MA - Canvasback continues plus hordes of geese

Canvasback - male, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 14th, 2016. 

Impressive concentrations of waterfowl continue at Turner's Falls. This morning (12/14) I noted c.2,500 Canada Geese in the area the bulk of which were resting at the power canal. It was no easy task to pick out a Cackling Goose but eventually I found the usual long stayer amid the throng. After Monday's snowstorm (and perhaps a little hunting pressure), the drake Canvasback moved from the Rod and Gun club and to the power canal on the 13th and 14th. Two Gadwall were also present at the power canal on the 13th. Hooded Mergansers appear to be concentrated at the Rod and Gun club this month with 45 there on the 14th. 

Common Goldeneye - male, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 13th, 2016. 

Iceland Gulls were also present at the power canal on the 13th & 14th, both of them first-cycle birds.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull - first-cycle, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 14th, 2016. 

Other local observations included a close encounter with a Peregrine in Montague City on the 13th and yet another stellar evening for North Saw-whet Owls with 4-5 birds heard and seen in just one location on the 13th keeping me and my field companions more than happy with the results!

Peregrine - age/sex uncertain, Montague City, Franklin Co., MA. December 13th, 2016. 

MA - Canvasback and other good waterfowl

Canvasback (right) - with Ring-necked Duck and Hooded Merganser (left) all males, Turner Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 11th, 2016. 

With the grip of winter taking hold this weekend we awoke to a chilly 8 deg F on Sunday morning, enough to start the freezing of Barton Cove and some sheltered sections of the Connecticut River. The freeze may have concentrated the flocks of waterfowl at Turner's Falls Rod and Gun Club which produced a fine drake Canvasback, four Gadwall, a Ring-necked Duck, 45+ American Black Ducks and 25+ Hooded Mergansers.

Canvasback (left)  - Turner Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 11th, 2016. 

Indeed waterfowl were very much the theme of the weekend at Turner's Falls with a fine female-type Northern Pintail with Mallards at Unity Park on the 10th, the continued presence of a Cackling Goose at the power canal, and a surprise Snow Goose migrating south with Canada Geese on the 9th.

Northern Pintail - female, Turner Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 10th, 2016. 

Cackling Goose - (front left) Turner Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 10th, 2016. 

Long staying bird first noted on Nov 5th. 

Snow Goose (upper-left) - Turner Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 9th, 2016. 

The winter gull show continues to build rather slowly but one or two first-cycle Iceland Gulls were present at Unity Park on the 9th, and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull remained throughout, most easily found in late afternoon.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull - first-cycle,  Turner Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 9th, 2016. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult with Great Black-backed Gull,  Turner Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 12th, 2016. 

Passerines have been a little slow recently but a Northern Shrike (brown immature) showed up briefly in the fog on River Road, Gill on the 8th. No pics of that one, unfortunately.

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. December 11th, 2016. 

MA - Canvasbacks hanging on

It's been almost a week since I last saw the Canvasbacks on Barton Cove. I think I saw the male yesterday in the downpour but I just couldn't be sure in the poor conditions. This morning, whilst searching for post-storm birds, I came across them again tucked under banking close to the public ramp off  Rt 2. The group is now down to three and I suspect that one of our local immature Bald Eagles has developed a taste for Canvasback! The group had already been reduced to four when I saw an eagle in an active (but unsuccessful) chase on the Canvasbacks on December 4th. Two days ago I watched a young Bald Eagle eating an unidentified duck on a tire in the middle of the cove. So now it seems that we have just three Canvasbacks from the original five that first arrived on Nov 26th.

Canvasbacks - with Ring-necked Duck, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 10th, 2014. 

Also at Barton Cove this morning, continuing rafts of Common and Hooded Mergansers with the former up to 60 birds strong. Passerines included Winter Wren, two Golden-crowned Kinglets  and a small flock of Pine Siskins along the campground road. After yesterday's Goldeneye extravaganza, the power canal was almost devoid of birds with just a handful of Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneye present - timing is everything at the power canal.

