MA - Purple Rain 03/12

This morning I took a casual, pre-storm drive around Gill hoping for a few more signs of spring. I wasn't disappointed. Twenty Canada Geese were foraging in the large field north-east of the Main Road/Munn's Ferry intersection. Normally, I wouldn't be excited about this but there haven't been any signs of goose migration in our area thus far, which is pretty remarkable for mid-March. However, the local 'park Canadas' have remained throughout the winter at Unity Park, along with their feral companions and a hybrid. 

Canada Geese - part of 20 foraging birds, Munns Ferry Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA

March 12th, 2014. FOS migrant Canadas, hopefully with many more to follow.

Next stop was Ben Hale Road where I was greeted by the rambling song of a male Purple Finch. A few minutes later, he was joined by two females and a less brightly marked male. A Common Grackle flew overhead, heralding my first local grackle of the year. 

Common Grackle - Ben Hale Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA.

March 12th, 2014. FOY, or at least my first locally. 

Purple Finch - male, Ben Hale Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 12th, 2014. 

One of four at this location with another three males in our yard today. 

Down at Barton Cove there was plenty to see and it was all about diving ducks; 30+ Ring-necked Ducks, 10+ Bufflehead, 10+ Greater Scaup, 3 Lesser Scaup, 30+ Hooded Merganser, 8 Common Merganser and the cream on the cake, two Long-tailed Ducks including an exceptionally smart drake. 

 Ring-necked Ducks and Greater Scaup - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 12th, 2014. 

Ring-necked Ducks and Lesser Scaup (three, upper right) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 12th, 2014. 

 Long-tailed Ducks - pair, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 12th, 2014. 

Distant digiscope of a shy pair way out in Barton Cove. All the other diving ducks were reasonably

 close to Riverview Drive and but these two looked nervous and remained distant.

Buffleheads (rear) with Ring-necked Ducks and Greater Scaup - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 12th, 2014. 

 Purple Finch - male with American Tree Sparrow, Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. March 12th, 2014. 

One of three males in our yard that appeared all too briefly around mid-morning. 

On returning home, I was more than thrilled to see three male Purple Finches on the ground below the feeders in what seemed like a local incursion of this species today. Blue Jays were also strikingly obvious with groups of 20-30 in at least four different spots around Gill. That's in addition to the 15 or so Blue Jays that regularly visit our yard. 

White-throated and American Tree Sparrows - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. March 12th, 2014. 

In the afternoon the ground below our feeders filled up with sparrows, the Fox Sparrow-like song of

the Tree Sparrows ringing throughout the yard. Perhaps they were fattening up for the next cold snap?

MA - gull evening at Turner's - 03/06

Unfortunately for me, the moments when I can get down to the Turner's Falls gull roost are few and between nowadays. I've managed just a handful of sessions this winter but have had some interesting results. Last Thursday evening (03/06) curiosity got the better of me and Matan and I had a casual drive down to the power canal to see what (if anything) might be roosting there. On arrival about 100 large gulls were present and those numbers built up to a conservation estimate of 900 birds over the next 45 minutes. Between binoculars (but alas no scope), camera and a very active six-year old who wanted to play in the freezing water (!!) I found fantastic numbers of Kumlien's (Iceland) Gulls, in fact a personal high count with at least 13 birds present. All but two were in first-cycle plumage, the other two being second-cycle birds. The large numbers of adults that I'd recorded in early January were not present but with above average numbers of other large gulls present, I couldn't help but wonder if many of these, including the Kumlien's were migrants heading north?

Also present, 9 Greater Scaup and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull but no sign of the Red-breasted Merganser see early that same morning.

Kumlien's Gulls - two first-cycle birds, the right most bird being fairly typical but the bird on the left being is much darker with dark primaries, dark uppertail and a scaly appearance to the scapulars,and as such, has more than a passing resemblance to first-cycle Thayer's Gull.
Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

Kumlien's Gull - dark first-cycle (center right). Same bird as above with strong resemblance to
first-cycle Thayer's Gull. Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult with American Herring Gulls. 

Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

Kumlien's Gull - first-cycle with dark centered primaries and coarse wavy markings across the scapulars.

Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

Kumlien's Gull - darker first-cycle with dark primaries, and again,
coarse wavy markings across the scapulars. Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

Kumlien's Gull - fairly pale, petite second-cycle bird (center) with gray mantle/scapular feathers appearing.

 Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

Kumlien's Gull - fairy typical first-cycle (center). Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

Kumlien's Gulls - two first-cycle birds, right most bird being pale but the bird on the left
 is much darker with dark outer primaries, and again somewhat resembling first-cycle Thayer's Gull. 

Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

Kumlien's Gull - pale first-cycle bird with whitish primaries among American Herring Gulls. 

Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

MA - RBM

Yet another brutally cold start to the day......(1 F/-17 C). How late into March will the cold spell continue?

