AZ - Elegant Trogon - 01/10/13

Elegant Trogon - male, Patagonia Lake State Park, Santa Cruz Co., AZ. January 10th, 2013. Panasonic Lumix FZ7. Seemingly always rare and exotic, this stunning male was feeding no more than a meter above the ground right beside the main footpath along Sonoita Creek at the north end of Patagonia Lake. Earlier, our group had invested a good deal of time in trying to view a female trogon further up the same river bed, so finding this male on the way back was especially sweet. 

CA - What's this?

This curious looking teal was first noted by Birdfinders tour participant Howard Broughton as we searched for Thayer's Gulls at Salt Creek Beach on the north shore of the Salton Sea. It looks like a near certain hybrid between Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teals, a hybrid pairing that seems to have been well documented in other cases - check out this great post on hybrid teals on 10,000 Birds;

http://10000birds.com/hybrid-teals.htm

Presumed hybrid Blue-winged x Cinnamon Teal (center) - with Blue-winged Teals, Salt Creek Beach, Riverside Co., CA. January 16th, 2013. Digi-scoped using Panasonic Lumix FZ7 and Swarovski HD scope.

CA - Sprague's Pipit - 01/15

Sprague's Pipit - Calipatria, Imperial County, CA. January 15th, 2013. Panasonic Lumix FZ7 and Swarovski HD scope. 

Venturing out to the fields north of Calipatria Prison, I would admit to being a little apprehensive concerning our chances of finding a Sprague's Pipit in the same fields where we'd met with success the previous year. However, my Birdfinders group remained upbeat and some 45 minutes later we were enjoying excellent views of a Sprague's Pipit in a field of Bermuda Grass close to the road. Rarely have I seen a Sprague's show quite as well as this bird did, and for such a long period. We left it in peace resisting the temptation to get even closer!

NV - Common Crane - 01/21

 Common Crane - (2nd from right) with one 'Greater' and four Lesser Sandhill Cranes, Overton WMA, Clark Co., NV. January 21st, 2013. 

 Having caught up with the previously mentioned Nutting's Flycatcher early in the morning of Jan 21st, I had the rest of the day open. Rather than scour Lake Havasu for loons and grebes, I decided to head north to chase a previously reported Common Crane in southern Nevada. Despite a general reluctance to tackle yet another long drive, I was at the site by lunchtime and watching the Common Crane just twenty minutes after that. The day turned out to be much more than a blatant 'twitch' as Overton WMA in Clark County, a mere 75 minutes north of Las Vegas, proved to be exceptionally 'birdy'. The place seemed to be full of Gambel's Quails, Abert's Towhees and Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, species that I'd typically associate with being much further south. In addition, other gems such as Trumpeter and Tundra Swans alongside each other and a beautiful Prairie Merlin made for a thoroughly rewarding day. 

AZ - Nutting's Flycatcher - 01/21

 Nutting's Flycatcher - Mosquito Flat, Bill Williams NWR, La Paz Co., Havasu, AZ. January 21st, 2013. All images taken using a Panasonic Lumix FZ7.

Missed on our Birdfinders tour of AZ and CA in January, this Nutting's Flycatcher put on a fine, though rather brief show next to Planet Ranch Road during the early morning of January 21st. Despite its mega-rarity status in the US, I was surprised to find myself alone at the site enjoying quality views of a top quality bird. It called several times - a head-turning "wheeep". Assumed, quite naturally I think, to be the same returning bird from last winter when we had a lot more company on our visit on January 13th, 2012;

http://pioneerbirding.blogspot.com/2012/01/az-nuttings-flycatcher-0113.html

MA - Barton Cove Gulls - 02/09/13

Finally back home after back to back tours out in the south-west. A huge winter storm brought 15 inches of fresh snow combined with a stiff north-eastern wind that never eased all day. Barton Cove was 90% frozen this afternoon but the few pockets of open water held c300 Canada Geese, 27 Mute Swans and a drake Ring-necked Duck. About 200 gulls hunkered down on the ice and amongst them, 1 Kumlien's Iceland Gull and 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

A Winter Wren in our yard in Gill was also a nice surprise this morning.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult (center), Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. February 9th, 2013.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull - first-cycle (left), Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. February 9th, 2013.

