May 6th -

White-crowned Sparrow - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 6th, 2020.

Another chilly start to the day, even colder than yesterday morning with a sharp frost in Gill and dawn temperatures of around 29 deg F. Barton Cove again proved attractive to swallows with at least 4 Cliff and 25 Bank Swallows hawking over the water. The riverside vegetation had some interesting migrants including at least 5 Northern Parulas, several Yellow-rumped Warblers, 15 White-throated Sparrows and a crisp adult White-crowned Sparrow, the latter hot on the heels of one in Deerfield on the 4th and 5th (David Sibley). Throughout the morning Wood Thrushes could be heard singing at every stop in Gill/Montague/Sunderland/Deerfield and a major arrival had clearly taken place overnight - they were simply everywhere!

Northern Parula (male singing) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 6th, 2020.

The migrant of the day would have to be Yellow-rumped Warbler (150+) with migrant groups all along the Connecticut River from Montague City down to Sunderland, and back along River Road in Deerfield to Montague City once more, a 20 mile loop on the bike. Northern Parulas (6+) featured in the early part of the ride but I didn't hear any singing after about 9:15 am. Baltimore Orioles too, were common throughout the ride and another summer breeder that clearly arrived in numbers overnight. In the evening, a surprise Eastern Meadowlark was singing on South Ferry Road on Montague along with multiple Savannah Sparrows, plus a Merlin playfully stooping at an American Kestrel!

Yellow-rumped Warbler (male) - Montague City, Franklin Co., MA. May 6th, 2020.

An impressive day for this species with easily over 150 birds along the Connecticut River between Sunderland and Turner's Falls.  

Gray Catbird - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 6th, 2020.

White-throated Sparrow - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 6th, 2020.

Good numbers of migrants moving through Franklin County in early May. 

Covid Spring V

Virginia Rail - Franklin Co., MA. April 23rd, 2020.

A difficult, unseasonably cold week has just passed. Temperatures at dawn were often below freezing bringing a thin layer of ice to some of the smaller ponds in the area and, on top of that, pesky raw winds from the NW brought more snow flurries in mid-week. Not surprisingly, migration was effectively stalled though a few hardy species did appear including an early House Wren at Barton Cove on April 20th. Otherwise, much of the migration was composed of slightly less obvious migrants with a particularly strong showing of Ruby-crowned Kinglets all week with up to six birds at places such as North Cross Road, Barton Cove, and Riverview Drive all in Gill plus other sites in Northfield and Bernardston. Savannah Sparrows cropped up in small flocks in several places including Deerfield Meadows, Northfield Meadows and even along North Cross Road in Gill. The flocks did contain several paler, light colored birds that seemed to stand out from the rest, and were first highlighted by Josh Layfield being noted at Northfield Meadows and North Cross Road and actually much earlier in the month by David Sibley at Deerfield Meadows. Also of interest, two Eastern Meadowlarks showed up at a promising looking grassland area in Deerfield on the 19th (Josh Layfield), remained all week increasing to three birds by the 24th.

House Wren - Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. April 20th, 2020.

A fairly early migrant, perhaps my earliest in Franklin County.

Eastern Meadowlark - Deerfield. Franklin Co., MA. April 24th, 2020.
One of three present in suitable breeding habitat.

Savannah Sparrow - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. April 21st, 2020.
Small numbers of migrants passed through Franklin County this week including several notably paler birds. 

Warblers were scarce but small waves of Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers filtered through all week, as did Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Louisiana Waterthrushes, usually very vocal in the third week of April, remained atypically quiet throughout the week with just a handful of birds bursting into song at a wide scatter of locations.

But on the plus side, our Northfield yard was quite lively over the last two days with 10 White-throated Sparrows and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet on the 24th and an early Swainson's Thrush hopping around the back lawn on the 25th.