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 10th, 2014. 

MA - Canvasbacks back on the cove - 11/26

This morning I was tempted by a quick drive down to Barton Cove. As I hit the road at 9am, the first specks of rain hit the windshield, the precursor to a major winter storm. By 10am heavy showers of sleet quickly followed by snow had reduced visibility considerably. I arrived at the cove at about 09:10 hours and my expectations were not high so I was absolutely delighted to find a group of five Canvasbacks associating with two Lesser Scaup and the continuing large numbers of Hooded Mergansers. There was also a drake Ring-necked Duck though all of the these birds remained distant from my chosen viewing points, hence the distant, grainy images. Canvasback was certainly not on my radar for this morning, nor did I expect to be given another chance at seeing them on the cove this year after such an excellent showing this last March.

Canvasbacks - two males, three females with two Lesser Scaup and several Hooded Mergansers.

Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2014. 

Much of the rest of the day was dedicated to chores and appointments but a drive to the Turner's Falls power canal produced a late Yellow-rumped Warbler and 18 Common Goldeneye. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2014.

Getting late for Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Yesterday, I was frustrated by two passerines.The first could only have been a female Oregon Junco seen amid other juncos and American Tree Sparrows on the bike path by the Turner's Falls power canal at Depot Street. Unfortunately the views were just too brief to be sure but bright orange-buff flanks, reddish-brown back and sooty-gray hood sure looked like the ticket. The second passerine was a fly-over Lapland Longspur which appeared low and may even have come from the short grass at the side of the bike path also near Depot Street......that's the second time in less than a week that I've had a Lapland Longspur over the power canal, quite odd as the habitat hardly looks ideal. 

 Bald Eagle - juvenile/first-winter, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 25th, 2014.

Lots of eagle activity lately, both adults and immatures have been easy to see here and at Barton Cove.

 American Tree Sparrow - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 25th, 2014.

Numbers starting to build with 15-20 along the bike path at Depot Street.

Cooper's Hawk - juvenile, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 25th, 2014.

Keeping watch over the passerine activity at the power canal. 

Good numbers of Eastern Bluebirds and American Goldfinches were feeding at this spot. 

MA - a phoebe...finally! 04/01

It was really good to hear an Eastern Phoebe singing in the yard at dawn this morning. It sounded strong and I expected to hear it all morning but alas it didn't appear to stick around after sun up. We usually get phoebes well before the end of March and Susannah has had them as early as March 17th but I think this must be our latest first arrival date since we moved to Gill in 2010...'''but at least they're arriving!

Canvasback - long staying male, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 1st, 2014.

Despite a much milder weekend with some south in the wind, relatively little changed at  Barton Cove and the remarkable show of diving ducks continued unabated - Long-tailed Ducks, Canvasback, Red-breasted Merganser (displaying!) have all been present among the 140 Ring-necked Ducks with Greater and Lesser Scaups, Common and Hooded Mergansers and lots of Common Goldeneye. Gull numbers definitely seem to be dwindling as might be expected in late March but the fine show of Kumlien's Iceland Gulls continues with up five present through to the last day of March.

Long-tailed Ducks - pair, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2014.

Red-breasted Merganser - male displaying, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 1st, 2014.

 Kumlien's (Iceland) Gulls - three first-cycle birds with American Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 30th, 2014.

 Purple Finch - male, Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. April 1st, 2014.

At the feeders in our yard, another or the same male Purple Finch showed up in the afternoon and looked pretty comfortable as it sat enjoying the sunshine on our most spring-like day so far this year. 