VT - POCHARD to Gyrfalcon 01/02

A narrow time window saw me leaving Gill at 04:30hrs and head off for Lake Champlain in Addison County, Vermont. My motivation was a Common Pochard found the day before by Ron Payne and Ian Worley, subsequently identified from images by Jeremiah Trimble. Despite living in New England for almost ten years, I'd never heard mention of a Common Pochard turning up in any of the New England states. Moreover, I'd always been intrigued by the reports of large gatherings of diving ducks on Lake Champlain in the winter and so, with a male Tufted Duck as additional motivation, I headed north-west into Vermont with lots of anticipation for a great morning of birding. As it happened, the day eventually turned out to be a bit more chaotic than anticipated but was incredibly rewarding by day's end. 

My log of events unfolded as follows;

03:30hrs - Feeling restless, get up much earlier than planned.

04:30hrs - Scrape ice off car and head for Vermont.

07:15hrs - Drive through blizzards on Rt 125 via west Bridport, Addison County but encouraged to see flocks of Snow Buntings and some Lapland Longpsurs flying up from the edge of the road. Probably about 100 Snow Buntings and 7 Lapland Longspurs in total.

07:35hrs - Arrive at Chimney Point and find parking. Surprised to see only one other birder (Jim Mead) gearing up to go out. Heart sinks as most of the lake appears to be completely frozen!

07:45hrs - Jim finds large numbers of diving ducks concentrated in one ice-free area north of Champlain Bridge/Chimney Point. Viewing conditions difficult as snow continues.

Looking north from Champlain Bridge. 

From the outset, distance, cold and snow showers would make bird finding here challenging to say the least!

08:03hrs - Common Pochard found as poor weather hampers observation and digi-scoping attempts.  Bird is visible intermittently for the next 90 minutes or so. Impressive numbers of ducks foraging, though distant, but certainly thousands of birds involved - a real birding spectacle. 



Common Pochard (right) - male with Common Goldeneyes. Champlain Bridge/Chimney Point, Addison County, VT. January 2nd, 2013.


The Common Pochard inspires a modest 'twitch'. Birders looking north from Champlain Bridge. 

Common Pochard (center) - male, Champlain Bridge/Chimney Point, Addison County, VT. January 2nd, 2013.



09:25hrs - First sightings of male Tufted Duck feeding close to male and female Barrow's Goldeneyes. First-cycle Glaucous Gull present too.

Tufted Duck (center) - male just behind Ring-billed Gull, Champlain Bridge/Chimney Point, Addison County, VT. January 2nd, 2013.



09:45hrs - Snow becomes heavy, visibility decreases. Decide to call it a morning, but feel extremely pleased with the waterfowl viewing; Mallard, Black Duck, Northern Pintail (1 f), Gadwall ( 2 m), Common Pochard (1 m), Ring-necked Duck (2m), Tufted Duck (1 m), Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, White-winged Scoter (1 f), Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye (2), and Common Merganser.

White-winged Scoter - female, Champlain Bridge/Chimney Point, Addison County, VT. January 2nd, 2013. 

Further rewards for diligently searching through the huge flocks. 

 Champlain Bridge/Chimney Point, Addison County, VT. January 2nd, 2013. Small portion of a real spectacle!



10:00hrs - Begin driving south through snow flurries finding a really smart dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk by the road (22A) in Shoreham.

Rough-legged Hawk (dark-morph) - Rt 22A, Shoreham, Addison County, VT. January 2nd, 2013.



12:15hrs - Susannah calls. Matan is sick and needs to be picked up from school.

