Threemile Beaver Meadow pond
The five-day bushwhack through the heart of the Pepperbox Wilderness including Threemile Beaver Meadow, a feeder stream, numerous beaver ponds, Moshier Creek and Moshier Reservoir yielded a total of 36 confirmable bird species. The low number of species was probably due to the late season, the hot and humid weather conditions and my rusty fall warbler identification skills.
In addition, there were at least three other species (i.e. a sandpiper, a Empidonax flycatcher and a fall warbler) I could not identify to species due to the either low power of my binoculars
The total number of species was somewhat lower than the results of my Birdathon adventure within the Pepperbox back in May 2010 (read about it here). During the Birdathon I observed 49 different species within the eastern portion of the Pepperbox Wilderness where larger ponds are more frequent. The low number of species detected during this trip is even paltrier given the Birdathon results were for single day and covered a more restricted area.
Only three species were encountered on every day of my trip. These common species were red-eyed vireo, common yellowthroat, and black-capped chickadee. Four other species were observed on four of the five days of the trip. These species were barred owl, ruffed grouse, blue jay and brown creeper.
There were no big surprises on the avian species list for this trip. Although, I was surprised to hear an eastern phoebe singing near the largest stygian beaver pond, especially so late in the summer. Instead, the surprises are the species absent or infrequently encountered. Of the nine most common species on my trip into the Five Ponds Wilderness back in July (see the bird report here) three species are totally absent (blue-headed vireo, winter wren and magnolia warbler) and four rarely encountered (black-throated green warbler, ovenbird and white-throated sparrow). Undoubtedly these species have fallen silent after the breeding season and were just overlooked.
Below is the full list of each bird species observed during my five-day hike through the central Pepperbox Wilderness:
• Canada Goose
• Wood Duck
• Hooded Merganser
• Ruffed Grouse
• Broad-winged Hawk
• Barred Owl
• Northern Flicker
• Downy Woodpecker
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
• Belted Kingfisher
• Eastern Phoebe
• Black-capped Chickadee
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Red-breasted_Nuthatch
• Brown Creeper
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Blue Jay
• Common Raven
• Hermit Thrush
• American Robin
• Cedar Waxwing
• Red-eyed Vireo
• Pine Warbler
• Black-throated Green Warbler
• Black-throated Blue Warbler
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Common Yellowthroat
• Ovenbird
• Lincoln’s Sparrow
• White-throated Sparrow
• Swamp Sparrow
• American Goldfinch
This concludes the coverage of my five-day trip in the Pepperbox Wilderness in September 2010. Given the numerous opportunities for bushwhacking adventures in this area I am sure there will be more adventures in Pepperbox in the future. Stay tuned.