MA - evening at Barton Cove 03/14

The fantastic diving duck show continued at Barton Cove this evening and it was certainly good to see some familiar faces showing up to enjoy the spectacle. Remarkably, the drake Canvasback had been joined by a second male, the Redhead closely associating with them. The Ring-necked Ducks remained with perhaps as many as 40 present and the Red-breasted Merganser continued further upriver towards the Rod and Gun club. At the power canal a pair of Northern Pintail joined a flock of around a dozen American Black Ducks but aside from a pair of Bufflehead the power canal was pretty quiet. I tried to spend a bit of time on gulls this evening finding at least five Kumlien's Iceland Gulls at Barton Cove plus a nice first-cycle Glaucous Gull first picked up by Ian Davies. In between times I came across a small number of gulls on the roof of the Greenfield Savings Bank in Turner's Falls finding two Kumlien's Iceland Gulls and a third bird that was a little more intriguing, superficialy resembling a first-cycle Glaucous but ultimately not fitting Glaucous or Kumlien's particularly well.  For the time being I'm leaving that one unidentified.

 Redhead (male) with two Canvasbacks (males) - Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

 Redhead (male) with two Canvasbacks (males) and Greater Scaup (female) - Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

Northern Pintail (male, lower right) with American Black Duck - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA.
March 14th, 2014.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull with unidentified Glaucous-like Gull (rear) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

Kumlien's Iceland Gull with unidentified Glaucous-like Gull (front) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

Unidentified bird superficially similar to Glaucous but lacks sharply demarcated black tip

to bill as well as being small for that species. 

Glaucous Gull (first-cycle) - Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014. 

Typically hulking Glaucous, a first year bird showing stout pink bill with cleanly demarcated black tip. 

 Kumlien's Iceland Gull (second-cyle) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014.

MA - Canvasback again plus Redhead

Thinking that I'd already had my luck for the week with yesterday's drake Canvasback, I very nearly skipped another morning check of Barton Cove but I was definitely curious to see if the Canvasback had moved on overnight. I found him settled and sleeping with an apparently growing raft of Ring-necked Ducks and Greater Scaup. My first binocular views were brief and as I scanned through the flock I was astonished to find a drake Redhead instead! Fortunately both birds lingered for images but the Redhead took off upriver and looked very flighty. I didn't see it return. A few minutes later the Canvasback decided to flex its wings taking off with Greater Scaup only to return to the same spot after doing a circuit of the cove. As if that wasn't enough, a fine drake Red-breasted Merganser was roosting in the channel closer to the Unity Park side of the cove - not too shabby for a morning in Gill!

This little collection was perhaps the best diving duck diversity I've come across locally in the last few years. Present this morning were; 35+ Ring-necked Duck, 15+ Greater Scaup, 3 Lesser Scaup, 12 Common Merganser, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 Hooded Merganser, 7 Bufflehead, 1 Canvasback and 1 Redhead. By comparison, Turner's Falls power canal was rather quiet (again) though 35 Canada Geese looked like newly arrived migrants.

Redhead - male in breeding plumage, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014.

Overall similar color fields to Canvasback but much grayer with rounded head and blue-gray bill. 

 Canvasback - male in breeding plumage, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014.

Much whiter overall than Redhead with sloping head/bill profile and long, all-dark bill. 

Notably flighty this morning perhaps warming up to continue migration?

Red-breasted Merganser - male (right) with Common Merganser (male), Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 14th, 2014.

MA - Canvasback in Gill! - 03/13

The forecast storm arrived overnight bringing a big drop in temperature, squally snow flurries and a biting eastern wind. Since waterfowl had clearly been moving over the previous few days, I headed straight down to Barton Cove to check for new arrivals. The first bird that caught my attention was a beautiful and unmistakable drake Canvasback in with the Ring-necked Ducks close to Riverview Drive. Although I see plenty of Canvasbacks on my trips to the western US, I've only seen a tiny handful in Massachusetts and this was my first ever in the Pioneer Valley despite actively birding the area since 2005. The bird looked content and settled though it could easily move out as the storm clears.

Overall, fewer diving ducks were at the cove this morning though 3 Greater and 3 Lesser Scaup remained.

Canvasback - male in breeding plumage, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 13th, 2014. 
Unmistakable head and bill profile and 'white-backed' appearance.