MA - egrets, shorebirds and crossbills!

Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. July 29th, 2020.

Seven of the nine Great Egrets present forming an evening roost on Barton Island. 

July went out with something of a bang as clear indications of an incursion of Red Crossbills became very evident on the last day with seven passing over North Cross Road in mid-morning, and at least one other calling and singing at Hell's Kitchen. Later that evening, I came across a further six Red Crossbills on North Cross Road feeding in White Pines with a similar number of Cedar Waxwings for company. The 31st also brought a singing Lousiana Waterthrush to our Northfield yard, quite a rare visitor in late summer/early fall and almost certainly a migrant. 

Shorebird migration has been particularly evident in the last two weeks of the month with Least Sandpipers consistently present at Hell's Kitchen (2 - 3 birds) and also for a couple of days at the Turner's Falls power canal (10 - 15 birds on Jul 23rd and 24th). Being partially drained on those dates, the power canal showed much promise and also held a Semi-palmated Plover on Jul 24th. Similarly, Solitary Sandpipers were present at Hell's Kitchen (1 - 3 ) and at the power canal when water levels were drawn down. Unfortunately, power canal water levels went back to normal on the 25th ending a short but sweet spell for migrant shorebirds there. Rather less expected was a wandering, calling Greater Yellowlegs over North Cross Road on Jul 29th, the same day that no less than 9 Great Egrets showed up for an evening roost at Barton Cove in what has become a traditional late July build of that species in northern Franklin County. However, they were not present the following evening when a juvenile Bald Eagle had taken a liking to their preferred roost tree!

Breeding species continued to be of interest late into the month with a notably strong presence of Yellow-billed Cuckoos and Alder Flycatchers in Gill/Northfield and the successful breeding of Barred Owls for the third consecutive year on North Cross Road, Gill. And of special interest, confirmation of breeding Merlins at an unexpected location in Greenfield where a pair raised at least three young to the fledgling stage. I was lucky enough to be there with the finder just as some of the fledglings were taking practice flights right over her backyard! Although I've suspected breeding Merlins in the Gill/Turner's Falls area for years this was first actual nest and confirmation of breeding that I've come across anywhere in Franklin County......thanks very much to Tamsin Flanders for sharing the experience! 

Merlins - all recently fledged young, Greenfield, Franklin Co, MA. July 24th, 2020. 

NJ - Cape May - Day 5 October 14th

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Higbee Beach, Cape May Island, NJ. October 14th, 2018.

Image appears courtesy of David Hughes. 

We started bright and early once more heading straight over to the Higbee Beach dike at first light. The morning was much calmer than the previous days with very little wind but rather cloudy. As a result many migrants were already quite high etched against complete cloud cover making them nearly impossible to identify to any level of satisfaction. Instead, we focused on the migrants feeding and resting along the dike and ended up having a nice, bird rich walk with good numbers of Yellow-billed Cuckoos (7-10), Black-throated Blue Warblers, Palm Warblers (both subspecies), White-crowned and Lincoln's Sparrows, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll Warblers, and more Brown Creepers.

Lincoln's Sparrow - Higbee Beach, Cape May Island, NJ. October 14th, 2018.

Baltimore Oriole - Higbee Beach, Cape May Island, NJ. October 14th, 2018.

Pine Warbler - Higbee Beach, Cape May Island, NJ. October 14th, 2018.

Red-breasted Nuthatch - Higbee Beach, Cape May Island, NJ. October 14th, 2018.

Wood Ducks - Higbee Beach, Cape May Island, NJ. October 14th, 2018.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Higbee Beach dike, Cape May Island, NJ. October 14th, 2018.

A quick visit to the Hawkwatch platform at Cape May State Park was rather quiet where several small kettles of Broad-winged Hawks proved to be the highlight. Ducks on bunker pond included a clear influx of Gadwall and the continuing drake Eurasian Wigeon.

Black, Surf and White-winged Scoters - Avalon, Cape May Co., NJ. October 14th, 2018.

