November keeps on giving, the month of so much possibility. Hot on the heels of yesterday's MEGA Common Cuckoo in Rhode Island, a Boreal Chickadee graced a public vista point in New Salem as I carried out a watch for migrating raptors. While it was incredibly thrilling to hear it's wheezy, nasal 'tis-tchay' calls in Franklin County, it wasn't completely unexpected as I'd been following a number of out-of-range Boreal Chickadee reports from nearby South-west New Hampshire since mid-October. Hopefully this bird is the precursor to a greater 'irruption' and we could potentially see multiple reports over the forthcoming weeks. As to my personal experience, well this is an incredibly rare county bird and one that I haven't seen since Dec 2006. Ironically, that bird was present just five miles up the road where it visited a feeder for several days in the town of Orange. The current New Salem bird didn't linger and was (sadly) too quick for the camera but I traded blurry record shots for good views through binoculars and the pencil sketch is a pretty good representation of how I saw the bird in the field. The raptor migration wasn't too shabby either, totally dominated by Red-shouldered Hawks with a tally of fifteen passing South-west before the Boreal Chickadee appeared. After that, I I left the hawk watching and focused on trying to relocate the chickadee.
Red-shouldered Hawks - migrating over New Salem, Franklin Co., MA. November 3rd, 2020.
These are exciting days to be in the field. I've focused most of my effort to within 20-25 minutes of home in Northfield. Irruptives such as Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red Crossbill, Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin and Purple Finch are present and passing through seemingly anywhere and there really hasn't been a dull moment. And just today, there's news of Pine Grosbeaks in Hampshire County to add yet another exciting element to the autumn migration. Bring it!
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