a brighter day - Greater Yellowlegs, Caspian Tern and a range of new migrants arrive in Gill.

Caspian Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 26th, 2020.

Found by Josh Layfield and very much a 'classic' date for this scarce but regular Franklin County migrant. 

April 25th was a warm day with clear skies and temperatures peaking in the low sixties evidently allowing good numbers of migrants to filter northwards. A whole host of brand new birds arrived in Gill this morning (the 26th) and the day began in the nicest possible way with a Greater Yellowlegs wading around a small roadside puddle off Main Road. That was quickly followed by a bevy of newly arrived migrants on North Cross Road; Blue-headed Vireo, House Wren, Black-throated Green Warbler, Veery (2) and Eastern Towhee (2). Both of the Veeries were feeding at the roadside and not in song. I don't actually expect to hear Veery song locally until about May 5th/6th. Also, rather intriguingly, I heard one clear burst of a Cerulean Warbler type song though when I returned to the spot with bins and camera I couldn't help but wonder if it was actually a Brown Thrasher mimicking song fragments of a Cerulean Warbler? The thrasher certainly gave a perfect rendition of Eastern Whip-poor-will whilst I was standing there. Either way, I was unable to follow-up on the song burst that I'd heard and decided to leave it unidentified and, although it seems quite early for Cerulean Warbler in the Pioneer Valley, the local breeding birds will be back on territory in just over a week or so.

Greater Yellowlegs - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 26th, 2020.

Horned Grebes - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 26th, 2020.

The rest of the morning continued to be productive as we went for a family walk around Barton Cove Nature Trail. Pine Warblers (10+) and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (8) were the most frequent small migrants but we also had a smattering of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a single (yellow) Palm Warbler. On the  cove itself Ring-billed Gulls increased from 11 to 16 birds whilst we were there and four Horned Grebes in breeding plumage hugged the Turner's Falls shoreline but were visible from Barton Cove campground.

Pine Warbler (male) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 26th, 2020.

Around 12:30 pm a Caspian Tern dropped into Barton Cove found by Josh Layfield, pretty remarkable since we'd been checking the same spot from Riverview Drive only twenty minutes earlier! Thanks to Josh's timely text we were able to get over to Riverview Drive pretty quickly and enjoyed views of the magnificent beast careening all over the cove, fishing, bathing, preening and eventually circling high up over the water spending quite some time in the air before gaining more height and disappearing northwards. Surprisingly to us, it did not depart upriver but appeared, or at least as much as we could tell, to choose an overland route and head straight north at about 13:10 hours - absolutely fascinating to watch! It was certainly neat to wrap up a migration filled morning with something as impressive a migrant Caspian Tern and thanks again to Josh for his timely alert.

Caspian Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 26th, 2020. 

Departing high to the north over Riverview Drive. 

Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 26th, 2020.

From Barton Cove Nature Trail. 

By early evening the Double-crested Cormorants at Barton Cove had increased from 4 to 21 and the Ring-billed Gulls (16), all of which appeared to be second-cycle birds, remained. 

MA - waterbirds of the move part four; Red-necked Grebes!

Red-necked Grebes - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

The impressive run of waterbird fall-outs at Barton Cove, Gill continued unabated this morning when a southerly airflow combined with torrential rain, mist and poor visibility brought no less than 20 grounded Red-necked Grebes. The birds were initially quite mobile rarely settling for long but as the weather improved they found refuge just off Barton Island and started to rest and feed. With them came a Horned Grebe in full summer plumage, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, as many as 9 Bonaparte's Gulls and a particularly brutish Caspian Tern. Some 15 Northern Rough-winged Swallows were present at the Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club but aside from 7 Lesser Scaup waterbirds were few, and the fall-out appeared to be more or less restricted to Barton Cove this morning though a couple of Red-necked Grebes did drop into the power canal and stayed throughout the afternoon. Today's total of 22 Red-necked Grebes was the single largest arrival that I've recorded in the Gill/Turner's Falls area to date.

Red-necked Grebes - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

With a female Red-breasted Merganser leading the flock.

Red-necked Grebes - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

Caspian Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

Bonaparte's Gulls and Caspian Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

Horned Grebe (left)  with Red-necked Grebes - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

Bonaparte's Gull - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

Bonaparte's Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

Bonaparte's Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

Bonaparte's Gull - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 15th, 2019.

