MA - early September

 

Nashville Warbler. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021.

The first ten days of September saw a welcome drop in the heat and humidity of August but, certainly from a Franklin County perspective, it's been pretty quiet for migration. Even the passage of Hurricane Ida on the 2nd did little to stir things up though did bring a small number of shorebirds to Northfield and an increase in shorebird diversity. The Baird's Sandpiper that had showed so well at Caldwell Road in late August lingered until September 3rd though became increasingly difficult to see spending most of its time with Killdeers on the plowed section of the fields rather than feeding out in the open grass. Two Semipalmated Plovers, two Least Sandpipers and my first Wilson's Snipe of the fall were also at Caldwell Road on the 2nd. On the 9th, heavy overnight rain brought a further 21 Least Sandpipers and 4 Lesser Yellowlegs to the Caldwell Road sod fields though the yellowlegs stayed only briefly and flew off purposefully to the south after just a few minutes never to return. 

Killdeer. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021.

Least Sandpipers. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021.

Part of a single flock of 21 birds.

Aside from an excellent showing of Common Yellowthroats along the Connecticut River, warbler migration and diversity has been slow so far, or at least in the places that I've been able to check. A few Cape May Warblers, a couple of Northern Parulas and a Nashville Warbler (on the 9th) is all I have to show for my efforts so far! On the plus side, checking for warblers has revealed an excellent passage of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feeding in wild habitat while taking advantage of the flowering Jewelweed along the banks of the Connecticut River, and there was an early Lincoln's Sparrow in the same habitat on the 3rd, I'm pretty sure my earliest fall record for Franklin County.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021. 

Lincoln's Sparrow. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2021.

Common Yellowthroat. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021.

Abundant along the field edges flanking the Connecticut River.

 

MA - mid-summer Bonaparte's

 

Bonaparte's Gull (first-summer) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. July 2nd, 2021.

July is off to a pretty good start. A very welcome break from late June's heatwave brought heavy, sustained rains all day on the 2nd resulting in a really good soaking and significantly cooler temperatures (62 F versus 95 F!). Although I wasn't expecting many birds to be on the move this early in July, a quick spin around Turner's Falls in torrential rain yielded at 4 Ring-billed Gulls, 2 Double-crested Cormorants and a Bonaparte's Gull. The latter was a first-summer sporting a nice 'patchy' hood and provided my first July record in Franklin County. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I don't have any previous records of Bonaparte's Gull between late May and early September. While it might be a stretch to call it an early fall migrant, there's little doubt that the day's horrendous weather conditions had an influence on it's appearance at the cove. The four Least Sandpipers that appeared at Turner's Falls Airfield later in the day were much more obvious southbound migrants and my earliest fall record by almost three weeks! Like the Bonaparte's Gull, the sandpipers were doubtless grounded by the heavy rain-soaked conditions and provided a clear signal that fall migration is under way. 

 Ring-billed Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. July 2nd, 2021.

Least Sandpipers - Turner's Falls Airfield, Franklin Co., MA. July 2nd, 2021.

Least Sandpipers - Turner's Falls Airfield, Franklin Co., MA. July 2nd, 2021.

MA - Buff-breasted Sandpiper in Franklin County!

 

Buff-breasted Sandpiper (juvenile) - Whately, Franklin Co., MA. September 11th, 2020. 

Sensational find by Ted Gilliland in the late afternoon downpours of September 10th and, surprisingly, still present during the morning hours of September 11th. 

On Friday morning (Sep 11th) I'd planned to check some sites around Deerfield hoping for my first Connecticut Warbler of the fall. It was cool, overcast and blustery and quite the contrast to the previous day's warmth that had been coupled with muggy, thundery showers. Indeed the day before, I'd spent quite a bit of time looking for grounded shorebirds, in particular I had Buff-breasted Sandpiper in mind which I'd found under similar conditions at Turner's Falls back in September 2017. My prize for all that work was a single, calling, flyover American Golden-Plover at Turner's Falls and, despite checking all my local Killdeer flocks, there wasn't a hint of anything with them, least of all a Buff-breasted Sandpiper!

