MA - closer Long-tailed Duck

Much to my surprise, another overnight winter storm yielded little in the way of fresh waterfowl at Barton Cove and it was pretty much business as usual - 65 Ring-necked Ducks, a dozen each of Common Goldeneye and Common Merganser, two drake Canvasbacks, Redhead and the female Long-tailed Duck. Of these, only the Long-tailed Duck was close, in fact as close to Riverview Drive as I've seen it during its stay.

 Long-tailed Duck - female, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 20th, 2014.

Continuing bird from March 15th.

 Canvasbacks (rear) - males, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 20th, 2014.

Continuing drakes a lot more distant in the last few days. 

 Common Goldeneye - first-winter male, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 20th, 2014.

Spent a bit of time on this bird as the thin white markings at the base of the bill superficially hinted at Barrow's but the head
 and bill shape were much more in keeping with Common Goldeneye. 

Cooper's Hawk - female, West Gill Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 20th, 2014.

Huge bird, fanning its tail and drying out in roadside trees after a night of 'wet snow'. 

Canada Geese - evening arrival at Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 19th, 2014.

These birds, and two flocks of northbound migrants totalling 300 birds, hinted at the start of goose 

migration which seems incredibly late this year., at least in our part of Franklin County.

MA - thrush morning - 03/19

Two Great Horned Owls dueting in the still pre-dawn air got the day off to a nice start. The birds were calling just north of Upinngil Farm on Main Road, Gill....the first time I've heard Great Horned Owl calling from this particular spot.

In mid-morning I checked a few spots around Turner's Falls finding Eastern Bluebirds singing at every stop. Bluebirds have been around throughout the winter but the volume of song has definitely picked up in the last few days. I also had slightly better views of the wintering Hermit Thrush that I found on the east side of Turner's Falls airfield a couple of weeks ago. And, as the snow slowly recedes, American Robins are becoming much more evident in open grassy areas and roadsides. All three species mentioned belong to the family Turdidae (thrushes) and represent three different genera.

At Barton Cove, the fine diving duck show continues with Canvasback, Redhead and Long-tailed Duck still present in and around the large raft of Ring-necked Ducks.

 American Robin - male, Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. March 19th, 2014. 

Hermit Thrush - first-winter, Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. March 19th, 2014. 

Prominant white tips to the greater coverts indicate a bird in its first winter. 

Eastern Bluebird - male, Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 19th, 2014. 

MA - a little more Purple - 03/18

Another fine morning in Gill for Purple Finch beginning with a singing male near our house on Main Road just after sun rise, and about three singing males on Ben Hale Road in exactly the same spot where I found two pairs last week on March 12th.

 Purple Finch - male, Ben Hale Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 18th, 2014. One of about three singing males present,
and I think a pale-breasted male that I saw (but didn't photograph) in the same area last week. 

MA - Ruffed Grouse - 03/18

A really nice surprise this morning with a Ruffed Grouse walking across Center Road, Gill. Ruffed Grouse are quite widespread in the woodland around Gill but most often detected as a heard-only when the males are 'drumming' from deep inside woods. Actual sightings are much less frequent, usually birds accidentally flushed from the undergrowth. Views like this are pretty scarce in my experience, and I really enjoyed watching this bird etched against the snow.

 Ruffed Grouse - Center Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 18th, 2014. 

MA - random weekend birds - 03/17

Barton Cove's 'purple patch' continued all the way through the weekend into Monday morning (03/17) giving lots of visiting birders an opportunity to catch up with species such as Canvasback, Redhead, Red-breasted Merganser, Long-tailed Duck (new female), and Glaucous Gull. Counts of other diving ducks varied tremedously between observers with 45-100 Ring-necked Ducks, 5-15 Greater Scaup, 2-5 Lesser Scaup and numerous Hooded and Common Mergansers being reported on ebird. In addition, I also had my first local Wood Ducks and Peregrine of the year at the cove on Saturday morning (03/15).

Long-tailed Duck - female, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. Fresh arrival on March 15th, 2014.

Gracious thanks to Steve M. for letting me know about this just as I was about to head home from the power canal.
 The same bird continues to March 17th at least. 

Canvasbacks - males, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 16th, ive.

These distinctively handsome diving ducks continued through to March 17th at least. 

Sharp-shinned Hawk - juv/fisrt-winter, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA.March 16th, 2014.

Never common in winter in our area, this bird managed to spook all the gulls and ducks at Barton Cove on Sunday evening. 

Quite possibly my firts local 'Sharpie' of the year. 

On Sunday afternoon we had a nice but brutally cold outing to Quabbin Park hoping to see some eagles and we weren't disappointed. Two immature Bald Eagles were feeding at a deer carcass way out on the ice as soon as we arrived and we later had an adult and a sub-adult soaring over the Lookout Tower late in the afternoon. The latter birds were actually much more satisfactory than the distant immatures, beautifully illumated from below by snow as they soared overhead. Also spectacular views of a close Turkey Vulture at the trout hatchery south of Winsor Dam.

Turkey Vulture - McLaughlin Trout Hatchery, Quabbin Watershed, Hampshire Co., MA. March 16th, 2014. 
Already widespread in the Pioneer Valley after my first local bird on March 11th. 

Bald Eagles - Quabbin Park, Hampshire Co., MA. March 16th, 2014.

After a brief respite with a milder day on Saturday we're back to frigid conditions once again with nightime temperatures being especially low. 
The winter seems determined to hang on for as long as it can.

