Bonaparte's Gulls in Gill

Bonaparte's Gulls (11) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 27th, 2020. 

 A cold wet night continued into a cold wet day! An initial check of Barton Cove in the morning hours proved to be fairly quiet though 21 Double-crested Cormorants remained from the previous day and three Horned Grebes were present, perhaps left over from the 26th as well. But the morning was highlighted by an adult Bonaparte's Gull in full summer plumage though admittedly it was a little distant. By the evening a fine flock of 11 Bonaparte's Gulls were present, all in pristine breeding plumage. They were flighty and showed interest in departing several times whilst I was there but always settled back down on the water and were still present when I left at about 17:45 hours. Also of interest, hundreds of swallows hawking over the water including 40 - 50 Barn Swallows, the largest concentration that I've seen so far this spring.

Bonaparte's Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 27th, 2020. 

The local Merlins appeared to take a special interest in hirundines today and I watched a female chasing swallows (unsuccessfully) around lunchtime, and then saw a male take a Barn Swallow over the water right in front of me this evening! Around the edge of Barton Cove, several migrant flocks of grounded, mostly male Yellow-rumped Warblers could be found foraging with a few Pine and Palm Warblers, and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. Further south, Josh Layfield came across a large flock of warblers at Tri-town Beach in Whately including a careful count of 39 Yellow-rumped Warblers, almost all of which were males.

 Merlin (male) - carrying Barn Swallow, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 27th, 2020. 

Merlin (female) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 27th, 2020.