Birder's Guide to Carlisle

The Towle Land consists of a wide grass field and a collection of wooded trails. Specialty species include Black-Billed Cuckoo, Bobolink, and Blue-Winged Warbler. 

 

Winter: In the winter, the Towle land is pretty bleak, but it can still hold some interesting birds. Yellow-Rumped Warblers have wintered there, as well as Golden-Crowned Kinglet, House and Purple Finch, and Brown Creeper. 

 

Update: During the 2013 Carlisle CBC on December 27th, Alan Ankers and Sam Heinrich found a juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Towle, which was the first record for the count sector! Spectacularly enough, the record was repeated the following year with an adult bird! Although the birds were in roughly the same area, the second bird seemed to just be passing through instead of being an overwinterer as the first bird had seemed.

 

Spring: Springtime brings a fresh flood of migrants through Carlisle, and Towle is a great spot to watch it. The warblers that come through include American Redstart, Canada Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Ovenbird, and Pine Warbler. However, Ovenbird and Northern Waterthrush are notoriously difficult to find. Ovenbirds are a dull brown, like tree bark, with a light brown breast with dark spots. They are loud singers, but locating them high in the trees is difficult. Northern Waterthrush are deep swamp birds, also brown and inconspicuous. Swallows also migrate through Towle, and large numbers of Barn and Tree Swallows can be seen. Also, Great-Crested and Least Flycatcher can be seen. Also in the spring, Bobolinks occasionally nest at Towle, and Tom Brownrigg runs a conservation program to monitor and protect these fragile nesters. Signs warning of Bobolink nests and giving information on Bobolink nesting habits can be seen across the conservation area. 

 

Summer: The summer landscape is much less birdy than spring, but nesting Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows are always fun to watch. In the woods, Baltimore Orioles, Scarlet Tanager, Black-Billed Cuckoos, Ovenbird, and Hermit Thrush can be seen. 

 

Fall: The fall landscape at Towle is very similar to that of spring. However, fall migration is not as hurried, and the birds are more spread out and difficult to find. Most of the same birds come through, however, because Towle doesn't have the right habitat for Pipits, Shorebirds, or many Sparrows.