From there we headed north to the Avalon Seawatch which picked up towards the evening after a fairly slow start. Some 2000 scoters of all three expected species headed south with Red-throated and Common Loons, Northern Pintail, American Wigeon and American Black Duck all involved in the movement. We also enjoyed good numbers of Northern Gannets and a handful of Parasitic Jaegers. A Swamp Sparrow in the dunes behind the seawatch hut provided some entertainment during the quieter spells until David cranked it up a gear finding three American Oystercatchers, a Lesser Black-backed Gull and a Piping Plover in the final hour of daylight! The latter turned out to be the only Piping Plover of the entire trip - well done David!

NJ - Cape May - Day 4 October 13th

Red-eyed Vireo - Cape May Point State Park, NJ. October 13th, 2018. 
Image appears courtesy of John Watts.

The day began cool with strong North-westerly winds. The pre-dawn air above the motel was filled with the sounds of passing migrants including the identifiable flight calls of Swainson's Thrush, Blackpoll and Cape May Warblers. At 06:45 hours we headed for Higbee Beach once more finding Brown Creeper, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped and Blackpoll Warblers as we parked the vehicle. From then on we enjoyed a strong flight of migrants over the Higbee Bech dike before showers forced us back down the banking at 08:00 hours. Even so, it was clear that many birds were on the move and with the help of the resident CMBO Morning Flight counter Andrew Dreelin, we enjoyed some great views of fast moving migrants passing north over and along Higbee dike; Northern Flicker (mobs!), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Creeper (4), American Redstart, Northern Parula, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-rumped, Cape May, Blackpoll, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue and Black-and-white Warblers, an impressive flight of Purple Finches and a few Pine Siskins. As if the that wasn't enough, the walk back to the vehicle was neatly interrupted by a nice show of sparrows in the phragmites  with Lincoln's, Swamp, Song and White-throated Sparrows all giving fine views along with a Blue-headed Vireo and a Cape May Warbler.

Northern Flicker - Cape May Point State Park, NJ. October 13th, 2018. 

Cape May Warbler  -  Higbee Beach dike, Cape May Island, NJ. October 13th, 2018. 

We headed north for brunch in Avalon and then settled in for a seawatch at the CMBO Avalon Seawatch hut. We'd only just arrived when a Yellow-billed Cuckoo came flopping over the dunes, flew between us and headed into town. Apparently the same bird had come in off the sea and tried to settle inside the seawatching hut! Amazingly, we went on to witness a further four Yellow-billed Cuckoos coming in off the sea flying west and north-west trying to make landfall. I say "trying" because a couple certainly didn't make it. The local Great Black-backed Gulls made easy work of picking them off over the ocean - I can only imagine how many actually perished. Beyond the cuckoos we had a fairly steady seawatch but had some nice flights of scoters, a few Greater Scaup and even a few flocks of Wood Ducks moving south over the ocean. The big migrant of the afternoon was Double-crested Cormorant with about 1500 passing south during the three or so hours that we spent there.

Double-crested Cormorants - Avalon Seawatch, Cape May Co., NJ. October 13th, 2018.

Great Blue Herons - Avalon Seawatch, Cape May Co., NJ. October 13th, 2018.

Wood Ducks - Avalon Seawatch, Cape May Co., NJ. October 13th, 2018.

Common Loon - Avalon Seawatch, Cape May Co., NJ. October 13th, 2018.

Caspian Tern - Avalon Seawatch, Cape May Co., NJ. October 13th, 2018.

Returning to Cape May Island, we headed for the hawkwatch once more and weren't disappointed with a good showing of Broad-winged Hawk including several small kettles, and nice looks at 'tundra' Peregrine. Small falcons were notably fewer, perhaps not surprising, after the previous day's huge passage. Passerines showing well close to the hawkwatch in the late afternoon sunshine included Yellow-billed Cuckoo,  Red-eyed Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Northern Parula, White-crowned and Field Sparrows. We spent the remainder of our time watching swallows over the dunes and bunker pond, and although it took a little while, we eventually got all of our party onto a late Purple Martin and a couple of Barn Swallows to round off another terrific day.

Bald Eagle - Cape May Point State Park, NJ. October 13th, 2018. 

Purple Martin (with Tree Swallow) - Cape May Point State Park, NJ. October 13th, 2018. 

Red-eyed Vireo - Cape May Point State Park, NJ. October 13th, 2018. 

Nashville Warbler - Cape May Point State Park, NJ. October 13th, 2018. 

