As soon as I saw what was reported on eBird I knew I had to go to Cumberland Farms in Middleborough, MA, (No, I am not talking about the gas station). Cumberland Farms is a large open field that is a great habitat for raptors and other types of birds. Recently there had been sightings of both Short-eared Owls and American Woodcocks which were both evading me this year.

I left with my dad at abut 5:00 PM and we planned on staying until around sunset. Almost as soon as we got there we heard our first American Woodcock calling from the field in the distance. We looked around for it with our binoculars but we couldn’t find it. As we kept on walking we saw dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds sitting in the trees. I made sure to scan the flocks to look for Rusty Blackbirds as well as grackles.