MA - Bobcat, and more winter finches and geese

Bobcat - Montague, Franklin Co., MA. December 9th, 2020.

A Bobcat hunting voles in rough pasture would have to be the highlight of the latter part of this week. Generally, I have about 15 - 20 encounters with Bobcats each year in Franklin County, most of them too brief for photos so to have prolonged views of a big male actively foraging in the middle of the day was a real treat. He looked over in my direction a couple of times but seemed quite unconcerned by my presence and nonchalantly caught three voles as I watched, swallowing them whole and licking his lips afterwards.

Bobcat - Montague, Franklin Co., MA. December 9th, 2020.

Bird-wise, irruptive finches continued to attract attention and just when I thought Evening Grosbeaks were starting to taper there seems to be more than a hint of an ongoing second 'wave' with five in Gill and four over Turner's Falls Dec 11th, another 10 over Main Road, Gill on the 12th and 29 at East Hill Road in Bernardston on the 10th. The latter was the largest single flock that I've seen in Franklin County. 

Five Red Crossbills were at the same location in Bernardston on Dec 10th, with a further five over Barton Cove boat ramp on the 9th. Impressive though these were, the boreal finch that really caught my imagination this week was the Pine Grosbeak. Six birds continued at Meadow Road, Montague on the 9th and on the 10th I stumbled across a flock of 14 near Upinngil Farm, Gill that continued through to the 12th at least. The well watched flock at Wendell State Forest also continued where Scott Surner recorded an impressive18 on the 10th, and Susannah and I tallied a 'whopping' 22 on Dec 12th. All the flocks appeared to be composed of females and russet female/imm males thus far. 

Pine Grosbeaks - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 10th, 2020.

Pine Grosbeak - Wendell State Forest, Franklin Co., MA. December 12th, 2020. One of a flock of 22.

Common Redpolls, while certainly present in numbers, remained quite difficult to observe at close range though I did have a little more success of late with 20 on North Cross Road, Gill on the 10th and 65 at the Turner's Falls power canal on Dec 11th. 

Common Redpoll - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 11th, 2020. 

Barnacle Goose (center) - Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. December 12th, 2020. 

The long staying Barnacle Goose and at least one Cackling Goose continued within the greater Canada Goose 'spectacle' at the Turner's Falls power canal with both birds present through to Dec 12th allowing many birders and photographers to catch up with both species at leisure. 

Barnacle Goose - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 11th, 2020. 

Dropping into the power canal after spending the morning feeding in Greenfield. 

Barnacle Goose - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 10th, 2020. 

Cackling Goose - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 10th, 2020. 

Covid Spring - I

Bobcat - Franklin County, MA. February 12th, 2020.

Dark, surreal, unprecedented times. The opening quarter of the year has been nothing short of a roller coaster; Christmas with the family in the UK, immediately followed by my first trip to Costa Rica (brilliant!), and then a trip to Panama. A quieter, slower February rolled straight into another new tour in March with my first trip to Belize. All of these tours came along courtesy of Naturalist Journeys meaning fantastic ground conditions, smooth logistics and great birding throughout. But, a lot of paperwork between trips resulting in, among other things, the neglect of this blog!

In fact, it was on the Naturalist Journeys Panama tour that I first learned through Hallie Ephron that a Global Pandemic was on the way. I was fortunate. Our Naturalist Journeys trip to Belize passed without a hitch and I arrived home on March 15th only to find out that American Airlines had made the decision to ground 75% of its International fleet on March 16th, and I'd just flown with American Airlines in and out of Belize City Airport!

After an incredible tour to Belize it was back down to earth with a bump on March 16th. Susannah brought her office to home from Umass-Amherst, and I looked/struggled/scrambled for ways to keep a 12 year old occupied for the weeks ahead with no school. At week three, the powers that be have told us that we can look forward to a peak of Covid-19 cases in Massachusetts sometime between April 7th - 17th but with an optimistic return to school date of May 4th.


In the mean time, we're restricted but not so restricted that we can't go outside to exercise, sketch, and do birding. Spring is here, no doubt about that, with species such as Tree Swallows (first one in Gill on 03/27) and Eastern Phoebes (broad, sweeping influx on 03/27) already widespread and even a Pine Warbler singing in Gill on April 1st. Hermit Thrushes and Winter Wrens could also be heard in the Gill woodlands from April 1st. Less usual but certainly noteworthy species in Gill included a displaying Red-shouldered Hawk over the Elementary School on April 1st where there was also a calling Fish Crow. In fact, Fish Crows have been unusually obvious in Gill with calling birds noted over North Cross Road on several dates in late March, perhaps looking for a breeding niche? Either way, Fish Crow presence in 'interior' Gill is certainly a new development for 2020 and, in terms of the town of Gill,  I've never seen them away from Barton Cove and Gill Riverside.

Carolina Wren - a male utilizing an unusually high song post, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 1st, 2020.