Field Sparrow - Cape May Point State Park, NJ. October 13th, 2018. 

MA - more goodies as a brilliant October draws to a close.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 26th, 2018. 
Found by Harvey Allen and Dawn Winkler. One of the latest documented records for Franklin County. 
Image appears courtesy of Dawn Winkler

The daily dose of birding excellence continued through to the month's end in Franklin County. Again, I tried to limit my drive time to within a 20 minute radius of our house in Northfield. Here's a summary of some of the latest highlights;


Bufflehead - small fall-out on October 30th with at least 31 from three sites in Turner's Falls and 8 on the Connecticut River at Montague.

Cackling Geese (2) just left of center - Upinngil Farm, Gill, October 29th, 2018. 

Cackling Goose - continued excellent showing through to the end of the month. For example, 3 at Turner's Falls on the 25th, 1 at Tri-town Beach from the 28th - 31st, and 2 at Upinngil Farm, Gill on the 29th.

 Northern Harrier - juvenile, Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 26th, 2018.

 Northern Harrier - adult male, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 30th, 2018.

Northern Harrier - singles at Northfield Meadows and Turner's Falls Airfield, the latter site included a male on the 30th.

American Coot - Tri-town Beach, Whately, Franklin Co., MA. October 30th, 2018. 

American Coot - one at Tri-town Beach, Whately through to the 31st.

Common Gallinule - first-winter at Tri-town Beach through to Oct 30th, continuing from the 19th when it was initially found by Josh Rose.

Pectoral Sandpipers - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 28th, 2018.

Pectoral Sandpiper - 5 together at Hell's Kitchen on the 28th with 3 still present on the 29th.

Semi-palmated Plover - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. October 28th, 2018.

Semi-palmated Plover - 1 at Hell's Kitchen on the 28th was still present on the 29th.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1 on Mill Village Road, Deerfield, Franklin Co., October 26th, 2018. Seen by Harvey Allen and Dawn Winkler.

Eastern Screech-Owl - 1 (giving whinny calls) on North Cross Road, Gill at dawn on the 30th. Unusual here.

Horned Lark - 29 south over Northfield Meadows on the 28th. A poor autumn for this species so far.

Snow Bunting -  1 - 2 at Northfield Meadows and Turner's Falls Airfield from the 28th - 31st. 

Evening Grosbeak - male, Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 26th, 2018.

Evening Grosbeak -  a male in Northfield Meadows on Oct 26th, another westbound over North Cross Road, Gill on the 27th.

Pine Siskins - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 31st, 2018.

Pine Siskin - daily flyovers, most birds heading west but 40 feeding along a field edge on Meadow Road, Montague on the 28th (Brian Kane), and 35 in similar habitat in Northfield Meadows on the 31st.

Black-throated Green Warbler - 1 on North Cross Road, Gill on the 28th.

Yellow-rumped Warbler - small numbers at multiple locations but an impressive 25 in Northfield Meadows on the 31st.

Palm Warbler - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 31st, 2018.

Palm Warbler - 1- 5 in Northfield Meadows through to the 31st. All appeared to be of the 'yellow' eastern form.

Common Yellowthroat - 1 in Northfield Meadows on the 29th.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - small numbers at multiple locations throughout but 14 at the Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club on the 29th was unusual and included one flock of 11.

Winter Wren - 1 on North Cross Road, Gill at dawn on the 30th.

White-throated Sparrow - up to 300 in Northfield Meadows through to the end of the month.

White-crowned Sparrow (adult) - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 31st, 2018.

White-crowned Sparrow - continued incursion with relatively good numbers (up to 20) through to the end of the month in Northfield Meadows, and smaller numbers (2 - 6) on Pine Meadow Road, Northfield, Turner's Falls and Monatgue.

Fox Sparrow - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 26th, 2018.

Fox Sparrow - continued presence at Northfield Meadows (up to 8) to the month's end plus 16 in Montague on the 28th (Brian Kane).

American Tree Sparrow - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., MA. October 29th, 2018.

American Tree Sparrow - 1 on Meadow Road, Montague on the 28th (Brian Kane) and 1 in Northfield Meadows on the 29th.

Swamp and Savannah Sparrows - about 25 + of each species in Northfield Meadows through to the end of the month.

