MA - Northfield Black Vulture

Being the weekend, opportunities for field time were few but a couple of species brightened up my day. First, two Snow Buntings calling and trilling lower over North Cross Road at about 08:30hrs. They headed south but could well have come up from the corn stubble fields there.

Then, during a family hike in the Brush Mountain Conservation in Northfield, Susannah spotted a raptor passing low over the power lines. The short tailed shape immediately suggested Black Vulture and luckily I managed to get a record few shots to confirm it before it disappeared over the tree line to the north-west. The bird was in a constant glide and did not display the typical flight manner that often makes Black Vulture so readily identifiable in the field .

Black Vulture - passing WNW over Brush Mountain Conservation Area, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 7th, 2015. Quite scarce in Franklin County but my second observation in 2015 following three at Turner's Falls in late May.