13:00hrs - Arrive home with Matan. Red-breasted Nuthatch calling from the maples in the yard. Notice report of Gyrfalcon forwarded to Massbird from Jan 1st - try not to think about it too much!

14:30hrs - arrive at Umass-Amherst Health Services with Matan. Pine Grosbeak calling in the parking lot!

15:45hrs - Matan diagnosed with ear infection. Off to Greenfield to pick up meds.

16:00hrs - Swing by Hadley Honey Pot on way to I-91. Amazed to see light gray morph Gyrfalcon teed up in small copse north of Cemetery Road! Matan has life Gyr through scope from roadside. Suddenly become aware of other birders in area - unknown to me, the Gyr had been sought and seen by birders throughout most of the afternoon!



Gyrfalcon - probably first-winter, Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire County, MA. January 2nd, 2013.

17:30hrs - Arrive home in Gill with Matan's meds. All is well. Incredible day!!!

MA - Greenfield CBC - 12/30

Today I joined Josh Rose for his sector of the Greenfield CBC. Our plot was centered around Turner's Falls covering sites entirely situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River, roughly from the Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club south to the bike path off Greenfield Road. 

It's the only day of the year which gives me the opportunity to spend an entire day birding sites that typically I would only visit for an hour or less whenever I managed to get out locally. It felt like a true winter's day with four or five inches of fresh powdery snow on the ground, at times drifted by 15-20 mph northerly winds. Temperatures never rose above freezing all day and actually felt much colder due to the wind chill.

Migratory Way - Turner's Falls power canal, early morning before the snow plough. December 30th, 2012.





Bird-wise the day included a fine tally of 51 species beginning at 0650hrs with a calling Eastern Screech-owl at the Turner's Falls canal. This bird gave 'whinny' calls constantly for 20 minutes and was a personal highlight for me. Incredibly, Josh and I heard another giving 'whinny' calls at around 10am just north of Depot Street giving us two day-calling screech-owls for the count. We found Barrow's Goldeneyes from the bike path at Greenfield Road, at Barton Cove and the power canal, a Lesser Black-backed Gull off Unity Park, Pine Grosbeaks in downtown Turner's Falls, Ring-necked Ducks and Lesser Scaups at the Rod and Gull club, and the long staying Pied-billed Grebe on the power canal. As always, redpolls proved to be frustrating with a flock of over 30 buzzing around the power line cut north of Depot Street with only a single bird offering itself for definitive identification - that one was a Common Redpoll.

All in all, a superb count well above expectation - amazing what can be discovered on the local patch in a single day with a bit of effort!

Thanks to Josh for his company, organization and the invitation to join.......

Best birding for 2013!

JPS

American Robin at dawn - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2012.

Turner's Falls power canal - Josh Rose getting the count the underway,early morning, December 30th, 2012.

Barrow's Goldeneye - female (right) with female Common Goldeneye, CT River at Montague City, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2012. We believe that the same female Barrow's flew into the power canal at dusk along with almost 40 Common Goldeneyes.

Barrow's Goldeneye - adult male, Barton Cove from Unity Park, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2012.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult (left) with American Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. Found at lunch time when it was the only dark mantled gull present for a while. Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2012.

Pied-billed Grebe - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2012. Present since late October but capable of disappearing for long periods.

Pine Grosbeak - one of three female-types, 3rd street, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2012. The birds fed oblivious as a guy used a snow-blower to clear the sidewalk below their feeding tree! I still can't get used to how absurdly tame these northern breeders can be.



 Belted Kingfisher - male by the CT River, Montague City, Franklin Co., MA. 

December 30th, 2012.

Pileated Woodpecker - working cavities by the CT River, Montague City, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2012.