MA - Northfield warblers including late Cerulean, plus a Yellow-billed Cuckoo!

Cape May Warbler - Pine Meadow Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 28th, 2018. 

Chestnut-sided Warbler - Pine Meadow Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 28th, 2018. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Pine Meadow Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 29th, 2018. 

Image appears courtesy of Josh Layfield.

The last days of September have been peppered with some relatively high quality birding, most of which I've managed to find within a few miles of our home in Northfield. Almost every roadside stop provided a feeding flock of some description, mostly consisting of fast moving warblers and vireos but with increasingly large numbers of sparrows. It's been especially satisfying to find 'sweet spots' within two or three miles of the house, keeping drive time to a minimum and maximizing the time that I have in the field. I love this time of year. There's so much to see and there's the ever present chance of finding a decent rarity whether it be locally rare or something from a little further afield. 

Blue-headed Vireo - Pine Meadow Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 28th, 2018. 

The morning of the 28th dawned with heavy rain and fog, and the air was already heavy with the calls of migrant warblers. When the weather finally started to break-up around mid-morning I found myself watching an especially compelling feeding flock on Pine Meadow Road, Northfield. The most obvious migrants were Blackpoll, Cape May and Yellow-rumped Warblers, along with White-throated, Swamp and Song Sparrows. I hadn't been there long when a particularly hard, penetrating 'chip' call turned my head and a bright,  'aqua-marine' colored warbler past no more than a few feet away and landed in a nearby oak - "Cerulean!!....surely?!". The overall color fields blew me away and I'd never seen anything like it on a fall warbler in our area. It then flew across the road to join other feeding warblers, confirming my impression of the aqua-marine coloration seen on the first flight view - I wasn't seeing things after all! Distractions started to abound, the subject tree was full of warblers and getting onto the right bird in bad light proved impossible. Moreover, it was still raining quite heavily and I was concerned about getting damp inside my camera. At that point the same bird left 'the warbler tree' and gave prolonged flight views as it flew across a paddock and landed in some Alders giving more hard, penetrating 'chip' calls. I was certain of the ID and waited in the area for a further thirty or so minutes but never had another glimpse. While it was most certainly frustrating not to get any kind of record shot, I was also extremely happy with the field views that I'd had and felt comfortable with the ID. Pine Meadow Road turned out to be a real 'sweet spot' and as I waited for the Cerulean Warbler to reappear I came across many more excellent species including Cape May (5), Chestnut-sided and Tennessee Warblers.

The following day (Sep 29th) birders hoping to relocate the Cerulean Warbler came across a Yellow-billed Cuckoo with Josh Layfield capturing some nice record shots. In the meantime, I had a typically brief and frustrating experience with a Connecticut Warbler down in the Deerfield Meadows where I also found two late Yellow Warblers and a nice fly-over flock of 27 migrating Double-crested Cormorants. 

Yellow Warbler - Deerfield Meadows, Old Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 29th, 2018. 

The 30th saw a huge arrival of sparrows at Gill Elementary School, mostly White-throated, Song and Swamp Sparrows but also a locally notable tally of at least 12 Lincoln's Sparrows. 

Lincoln's Sparrow - Gill Elementary School, Franklin Co., MA. September 30th, 2018.  

Black-throated Green Wabler - Gill Elementary School, Franklin Co., MA. September 30th, 2018.  

MA - good birds in Gill

The last few days have continued to be warm and muggy but the woods, fields and wetlands around Gill have just been a 'wall of sound' lately. In particular, Wood Thrush, Pine Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Willow Flycatcher and Indigo Bunting seem to be especially abundant in our area this year.

Yesterday evening 14 Double-crested Cormorants dropped into Barton Cove to join a lingering, and very late, drake Bufflehead.

Bufflehead - drake, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 28th, 2015.

Double-crested Cormorants - some of the 14 individuals, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 28th, 2015.

All appeared to be first-summer birds. 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo - River Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 29th, 2015.

Orchard Oriole - male, River Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 29th, 2015.

Willow Flycatcher - River Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 29th, 2015.

Many singing birds along River Road this morning.

Spotted Sandpiper - River Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 29th, 2015.

The singing Kentucky Warbler continues to hold territory for it's third straight day and this morning I had my first local Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Orchard Oriole of the season making for some great birding just a few minutes from home.