MA - Horned Larks, late Pec and more saw-whets this week

Horned Lark - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2016.

Notable observations in the Northfield/Gill/Turner's Falls area this week included a late Pectoral Sandpiper in Hell's Kitchen on the 7th, together with about eight Killdeer, and up to 11 Killdeer at the same spot on the 9th.

 Pectoral Sandpiper - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 7th, 2016.

Not that easy to see in Franklin County, and getting late to boot. 

Killdeer - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 9th, 2016.

Small flocks of Horned Larks showed up in Gill on River Road, and Northfield on Caldwell, both flocks offering excellent close views. There was also a huge flock of 150 Cedar Waxwings on Caldwell Road along with good numbers of American Robins which passed through the area in good numbers this week.

Horned Lark - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2016.

Down at Turner's Falls, the Cackling Goose continued to be seen periodically with Canada Geese through to the 11th when two drake Northern Shoveler also showed up with the Canada Geese. Otherwise, a general build-up of Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneyes continues, as does the numbers of gulls arriving at Unity Park at dusk. Unity Park has also hosted up to three Merlins again this week with the birds seemingly unconcerned by the busy recreational activities taking place in the park.

Cackling Goose (left) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2016.

Continuing bird present through Nov 11th.

Northern Shovelers (2) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 11th, 2016.

Found very late in the day with a small flock of Canada Geese. 

Merlin - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 9th, 2016. 

Up to three around Unity Park most evenings this week. 

 American Robin - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2016.

Finally, in Gill, the incredible show of Northern Saw-whet Owls continued on the 10th when I was joined by Laura Gaudette and Brian Kane. We checked four sites around the town finding saw-whets in all four, with just one site being a repeat visit from Nov 8th. Again we enjoyed a nice range of vocals with the drawn out 'squeal' or 'whine' call being the most frequent, but at the last site we also heard prolonged and sustained quiet 'tooting' as well as various squeals. It was another very successful sortie in less than favorable conditions with wind gusts of about 10 mph at times. However, with tally from the 8th and 10th combined, that gave us around 11 saw-whets Owls found in Gill this week alone and a further six or so from the 7th in Northfield.....pretty impressive!