MA - waterbirds on the move part three; more Bonaparte's Gulls and Caspian Terns!

Caspian Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 14th, 2019.

Flying in from the east with Barton Island in the background.

The morning of April 10th found me back at Barton Cove hoping to catch up with even just a tiny fraction of the fall-out seen the on the previous evening. Despite squally rain showers and 100% cloud cover, it was fairly obvious a major clearance had taken place overnight....not a single Bonaparte's Gull was present at first light. As if to emphasize the general departure of waterbirds, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers (male and 2 females) lifted off the water, circled the cove and headed off high to the NW. But 6 Ruddy Ducks, 5 Greater Scaup, 2 Horned Grebes and a Pied-billed Grebe ended up staying through the day with a fine pair of Northern Pintail appearing with the Canada Goose flocks in the evening. A Snow Goose and 2 American Wigeon remained, both species being long stayers.

Ruddy Duck - male, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 10th, 2019.

Northern Harriers (2) - Turner's Falls Airfield, Franklin Co., MA. April 10th, 2019.
Two of a minimum of four seen within an hour at the airfield in mid-morning.

Clearing skies and a change to quite cold air coming from the north triggered a shift in focus and by mid-morning I was enjoying great views of a male Northern Harrier at Turner's Falls Airfield. Although I soon lost that particular male to view, a further two Northern Harriers dropped into the airfield together just as suddenly as the male had appeared. Both were 'female-like' in plumage but careful scrutiny showed them both to be young males, one of which lingered while with the other one departed fairly quickly to the NE. After 20 minutes or so, a fourth harrier dropped in, this one being a young female which spent a good 15 minutes quartering the rank grasses along the taxi-way. Spring harrier migration isn't a particularly easy event to see in Franklin County so to have four individuals within an hour at the same site was pretty remarkable. Moreover, David Sibley recorded three Northern Harriers (two adult male, one immature male) migrating through Hilltop Farm, Deerfield during the morning hours. In the evening Josh Layfield visited Turner's Falls Airfield finding two Northern Harriers (male, female-type) hunting, possibly lingerers from the morning, but it's equally possible that they were new migrants. Either way, April 10th was something of a stellar day for harrier migration in Franklin County.

Bonaparte's Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 12th, 2019.

The 11th was fairly quiet for new waterbird arrivals but the 12th was yet another fine day for Bonaparte's Gulls with the initial discovery of a tight flock of 17 at the Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club quickly followed by a further 5 at Barton Cove. By mid-morning both flocks had converged on Barton Cove while a brief check in the evening found seven birds present but included 3 first-cycle individuals not seen on the morning visit! So, an absolute minimum of 25 Bonaparte's Gulls passing through Barton Cove on April 12th. .

Overnight rain and warm southerlies brought yet more new arrivals on the 13th with some 55 Double-crested Cormorants between the Turner's Fall power canal and the Rod and Gun Club. New for the year was a Red-necked Grebe and a Spotted Sandpiper at Barton Cove (Josh Layfield), along with 4 Barn Swallows and a Bank Swallow at the Turner's Falls power canal. Scaup arrivals included 7 Lesser at the power canal, 7 Lesser at the Rod and Gun club and a further 7 Lesser joining the previously seen 5 Greater Scaup at Barton Cove. In the evening, 2 Black Vultures again appeared high over Barton Cove as they had done on the evening of the 11th.

Caspian Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 14th, 2019.

April 14th dawned mild and calm and I wasn't expecting too much in the way of grounded birds but I decided to check Barton Cove in any case. Initially, things seemed a little quiet and I couldn't find the previous day's Red-necked Grebe. In the distance a group of small group of 'gulls' resting on an exposed mud bar caught my attention. Instead of scoping them at range I drove around to Riverview Drive for a closer look and there sat with a few Herring and Ring-billed Gulls were 2 Caspian Terns. As I settled down to enjoy them, I could clearly hear the distinctive grating bark of one or more Caspian Terns in the air.......in fact there were 5 of them present together in the cove!! I last them heading towards Barton Campground at about 07:20 hours.

Caspian Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 14th, 2019.

Caspian Terns (5) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 14th, 2019.

MA - Gill Caspian Terns

Caspian Tern - juvenile, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. August 31st, 2017.

