MA - March migration and yet more crossbills!

 

Bonaparte's Gulls - three of eight present, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 26th, 2021.

March 26th was one of those bigger migration days when warm conditions coupled with an occluded front brought rain, thunderstorms and a lot of avian action! Widespread arrivals of Eastern Phoebes and, to lesser degree, Tree Swallows occurred that day as well as 30 newly arrived Green-winged Teals at Barton Cove. Just upriver, Ted Gilliland was busy sorting through a smaller flock of 13 Green-winged Teal and ultimately found a nice example of the Eurasian sub-species, certainly the first that I've seen or even heard about in Franklin County! Later that day, eight Bonaparte's Gull graced Barton Cove, along with five (early) Double-crested Cormorants and a Common Loon in full breeding plumage. And....I would have loved to have seen the flock of five migrant Sandhill Cranes reported by Eric Huston migrating high over the cove a little earlier in the afternoon. Overall, that was a pretty decent haul of migrants for the 26th!

Bonaparte's Gulls - five of eight present, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 26th, 2021.

Eurasian (Green-winged) Teal (left) - distant crop, taken from Barton Cove campground, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 26th, 2021.

Nice find by Ted Gilliland. First Franklin County record.

Barton Cove continued to host a fairly large flock of Ring-necked Ducks with over 100 present, often loafing around Barton Island and subsequently difficult to see at times. Up to two Lesser and seven Greater Scaup (on the 28th) were often present with or near the Ring-necked Ducks. 

White-winged Crossbills - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 29th & 30th, 2021.

Red Crossbills - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 29th & 30th, 2021.

Fox Sparrows - three of five in the Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 19th, 2021.

Field Sparrow - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 29th, 2021.

Waterbirds aside, the incursion of winter finch species continued to be a major attraction for me and over the last month or so I've been very drawn to the Montague Plains which continues to host large numbers of Red Crossbills, the numbers of which appear to fluctuate on a day-to-day basis as the birds roam, presumably in search of the most productive feeding spots. Red Crossbills peaked at a whopping 360 birds on March 25th, a day which also saw 55 Pine Siskins and over 200 Dark-eyed Juncos and the first local Pine Grosbeak that I've seen for weeks. The day before saw 22 White-winged Crossbills in the plains with smaller numbers continuing through to the end of the month including 17 on the 31st. The Montague Plains have also proven to be a good spot for migrant Fox Sparrows with up to five present on the 19th, and the first territorial Field Sparrows started to appear for another breeding season from March 28th. 

Red-shouldered Hawk - one of two first-summer birds over the Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 30th, 2021.

These birds flew off to the NW together and behaved like migrants.

Ring-necked Ducks and Double-crested Cormorants - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2021.

A fairly typical early spring spring scene. 

The last two days of the month saw increasingly warm temperatures with first Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Pine Warblers in the Montague Plains as well as some odd migrants such as two immature Red-shouldered Hawks and 5 Rusty Blackbirds on the 30th, and a Belted Kingfisher heading north on the 31st. The latter date also saw a late afternoon arrival of 17 Double-crested Cormorants at Barton Cove. 

Covid Spring - III

Common Loon - one of two, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2020.

April 9th: I wasn't expecting to post another blog entry so soon after yesterday's report but it was clear from my early morning run along North Cross Road and through the southern portion of the NMH campus woods in Gill that a lot a birds came arrived last night. Moreover, the cold, gray, overcast conditions were no deterrent to those arrivals and the woods were full of song. My 5K loop tallied 11 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 17 Pine Warblers, 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 3 Louisiana Waterthrushes (early) and 4 Hermit Thrushes (all seen, not singing). I came across a few more of the latter two species as a drove through Gill on my way to Barton Cove where I came across my first Barn Swallows of the year. About five of them were mixed with Tree and Northern Rough-winged Swallows hawking low over the water.

Buffleheads - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2020.

Eastern Phoebe - Barton Cove campground, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2020.

Greater Scaup - male , Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2020.

In addition, new waterbird arrivals at the cove included two Common Loons (full breeding plumage), five Double-crested Cormorants, a male Greater Scaup, two Buffleheads (one female, one immature male) and a female Red-breasted Merganser. Heavy rain ensued for most of the rest of the day until about 17:00 hours when there was a clearance from the NW. Surprisingly, most waterbirds had already cleared out by that time leaving just the two Buffleheads and a long staying Pied-billed Grebe that I'd missed in the morning. But, there was plenty of raptor activity and in just 20 minutes I noted 3 Bald Eagles, 3 Black Vultures, 8 Turkey Vultures, a huge female Cooper's Hawk and a male Merlin. At Barton Cove campground over 30 Fish Crows gathered once again, plus Eastern Phoebes and Pine Warblers (4+) continued to sing throughout the evening.