At Barton Cove the most notable waterbirds were up to 26 Ring-necked Ducks, 2 female Buffleheads and 6 Great Blue Herons on the 21st, and at least 17 Double-crested Cormorants on the 22nd.

Probably my personal highlight of the whole week was a close encounter with a Virginia Rail, a scarce but probably overlooked breeding visitor to Franklin County. In fact, I heard two birds calling simultaneously at the same marsh on the 23rd and had pretty nice views of one of them.

Great Blue Herons (6) - Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. April 21st, 2020.

Quite unusual to see an actual 'flock' of migrant Great Blue Herons resting at Barton Cove. 

MA - Dickcissel, Clay-colored Sparrow and more...

Dickcissel - Deerfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 4th, 2019.

October opened with a welcome change in the weather. Muggy, showery southerlies gave way to breezy, cooler conditions and a cold front on the 4th. By the 5th we'd had our first frost of the fall and the 6th, while pleasant enough, was distinctly dank with the hanging threat of rain throughout the day. All of a sudden, it really felt like autumn had arrived. If late September had been more subdued than average in northern Franklin County, October had gotten off to a cracking start! Deerfield Meadows proved to be something of a 'sweet' spot with a Marsh Wren on the 1st (David Sibley), a Clay-colored Sparrow on the 2nd and a Dickcissel on the 4th.

Clay-colored Sparrow - Deerfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 2nd, 2019.

Noteworthy arrivals of passerines to 'greater' Franklin County included Ruby-crowned Kinglets (fairly widespread from the 1st), White-crowned and Song Sparrows from the 2nd, Yellow-rumped Warblers from the 3rd (including 150 at Northfield Meadows on the 5th - Josh Layfield) and White-throated Sparrows from the 4th, Dark-eyed Juncos from the 5th and an early Snow Bunting (over South Ferry Road, Montague) on the 6th.  Less expected was a Winter Wren at Caldwell Road fields, Northfield on the 3rd and an Eastern Meadowlark in Montague on the 6th, a species I almost never encounter locally on fall migration. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 1st, 2019.

Winter Wren - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 3rd, 2019.

White-throated Sparrow - Deerfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 4th, 2019.

Eastern Meadowlark - Montague, Franklin Co., MA. October 6th, 2019.

Common Yellowthroat - Pine Meadow Road,  Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 1st, 2019.

Good numbers of Common Yellowthroats in early October, certain spots harboring 8 -10 individuals.

Great Blue Heron (juvenile) - Deerfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 4th, 2019.

Solitary Sandpipers (2) - Deerfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 4th, 2019.

Not an easy species to find in Franklin County but birds have been lingering here, and at Hell's Kitchen in Northfield.

Raptor migration hasn't been particularly strong or obvious in the first week although a smattering of American Kestrels passed through, and a Peregrine migrated over Montague on the 6th. The 4th was probably the best day with 45 Turkey Vultures, 2 Black Vultures, Osprey, Northern Harrier and Sharp-shinned Hawk all passing over Deerfield Meadows within the space of 25 minutes. 

Odds n' ends included 6 Fish Crows still lingering outside the 'Big Y' at Greenfield shopping plaza off the Mohawk Trail on the 5th. (Josh Layfield), a Greater Yellowlegs over Turner's Falls on the 1st, and up to 18 Ring-necked Ducks and 3 Pied-billed Grebes in the Turner's Falls area.

Greater Yellowlegs - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 1st, 2019.

MA - Loggerhead Shrike in Turner's Falls!!

Loggerhead Shrike - Turner's Falls Airport, Franklin Co., MA. June 3rd, 2019.

