Great Cormorant (left) with Double-crested Cormorant - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2017.
November, the month that just keeps on giving! The 8th dawned cold, gray and full of snow flurries, a remarkable contrast from just two days prior when it dawned a muggy 62 deg F in Gill. With winds in the north I made an effort to get down to Turner's Falls before taking Matan to school and was rewarded with two Great Cormorants that arrived singly at the Rod & Gun club with one heading downstream to Unity Park, and the other departing south after spending just a few minutes on the water. Once again, the broad expanse of river above the Turner's Falls dam proved that its an attractive draw to scarce and unusual species but in the same respect has little to hold such birds which usually move on quickly. On a personal level, this was only my second observation of Great Cormorant in Franklin County, my first being in North Quabbin in mid-November 2005. I'm aware of others, specifically in Turner's Falls with one from Brian Kane at the power canal on February 13th, 2005 and another (with photos) from Peter Garigan on December 7th & 8th, 2016, the latter being at the Rod & Gun club.
Great Cormorant (left) with Double-crested Cormorant - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2017.
Great Cormorant - Turner's Falls Rod & Gun club, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2017.
The first bird arriving from the NE at 07:22 hours before continuing down river.
Great Cormorant - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2017.
Presumed same as the bird featured in flight above......this shot was taken at 07:52 hours.
Remarkably, despite the snow showers and a marked drop in temperature, the long staying White-eyed Vireo surprised me once again in its favored nook by the Connecticut River though it was a no show on the 9th.....but the same patch of scrub attracted no less than three Hermit Thrushes that particular morning.
Great Cormorant - arriving in snow showers, Turner's Falls Rod & Gun club, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2017.
Great Cormorant - Turner's Falls Rod & Gun club, Franklin Co., MA. November 8th, 2017.
This was the second bird and it departed at 07:38 hours heading south towards Montague Plains.
This was the second bird and it departed at 07:38 hours heading south towards Montague Plains.
Late on the 9th, an ebird report concerning a relatively local Snowy Owl surfaced from Bill Lafley in New Salem. The morning of the 10th dawned frigid with a blustery north-westerly wind and I had concerns that the Snowy Owl would have moved on overnight but fortunately for us, Bill Lafley relocated his bird and posted the news in a timely manner. By mid-morning Matan and I were enjoying reasonable views of the owl from the road as it warmed itself on a dry-stone wall off Wendell Road in New Salem.
Snowy Owl - New Salem, Franklin Co., MA. November 10th, 2017.
Early morning on the 10th had also seen a nice arrival of waterfowl at Turner's Falls including 31 Bufflehead, 3 Ring-necked Ducks, and a Gadwall among some lingering Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal. The conditions were so frigid that most of these were hunkered together in one sheltered cove.
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