MA - evening at Barton Cove 03/14

The fantastic diving duck show continued at Barton Cove this evening and it was certainly good to see some familiar faces showing up to enjoy the spectacle. Remarkably, the drake Canvasback had been joined by a second male, the Redhead closely associating with them. The Ring-necked Ducks remained with perhaps as many as 40 present and the Red-breasted Merganser continued further upriver towards the Rod and Gun club. At the power canal a pair of Northern Pintail joined a flock of around a dozen American Black Ducks but aside from a pair of Bufflehead the power canal was pretty quiet. I tried to spend a bit of time on gulls this evening finding at least five Kumlien's Iceland Gulls at Barton Cove plus a nice first-cycle Glaucous Gull first picked up by Ian Davies. In between times I came across a small number of gulls on the roof of the Greenfield Savings Bank in Turner's Falls finding two Kumlien's Iceland Gulls and a third bird that was a little more intriguing, superficialy resembling a first-cycle Glaucous but ultimately not fitting Glaucous or Kumlien's particularly well.  For the time being I'm leaving that one unidentified.

 Redhead (male) with two Canvasbacks (males) - Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

 Redhead (male) with two Canvasbacks (males) and Greater Scaup (female) - Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

Northern Pintail (male, lower right) with American Black Duck - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA.
March 14th, 2014.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull with unidentified Glaucous-like Gull (rear) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

Kumlien's Iceland Gull with unidentified Glaucous-like Gull (front) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

Unidentified bird superficially similar to Glaucous but lacks sharply demarcated black tip

to bill as well as being small for that species. 

Glaucous Gull (first-cycle) - Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

Typically hulking Glaucous, a first year bird showing stout pink bill with cleanly demarcated black tip. 

 Kumlien's Iceland Gull (second-cyle) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014.

MA - Canvasback again plus Redhead

Thinking that I'd already had my luck for the week with yesterday's drake Canvasback, I very nearly skipped another morning check of Barton Cove but I was definitely curious to see if the Canvasback had moved on overnight. I found him settled and sleeping with an apparently growing raft of Ring-necked Ducks and Greater Scaup. My first binocular views were brief and as I scanned through the flock I was astonished to find a drake Redhead instead! Fortunately both birds lingered for images but the Redhead took off upriver and looked very flighty. I didn't see it return. A few minutes later the Canvasback decided to flex its wings taking off with Greater Scaup only to return to the same spot after doing a circuit of the cove. As if that wasn't enough, a fine drake Red-breasted Merganser was roosting in the channel closer to the Unity Park side of the cove - not too shabby for a morning in Gill!

This little collection was perhaps the best diving duck diversity I've come across locally in the last few years. Present this morning were; 35+ Ring-necked Duck, 15+ Greater Scaup, 3 Lesser Scaup, 12 Common Merganser, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 Hooded Merganser, 7 Bufflehead, 1 Canvasback and 1 Redhead. By comparison, Turner's Falls power canal was rather quiet (again) though 35 Canada Geese looked like newly arrived migrants.

Redhead - male in breeding plumage, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014.

Overall similar color fields to Canvasback but much grayer with rounded head and blue-gray bill. 

 Canvasback - male in breeding plumage, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014.

Much whiter overall than Redhead with sloping head/bill profile and long, all-dark bill. 

Notably flighty this morning perhaps warming up to continue migration?

Red-breasted Merganser - male (right) with Common Merganser (male), Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014.

MA - Canvasback in Gill! - 03/13

The forecast storm arrived overnight bringing a big drop in temperature, squally snow flurries and a biting eastern wind. Since waterfowl had clearly been moving over the previous few days, I headed straight down to Barton Cove to check for new arrivals. The first bird that caught my attention was a beautiful and unmistakable drake Canvasback in with the Ring-necked Ducks close to Riverview Drive. Although I see plenty of Canvasbacks on my trips to the western US, I've only seen a tiny handful in Massachusetts and this was my first ever in the Pioneer Valley despite actively birding the area since 2005. The bird looked content and settled though it could easily move out as the storm clears.

Overall, fewer diving ducks were at the cove this morning though 3 Greater and 3 Lesser Scaup remained.

Canvasback - male in breeding plumage, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 13th, 2014. 
Unmistakable head and bill profile and 'white-backed' appearance. 

MA - evening at Barton Cove 03/11

Perhaps the first genuinely spring-like day of the year with mild south-westerly winds and afternoon temperatures reaching 55 deg F/ 13 deg C. Barton Cove was busier than of late with a incursion of diving ducks, though again it's tough to say whether it is genuine migration or movements birds displaced by the prolonged wintery conditions Either way, I welcomed the increase and found 20+ Ring-necked Ducks, 25 Hooded Mergansers, 14 Greater and 3 Lesser Scaup and 4 Bufflehead. In the distance, 6 Turkey Vultures cruised by to the SW. By comparison, the power canal was rather quiet with 3 Ring-necked Ducks, 5 Hooded and a single Common Merganser. Overhead, 4 Turkey Vultures offered good views as they looked for a place to roost.

Turkey Vulture - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 11th, 2014.

Seen late in the evening probably looking for a place to roost. My first local TV of the year. 

By comparison, gull numbers were down on my last visit on March 6th when I recorded 900 large gulls of four species. This evening, no more than 400 large gulls were present though the numbers of Kumlien's (Iceland) Gulls remained relatively high with at least nine birds present. The adult Lesser Black-backed Gull continued, easy to pick out due to near absence of Great Black-backed Gulls in stark contrast to the 175 birds I recorded on March 6th. It looked like the bulk of Great Black-backed Gulls have already migrated towards breeding areas.

 Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult) and Kumlien's Iceland Gull (first-cycle) - Barton Cove, Gill, 

Franklin Co., MA. March 11th, 2014.

 Kumlien's Iceland Gulls (two first-cycle) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 11th, 2014.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull (first-cycle) with American Herring Gull - Barton Cove, Gill, 

Franklin Co., MA. March 11th, 2014.

Overall, an interesting evening with the tempo of spring migration finally picking up.