A few northbound sparrows have been passing through too with a fairly widespread movement of White-throated Sparrows that included 18 in our yard in Northfield on Mar 19th, an American Tree Sparrow in Turner's Falls on Mar 30th and a Fox Sparrow in full song on North Cross Road, Gill on the 31st. Josh Layfield also noted 3 Fox Sparrows in Northfield Meadows on Apr 3rd.


As for Barton Cove, well the little that I've seen so far this spring might indicate that the migration has been incredibly quiet. Ring-necked Ducks peaked at 113 birds on March 31st but the flock seemed to roam or disperse quickly after that? A few Lesser Scaup were present with them and a handful of Greater Scaup included a flock of eight birds at the Turner's Fall Rod and Gun club on Mar 29th (David Sibley). Single Pied-billed Grebes turned up at Barton Cove, the Rod and Gun club and the Turner's Falls power canal in late March but it wasn't until April 2nd that I had my first Common Loon of the spring - a bird in full breeding plumage at the Rod and Gun club. A lone Snow Goose dropped in for half a day on Mar 30th, with my first Double-crested Cormorant of the spring and at least 15 Tree Swallows present at the same time.

Snow Goose - immature, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2020. 

Having said all of that, the highlight of my spring so far, at least locally, has been near-regular sightings of Bobcats close to home - "near-regular" meaning roughly once per month or so. Luckily, Matan has been with me for at least two of these sightings and I tried my best to get some photos.

Bobcat - Franklin County, MA. February 12th, 2020.

Bobcat - Franklin County, MA. March 16th, 2020.

Well, I'm really hopeful that another four months doesn't elapse before my next blog entry! In the mean time, I wish everyone a safe, healthy and stress-free spring.



Good birding,




James

MA - first White-crowned Sparrows of the fall

October 5th dawned cold and breezy with winds in the northern quarter. Many birds appeared to be moving over North Cross Road, Gill just after first light including a strong push of Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll Warblers, and the first Golden-crowned Kinglets of the fall certainly indicated some brand new arrivals. Further north, I found pockets of migrants at Caldwell Road fields in Northfield but it became clear that the excellent diversity of warblers present in the first three days of the month had moved on and most of the migrant flocks were now composed of White-throated, Song and Swamp Sparrows. The first White-crowned Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos of the fall appeared, and there were more Golden-crowned (and Ruby-crowned) Kinglets in the area plus quite a number of Purple Finches. A quick stop on Pine Meadow Road produced much of the same including another (first-winter) White-crowned Sparrow. A handful of southbound raptors included a juvenile Bald Eagle and an Osprey. And there were small flocks of Canada Geese and Blue Jays filtering south throughout the morning.

White-crowned Sparrow (first-winter) Franklin Co., MA. October 5th, 2018.

Purple Finch (first-winter) Franklin Co., MA. October 5th, 2018.

Yellow-rumped Warbler (first-winter) Franklin Co., MA. October 5th, 2018.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the morning was a Bobcat hunting for sparrows deep in the thickets and being mobbed by an entourage of around 35 Song Sparrows!! We had eye to eye contact for the briefest of moments and then he/she was gone.

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.

MA - BOBCAT!

Bobcat - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. January 21st, 2016.

Another chilly start to the day provided nice views of two local owls before sunrise - a Great Horned Owl perched on a Utility Pole by the NMH campus on Main Road, and a Barred Owl again on North Cross Road. After dropping Matan at school I headed towards Turner's Falls with the firm intention of checking a couple of spots before heading home to do some work.  A pair of Wood Ducks on the power canal were nice and again there was a fabulous Goldeneye show, including the drake Barrow's Goldeneye,  at Montague City but those sightings would quickly pale when I had a chance encounter with Bobcat on the way home.

 Wood Duck - pair, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 21st, 2016.

Barrow's Goldeneye - male, Montague City, Franklin Co., MA. January 21st, 2016.

I've had quite a bit a luck with seeing Bobcats in the Pioneer Valley over the years but all of them have been brief, and all but one have eluded the camera so imagine how thrilling it was to have a Bobcat casually walk across a snow covered track in front of my car! Unfortunately it dropped straight down into a wooded gully and, despite careful scanning, I thought it was gone. I parked the car in a more sensible spot, got out and started birding as the Bobcat's presence had triggered a 'wall' of bird sound in the woods. A shape in the gully caught my eye. It just didn't look right and in a few splits of a second I realized the Bobcat was 'hiding' just a few feet from me. In fact, it looked so settled and calm that I began to wonder if it was injured. I needn't have worried. Once it became aware that it was being watched, it soon bolted up the opposite side of the gully and headed deep into the snow covered woodland.

Bobcat - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. January 21st, 2016.

Bobcat - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. January 21st, 2016. Looking relaxed enough to take a snooze!

Without doubt the outdoors highlight of my year in the Pioneer Valley so far.