MA - a busy afternoon in Gill

What should have been a brief scan of Barton Cove this afternoon ended up being a two hour vigil as birds of interest just kept cropping up every time I thought about leaving. About 600 gulls gathered on the ice off Riverview though, sadly, most of them were quite distant but at least some of the individuals looked like new arrivals with 6 Iceland Gulls (5 first-cycle and an adult) and a Glaucous Gull (first-cycle). The latter, as much as I could tell given the distance, looked like a new bird and not the long-staying individual with the damaged right right leg which I last saw on Feb 24th.

Ring-necked Ducks - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. February 27th, 2018.

Ring-necked Duck numbers were up with 10 males together off Riverview Drive though no sign of yesterday's Greater Scaup. Four Northern Pintail (2 male, 2 female) were also present along with a pair of Gadwall. As evening approached, 5 Wood Ducks flew over which I think may be my first locally since the Christmas Bird Count on Dec 31st. And, speaking of Wood Ducks, a good friend of mine photographed this wonderful Bobcat stalking Wood Ducks close to the banks of the Connecticut River today!

Bobcat - site undisclosed, Franklin Co., MA. February 27th, 2018.

Image appears with permission.