Just before heading out to Deerfield, I quickly checked ebird noticing that Ted Gilliland had come across a Buff-breasted Sandpiper the previous evening. It was a spot that I knew well having had several encounters with Buff-breasts along the same road only a little further south on the Hatfield/Whately town line. Those observations included one of seven together during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005! Since I was heading south I really didn't have too much to lose by quickly checking the fields where Ted had his sighting the evening before. It was tough, distant and the conditions blustery but after 15 minutes of scanning through Killdeers I eventually found the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, ultimately moving around to a more sheltered spot for better views. Close-up, it looked to be a nice crisply marked juvenile. Though September is most certainly 'the' month to look for this species in Franklin County it's rare enough to justify a local chase and I'm pretty sure this bird was only my second away from the former favored spot on the Hampshire/Franklin county line, and well worth the effort!

 

May 1st - 4th

Killdeer - a rain dappled breeding bird, Montague, Franklin Co., MA. My 1st, 2020. 

Travel restrictions and social distancing protocol continued into May with no foreseeable end in sight. Though obviously difficult to deal with, few birders would grumble about the idea of being stuck in Massachusetts during the month of May. With spring migration in full swing and unpredictable weather patterns ahead, many diverse days will offer the promise of great field birding all the way through until the month's end. The opening three days formed a perfect example as heavy/torrential rain grounded a modest fall-out of waterbirds on the 1st, whilst on the 3rd temperatures soared into the low 80s bringing the first genuinely warm day of the year and a widespread, diverse range of summer breeders to Franklin County.


May 1st: Barton Cove, Gill; 14 Common Loons with some birds dropping in whilst I was there before 09:00 but a complete exodus of all loons by 12 noon. There was also a noteworthy fall-out of 10 Buffleheads plus 3 Green-winged Teal and 2 Ring-necked Ducks lingering over from April. 

Ring-necked Ducks - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 1st, 2020. 

View from Barton Cove campground, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 1st, 2020. 

 Common Loons - from Barton Cove campground, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 1st, 2020. 

Some of the early morning fall-out of 14 birds.

May 2nd: a cool start but warming to the mid 60s by the afternoon. Noteworthy first arrivals (with thanks to Josh Layfield, Brian Kane and David Sibley) included; Chimney Swift (Deerfield, Greenfield),  Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Deerfield), Green Heron (Montague), Baltimore Oriole (Montague), Warbling Vireo (Gill), Wood Thrush (Northfield, Montague), Ovenbird (Northfield, Montague), Northern Waterthrush (Gill), Chestnut-sided Warbler (Gill), Yellow Warbler (Turner's Falls) and Common Yellowthroat (Montague).

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (male) - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 2nd, 2020. 

Broad-winged Hawk - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 1st, 2020. 

May 3rd: the first really warm day of the year with winds in the SW quarter and temps reaching the low 80s by mid-afternoon. Lots more new arrivals including; Prairie Warbler (Deerfield, Montague, Leyden), Black-throated Blue Warbler (Deerfield, Gill), Blue-winged Warbler (Deerfield), Gray Catbird (everywhere!), Northern Parula (Deerfield, Gill), Great Crested Flycatcher (Deerfield, Sunderland), Eastern Kingbird (Gill) Least Flycatcher (Montague) and Bobolink (Monatgue). Thanks again to Josh Layfield, Brian Kane and David Sibley, and Susannah Lerman for the reports. Considering the clear skies and warm, sunny conditions 38 Ring-billed Gulls, a Red-breasted Merganser (female) and a Bufflehead (fem/imm) at Barton Cove were surprising. 

Red-breasted Merganser with Ring-billed Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 3rd, 2020. 

May 4th: Clear skies and a warm morning induced another widespread arrival of summer breeders to Franklin County. Warbling Vireos and Eastern Kingbirds were already plentiful around Barton Cove and Prairie Warblers (12+) seemed to be well established in the Montague Sandplains. I had my first Yellow-throated Vireo of the year, along with a Northern Parula, on Taylor Hill Road, Montague and a Blue-winged Warbler singing right by Rt 47 in Montague. In Deerfield, David Sibley reported Blackburnian Warbler, Scarlet Tanager and Indigo Bunting all making first-time appearances this year. In the evening Josh Layfield and I watched nice gathering of swallows feeding low over the water at Barton Cove, five species in all including 10+ Bank Swallows and at least 3 Cliff Swallows. Chimney Swifts (3-4) were visible over Riverview Drive as well . 

Eastern Kingbird - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 4th, 2020. 

Cliff Swallows - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 4th, 2020. 

Minimum of three birds watched feeding low over the water with Josh Layfield on a cool, cloudy evening.