MA - white-fronts, waterfowl and more crossbills

 

Greater White-fronted Geese (2) - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 10th, 2021.

Over the last couple of days immaculate weather, warm air and southern winds have produced a distinct uptick in waterfowl migrants passing through Franklin County. Small flocks of Canada Geese passed over the Montague Plains all morning on the 9th and by the evening some 800-900 had gathered in a well hidden cornfield in Bernardston. While visible migration was less evident on the 10th, a Greater White-fronted Goose was discovered at Barton Cove/Unity Park by David Sibley and by the time that I got to Unity Park at noon there were two, both of them adults! Having carefully scrutinized the geese at Unity Park the evening before I feel confident that these were brand new arrivals. Ring-necked Ducks too have increased over the last two days with 4 at Unity Park and 17 at the Turner's Falls power canal. The latter site also produced a whopping 26 Hooded Mergansers on the evening of the 10th!

Greater White-fronted Geese (2) - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 10th, 2021.

Greater White-fronted Goose - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 10th, 2021.

Ring-necked Ducks - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 9th, 2021.

Gull migration can be a more discrete event but the evening of the 10th saw an impressive surge in Ring-billed Gull numbers to almost 200 birds. A Lesser Black-backed (adult) and two Iceland Gulls (first-winters) continue amid the Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls roosting at Unity Park. 

Black Vultures - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 10th, 2021.

Turkey Vultures were already widespread by the 8th but on the 10th, a northward movement of some 12 Black Vultures over the Montague Plains was rather more impressive. 

White-winged Crossbill (male) - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 9th, 2021.

White-winged Crossbill (male) - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 10th, 2021.

Finally, the Montague Plains have been 'heaving' under the weight of some 75 - 100 Red Crossbills with these birds being well north of the more heavily watched site of Old Northfield Road. Small scattered groups of singing/calling birds have been found throughout the plains over the last two days with an especially impressive concentration of about 60 in one spot. As expected, most identified to Type have been Type 10 but, thanks to Tim Spahr's help and guidance, I've also managed to identify and record Type 2 and Type 3. Of course, the prize for scanning through all those crossbills has been the continued presence of White-winged Crossbills, all of them have been males and around 7 or 8 individuals in all, maybe more. They're not especially vocal either and finding them usually involves careful checking of each individual crossbill that just happens to show itself. 

With several more days of warmth in the forecast I think it would be reasonable to expect a few more migrants of interest before the forecast colder snap in the early part of next week. 

MA - more fun with Pine Grosbeaks and rare geese

Pine Grosbeak (female/first-winter) -Wendell State Forest, Franklin Co., MA. December 3rd, 2020.

One of six birds present today. 

Today (Dec 3rd) got off to a great start with 9 Red Crossbills, 3 Evening Grosbeaks and several Common Redpolls all passing over North Cross Road, Gill, and all before 08:30 hours. Irruptive finches set the theme for the day (again) and were neatly enhanced by three Pine Grosbeaks feeding in Oriental Bittersweet by the Connecticut River at Bennet Meadow, Northfield. With active muck-spreading taking place in the meadows I elected not to 'get in the way' and didn't try for photos of that particular group in favor of spending more time with the Wendell flock later in the morning. That decision proved thoroughly worthwhile with close-up views of foraging Pine Grosbeaks in beautiful winter sunlight. 

Later in the day I carved out a narrow window of time to check the Turner's Falls power canal and arrived just in time to see the Barnacle Goose and Cackling Goose departing for evening feeding. Two first-winter Iceland Gulls were also present along with a possible Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull hybrid. 

Barnacle Goose (2nd from left) and Cackling Goose (third from right) - Turner's Falls , Franklin Co., MA. December 3rd, 2020.

Departing for evening feeding from the power canal. 

The previous day I came across a Hermit Thrush on North Cross Road, Gill and at least 17 roaming Red Crossbills (Sitka Spruce/Type 10) in the Montague Plains. The real treat though, was watching Barnacle and Cackling Geese feeding, especially the Cackling Goose. Once out of the water, it's possible to get a genuine appreciation of just how small a Cackling Goose really is! 

While new arrivals have been few in Franklin County since the beginning of the month, I really don't mind repeatedly celebrating the quality birds that we have with us right now. After all, in a few weeks time they will have almost certainly moved on. 

Cackling Goose - Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. December 2nd, 2020.

Barnacle Goose - Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. December 2nd, 2020.

MA - Pine Grosbeaks, Barnacle Goose and other goodies

 

Pine Grosbeak - Wendell State Forest, Franklin Co., MA. December 1st, 2020.

One of 13 present, all of them in female like plumage.

Well, December is off to a cracking start. The first day of three months of winter not only produced unseasonably warm temperatures but also a host of top quality birds, though admittedly few were new arrivals. Red Crossbills continue to feature with small flocks and singles scattered around Gill, Wendall and Montague though curiously my last two visits to the Montague Plains crossbill hotspot have produced exactly zero (!!) giving the distinct impression that they might have moved out from that site altogether? All of today's Red Crossbills were identified from audio clips as Sitka Spruce or Type 10 - thanks Tim Spahr!

The Pine Grosbeaks at Wendell State Forest were still present and had actually increased since my last visit on Nov 26th (9) to 13 today. The flock is still composed of females or at least female-type plumages and some nice plumage variation within the group as well as a lot of call notes being uttered making for a very pleasant 40 minutes of birding. 

(Kumlien's) Iceland Gulls (2) - first-winters, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 1st, 2020. 

As if Pine Grosbeaks within touching distance wasn't enough for one day, the Turner's Falls power canal was full of birds in the afternoon. The Barnacle Goose, present in the area since Nov 23rd, continued to loaf around with the Canada Geese (1100).  It looked settled, often swimming and roosting close to the long staying Cackling Goose, that particular bird having first arrived on Nov 7th. Two Iceland Gulls were present together, both of them first-winters and gull numbers in general are starting to build with at least eight Great Black-backed and 45 Herring Gulls present this afternoon. Numbers of Common Goldeneyes have swollen too with 85 present in the evening with a further eight present on Barton Cove. 

Barnacle Goose (far left) and Cackling Goose (far right) - both are adults, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 1st, 2020. 

Barnacle Goose  - adult, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 1st, 2020. 

Cackling Goose - adult, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 1st, 2020. 

MA - adult Thayer's Gull perhaps?

Iceland Gull (adult) L. g. kumlieni/thayeri  -  Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. January 29th, 2019.

For the third time inside a week at I've come across an adult Iceland Gull that looked like a pretty good candidate for thayeri. The gull watching at Turner's Falls has been pretty sensational over the last two weeks with good numbers of Iceland Gulls (L. g. kumlieni) showing up in the roost on most evenings. Typically, five to seven Iceland Gulls have been present with all of the age classes represented but yesterday evening (Jan 28th) Scott Surner and I tallied no less than 10 Iceland Gulls, three of which were adults including one dark-winged bird that I might have also seen the previous week.

Since I don't have any definate records of thayeri for Turner's Falls I often look out for potential candidates in a location where dark-winged kumlieni are uncommon but certainly expected in most winters. Even so, this bird jumped out and appeared (to me) to tick a number of boxes for thayeri. 

I understand that the photos are of marginal quality but I'd certainly be interested to receive any feedback from those more experienced than I with adult Thayer's.


All of the images were taken this evening (Jan 29th) in dull, overcast conditions with light, drizzly showers.