Had my first local birding sojourn in a while finding two Caspian Terns at Barton Cove, an adult and a begging juvenile. Nice to see, and slightly surprising in view of the calm conditions. Moreover, this was my first fall observation with spring being a much likely time to catch up with this species locally. Also of note recently, a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher calling in our yard for about ten minutes at dusk on the 29th. 

MA - Casper and Snapper

Caspian Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 21st, 2015.

A scarce but perhaps expected migrant through the CT River Valley in late April/early May. 

The last few days have been a bit lack-luster in the Gill/Northfield area. Even the passage of a front yesterday brought lots of moisture but little else. Today was a little different and I made four rather brief stops at Barton Cove during the day and came up with new birds on each visit. My first visit saw very low water levels at the cove with an exposed sand bar producing two Greater Yellowlegs. Close to them was a nice male Bufflehead. Just before noon in showery conditions, a nice a arrival of about a dozen breeding plumage Ring-billed Gulls and five American Herring Gulls. Riverview Drive also had a singing Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a Black-and-white Warbler, both new for the year. In mid-afternoon, I was more focused on going for a bike ride than birding but stopped to check Barton Cove anyway and was glad I did. There, sat of one of the tires in the middle of the cove, was a fine adult Caspian Tern and Bill Lafley was already scoping the bird as I pulled up. Even more impressive was an absolutely massive Snapping Turtle making its way across Riverview Drive........slowly!

Snapping Turtle - huge specimen crossing Riverview Drive, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 21st, 2015.

On my way back through Gill in the evening, I stopped for a fourth and final time at Barton Cove. The Caspian Tern was still there, but impressively the Double-crested Cormorants had built up from two this morning to 16 by early evening. Overhead, actually quite high overhead, Broad-winged Hawks passed over on a broad front and I logged roughly 15 birds over the 20 minutes that I spent at the boat ramp.

Greater Yellowlegs - two, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 21st, 2015.

Distant shots but identified by diagnostic calls. 

 Common Loon - adult, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 20th, 2015. One of two present.

 Hermit Thrush - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. April 19th, 2015.

Eastern Chipmunk - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. April 19th, 2015.

Back in Gill/Northfield, a steady but notable increase in species such as Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush,  Louisiana Waterthrush, Pine Warbler, Field Sparrow and Purple Finch over the last few days and my first Blue-headed Vireos of the year in Bernardston and Northfield over the weekend (on the 19th).

MA - Caspian Tern in Gill - 05/04

Very cool to see a full adult Caspian Tern foraging (successfully) in Barton Cove this morning, right off Riverview Drive in Gill. Very reminiscent of this observation at the same place last year on April 28th. Also, a nice raft of five Common Loons out on the cove, all five of them in full breeding plumage. 

 

 

MA - better Caspian Tern shots - 04/28

Caspian Tern - with first-cycle Ring-billed Gull, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 28th, 2011

After an afternoon of squally, thundery showers I called at Barton Cove late in the day to check for new arrivals. To my delight, three first-cycle Bonaparte's Gulls sat on the water just off Riverview Drive in Gill and a cursory scan of the Ring-billed Gulls resting at the public ramp (just off Rt 2 in Gill) produced the Caspian Tern - I was a tad surprised to find it resting on the shore. It gave exquisite views, both at rest and in flight. Another Common Loon had dropped in to join the two in the Cove from this morning, and a Gray Catbird called from the brambles close to the Emu pens by the boat ramp.

JPS.

Bonaparte's Gull - first-cycle, one of three present, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co. MA. April 28th, 2011

MA - Caspian Tern in Gill - 04/28

Caspian Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co. MA. April 28th, 2011. Heavily cropped distant record shots taken with Panasonic Lumix FZ40. Uncommon spring migrant in MA and my first in the Pioneer Valley. Bird spent most of its time 'quartering' over the cove surprisingly high above the water.

The balmy South-easterlies, now in their third straight day, brought a plethora of migrants to Gill today including this Caspian Tern quartering high above Barton Cove this morning. The bird remained well above tree top height for most of the fifteen minutes that I watched it. Also present, a Bonaparte's Gull and two Common Loons as well as three marauding Bald Eagles.

The air was heavy with sounds of singing warblers this morning, despite some rain. More year firsts appeared including Chimney Swifts (Barton Cove), 9 Ovenbirds, 3 Wood Thrushes, 2 Blackburnian Warblers and an American Redstart. Hopefully, I'll have a more complete post on the migrant surge over the last three days - it's been quite amazing!

JPS