MA - Harris's Sparrow plus waterfowl on the move

Harris's Sparrow (singing) - Westborough WMA, Worcester Co., MA. November 6th, 2016.

Excellent find by Bette Robo on October 26th. Not an easy bird requiring lots of patience but eventually it shuffled up

and even started singing in front of a small gathering during my visit today. 

November 5th/6th saw a classic late fall weekend.....fairly mild and windless after a chilly start on the 5th and cool, rather raw and blustery on the 6th. I entered the weekend with no plans for birding, but fortune came my way and I managed some incidental birding around Turner's Falls on the 5th and my first (and subsequently successful) attempt at the long-staying Harris's Sparrow at Westborough WMA on the 6th.

Aside from the sparrow, waterfowl were very much the theme of the weekend with fresh birds arriving on both days at Turner's Falls including my first Common Goldeneyes of the fall. These were some ten days later than I usually record my first at Turner's with eight birds together on the power canal on the 5th, and 12 together at the same site on the 6th. With them came a smattering of Buffleheads, Black Scoters (13), Greater Scaup and Horned Grebe. After Friday's Cackling Goose at Turner's, another lighter, more typically plumaged bird showed up on the 5th and remained to the 6th.

Cackling Goose (Richardson's) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 6th, 2016.

Same bird also present on Nov 5th. 

Common Goldeneyes (12) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 6th, 2016. Small flock of eight also present on Nov 5th. 
My first of the season but later than average date which is usually around Oct 25th/26th. 

The Harris's Sparrow adventure turned out to be a slightly longer, more difficult project than I'd hoped with a 90 minute drive to the site for starters and then some two hours of working the fields at Westborough WMA before eventually connecting with the bird around 10:40am. For all the grumbling, it was well worth the effort as the bird eventually shuffled up to the top of a thicket and even started singing! It was also very instructive to hear it calling for a prolonged period just before the observation, a call which I likened most to a Chaffinch....rather loud, sharp 'chink', similar to White-throated Sparrow but deeper and louder. The sighting was shared with a small group of hopefuls including Peter Lansdown from the UK and Dave Mako and his wife from Deerfield, MA. I've been quite lucky with Harris's Sparrows over the last few years with birds seen in Arizona (3), New Mexico (1), and Connecticut (1) but this was my first in Massachusetts. Gracious thanks go to Bette Robo the finder and to members of the greater birding community in Massachusetts for giving us constant updates on the presence of the bird.

Harris's Sparrow (singing) - Westborough WMA, Worcester Co., MA. November 6th, 2016.

Waterfowl of note at Westborough WMA included a Greater Scaup, three Buffleheads and a Long-tailed Duck.

 Greater Scaup - juv/first-winter, Westborough WMA, Worcester Co., MA. November 6th, 2016.

 Bufflehead and Long-tailed Duck - Westborough WMA, Worcester Co., MA. November 6th, 2016.

Northern Harrier - juv/first-winter, Westborough WMA, Worcester Co., MA. November 6th, 2016.