MA - Boxing Day Grosbeaks

 

Pine Grosbeak - Federal Street, Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. December 26th, 2020. 

After a balmy wet Christmas Day, the next day was pretty much business as usual with temperatures barely above freezing all day in combination with a raw North-westerly wind. But driving the streets of Greenfield and Turner's Falls did produce Pine Grosbeaks, lots of them! Sixteen were still present at a well reported site on Federal Street in Greenfield, actually right outside the local MacDonald's. Turner's Falls had three on L Street and a further nine on 3rd street, just west of the Avenue A intersection. And today (Dec 27th), a further five Pine Grosbeaks flew along the powerline cut through Highland Park in Greenfield. I must say it's an absolute treat to have these birds around, and even better to be able to find them so easily. We haven't seen numbers like this since the winter of 2007/08 and the consensus appears to be that the current influx is bigger and more widespread than the event of 12 years prior. One big difference between the two incursions seems to be adult males or rather the lack of them in the current incursion, and I still await my first!

Pine Grosbeak - Federal Street, Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. December 26th, 2020. 

Water levels on the Connecticut River have remained extremely high since the Christmas Day thaw but the Barrow's Goldeneye seen in Turner's Falls that day appears to have moved on. Several checks of the power canal roost have not produced the goldeneye numbers seen that morning, especially the seemingly high numbers of first-winters males. Having been optimistic that the Barrow's might show up again, I'm now getting the distinct impression that it was perhaps just a one day wonder. On the other hand, checking for the Barrow's did produce an unseasonable Green-winged Teal at the power canal on the 27th and a female American Wigeon at Barton Cove, Gill the previous day.

Green-winged Teal (right) - first-winter male, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 27th, 2020. 

MA - late nighthawk migration around the autumn equinox

Common Nighthawk - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 22nd, 2019.

After a busy summer/early autumn of tours and family commitments, I've finally managed to do at least a little local birding around the autumn equinox and pleased to have found a few species of local interest. The warm, muggy air (89 deg F in Turner's Falls on the afternoon of the 23rd) produced a late migration of Common Nighthawks with eight over Turner's Falls, and six over downtown Greenfield on the 22nd and a remarkable 15 over Main Road, Gill on 23rd when Josh Layfield had five over Montague WMA, and a further 11 over the Green River at Deerfield Street in Greenfield.  Clearly a strong, late push of nighthawks and quite unusual to see actual flocks gathering this late into the fall.

Common Nighthawks - over Main Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. September 23rd, 2019.

The 23rd also produced an eclipse American Wigeon with the Mallards at Turner's Falls, and a Mourning Warbler (first-winter), an American Golden Plover and several Purple Finches migrating over North Cross Road earlier during the morning. 

American Wigeon - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 23rd, 2019.

MA - more from the Turner's Falls area

Greater Yellowlegs (juvenile) - Turner's Falls, Franklin County, MA. September 11th, 2018.

A cold front finally brought some welcome cooler air from September 8th. I was hoping for some dramatic changes locally, especially in terms of waterbirds, but surprisingly didn't find too much in the way of new birds. Things improved somewhat on September 10th with an American Wigeon (male) at the Turner's Falls power canal and a nice selection of species at the Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club with 4 Great Egrets, 2 Greater and 1 Lesser Yellowlegs together, a juvenile Northern Harrier, a Yellow Warbler and my first Herring Gull (juvenile) of the autumn. Rain throughout the afternoon of the 10th and into the 11th seemed to have little effect in grounding migrants but a juvenile Semi-palmated Sandpiper joined the small, regular flock of Least Sandpipers at Hell's Kitchen where an Olive-sided Flycatcher called for several minutes before moving on. A Greater Yellowlegs remained at the Rod and Gun club on the 11th, as did a Great Egret with the latter species continuing to impress with at least 8 frequenting the Connecticut River between the Rod and Gun club and the Turner's Falls power canal.

American Wigeon (male) - Turner's Falls, Franklin County, MA. September 10th, 2018.

Greater Yellowlegs (two lower birds) and Lesser Yellowlegs - Turner's Falls, Franklin County, MA. September 10th, 2018.

The widespread movement of Purple Finches in northern Franklin County continues and I'm still recording birds in almost all the locations I visit though not in large numbers with flock of 3 - 6 birds being the norm.

American Redstart (hatch-year) - Deerfield Meadows, Franklin County, MA. September 8th, 2018.

MA - bear, Boblinks and more in early September

Bobolinks - from a flock of 41 at Old Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 6th, 2018. 

Hot, humid and near windless conditions persisted throughout the first week of the month, hardly ideal conditions for spending time in the time field! Fluctuating water levels at Barton Cove in Gill brought especially large numbers of Mallards (up to 300) when the water was fully drawn down exposing wide mud bars. An early American Wigeon, an eclipse male, appeared on the 4th and was still present on the 5th when no less than five Great Egrets graced the cove increasing to six the following day. Three Green Herons were also to be seen foraging on the mudflats and a Merlin caught a swallow sp. in flight above the river. Despite the extensive mudflats, the only shorebird of note that I could find was a Solitary Sandpiper, that's aside from four Killdeer which may have been local breeders.

American Wigeon (right) - eclipse male, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. September 4th, 2018. 

Great Egrets - four of six, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. September 6th, 2018. 

Great Egret - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 4th, 2018. 

The evening of the 4th also saw two or three Common Nighthawks hawking low over the Cherry Rum Plaza in Greenfield at 17:20 hours. Nighthawks should still be possible on warm evenings deep into September but the bulk will have migrated through our area in late August.

Bobolinks - Old Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 6th, 2018. 

Passerines of note included near daily encounters with Purple Finches, Red-breasted Nuthatches and Boblinks around Gill and Turner's Falls, but it was especially nice to come across a flock of over 40 Bobolinks foraging with House Sparrows in Old Deerfield's north meadows on the 6th.


However, the highlight of the week, hands down actually, was seeing a good sized Black Bear, perhaps a young adult, amble across the road in front of me and my bicycle in Montague on the 5th. Alas, by the time I'd pulled over and wrestled with my cell phone the beast had wandered into the woods but the views were excellent and it looked totally at ease as it made its way across a traffic free road.

MA - American Wigeon 11/20

No real time for birding today but a couple of stops between errands produced a whopping 110 Hooded Mergansers at Barton Cove just before noon, and later, 5 American Wigeon and 2 Green-winged Teal at the Turner's Fall power canal. At least 900 Canada Geese were present on the power canal as well, but despite a good effort, I couldn't find any scarce geese among them.

 American Wigeon - tight group of five, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 20th, 2014.

Green-winged Teal (females) -  with female Mallard. Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 20th, 2014.