Saturday, November 28, 2020

MA - pictorial highlights during Thanksgiving week

Barnacle Goose (adult) - Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 28th, 2020. No doubt the same bird that's been using the Turner's Fall power canal for roosting and bathing since November 23rd. 

As if the prospect of one or more lingering Barnacle Geese wasn't enough to grace Thanksgiving week, winter finches continued to show in numbers almost unabated. In particular, Pine Grosbeaks settled into a couple of reliable feeding spots at Wendall and Northfield after several weeks of frustrating flyovers. Red Crossbills remained in their reliable haunts at Montague Sand Plains (85+) and North Cross Road, Gill (5+) and flocks of Common Redpolls, mercurial if nothing else, showed up in flocks of 25 - 30 in several birch stands before disappearing just as suddenly as they'd appeared. Of the irruptive finches, White-winged Crossbills have been the most difficult to catch up with and continue to elude my camera though I got pretty close this morning (Nov 28th) with two passing low over North Cross Road, Gill. The latter site is also currently hosting a fairly late Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a couple of Winter Wrens. However, numbers of Evening Grosbeaks do appear to be tapering and in fact I only saw a single over North Cross Road during the whole of Thanksgiving week where formerly I was seeing them almost daily. A Yellow-rumped Warbler on Pine Meadow Road, Northfield on Nov 26th could well be my last warbler species of the year though I wouldn't rule out finding another in December. 


Barnacle Goose (adult) - Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 28th, 2020.




Pine Grosbeaks -  on a soggy Thanksgiving morning, Wendall State Forest, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2020. First noted by Bruce Kanash on November 25th. 

Aside from rare geese, the Turner's Falls area managed to pull in a Red-throated Loon on Nov 25th, 5 Greater Scaup on Nov 26th and the first Iceland Gull of the fall on Nov 27th/28th. 

Red-throated Loon (adult) and Red Fox - Turner's Falls,  Franklin Co., November 25th, 2020. 

Red-throated Loon (adult) - Turner's Falls,  Franklin Co., November 25th, 2020. 

Greater Scaup (5) -  Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., November 26th, 2020. 

Iceland Gull (kumlieni)  -  first-winter, Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., November 28th, 2020. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Pine Meadow Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2020. 
Horrible shot I know. Taken through the car windscreen during a downpour and included purely for the records. 


Common Redpoll  -  Montague, Franklin Co., November 18th, 2020. 

Red Crossbill (fem/imm) -  Montague, Franklin Co., November 25th, 2020. 

Pileated Woodpecker  -  Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., November 26th, 2020. 



















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