MA - March in Franklin County; non-passerines

Tundra Swan - from a flock of 19, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 11th, 2019.

Image appears courtesy of Josh Layfield. 

A fine drake Canvasback showed up at the Turner's Falls power canal on the 3rd (Scott Surner) and remained until the 7th at least. It turned out to be the harbinger of a steady but varied waterfowl migration through the Turner's Falls area and Franklin County in general, a migration spearheaded by the sudden and dramatic appearance of 19 Tundra Swans at the power canal on the 11th (Alex Haro/Josh Layfield). The swans were courteous enough to remain through the 12th allowing tens of birders to catch up with an impressive state rarity. The middle of the month saw Canada Goose numbers swell considerably with impressive four figure concentrations being variously reported from Sunderland, Deerfield, Gill and Turner's Falls through to the month's end. With them, though often difficult to pick out,  1 - 3 Cackling Geese fairly regularly among the masses and 36 Snow Geese in Sunderland on the 15th (Al Richards). A fine adult Greater White-fronted Goose joined the flocks of geese collecting in Barton Cove on the 23rd (Scott Surner) and remained through to the 25th, and a lone Snow Goose turned up on the 30th (Josh Layfield) with probably the same bird continuing well into April. In addition, Josh Layfield detected an oddly Snow Goose-like hybrid which mysteriously appeared at Barton Cove on the 23rd, became somewhat aloof and then disappeared just as mysteriously only a few days later. Most domestic-type hybrids tend stick around for months in Barton Cove so the sudden departure of this bird came as a bit of a surprise.

Hybrid Goose - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 23rd, 2019.

Found and photographed by Josh Layfield. 

Tundra Swan - from a flock of 19, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 11th, 2019.

Image appears courtesy of Josh Layfield. 

Canvasback (male) - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 7th, 2019.

Cackling Goose (left) -  Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 23rd, 2019.

Cackling Goose (center) -  Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 25th, 2019.

Greater White-fronted Goose (adult) -  Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 23rd, 2019.

The annual spring build-up of Ring-necked Ducks peaked (c.140) towards the end of the month rolling into early April. The flock followed the ever receding ice at Barton Cove and could often be found very close into Riverview Drive in Gill. Lesser Scaup were often present with 3 males together at times and a nice male Greater Scaup offering 'great' comparisons on the 26th. Impressive concentrations of Common Mergansers could also be seen on Barton Cove in the last days of the month along with Common Goldeneyes, and a handful of Hooded Mergansers and Buffleheads.

Iceland (Kumlien's) Gull (center) - probably 3rd-cycle, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 25th, 2019.

The second half of March saw a fabulous migration of large gulls through Turner's Falls and Barton Cove though numbers did taper sharply towards the month's end. Without doubt the find of the month was an adult/near adult California Gull carefully studied by David Sibley at the Turner's Falls power canal on the 17th. It was found on a quiet Sunday morning with very few other gulls present and departed NW with a couple Herring Gulls never to be relocated. As with any state level rarity, the record will have to be ratified by the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee but does look set to become the 6th state record and the first ever in interior Massachusetts - what a find!

California Gull  - adult/near adult, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 17th, 2019.

Image appears courtesy of David Sibley.

 California Gull  (center) - adult/near adult at rest with Ring-billed and Herring Gulls,  Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 17th, 2019. 
Image appears courtesy of David Sibley.

The last ten days of the month also saw a good nice 'wave' of Lesser Black-backed Gulls with birds frequently found amid the masses on the ice at Barton Cove. At least four birds were involved with two adults, one 3rd-cycle and one 2nd-cycle.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls (adults) -  Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 24th, 2019.

Iceland Gulls were few and far between but David Sibley did find a compelling example of a  2nd-cycle bird quite closely resembling L.g. thayeri rather than the expected L.g. kumlieni. The image set is still being studied but at this stage it's looking quite difficult to rule out an intergrade though perhaps pointing more towards Thayer's rather than Kumlien's.  Either way, it was a really super bird to watch closely and a good one to learn from. 

Thayer's Gull or Thayer's/Kumlien's intergrade (center) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 24th, 2019.

Found by David Sibley. All five flight images above show the same individual. 

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.

