket sleigh ride in our small boat as the fish rips line well into the backing and serenades us with the singing reel. We used to fish all the southern Maine coastal rivers as far north as the Kennebec and a little beyond. That was when Maine was the only state here-a-bouts that allowed us to keep a 20-26 inch slot fish, which are much more abundant, healthier to eat (less bio-accumulation of contaminants), and tastier than those breeders over 28 inches.

A couple days ago, when we were at a local bait and tackle shop, we saw a young commercial fisherman tossing out 50 or more over-36-inchstripers that he had taken from the Merrimack River in a few hours earlier that morning," Gavutis said. "He was getting a mere $3 a pound for them. Those breeders would have laid millions of eggs next year. Why can't the States allow us recreational fishermen to keep even one minimally valuable fish between 20-26 inches instead of just larger, environmentally more valuable breeders?

We hear a lot about right whales and humpbacks getting entangled in local fishing gear, but just over the last few weeks, at least five endangered leatherback sea turtles were found entangled in submerged fishing gear. Some were dealt with effectively while others were improperly released still-attached and entangled likely leading to their slow and painful death.

Leatherback sea turtles originate from tropical beaches, drift and swim here for the greater abundance of food in our waters, and drift and swim back beginning now, just before waters chill. The biggest of them can weigh upwards of 900 pounds, which explains why some of them are improperly handled and ineffectively released. Optimally, those who discover one entangled should call the CCS Entanglement Hotline at 800-900-3622, the NOAA Entanglement Hotline at 866-755-6622, or the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, at 800-900-3622 to ensure that release is performed right and quick.

Contact Mark Blazis atmarkblazissafaris@gmail.com.

Excerpt from:

New Forbush Bird Club journal celebrates local sightings over past year - Worcester Telegram