Double-crested Cormorants - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2020.

Departing north after pausing at the cove for 25 minutes or so. 

Connecticut River - looking towards Turner's Falls from Barton Cove campground, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2020.

MA - waterfowl on the move part two; a day for Horned Grebes

Horned Grebes (5) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.

With yesterday's low cloud, drizzle and mist continuing through the night and into the morning, and coupled with a nice temperature drop, prospects looked good for more waterbird arrivals at Barton Cove. A brief but productive early morning spin around the cove didn't disappoint. The light was so poor around 06:45 hours that I held off from taking any photos until mid-morning but the initial haul included 2 Surf Scoter (pair), 8 Lesser Scaup, 6 Greater Scaup (5 male, 1 female), 3 Ruddy Duck (2 male, one quite bright), 4 Red-breasted Mergansers (1 male, 3 female), 3 Horned Grebe (2 in breeding plumage, 1 transitional), Snow Goose (white morph continuing since Apr 2nd), and a Double-crested Cormorant arriving mid-morning. I was most impressed with the breeding plumage Horned Grebes, a species which I tend to think of as being quite a scarce migrant through northern Franklin County. With that in mind I couldn't have been more thrilled to come across a further 5 Horned Grebes in a tight flock at the Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club. The latter site also yielded my first local Ospreys (2) of the year, plus there was a notable increase Tree Swallow, Pine Warbler and Chipping Sparrow numbers along the river this morning.

Surf Scoter (pair) with Greater Scaup (6) at rear - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.

Further indications of migration included 5 (3, 2) Great Blue Herons heading north high over Turner's Falls Airfield, a species I only occasionally detect on active migration in Franklin County.

Great Blue Herons - Turner's Falls Airfield, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.

Three of five migrating high over the airfield this morning. 

By late afternoon, the weather had worsened bringing pulses of extremely heavy rain and cooler temperatures. A very quick check of Barton Cove found almost 200 newly arrived gulls including good numbers of adult/near adult Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. With them came a pristine adult/near adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. A tight flock of around 15 Double-crested Cormorants had clearly dropped in on the showers as well. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult/near adult) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.
Just left of center with Herring and Ring-billed Gulls.

Bonaparte's Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.
Image appears courtesy of Josh Layfield. Part of the flock of 29 initially found by David Sibley. 

Bonaparte's Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.
Image appears courtesy of Josh Layfield. 

And the day turned out to be far from over when David Sibley found 29 Bonaparte's Gulls and 10 Red-breasted Mergansers at Barton Cove off Riverview Drive just 70 minutes after I had to leave the area. As if that wasn't enough, David (along with Josh Layfield and Eric Huston) finished off the evening with a calling Caspian Tern flying upriver at dusk! Although April is the best month in the year to see Caspian Tern in Franklin County, it's usually the second half of the month when they show up and today's observation is the earliest that I'm aware of. 

MA - Common Yellowthroats, Lapland Longspur and more

Lapland Longspur - Montague, Franklin Co., MA. December 13th, 2018.

Passerines continued to capture most of my personal interest through to mid-December. To date (Dec 16th), Common Yellowthroats (1 - 2) are still present in the Northfield Meadows, seemingly happily foraging around a completely frozen cattail pond. How these birds will fair during the remainder of the month remains to be seen but for now it certainly looks like an attempt at over-wintering.

Common Yellowthroat (first-winter male) - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. December 12th, 2018.

The excellent sequence of Franklin County Lapland Longspurs continued on Dec 13th with another found in a smallish flock of Horned Larks in Montague. Just outside of Franklin County, there was a super Northern Shrike at Whitingham, Vermont on Dec 16th just a few miles north-west of Colrain, Mass.

Lapland Longspur -  with Horned Larks, Montague, Franklin Co., MA. December 13th, 2018.

 Northern Shrike - Whitingham, Windham Co., VT. December 16th, 2018.

Otherwise, a steady series of flyover Common Redpolls ( 1 - 5) and Evening Grosbeaks (1 -3) over several sites in Northfield, Gill and Turner's Falls during Dec 9th - 12th. 

Cackling Goose - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 12th, 2018.

Cackling Goose - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. December 10th, 2018.

(Greater) Snow Goose - adult, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 12th, 2018.