Despite the freezing cold, Turner's Falls power canal and Barton Cove had plenty of open, ice free water this morning. I found a surprisingly nice range of diving ducks including my first local Red-breasted Merganser of the year. Other species included the continuing scaup flocks (7+ Greater Scaup on the power canal, and 3 Greater and 2 Lesser Scaup at Unity Park), plus 3 Ring-necked Ducks, 7 Bufflehead and 4 Common Mergansers. 

 Red-breasted Merganser - female, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. 

March 6th, 2014. Record shots but showing unique profile.

 Greater (left) and Lesser Scaup (extreme right) - females, Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. 

March 6th, 2014.

Buffleheads - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

American Robin - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 6th, 2014.

Waiting for spring.........

MA - Barred Owl in Gill

Slightly milder this morning but still not at all spring like with snow flurries and temperatures well below freezing. I took a slow drive around some of the roads in Gill keeping an eye open for anything that looked slightly odd or out of place. As I drove along North Cross Road, a pale gray 'blob' in the oaks some distance from the road caught my attention. Most gray 'blobs' that I check in our area turn out to be old wasps nests but this one was a Barred Owl and it sat quietly until discovered by a pair of American Crows forced it back into the woodland. 

At the moment, my owl list for Gill is pretty poor at only three species: Barred, Great Horned and Northern Saw-whet. Of these, Barred is by far the most likely to be actually 'seen' whilst Great Horned is generally the most vocal, though lately they've been very quiet and must be incubating. Northern Saw-whet is something of a wild card, easy to find at times, other times completely absent though always entirely nocturnal. I've yet to find a day-time roosting saw-whet in Gill - but I am trying!

 Barred Owl - North Cross Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 5th, 2014.

My first distant views from the roadside. 

Slightly closer but still beautifully camouflaged in the leafless branches.

 Dorsal views reminded me of a Red-shouldered Hawk with a strongly banded tail and

 heavily barred upperparts. 

Finally slips away after being harassed by a couple of American Crows.

MA - American Mink and other cool yard stuff 03/04

The tempo and diversity of species visiting the yard seems to have picked up today heralded by a singing Purple Finch this morning. This afternoon an American Mink caught me off guard as it appeared without warning on the brook behind the house. Within seconds it was gone, heading downstream apparently under the ice. We see Mink tracks fairly frequently by the brook but actual sightings are rare, perhaps less than five per year. This was the closest I've got to taking a picture, but in the heat of the moment I couldn't get a firm focus on the animal and had to settle for these blurry shots. In any event, I was thrilled with the sighting and also had my first Eastern Chipmunk of the year as well. Bird-wise I had nice looks at a singing male Carolina Wren and we were visited by a roaming flock of about 30 Wild Turkeys.

All images from our yard in Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 4th, 2014.

MA - downtown waxwings 03/04

Another absurdly cold start to the day (-8 F/-22 C at dawn), but plenty of birds in song in Gill  including Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse and Eastern Bluebird.......and in our yard at around 08:15am, a singing male Purple Finch. A little later I looked at Turner's Falls airfield where a Hermit Thrush was a bit of surprise at the eastern end of the perimeter fence. Apart from a single fly-over Horned Lark the airfield itself was virtually birdless. Downtown Turner's Falls was rather better with a nice group of Cedar Waxwings feeding from the trees along 3rd Street just outside the Rendezvous Cafe.  A few American Robins were present too.

Cedar Waxwings - from a flock of about 80 on 3rd Street, 

Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 4th, 2014.

Hermit Thrush - just a record shot of a bird seen briefly, east end of Turner's Falls airfield,

 Franklin Co., MA. March 4th, 2014. 

Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. March 4th, 2014. 

MA - larks...buntings in Northfield 03/03

Tried a few spots this morning. All rather quiet with no sign of yesterday's Northern Shrike at Northfield Mt. Hermon School, nor any waterfowl of any kind on the Connecticut River at Bennett Meadow or Caldwell Road, West Northfield. I, however, did stumble across a nice flock of about 35 Horned Larks feeding along the edge of Caldwell Road before I reached the Connecticut River. The birds were very cooperative and foraged right alongside my car. I couldn't find any longspurs or Snow Buntings among them but later came across a fast moving flock of Snow Buntings as I left the area. I initially saw these birds in a yard right alongside Rt 142 in West Northfield but they were very unsettled and soon moved off.

Horned Lark - West Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. March 3rd, 2014.

Highly attractive species and perhaps the only 'expected' passerine in open agricultural fields in mid-winter. 

Snow Buntings - West Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. March 3rd, 2014.

Part of a swirling flock of about 30 birds.

MA - Northern Shrike 03/02

Spotted this Northern Shrike from the road whilst heading north for a family outing in Vermont. Much like all of the shrikes I've seen in Gill (including two in our yard) it was brief and aloof, not really co-operating too well for pictures. I got just one record shot from the car taken at about 100 meters distance.

Northern Shrike - east of Northfield Mount Hermon School, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 2nd, 2014.