The march of irruptive finches into Franklin County appears to be raging on, at least for some of the species. Common Redpolls showed up in numbers this weekend though these were generally composed of aloof, fast moving flocks that were difficult to study. Larger flocks included 35 at New Salem Vista on Nov 19th and 50 plus at High Ledges in Shelburne on Nov 21st. Flocks two to seven Common Redpolls also showed up at Montague Sand Plains, Turner's Falls, Northfield and Gill. Of the smaller, closer flocks I've been unable to detect any Hoary Redpolls to date but I think it's only a matter of time before they appear. It's been a cool ten years since I've seen a Hoary Redpoll close to home so the next one is going to be very welcome indeed!
White-winged Crossbills continue to filter through with flyover singles at Gate 22 in the Quabbin on Nov 19th, and North Cross Road, Gill on Nov 20th and 22nd. I'm still hoping and waiting for a photogenic flock that will actually settle for just a few minutes. Pine Grosbeaks too, remain elusive (for me) with just a single over North Cross Road, Gill on Nov 22nd.
Meanwhile, the Red Crossbill show in the Montague Sand Plains continues unabated and I've personally logged 65-75 birds on every recent visit. It's a true audio and visual spectacle with roaming flocks constantly 'buzzing' in and out of Old Northfield Road dropping down to drink from puddles on the road as well as feeding in the surrounding Pitch Pines. Results from the audio clips, thanks to Tim Spahr, have shown that the vast majority are eastern Type 10 (Sitka Spruce) but also include Types 1 (Appalachian), 2 (Ponderosa Pine) and 3 (Western Hemlock) - not too shabby!
Evening Grosbeaks have been far fewer, in fact the only birds I came across this week were singles over downtown Turner's Falls and over North Cross Road, Gill on Nov 20th.
Lingering waterbirds at Turner's Falls included a Cackling Goose through to the 21st at least, and 5 American Coots and a Double-crested Cormorant through to the 23rd.
November 22nd saw a completely windless afternoon and heavily overcast, brooding sky. While family commitments prevented me from making the most of the remaining daylight hours I did sneak out at dusk for my first serious owling attempt of the fall and met with great success! My prize was a fantastically close encounter with a Northern Saw-whet Owl that responded aggressively to my whistled imitations by dive bombing me! After that initial greeting I was treated to a long sequence of vocalizations including drawn out 'whine' or 'wail' calls and a lot of soft, staggered 'tooting'. I'm not really a photographer and struggle with owls at night, and this particular bird never perched in one spot for long, so I ended up with just one record shot to show. But no matter, the experience was wonderful and a powerful reminder that Northern Saw-whet Owl is probably my favorite North American bird. As if not wanting to be overlooked, a Barred Owl called in the distance while the saw-whet was tooting, and all of this took place within the Hemlock forests not too far from our home in Northfield.
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