NM - Thayer's Gull and Wood Ducks galore - 01/24

Today was pretty much a dedicated travel day but I still arrived in Albuquerque with enough time for an hour on gulls on the Rio Grande just downstream from the Alameda Bridge. Going by recent reports, this spot seemed to have a good reputation for scarce gulls but when I arrived I found only a small flock of Ring-billed until I noticed some American Crows harassing a slightly larger gull that was wrestling with a dead fish. It turned out to be a beautiful third-cycle Thayer's Gull, remarkably the only large gull present. The Thayer's vigorously defended its catch from American Crows and Ring-billed Gulls, and a late arriving American Herring Gull. As my birding hour drifted towards dusk, all of the gulls departed northward upstream leaving only the Thayer's behind which was the very last gull to leave and head north, presumably to a roost.

Thayer's Gull - third-cycle (center)  with Ring-billed Gulls, Rio Grande, Alameda Open Space, Albuquerque, Bernalillo Co., NM. January 24th, 2014. 

All images above refer to the same individual. 

There was also a good selection of waterfowl on the Rio Grande and the nearby, part-frozen ponds highlighted by perhaps as many as 60 Wood Ducks which became increasingly flighty towards dusk. What a cracking start to my spell in New Mexico!

Wood Ducks - Rio Grande, Alameda Open Space, Albuquerque, Bernalillo Co., NM. 

January 24th, 2014. 

CA - Thayer's Gull, adult - 01/18

Just reflecting once again on our excellent recent trip to Arizona and California, and the Salton Sea gulls. Of the twenty or so Thayer's Gulls seen on January 15th and 18th combined, I only detected one adult. This bird, at Red Hill Marina, was conveniently resting next to an adult American Herring Gull and an adult Ring-billed Gull providing an ideal profile comparison, and a good opportunity to compare upperparts tone. Curiously, the mantle shade of the adult Thayer's looked like a close match to the adult American Herring Gull, though I was of the distinct impression that it should (usually) appear darker (ref: Malling Olsen & Larsson and Howell & Dunn). Obviously, not the greatest of images but I couldn't detect any obvious difference in mantle shade in the field, or from the images. 


Though only one bird, this impression seems to be in keeping with a discussion on Thayer's Gull mantle shade on the ID Frontiers Listserve. In essence, mantle shade appears to be of very little value as a field identification feature when trying to detect Thayer's amongst American Herrings Gulls, only adding more venom to the challenge of finding an adult Thayer's here in the East! 

Thayer's Gull - adult (center bird in all three images) with American Herring and Ring-billed Gulls, Red Hill Marina, Southern Salton Sea, Imperial County, CA. January 18th, 2012. 

CA - Thayer's Gulls

One of the hopes for our time at the Salton Sea was to see reasonable numbers of Thayer's Gulls. These hopes were soured a little when there appeared to be very few reports of Thayer's on the South-eastern California RBA but with a little persistence my group and I found one on Jan 14th, at least nine on Jan 15th, and then over ten during a solo effort on Jan 18th. Most were first-year birds, but I managed to find all the age classes including a nice adult with an American Herring Gull at Red Hill on Jan 18th. This post details some of the first-cycle birds.

 Thayer's Gull - first-cycle (with another first-cycle Thayer's immediately behind) with American Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. Niland, Imperial Co., CA. January 15th, 2012.

 Thayer's Gull - first-cycle, Niland, Imperial Co., CA. January 15th, 2012.

 Thayer's Gull - first-cycle with Ring-billed Gulls. West end of Lindsey Road, Imperial Co., CA. Jan 18th, 2012.

Thayer's Gull - first-cycle (same as above), West end of Lindsey Road, Imperial Co., CA. Jan 18th, 2012.

Thayer's Gull - first-cycle with Ring-billed and American Herring Gulls. Obsidian Butte, Imperial Co., CA. January 18th, 2012.

JPS

MA - THAYER'S GULL - 01/20

Thayer's Gull - first-cycle, Niles Pond, East Gloucester, Essex Co., MA. January 20th, 2010.

Another exciting element to the phenomenal gull show at Niles Pond, East Gloucester. This first-cycle Thayer's Gull was one of our first finds of the afternoon and was present for over an hour through to 14:00hrs. Surely, East Gloucester must be the most reliable spot in New England for finding Thayer's Gulls?

Thayer's Gull - center. Primaries looked blackish most of the time but under certain conditions, true color (actually dark brown) becomes more apparent.