MA - Pacific-slope Flycatcher plus a stellar cast of locally rare passerines

Pacific-slope Flycatcher - Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA. November 4th, 2019.

Pacific-slope Flycatcher - Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA. November 4th, 2019.

Update November 11th; despite ever decreasing temperatures and the potential for snow in tomorrow's weather forecast, the Pacific-slope Flycatcher continues to put on quite the show in Hadley. This morning, Susannah, Matan and I joined not more than half-a-dozen birders patrolling the staked out area off Huntington Road. Initially, things seemed pretty quiet, very quiet in fact and several disappointed birders left the area without success. But around 11:30 hours one sharp-eyed gent kindly waived us over after he'd just had brief views of the flycatcher right off the main track. The bird was low, furtive and very, very difficult to see well but eventually we all had pretty good views over a thirty minute period as it worked up and down the low vegetation along the main pathway under the power lines. One week on from the really good views I had on November 4th, I can admit to being genuinely surprised that it's still hanging on so deep into the fall. 

 Pacific-slope Flycatcher - Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA. November 11th, 2019.

In the mean time, while we were chasing the rarest of flycatchers in Hadley, Josh Layfield was busy finding his own birds in Deerfield and simultaneously came up with a Clay-colored Sparrow in the North Meadows! 

 Clay-colored Sparrow - Deerfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. November 11th, 2019.

Found and photographed by Josh Layfield. 

November 4th; A few years ago I ran into Frank Gallo at Hammonassett Beach State Park in Connecticut. It was a brisk November day and I was still relatively new to US birding, but one of Frank's comments from that day really stuck with me when he said, "anything that's green and yellow at this time of year has to be worth a closer look". How right he was. Here we are in early November 2019 being treated to a host of avian gems in the Pioneer Valley, brightly colored and relatively easy to pick out amid the denuded sumac thickets. Chief among these has to be the long staying Pacific-slope Flycatcher off Huntington Road in Hadley right along the eastern bank of the Connecticut River. First found by Joe Oliverio on October 23rd, this unexpected waif from the Pacific Northwest has both treated and frustrated hundreds of birders during its two week stay. It was even courteous enough to allow my UK tour group to catch up with it on October 28th, and stick around offering spectacular views on November 4th. Such rarities only come around once in a generation and this bird looks set to become the first state record for Massachusetts thanks to a wealth of sound recordings, photographs and expert opinion. Thanks go to all of those folks for being so keenly involved in the identification and for keeping tabs on the bird's movements. 

Pacific-slope Flycatcher - Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA. November 4th, 2019.

Often flicked its tail upward when perched. 

Pacific-slope Flycatcher - Hadley, Hampshire Co., October 28th, 2019.

Continuing with the 'green and yellow' theme, and not to be outdone by the flycatcher, Brian Kane and Noel Watkins came up with a local rarity of their own in the form of a White-eyed Vireo in Montague on November 3rd. Only the third Franklin County record that I know of and fitting neatly into a concentrated pattern of late autumn occurrences as follows; Northfield Meadows on Nov 2nd 2013 (Eric Huston), Turner's Falls during Oct 26th - Nov 8th, 2017 (JPS), and now Montague Nov 3rd - 5th, 2019 (BK and NW). 

White-eyed Vireo - Montague, Franklin Co., MA. November 5th, 2019.

Showing characteristics of a first-winter individual and quite strikingly different 

to the Turner's Falls bird from 2017 featured below. 

White-eyed Vireo -  Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 1st, 2017.

Nashville Warbler - Deerfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. November 2nd, 2019.

Late, bright and unexpected. My personal latest in Massachusetts. 

Marsh Wren - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 5th, 2019.

Late, super skulking and again, unexpected. Only my second observation of Marsh Wren in Franklin County. 

Aside form the discovery of the Pacific-slope Flycatcher in Hadley, October produced a host of noteworthy grassland species many of which showed in the Deerfield area;

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 17th, 2019. 

Found by Chuck Caron on October 13th, 2019.

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 14th, 2019. 

Initially found by Chuck Caron on October 13th, 2019.

Blue Grosbeak (first-winter) - North Meadows, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 9th, 2019. 

Found by Aaron Hulsey and Joe Oliverio. 

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

A stellar month for this species with  1 - 4 irregularly in Deerfield Meadows between October 4th and 13th. 

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

A fairly rare autumn migrant in Franklin County this being only my second record,  

with the first at Turner's Falls on October 12th, 2017. 

MA - October third week

Pileated Woodpecker - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 13th, 2019.

Relatively common throughout Franklin County but never taken for granted, Pileated Woodpeckers have been 

active and visible at many locations in October. 

It's been a steady week of migration and falling leaves. North Cross Road in Gill has featured strong numbers of Hermit Thrushes on most mornings with 7 - 15 birds calling from the roadsides, sometimes foraging on the road itself before traffic starts in earnest around 7am. Yellow-rumped Warblers continue to migrate south-west in good numbers with 20 - 45 birds on most mornings around sunrise. Most other warblers, perhaps as expected, have become extremely few and far between but Brian Kane had a Nashville Warbler in his Sunderland yard on the 18th. It's been a decent week for Rusty Blackbirds with one heading south over Mill Village Road, Deerfield on the 18th and 4 over North Cross Road on the 19th.

Rusty Blackbird - migrant heading south over Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 18th, 2018.

Least Sandpiper - Hells Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 11th, 2019.

Very probably the same individual bird that's been lingering here from the beginning of October through to the 21st at least.

