MA - October third week

Pileated Woodpecker - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 13th, 2019.

Relatively common throughout Franklin County but never taken for granted, Pileated Woodpeckers have been 

active and visible at many locations in October. 

It's been a steady week of migration and falling leaves. North Cross Road in Gill has featured strong numbers of Hermit Thrushes on most mornings with 7 - 15 birds calling from the roadsides, sometimes foraging on the road itself before traffic starts in earnest around 7am. Yellow-rumped Warblers continue to migrate south-west in good numbers with 20 - 45 birds on most mornings around sunrise. Most other warblers, perhaps as expected, have become extremely few and far between but Brian Kane had a Nashville Warbler in his Sunderland yard on the 18th. It's been a decent week for Rusty Blackbirds with one heading south over Mill Village Road, Deerfield on the 18th and 4 over North Cross Road on the 19th.

Rusty Blackbird - migrant heading south over Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 18th, 2018.

Least Sandpiper - Hells Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 11th, 2019.

Very probably the same individual bird that's been lingering here from the beginning of October through to the 21st at least.

Shorebirds continued to have a patchy, irregular presence at Hell's Kitchen in Northfield but patient birders have been rewarded with Solitary Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and up to 5 Pectoral Sandpipers through to the 21st. And a personal highlight for me was two American Woodcocks seen 'chittering' over North Cross Road, Gill early on the 18th. A Pectoral Sandpiper also touched down at Caldwell Road sod fields during the storm of the 17th when it was the only shorebird present there.

Savannah Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 13th, 2019.

Sparrows continued to feature and perhaps increase in number with several pronounced 'waves' of Song, Savannah, Chipping, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows this week. At least 160 Savannah Sparrows were present in the Mill Village Road fields south of Historic Deerfield on the 17th, which also happened to be the last date on which the Le Conte's Sparrow was seen. The Deerfield Meadows also produced over 21 White-crowned Sparrows on the 19th, 18 of which were in the North Meadows when there was also an Eastern Meadowlark close by (David Sibley). Still at the Deerfield Meadows, single Field Sparrows and up to three Vesper Sparrows have been found fairly consistently amid the hordes of Savannah and Song Sparrows.

Le Conte's Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 17th, 2019.

White-throated Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 17th, 2019.

Lincoln's Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 17th, 2019.

Vesper Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 17th, 2019.

MA - Woodcocks galore!

During my morning run on Saturday (October 20th) I must have heard 6-10 American Woodcocks displaying above Boyle Street in Gill, all before 06:30am. I was little surprised to hear this much display activity, actually more remnaniscent of warm morning in late March than mid-October. Perhaps the balmy, foggy conditions stimulated the birds to display?

Again, around dawn, I disturbed two American Woodcocks from a field edge on our neighbors property in Gill this morning (October 22nd). The same property held many Golden-crowned Kinglets in what seemed to be a notable arrival, a couple of Winter Wrens and three 'Eastern' Palm Warblers.

JPS

MA - loads more Woodcocks plus spring arrivals in Gill 03/23

After spending a chilly week in Southern Israel, I would confess that I didn't expect to return to find Western Mass a lot warmer than the week I'd just experienced in the desert! Afternoon temperatures this week have consistently reached the 80s which strikes me as being ludicrous for mid-late March. Still, the balmy, foggy mornings have been perfect for listening for Woodcocks and they seem to be everywhere in Gill. Just this morning I tallied about 12 displaying birds on a six mile run covering Main, Boyle and North Cross Roads. Further displaying birds could be heard around the Main and Mountain Road intersection, all pre-dawn of course with birds starting up around 5 am. Killdeers appear to be present in most of the farm fields too, often vocalizing pre-dawn along with the woodcocks. 


Susannah tells me that the first Eastern Phoebes arrived at our home on the 15th, and certainly by the 20th it seemed like most of the homesteads along Main Road in Gill had at least one calling bird. Slightly less expected was a singing Pine Warbler in the White Pines at the Giving Tree School on Wood Ave, Gill on the 20th and the 22nd, almost certainly my personal earliest in the state and a species I wouldn't typically expect before April.


Other chance sightings included a daytime Barred Owl at about 9am on North Cross Road, on the 22nd, and an American Kestrel on Main Road on the 22nd and 23rd. That bird was just north-east of Upinngil Farm. 


At home, a few Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows remain around the feeders, whilst Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds have become regular fare over the last few days, plus an occasional Belted Kingfisher on the brook. 


JPS