MA - every day Crossbills

Semi-palmated Sandpiper (adult) - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. August 2nd, 2020.

In the first week of August, Hell's Kitchen in Northfield remained a reliable spot for small numbers of shorebirds including Killdeer, Least and Solitary Sandpipers but an adult Semi-palmated Sandpiper there on the 2nd was far less usual and my first of the fall locally. 

Tropical Storm Isaias was the most significant weather event of the week bringing thundery, squally showers and damaging wind gusts late in the day on the 4th but sadly, in terms of northern Franklin County, there were no major fall-outs of seabirds while both Worcester and Berkshire Counties enjoyed significant arrivals of Sooty Terns. The best bird at Barton Cove during the storm was an unidentified white heron, either a Snowy Egret or juvenile Little Blue Heron first spotted by Josh Layfield. Unfortunately, the views were brief and in flight, and we were unable to settle on an identification but either species would have been good for Franklin County. The day after the storm, August 5th, did produce 6 Double-crested Cormorants and 3 Ring-billed Gulls but these and the two Great Egrets loafing around the cove were probably unconnected to the storm. 

The avian event of the week, at least locally, was the continued and unabated movement of Red Crossbills through northern Franklin County with 1- 10 birds noted daily between the 1st and 7th at sites in Gill, Northfield, Bernardston and Deerfield. In most cases, these were of birds passing over heading in a South-westerly direction but the few birds seen foraging appeared to be feeding in White Pines. Matt Young of Cornell identified my sound recording from North Cross Road on July 31st at 'Type 10' and I'm hoping to get the results of a further sound recording taken from a single bird, also on North Cross Road, Gill later today. Other passerines of note this week included a Bobolink over Boyle Road on the 6th (most likely a migrant) and at least five Red-breasted Nuthatches at Hell's Kitchen on the 7th, probably a family of local breeders. 

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Great Egrets - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. August 4th, 2020.

Double-crested Cormorants and Ring-billed Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. August 5th, 2020.

Bald Eagle (adult) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. August 5th, 2020.

MA - fall migration underway!

Solitary Sandpiper - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, MA. July 14th, 2020. 

Rather distant and one of two birds present. This is a phone-scoped image. 

Traditionally, mid-July almost always brings the first obvious signs that fall migration is underway. This year has been no exception and migrant shorebirds (from much further north) made an appearance this week with two Solitary Sandpipers at Hell's Kitchen, Northfield on the 14th and a Least Sandpiper over Hilltop Farm, Deerfield on the 15th (sound recorded by David Sibley). And July 17th brought three Solitary Sandpipers and my first Least Sandpiper of the season to Hell's Kitchen as well as up to a dozen Killdeers. 

Least Sandpiper (adult) - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, MA. July 17th, 2020. 

Rather distant and another phone-scoped image. 

Solitary Sandpiper - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, MA. July 17th, 2020. 

One of three birds present. Phone-scoped image. 

Migrating passerines are usually more difficult to detect at this time but an Eastern Kingbird moving high and direct to the south over Barton Cove on 15th looked like a strong candidate for a genuine migrant. Many species have also been forming post-breeding flocks. In particular, I came across a nice gathering of 120 Tree, 35 Barn and 2 Cliff Swallows at Beaver Meadow in Leyden where there was an impressive selection of other species including three Bobolinks. 

Cliff Swallow (center) - juvenile with Tree Swallows, Leyden, Franklin Co., MA. July 14th, 2020.

May 14th -

Bobolink - one of at least five singing males, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 14th, 2020.

The day dawned cold, clear and frosty once more. Initial indications appeared to point to very few new birds so I settled for catching up with some local breeding birds including Bobolinks and Orchard Orioles in Gill, and Killdeers at Turner's Falls where I just happened to come across a nest with four eggs!

Killdeer (nest with eggs) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. May 14th, 2020.

As the day warmed up migrant warblers including Blue-winged, Nashville and Northern Parula became more obvious but as I set off for a morning bike ride I wasn't quite prepared for the numbers of parulas that would actually be out there. A 22 mile loop from Montague Plains through Sunderland and Turner's Falls produced no less that 40 Northern Parulas, easily the biggest wave of the species that I've experienced in Franklin County. Other notable arrivals on the same ride included Northern Waterthrush (8) which seem to have been scarce so far this spring and Yellow-throated Vireo (4), notably late in arrival compared to previous springs.


The evening hours were decidedly balmy in Gill (72 deg F) with a fantastic chorus of Barred Owls and Wood Thrushes and my first 'singing' Veery of the spring. Our yard in Northfield also turned out to be something of a sweet spot for thrushes with Susannah spotting a migrant Swainson's Thrush, several foraging Veeries plus a Hermit Thrush in song early in the morning.

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.

Late Bobolink, Cackler, WC Sparrows - Hadley Nov 9th.

Bobolink - Hadley Transfer Station.

Yet another return trip to Hadley, this time hooking up with local birder Brian Kane. Rain at first light visibly moved away to the East as clear skies pushed in from the North-west producing a fine morning. Beautiful though it was, fewer birds appeared to be on the move compared to yesterday. In addition, solar glare was a slight problem when trying to view larks on the ground. Having said all that, we had a fine morning with good views of Horned Lark (250+), Snow Bunting (3), Lapland Longspur and American Pipit (25). Careful scrutiny of the many Canada Goose (600+) flocks eventually paid dividends as Brian expertly picked out a distant Cackling Goose with six Canada Geese heading towards Easthampton. I think this maybe the same Cackler that flew over me yesterday heading towards Amherst.

Finally, a rather productive walk around the perimeter fence of the Hadley Transfer Station gave us 5 White-crowned Sparrows, 45 Savannah Sparrows, 25 Song Sparrrows, 1 Vesper Sparrow and plenty of American Goldfinches and Dark-eyed Juncos. The undoubted highlight here was a Bobolink, not a rare bird locally, but after mid-October, certainly noteworthy. In fact, 'The Birds of Massachussetts' only lists one record in November with another for December.

Another great morning in Hadley, though our hopes were a little dashed early in the day. A local hunter told us of a Snowy Owl that he'd seen and photographed (!!!) in the corn fields just off Honey Pot road during the middle of the week. At first he thought it was a very white gull, but on investigation realized it was an owl and took some pictures from within a few yards. This bird was undoubtedly related the broad movement of Snowy Owls currently going on in New England. During the same period, two Snowy Owls turned up in coastal Connecticut, both of which were digiscoped by Nick Bonomo yesterday.

Snowy Owl is very close to the top of the list of the birds that I'd most want to see in the Pioneer Valley, and it looks like I narrowly missed one last week. But watch this space - I'll definitely be out looking and this exciting month may be the time to find one.

Lapland Longspur - Hadley Honey Pot. Fairly pale bird, but still with striking chestnut greater coverts.

Horned Lark and Lapland Longspur (rear left).

White-crowned Sparrow - adult, Hadley Transfer Station.

White-crowned Sparrow - first-winter, Hadley Transfer Station.

White-crowned Sparrow - two adults, Hadley Transfer Station.

Cackling Goose - (second from right in each shot) Very distant, taken through scope. First rate spot by Brian Kane. Much smaller size with tiny body, proportionately shorter neck and slimmer wings. Wingbeats more rapid than Canada Goose, at a stretch recalling Brant. This bird was found after a morning of scanning through hundreds of Canada Geese moving between feeding sites in Hadley. Rather interestingly, this bird was with just six Canada Geese recalling the bird over Hatfield on October 27th. There's at least some chance that it could be the same bird lingering in our area.