MA - Red-necked Grebe - 10/15

Dropped down to Barton Cove after a long weekend with very little birding. A Red-necked Grebe and a Greater Scaup were off the public boat ramp, albeit somewhat distantly. Both appeared to be fresh arrivals looking very wary and closely associating with each other, and both appeared to be hatch-year birds. Conditions were still-calm so it looked like their arrival was purely a migration stop-over rather than being weather induced. Other than that, pretty quiet with 4 Ruddy Ducks off Riverview Drive being the only other waterfowl of note. Turner's Falls power canal was nearly devoid of birds, save for one Great Blue Heron.

Red-necked Grebe - first-winter, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA.

October 15th, 2013.

 

Greater Scaup - first-winter, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA.

October 15th, 2013.

 

Red-necked Grebe and Greater Scaup - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA.

October 15th, 2013. Distant digiscope shots from the public boat ramp.

 

 



Ruddy Ducks - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 15th, 2013.

Yesterday (Columbus Day) our yard and immediate area was 'heaving' with passerines - nothing rare but 85 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 55 White-throated Sparrows, 15 Swamp Sparrows and 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglets were impressive (estimated) totals for such a small area.

 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - one of six present, Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA.

October 14th, 2013. Canon Powershot G10.