Over the last couple of days immaculate weather, warm air and southern winds have produced a distinct uptick in waterfowl migrants passing through Franklin County. Small flocks of Canada Geese passed over the Montague Plains all morning on the 9th and by the evening some 800-900 had gathered in a well hidden cornfield in Bernardston. While visible migration was less evident on the 10th, a Greater White-fronted Goose was discovered at Barton Cove/Unity Park by David Sibley and by the time that I got to Unity Park at noon there were two, both of them adults! Having carefully scrutinized the geese at Unity Park the evening before I feel confident that these were brand new arrivals. Ring-necked Ducks too have increased over the last two days with 4 at Unity Park and 17 at the Turner's Falls power canal. The latter site also produced a whopping 26 Hooded Mergansers on the evening of the 10th!
Gull migration can be a more discrete event but the evening of the 10th saw an impressive surge in Ring-billed Gull numbers to almost 200 birds. A Lesser Black-backed (adult) and two Iceland Gulls (first-winters) continue amid the Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls roosting at Unity Park.
Turkey Vultures were already widespread by the 8th but on the 10th, a northward movement of some 12 Black Vultures over the Montague Plains was rather more impressive.
Finally, the Montague Plains have been 'heaving' under the weight of some 75 - 100 Red Crossbills with these birds being well north of the more heavily watched site of Old Northfield Road. Small scattered groups of singing/calling birds have been found throughout the plains over the last two days with an especially impressive concentration of about 60 in one spot. As expected, most identified to Type have been Type 10 but, thanks to Tim Spahr's help and guidance, I've also managed to identify and record Type 2 and Type 3. Of course, the prize for scanning through all those crossbills has been the continued presence of White-winged Crossbills, all of them have been males and around 7 or 8 individuals in all, maybe more. They're not especially vocal either and finding them usually involves careful checking of each individual crossbill that just happens to show itself.
With several more days of warmth in the forecast I think it would be reasonable to expect a few more migrants of interest before the forecast colder snap in the early part of next week.
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