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.

 

May 14th -

Bobolink - one of at least five singing males, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 14th, 2020.

The day dawned cold, clear and frosty once more. Initial indications appeared to point to very few new birds so I settled for catching up with some local breeding birds including Bobolinks and Orchard Orioles in Gill, and Killdeers at Turner's Falls where I just happened to come across a nest with four eggs!

Killdeer (nest with eggs) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. May 14th, 2020.

As the day warmed up migrant warblers including Blue-winged, Nashville and Northern Parula became more obvious but as I set off for a morning bike ride I wasn't quite prepared for the numbers of parulas that would actually be out there. A 22 mile loop from Montague Plains through Sunderland and Turner's Falls produced no less that 40 Northern Parulas, easily the biggest wave of the species that I've experienced in Franklin County. Other notable arrivals on the same ride included Northern Waterthrush (8) which seem to have been scarce so far this spring and Yellow-throated Vireo (4), notably late in arrival compared to previous springs.


The evening hours were decidedly balmy in Gill (72 deg F) with a fantastic chorus of Barred Owls and Wood Thrushes and my first 'singing' Veery of the spring. Our yard in Northfield also turned out to be something of a sweet spot for thrushes with Susannah spotting a migrant Swainson's Thrush, several foraging Veeries plus a Hermit Thrush in song early in the morning.

May 12th - Shorebirds!

Least Sandpipers - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 11th, 2020.

A sample of the 28 birds present on the cove this morning.

An interesting day with a distinct 'air' of change compared to the previous three days, especially with an unexpected arrival of shorebirds to northern Franklin County. I say 'unexpected' because the perfectly calm, clear morning offered no indication at all that a shorebird fall-out might occur. Things got off to a promising start with a Common Loon departing north over Barton Cove and reduced water levels produced a nice array of shorebirds scattered around the cove including the first tundra breeders of the season; Least Sandpiper (28) and Semi-palmated Plover (2). In addition, Solitary Sandpiper (2), Spotted Sandpiper (15) and Lesser Yellowlegs (2) were also present. Apparently a strong day for Solitary Sandpipers continued with five together on a small flooded area in Greenfield and three individuals from three different sites in Montague/Sunderland (Brian Kane). The Greenfield birds were close enough for Matan to try his hand at photography and a couple of his shots appear here. 

Solitary Sandpipers - Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. May 11th, 2020.

Images by Matan Lerman-Smith, some of the five birds present at this site. 

Gulls were not represented early in the morning by noon 14 Ring-billed Gulls had dropped into Barton Cove. Noteworthy passerines included Scarlet Tanager, Great Crested Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and 6+ Blackburnian Warblers at Barton Cove campground along with a widespread arrival of Black-throated Blue and Blue winged Warblers in Gill. Northern Parulas were also especially evident in Gill this morning with over a dozen at a wide scatter of locations.

Common Loon - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 11th, 2020.

Migrant departing north at 06:50 hrs. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler (female) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 11th, 2020.

Large numbers currently moving through northern Franklin County. 

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. 

MA - noteworthy passerines

Aside from the Olive-sided Flycatcher at Hell's Kitchen, Northfield on the 11th mentioned in a previous post, other flycatchers of interest included a Great Crested on North Cross Road, Gill on the 6th, two Yellow-bellied at Hell's Kitchen on the 7th, and a Least on Riverview Drive, Gill on the 8th. And there was also 'getting late' singing Yellow-throated Vireo at Hell's Kitchen on the 12th.

Northern Parula - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 13th, 2018.

Yet more overnight rain on the 13th brought an obvious arrival of passerines to the area including our yard in Northfield at dawn with a calling Swainson's Thrush as well as a Wood Thrush. But it was a large flock of migrant warblers at Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club in mid-morning that really caught me off-guard. As I arrived, I heard several titmice and chickadees calling overhead and looked up to see numbers of warblers filtering through the oaks in a non-stop wave that lasted five minutes or so. The light was awkward and I had difficulty in getting my bins onto many of the birds passing through but I estimated that 70+ warblers were involved. Of those that I managed to identify Northern Parula (12+), Tennessee (7+), and Bay-breasted (4) were the most common with other notable species including Magnolia, Blackburnian, Cape May and my first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the fall. And for the rest, who knows?!

Magnolia Warbler - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 13th, 2018.

Tennessee Warbler - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 13th, 2018.

Also of note on the 13th, quite a few raptors with 8+ American Kestrels scattered around the sod fields in Northfield, a migrant Osprey in Northfield, a Northern Harrier heading south through Gill and several juvenile Broad-winged Hawks seemingly waiting for the gloom to clear to start the southward migration. 

American Kestrel - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 13th, 2018.

Heavy rain throughout most of the 12th created a number of fresh rain pools in the Northfield sod fields attracting five Killdeer and a Least Sandpiper, all of which had moved on by the next day.

Killdeer - River Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 12th, 2018.

Least Sandpiper - River Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 12th, 2018.