MA - Nelson's Sparrow in Hadley

Nelson's Sparrow - Hadley Pump House, Hampshire Co., MA. October 17th, 2022.

A long stayer and super find for Janice Jorgensen on October 11th, 2022. 

Long time, no blog feature...indeed it's been a while. A busy period of tour leading in late 2022 through May 2023 followed by a few life changes at home left me with little time for the blog lately. But even so, today I was very appreciative to see a relatively local Nelson's Sparrow, admittedly not my find but a Nelson's Sparrow in the Pioneer Valley is well worth the 40 minute drive from home and looking back at my records, it's a cool thirteen years since I last saw one! Indeed, the last Nelson's I saw in the valley was pretty interesting in the sense that it was quite late (October 20th, 2009) but also showed characteristics of the coastal form A. n. subvirgata. 

Today's Nelson's Sparrow looked like a nice example of one of the interior forms A. n. interior/alterus as noted by the many observers visiting the site since October 11th. Janice Jorgensen originally found the bird and Scott Surner neatly followed up her observation with good, to-the-point, directions and advice. Personally I was amazed that the bird would still be present after a 'cool' seven days of staging in the same area but I was super happy that it stuck around. The venue was the Hadley Pumping Station, a site I always enjoyed visiting when we lived in Amherst from 2005 to 2010. Good numbers of Song, Swamp and White-throated Sparrows were present too and the Nelson's would pop into view periodically, often showing very well, and sometimes too close to focus my 400 mm lens.....overall, a delightful experience.

Nelson's Sparrow - Hadley Pump House, Hampshire Co., MA. October 17th, 2022.

Nelson's Sparrow - Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire Co., MA. October 20th, 2009.

Just reflecting on the last Nelson's Sparrow I saw in the Pioneer Valley, a nice example of the 

 coastal form A. n. subvirgata. This bird was in a fallow, weedy field next the Hadley Transfer Station. 

The favored habitat of the current Nelson's Sparrow at the Hadley Pump House off Mount Warner Road. 

MA - Sage Thrasher and more on the first day of March

 

Sage Thrasher - Cow Bridge Road, Hatfield, Hampshire Co., MA. March 1st, 2021.

Still with us after 11 weeks, and first found by Theresa Gessing on December 13th, 2020.

March. The first day of three months of spring migration dawned appropriately mild, calm and showery. By late afternoon, and in a way equally appropriate for March, it was cold and blustery! The first morning of the month was certainly very spring-like with lots of song coming from the local residents and nicely mixed with a number of species that will certainly not stay for the breeding season, namely American Tree Sparrow (multiples singing in Gill, Whately and Hatfield), Common Redpoll (75 in Whatley, many in song) and Rusty Blackbird (18 in Hatfield at Cow Bridge Road and singing/calling throughout my time there). 

Sage Thrasher - Cow Bridge Road, Hatfield, Hampshire Co., MA. March 1st, 2021.

Sage Thrasher - Cow Bridge Road, Hatfield, Hampshire Co., MA. March 1st, 2021.

Spurred on by the mild conditions, a visit with the Hatfield Sage Thrasher had the most appeal for the morning. After about 20 minutes of waiting (alone) the bird duly appeared and put on a fantastic show. It was bold and totally unfazed by my presence and I especially enjoyed watching it forage on the ground, marveling at its ability to simply disappear only to see it reappear in a completely different spot some 15-20 minutes later. 

The rugged farmland along Cow Bridge Road, Hatfield. A seemingly unlikely setting for a wintering Sage Thrasher. March 1st, 2021. 

White-crowned Sparrow (first-winter) - one from a nice concentration of five immatures in Whately this morning. Franklin Co., MA. March 1st, 2020.

Common Redpolls - Whately, Franklin Co., MA. March 1st, 2021.

Not the best day for studying redpolls. They simply sat up in the trees and sang!

Barrow's Goldeneye (center) - first-winter male with Common Goldeneyes, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 1st, 2021.

Sometimes tricky to find but generally present in the area since December 25th, 2020.

Late afternoon saw a return to more wintery conditions. For the most part it was raw and windy but I was delighted to find the Barrow's Goldeneye back at the power canal, and it was courteous enough to drop into the roost nice and early with just a tiny handful of Common Goldeneyes. The local gull roost continues to be a little on the 'light' side but did produce a nice Iceland Gull this evening. 

Iceland Gull (kumlieni) - first-winter, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 1st, 2021.

MA - Sage Thrasher in Hampshire County!

 

Sage Thrasher -  Hatfield, Hampshire Co., MA. December 14th, 2020. Something of a 'mega' for interior Massachusetts, about the 5th state record. 

Originally found on December 13th. 

Yesterday as I walked the alder/birch scrub patches by the Turner's Falls power canal I couldn't help but think about lingering rarities. Considering the time of year, it was a remarkably balmy afternoon fueling random thoughts of finding a MacGillivray's Warbler or something similar from the west. Naturally, such fantasies only rarely become real but I was more than happy to find a late Common Yellowthroat, a record that compared favorably with a steady series of Common Yellowthroat reports from Northfield Meadows in Dec/Jan 2018/19. Moreover, this yellowthroat was a sharp male and watching it was a staunch reminder that fall migration '2020' wasn't quite over. 

Common Yellowthroat - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 13th, 2020.

Late on Sunday evening, a good birding friend sent me a couple of really nice images of an obvious Sage Thrasher, a species I know well from many trips to the Western US but I nearly fell off my chair when I read and processed the content of her message. The thrasher had been photographed by her friend that afternoon (Dec 13th) no more than 30 minutes down the road in Hampshire County! Not only an exceptionally rare bird in Massachusetts, but also the first ever to be found deep in the interior - all four other records had been coastal. 

Sage Thrasher - Hampshire Co., MA. December 14th, 2020. About the 5th state record. 

Though narrowly outside Franklin County, the site was still well within my 'self-imposed' drive time limit and I made a plan to arrive at the site just after first light. The morning was not the best. It was dull and gloomy with periodic bouts of heavy snow. The half-a-dozen or so birders present had to work very, very hard to eek out just a few glimpses but after three hours of effort I left the site feeling satisfied with the views that I'd had. On the other hand, I couldn't help feeling a few twinges of angst since I felt sure that simple birder presence was enough to interfere with the bird's ability to feed undisturbed. Apparently I wasn't alone in these thoughts and I believe, at least for the time being, a decision has been made not to release the exact location in the best interests of the bird. 

In recent years late autumn/early winter has proven to be an exceptionally productive time for Western vagrants in the Connecticut River Valley . The Sage Thrasher falls neatly within a pattern that has so far produced Mountain Bluebird in Turner's Falls, MacGillivray's Warbler and Pacific-slope Flycatcher in Hadley, Say's Phoebe in Westminster, VT, and Varied Thrush in Westport Village, NH to mention just a few, and all of them since fall 2016.  

As always, the final word and gracious thanks go to the finders and friends who passed on the information, and to the birders at the scene who worked together to relocate the bird on the morning that I visited  - thank you all!

NB. As if that wasn't enough for one day, the Barnacle Goose and the Cackling Goose once again graced the Turner's Falls power canal in the evening!

Barnacle Goose (adult) - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 14th, 2020.

Long staying individual present in the Greenfield/Turner's Falls area since November 23rd.