Shorebirds continued to have a patchy, irregular presence at Hell's Kitchen in Northfield but patient birders have been rewarded with Solitary Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and up to 5 Pectoral Sandpipers through to the 21st. And a personal highlight for me was two American Woodcocks seen 'chittering' over North Cross Road, Gill early on the 18th. A Pectoral Sandpiper also touched down at Caldwell Road sod fields during the storm of the 17th when it was the only shorebird present there.

Savannah Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 13th, 2019.

Sparrows continued to feature and perhaps increase in number with several pronounced 'waves' of Song, Savannah, Chipping, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows this week. At least 160 Savannah Sparrows were present in the Mill Village Road fields south of Historic Deerfield on the 17th, which also happened to be the last date on which the Le Conte's Sparrow was seen. The Deerfield Meadows also produced over 21 White-crowned Sparrows on the 19th, 18 of which were in the North Meadows when there was also an Eastern Meadowlark close by (David Sibley). Still at the Deerfield Meadows, single Field Sparrows and up to three Vesper Sparrows have been found fairly consistently amid the hordes of Savannah and Song Sparrows.

Le Conte's Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 17th, 2019.

White-throated Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 17th, 2019.

Lincoln's Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 17th, 2019.

Vesper Sparrow - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 17th, 2019.

MA - migration and a little more Le Conte's.........

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 16th, 2019.

The last few days have been characterized by cool, foggy nights giving way to glorious autumnal days. The temptation to be outside has been huge, and I've been sneaking out when ever the opportunity arises. Fresh migrants have appeared on all of the last three mornings, particularly on North Cross Road, Gill with a Swainson's Thrush and 2 Blue-headed Vireos on the 14th, more Blue-headed Vireos and a wave of Ruby-crowned Kinglets on the 15th, and 45 White-throated Sparrows, 35 Chipping Sparrows, 6 Golden-crowned Kinglets and 9 Hermit Thrushes on the 16th. The 15th saw a notable push of Chipping Sparrows and I tallied 115 birds in the Gill/Northfield area, all of them in flocks in roadside yards and on street corners, areas where I  wouldn't typically go birding.

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 16th, 2019.

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 16th, 2019.

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 16th, 2019.

The cold October evenings also brought to mind owls, more specifically Northern Saw-whet Owl and on the 15th Josh Layfield and I made our first owling attempt of the autumn. Our chosen site was Wendell, and we tried three spots hearing a Barred Owl at the first, nothing at the second but managed to confirm our first Saw-whet of the fall at the third site. The latter bird gave one clear, unambiguous "keew" , a call usually associated with hatch-year birds and most typically heard on fall migration. Needless to say we were delighted!

Savannah Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 16th, 2019.

Northern Harrier (juvenile) - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 16th, 2019.

The 16th found me back down at Mill Village Road in Deerfield trying get lucky (between errands) with the Le Conte's Sparrow.  It was late morning so hardly the best time, plus I hadn't seen any successful reports from that time of day, but I was curious to see what else the fields could offer. The answer was 'scads' of Savannah Sparrows (120+) and the continuing Le Conte's Sparrow. The latter seemed to be so focused on feeding that it was exceptionally difficult to see and the call note, which seemed so distinctive when I heard it two days ago, was somehow lost amid the frequent and similar sounding call notes of Savannah Sparrow. Even so, it was close to noon when I caught up with the Le Conte's Sparrow and I can admit to being delighted to see it skulk in the rank grasses at that time of day.

MA - Le Conte's Sparrow in Deerfield!

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

The meadows surrounding Historic Deerfield just keep on giving! After multiple Dickcissels and a Blue Grosbeak last week, things could hardly improve this week - but they did! On October 13th, Charles Caron came across a Le Conte's Sparrow south of Historic Deerfield on Mill Village Road. His ebird report proved to be remarkably accurate, and thanks to his excellent description of the location, Josh Layfield relocated the bird a little before 8 am this morning.

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

Surprisingly, bursting into partial song at times.

This was a bird of extreme interest to me as I'd never seen a migrant in autumn, least of all twenty minutes from my house in Franklin County! Fortunately, I carved out a twenty minute window in the morning and by 09:10 am I was enjoying the bird with two other local birders (Elissa and Laura) who'd already located it in the sumac thickets right along Mill Village Road. As an observation, it blew me away. It was the most cooperative sparrow there, and the most vocal, constantly calling a hard, smacking 'tsip'. After some excellent viewing, I left the bird in peace and went on to enjoy a classic day of New England autumn foliage with Matan, centered around Charlemont along the Mohawk Trail.

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

Le Conte's Sparrow does have a reputation for being a scarce, skulking grassland species making today's observation all the more remarkable as it sat in the open for prolonged periods in a roadside thicket. As far as I can make out this is the first formerly documented record for Franklin County, though it has been reported from Deerfield's meadows before. That was a 'cool' twenty years ago, seen by Bob Packard on October 19th, 2019. That particular report apparently came without details and was never ratified by the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee. Le Conte's Sparrow is still a state review species (https://maavianrecords.com/review-list/) and I don't see any issues with the acceptance of this individual which was so well documented by Charles Caron on October 13th, and subsequently photographed by small numbers of chasers on the 14th.


Kudos (and thanks!) to Charles Caron for his exceptional find. Thanks to David Sibley for the initial heads-up, and to Josh Layfield for relocating the bird in a timely manner this morning - a really fantastic bird to see in all respects.

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

Le Conte's Sparrow - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA.