MA - Buffleheads and a latish Black-throated Green Warbler

Mild south-westerlies had produced a bit of lull in migration until today's cold front stirred things up a bit. Nothing over dramatic but the first 'mini-arrival' of Buffleheads including a female with 3 Hooded Mergansers at Barton Cove and a pair with a further 7 Hooded Mergansers at Turner's Falls power canal. A Hermit Thrush was also a nice find at the power canal. The long staying American Coots (3) remained at Barton Cove along with a Pied-billed Grebe. For me though, the highlight was a Black-throated Green Warbler that brought a nice splash of color to feeding a flock of titmice and chickadees on Riverview Drive overlooking Barton Cove.

 Bufflehead (center) - female with Hooded Mergansers, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 23rd, 2015. 

Buffleheads -  male and female Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. October 23rd, 2015. 

 Black-throated Green Warbler - Riverview Drive, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 23rd, 2015. 

Hermit Thrush - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. October 23rd, 2015. 

Later in the morning I headed down to Montague to follow-up on a Vesper Sparrow that I pushed up from the roadside whilst riding my bike on South Ferry road. Eventually I re-found it but it wasn't easy in the blustery north-westerly winds and a number of Savannah Sparrows complicated things a little more, so no pics of that one unfortunately. The raptor watching however, was impressive and after an hour I'd notched up Northern Harrier (juvenile), North Goshawk (adult/sub-adult), Bald Eagle (adult), and a Peregrine (juvenile). The latter succeeded in pushing up a flock of over 100 American Pipits, birds which I would have never seen without the Peregrines help! 

South Ferry Road also proved to be a fine spot for tallying the spiraling Ravens over the Deerfield Ridge to the west - at times as many as 50 Common Ravens were playfully sparring above the ridge, a phenomenon which I see every year in late fall. 

 Northern Goshawk - South Ferry Road, Montague, Franklin Co., MA. October 23rd, 2015.

Distant bird, compounded by chronic auto-focus issues with the camera resulting in this fuzzy shot.

Behaved like a migrant, gaining height and drifting off south a speed. 

 Northern Harrier -  juvenile, South Ferry Road, Montague, Franklin Co., MA. October 23rd, 2015.

First noted by Josh Rose a few minutes before this sighting.

Peregrine - juvenile, South Ferry Road, Montague, Franklin Co., MA. October 23rd, 2015.

Rather thick-set, uniformly colored bird with weak moustacial and eye-stripe. 

White-crowned Sparrows - adult (right), first-winter (left), Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 20th, 2015. Regular but not especially common migrant sparrow in late fall.