 

MA - Barrows Goldeneye - 12/29

With an hour to myself just before lunch, I decided to head to Bennet Meadow WMA, Northfield in pursuit of some Redpolls seen by Mark Taylor on Christmas Eve. The site is on the western bank of the Connecticut River, a mere 10 minutes drive north of our house in Gill and only just outside the Gill town line. As soon as I arrived I noticed goldeneyes on the river knowing all too well that they'd provide a major distraction from my redpoll quest. I spent the next 45 minutes with the goldeneyes and never made a serious effort for the redpolls though they appeared to be missing today.

The concentration of goldeneyes proved to be one of the best I've seen on the Connecticut with at least 85 Common Goldeneyes present in a loose group. Among them, a nice female Barrow's Goldeneye, the first I've seen locally for a while and certainly my first within this winter period. The birds were distant and the photos poor, but I really enjoyed watching them and listening to the whirring of wings as they flew past.

Barrow's Goldeneye - female (right), Connecticut River at Bennet Meadow, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. Female goldeneye with largely orange-yellow bill, steep forehead, and bulky 'mane'. Very dark-brown head contrasting with whitish-gray breast.

Common Goldeneyes - Connecticut River at Bennet Meadow, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. About 55 of the 85 birds present captured in this image.

Barrow's Goldeneye - female (second from right), Connecticut River at Bennet Meadow, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. Female goldeneye with largely orange-yellow bill, steep forehead, and bulky 'mane'. Compare head shape with the surrounding female Common Goldeneyes.

Barrow's Goldeneye - female (extreme right), Connecticut River at Bennet Meadow, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. Another record shot providing comparison with Common Goldeneyes.

MA - Christmas Pacific Loon - 12/25

We've just returned from a short family break to Outer Cape Cod over the early part of the Christmas period. Christmas Day was pretty miserable weather-wise with freezing drizzle for much of the day, but I was fortunate to get out to Race Point (Provincetown) and enjoy an hour of seawatching before the really poor weather moved in. For the first 45 minutes the sea was flat calm providing ideal conditions to scan for loons. When it was finally light enough to see well, I found numerous Common and Red-throated Loons in the calm conditions and then, at 07:25hrs, a nice adult Pacific Loon. The latter species is still on the state review list and one that I've encountered on only a handful of occasions in Massachusetts.

Other species of interest included large numbers of Razorbills, plus three Common Murres and a Black Guillemot. These were the only alcids I could find despite much scanning for Dovekies - weather conditions just not right for them I guess. Some five Red-necked Grebes were present along with many tens of Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Eiders. All three scoters were seen though not in large numbers.

Most of the gulls I saw were flying east, possibly heading for a Pilot Whale carcass farther down the beach that we'd found the previous day - 1 adult Glaucous, 4 Kumlien's Gulls and about 6 Black-legged Kittiwakes were the most notable gulls amongst rather small numbers of the three common species.

Aside from 55 Dunlins and 35 Sanderlings I had the beach to myself for an hour until the first dog walkers arrived.

Pacific Loon - Race Point, Provincetown, MA. December 25th, 2012. Yep...horrendous and probably unidentifiable image of a Pacific Loon about 400m offshore. Digi-scoping has its limits and in completely overcast skies with drizzle, shortly after first light, this just didn't work. Below are my sketches of the bird drawn from memory shortly after the observation, and before consulting any references.

 

 

 Kumlien's Iceland Gull - Race Point, Provincetown, MA. December 24th, 2012. Second-cycle bird heading west and likely one of two second-cycle birds seen heading east on the 25th.

Common Murre - Race Point, Provincetown, MA. December 25th, 2012. Just ten meters from shore, losely associating with a flock of Red-breasted Mergansers. Two more distant birds were foraging off shore though never with the numerous flocks of Razorbills present.

 

 

 

Pilot Whale? - Race Point beach, Provincetown, MA. December 24th, 2012. Presumed Pilot Whale carcass being examined by Susannah and Matan. Probably no more than 9 feet in length and completely black in color. Curiously, the tail was completely missing and appeared to have been 'sheared' off. Several gulls were feeding on this, most of which were Great Black-back Gulls.