Wednesday, April 10, 2019

MA - March in Franklin County - passerines

Red Crossbills - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. March 8th, 2019.

As expected, March was characterized by the steady transition from winter to spring. The opening ten days of of the month remained cold with yet another winter storm depositing small amounts of accumulation on the 9th and 10th. Signs of spring were few but it was heart warming to find Red Crossbills nest building in the Montague Sand Plains on the 7th and the 8th. Red Crossbills tend to breed early and these were the first passerines of any kind that I had found nesting this year. They remained a personal highlight in the plains and I found them with remarkable consistency every time I visited with an estimate of about four pairs settling down for the breeding season, but not more than that.

Red Crossbills - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. March 8th, 2019.

Red Crossbill (female) - nest building, Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. March 7th, 2019.

Red Crossbill  - female on nest, Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. March 8th, 2019.
Here it's possible to just make out some of the white feathers that she used to line the cup of the nest.


Red Crossbill (male) - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. March 8th, 2019.

Still in the Montague Plains, and almost equally impressive was the continued presence of 40 - 50 Common Redpolls throughout the month along with smaller numbers of American Goldfinches and Pine Siskins. Towards the end of the month they were joined by several 'waves' of returning Dark-eyed Juncos. For the most part, the Redpolls stayed high and busy in the Pitch Pines frustrating any serious attempts to search for Hoary Redpolls. While pale redpolls certainly existed within the flock, I couldn't find any decent candidates for Hoary Redpoll. 

Common Redpoll (male) - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. March 8th, 2019.

Common Redpoll (male) - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. March 8th, 2019.

Common Redpoll - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. March 8th, 2019.

A little further afield, I finally caught up with a Northern Shrike in what appeared to be a fairly lean winter for the species, at least from a local perspective. But the traditional spot at Eugene Moran WMA produced one on the 3rd with an adult posing nicely for a short time before bolting all the way across to the opposite side of the WMA!

Northern Shrike - Moran WMA, Windsor, Berkshire Co., MA. March 3rd, 2019.



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