Water birding around Turner's Falls has been 'steady' with a Cackling Goose, quite possibly the same individual adult, being recorded at multiple sites from Northfield through to Turner's Falls between Dec 1st - 16th (multiple observers). A Greater Snow Goose spent all day loafing with Canada Geese off Unity Park before suddenly departing at dusk with the very first flock that decided it was time head south. Also of note, a Long-tailed Duck at Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club on Dec 4th, and a very late Double-crested Cormorant on Nov 29th. 

Long-tailed Duck - autumn male, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 4th, 2018.

Double-crested Cormorant - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 29th, 2018.

Gull watching at Turner's Falls was quite promising in early December with up 9 individual Iceland Gulls identified including three adults, and up to four Lesser Black-backed Gulls though numbers of both species had tapered towards the middle of the month.

Barred Owl - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 2nd, 2018.

Barred Owl - Montague, Franklin Co., MA. December 12th, 2018.
Image appears courtesy of Brian Kane.

Finally, Barred Owls continue to be heard and seen around much of Franklin County and it seems pretty clear that we have an incursion of birds from further north supplementing our resident population. Sadly, as with other incursion years, this has included a lot of road-killed Barred Owls.

MA - Thanksgiving buntings, longspurs and a smart Barred Owl

Barred Owl - Main Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 24th, 2018. 

Finally a chance to catch up on some blog notes after a busy, but very lovely Thanksgiving Break. An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull showed up at Unity Park on the 21st and was present area in the Turner's Falls everyday after that. It looked very much like the returning winter adult that I've documented in Turner's Falls for at least the previous five winters.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 21st, 2018.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (right) -  with Herring Gulls, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 21st, 2018.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (center) -  with Herring Gulls, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 24th, 2018.

Iceland Gull (second-cycle) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 21st, 2018.

Great Black-backed Gulls (adults) - with a couple of Herring Gulls, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 21st, 2018.

Waterbirds of note included a Common Loon at Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club throughout the period after initially arriving during the big waterbird fall-out on the 20th. The long staying female Surf Scoter was still present at Barton Cove on the 21st, a female American Wigeon was with Mallards at the Turner's Falls power canal on the 22nd and two Ruddy Ducks (first-winters) were at Barton Cove, Gill on the 26th. Perhaps more surprising was a late Double-crested Cormorant at Unity Park on 23rd, certainly one of the latest that that I've come across in Franklin County. The annual late autumn gathering of Hooded Mergansers at Barton Cove continued to be a feature but never really built up to the impressive show that we saw last year in late November with numbers remaining steady at around 65 birds for the area. 

Hooded Mergansers - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 19th, 2018. 

Hooded Mergansers - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 24th, 2018. 

Ruddy Ducks (first-winter) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2018. 

Ruddy Ducks (first-winter) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2018. 

Bufflehead - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 24th, 2018. Long staying, slightly injured female.

Double-crested Cormorant - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 23rd, 2018. 

Some 1200 Canada Geese gathered at the Turner's Falls power canal on the 26th, the largest single concentration that I've seen this fall. The flock contained at least two Cackling Geese but unfortunately time constraints prevented me from finding a few more birds of interest though I would have loved to have stayed a bit longer!

Cackling Goose (center) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2018. 

Cackling Goose (right) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2018. 

Cackling Goose (left) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2018. 

The wave of irruptive finches passing through northern Franklin County most certainly tapered during the Thanksgiving period with very few Purple Finches and Pine Siskins, though I did have a very vocal Evening Grosbeak on North Cross Road, Gill on 23rd. On the plus side, Snow Bunting numbers increased with up to 50 at Northfield Meadows (on the 26th), 7 at Turner's Falls Airfield (on the 26th) and 4 at Caldwell Road fields, Northfield on several dates where a Lapland Longspur joined a small flock of Horned Larks on the 22nd.

Snow Buntings, Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 23rd, 2018. 

Lapland Longspur - Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 22nd, 2018. 

Lapland Longspur - Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. November 22nd, 2018. 

 Snow Buntings - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2018.

 Snow Buntings - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. November 26th, 2018.

The passerine highlight of the period was arguably a very late Common Yellowthroat unearthed by Josh Layfield in Northfield Meadows on the 24th - I know of only one report later than that for Franklin County. Josh also had around 35 Snow Buntings in Northfield Meadows on the same day.

Common Yellowthroat - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. November 24th, 2018.

Image appears courtesy of Josh Layfield.

And, in keeping with other roadside reports from around northern Franklin County, I had a nice daytime encounter with a Barred Owl in Gill on the 24th.