Well I wasn't expect this - a Loggerhead Shrike at Turner's Falls Airfield! Found by Peter Gagarin just before 9am right at the exact spot where the previous evening I'd been watching an Eastern Meadowlark and some Grasshopper Sparrows with Matan. With spring migration tapering I wasn't expecting any new arrivals today, least of all in the form of a Loggerhead Shrike! An incredibly rare bird in Massachusetts nowadays, I think this is only the fourth that I've heard about in the state over the last ten years or so and of those, the first to be found in the interior. Thanks to Peter's prompt post I was able to join him at the site for 35 minutes or so, along with a guest appearance from Beth Finney who just happened to be working locally and couldn't have timed it better! A fabulous find for Peter - thanks to him for sharing his news in such a timely manner.

MA - catching up

Common Loon - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., May 30th, 2016.

Lingering around Barton Cove for about one week through to the end of May.

Red-breasted Merganser (female) - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., May 30th, 2016.

Unseasonal and unexpected at this location and date.

Prairie Warbler - Sudbury Tree Farm, Bernardston, Franklin Co., May 31st, 2016.

Osprey - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., May 27th, 2016.

Bald Eagle - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., May 30th, 2016.

Everyday and easy to see at Unity Park especially in late afternoon.

Chimney Swifts - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., May 30th, 2016. Local breeders.

Locally, June 1st usually marks the end of the spring migration and the start of hot, sticky, summer months. The woods and fields around Gill have been filled with bird song over the last ten days or so with a huge variety of species too numerous to list here but particularly noteworthy have been good numbers of Yellow-throated Vireos, Louisiana Waterthrushes, Blue-winged Warblers and Purple Finches which can be heard over much Gill at the moment. And it seems to be another good spring for Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos both of which can be heard or seen most mornings in especially around North Cross Road and Boyle Road.

Blue-winged Warbler - North Cross Road, Gill, Franklin Co., May 31st, 2016.

Late May brought a small 'wave' of boreal warblers to Gill including Blackpoll, Bay-breasted and a single Cape May between the 26th-28th but, as usual, I found myself listening for less expected species and found a few including an Eastern Meadowlark singing off Main Road just north of Upinngil Farm during the last week of May. This is quite a scarce species in Franklin County, and this particular bird was just my second in Gill after pair summered on the NMH campus in 2013.

Eastern Meadowlark - off Main Road, Gill, Franklin Co., May 24th, 2016. 

This vocal male sang for several days just north of Upinngil Farm through to the end of May. 

Also, slightly unexpected was a singing Prairie Warbler at the tree farm on the Gill/Bernardston townline just off West Gill Road. Although Prairie Warblers are easy to find along the powerline cut at Mountain Road in Gill, the Bernardston bird was the first that I've seen at the tree farm.

On May 31st I saw a Cliff Swallow collecting mud for nest building at the Lily's Farm on Main Road, Gill, again highly unusual and the first that I've seen in Gill away from Barton Cove. Goodness only knows where Cliff Swallows are nesting in our area?

Shorebirds have been few but with very low water levels at Barton Cove on the 25th, some 35 Least Sandipipers and 8 Semi-palmated Plovers appeared despite warm sunny conditions and a southerly breeze, hardly the poor weather that we normally associate with shorebird arrivals in 'the valley'. The birds were extremely difficult to see often remaining hidden within the folds of the distant sand-bars and best seen and counted when disturbed by the local raptors.

Black Vulture - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., May 26th, 2016. 

Seen in the Gill/Turner's Falls/Northfield area with increasing frequency since mid-February this year.

At Turner's Falls I continue to be impressed by the consistency with which Black Vultures and Fish Crows can be seen in and over the town, with two pairs of Fish Crow nesting a Unity Park and a further six pair scattered around the town and residential areas. Black Vultures now appear every week with 1-3 periodically showing up around the local Turkey Vultures. It's hard to imagine that I only saw my first ever Black Vulture in Franklin County just one year ago, in May 2015.

In terms of waterbirds, well Common Loon and Red-breasted Merganser were late spring visitors in the last few days of May but otherwise Unity Park and Barton Cove have been fairly quiet aside from a handful of Double-crested Cormorants and first-summer Ring-billed Gulls.