MA - male Barrow's Goldeneye

Barrow's Goldeneye at dusk - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 5th, 2017.

A fine male Barrow's Goldeneye showed up at the Turner's Falls power canal on Dec 5th - a very wet, misty, gloomy evening, so misty in fact, that it was difficult to glean anything on the power canal without a high resolution scope. But I got lucky and found a raft of some 80 Common Goldeneyes and soon focused on the Barrow's after checking only five or six birds. It was a bold, perky male consorting with the displaying Common Goldeneyes and doing plenty of display of his own. The previous five winters have been pretty good for seeing male Barrow's Goldeneyes in the greater Turner's Falls area and it's difficult to say if this bird is a returning male, though it does seem rather likely.

Barrow's Goldeneye at dusk (second from left) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 5th, 2017.

Barrow's Goldeneye at dusk (second from left) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 5th, 2017.

December 5th also brought the first major Horned Lark (125) and Snow Bunting (42) flocks to northern Franklin County with both species staying all-too-briefly at the excellent Pauchaug WMA area in Northfield. Winter Wrens continue to show up in the mild conditions with birds at Gill Town Center (2), Gill Elementary School and Unity Park in Turner's Falls as well as continued birds along North Cross Road in Gill. 

Winter Wren - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 2nd, 2017.

Snow Buntings - Pauchaug Brook WMA, Northfield, Frnaklin Co., MA. December 5th, 2017.

Horned Larks - Pauchaug Brook WMA, Northfield, Frnaklin Co., MA. December 5th, 2017.

It's been another good week for owls locally with the discovery of a pair  Eastern Screech-Owls at a new site in Gill, and continuing vocal birds at traditional spots in Gill and two sites in Turner's Falls. Great Horned Owls can be heard on calm evenings around Gill Town Center and on December 5th, I chanced upon a roadside Barred Owl in the rain, again in Gill.

Barred Owl in the rain - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 5th, 2017.