AK - Gyrfalcons - 06/16 & 06/21

Gyrfalcon - images 1 & 2 detail the same bird, probably a male. Denali National Park, Alaska, June 16th, 2010.

Gyrfalcon - female, Nome, Alaska. June 21st, 2010.

Gyrfalcon - female at nest (different to the bird above), Nome, Alaska. June 21st, 2010.

Gyrfalcon - presumed male in flight, Nome, Alaska. June 21st, 2010.



Gyrfalcon - nestlings, Nome, Alaska. June 21st, 2010.

Further highlights from the Birdfinders Alaska tour included no less than three Gyrfalcon nests, one in Denali National Park and two in Nome. Although distant for the most part, the birds offered prolonged views and provided a welcome opportunity to get to know this brutish falcon a little better.

JPS

AK - Hoary Redpoll - 06/20

Hoary Redpoll - male, Nome, Alaska, June 20th, 2010.

We saw few Hoary Redpolls during our time in Nome, certainly far fewer than on our previous tour in 2008, but this dazzling male more than made up for it and was one of my personal highlights of the tour.

JPS

AK - Great Gray Owls - 06/18

Great Gray Owls - near Glennallen, Alaska, June 18th, 2010.

Seeing nesting Great Gray Owls in Alaska was a unique privilege. But if that wasn't enough, only minutes (quite literally) after this image was taken the owlet fledged, plunging with a loud thump into a brush pile below the nest whilst the adult looked on seemingly unconcerned. Apparently the owlets spend about two weeks on the ground being fed by the adults before they reach the flying stage. As a group we were totally taken aback that our short afternoon visit would coincide with the owlet's fledging!

JPS

AK - Arctic Loons - 06/21

Arctic Loons - Nome, Alaska, June 21st, 2010. Most birds, like these, were 200-300 meters offshore.

Just back from another fantastic Alaska trip with Birdfinders, June 10th - 26th . Amongst the many highlights, an exceptional showing of Arctic Loons Gavia arctica viridigularis in Nome with perhaps as many as nine at three different locations on June 21st. At point we had five birds in view at the same time.

JPS

MA - Red-headed Woodpecker - 05/15

Red-headed Woodpecker - inside cavity, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. May15th, 2010.

Saturday (05/15/10) would see us take a family visit up to the Lewis Track and Field training facility in by Eagle Brook School in Deerfield. Two evenings before that I'd heard a Red-headed Woodpecker calling from a small tract of woodland near the track and decided to go back in an attempt to get a sighting, and perhaps even an image.

On arrival we didn't hear any woodpeckers calling or drumming but patient waiting along a nearby powerline cut eventually produced one, then two Red-bellied Woodpeckers being hotly pursued by a Red-headed Woodpecker! A crazy 'back and forth' then ensued for some minutes to the point where sightings of Red-headed Woodpecker were so frequent that I felt sure two birds must be involved, but at no point did I have two Red-headed Woodpeckers in view at the same time.

This close association between the Red-bellied and Red-headed Woodpeckers was intriguing and by following them I was eventually led to a cavity high in a Sugar Maple. I saw a Red-headed Woodpecker enter the cavity, seemingly suggesting breeding - "brilliant", or so I thought! A minute or so later the Red-headed left the cavity, but the hole was still occupied, this time by a Red-bellied Woodpecker! Over the next ten minutes I watched amazed as both Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpeckers entered and left the same cavity.

It was the first time I'd seen two different species of woodpecker attempting to occupy the same cavity but, after a little background reading, it would appear that the Red-headed may have been the aggressor. Apparently Red-headed can be aggressive towards Red-bellied (especially) and other species of woodpecker sometimes usurping them from nestholes and will also eat the eggs and nestlings of other bird species! Certainly, the size and positioning of the cavity would, in my experience, be more typical of Red-bellied Woodpecker so my assumption was (though I'm far from sure) that the Red-headed was indeed attempt to usurp this pair of Red-bellied from their cavity - not quite what I was expecting to find on a sunny Saturday morning in Western Massachusetts!

Red-headed Woodpecker - at cavity, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. May15th, 2010.

Red-bellied Woodpecker - at the same cavity as above, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. May15th, 2010.

Red-bellied and Red-headed Woodpeckers - at same cavity, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. May15th, 2010. In this image, the Red-headed is just leaving the cavity, possibly having been pushed out by the Red-bellied (just in shot inside the cavity).


Red-bellied and Red-headed Woodpeckers - at same cavity, Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. May15th, 2010. Another image, the Red-headed is just leaving the cavity once again, possibly having been repelled by the Red-bellied visible inside the cavity.



Red-headed Woodpecker - Deerfield, Franklin Co., MA. May15th, 2010. Bird in more relaxed mode, these shots taken from the powerline cut.

MA - more Swainson's - 05/12

Swainson's Thrush - Amherst, Hampshire Co., MA. May 12th, 2010. Shy and usually quite difficult to see on migration. I had to be content with these poor record shots taken through a chain link fence on the Amherst bike path.

The excellent run of local Swainson's Thrushes continues. Rain all day today and pretty cold, (below 50 deg F). Rather quiet in terms of birdsong as a result, except for American Redstarts with about seven seen and heard along the Amherst bike path. But, the low 'pwip' call of Swainson's Thrush was audible at several spots along the bike path today with two birds seen well - probably about five present in total. Another Swainson's Thrush was singing on Redgate Lane, Amherst this evening.

My evening run produced my first local Eastern Wood-Pewee of the year singing loud and clear in the Wildwood Conservation area where there was also a Great Crested Flycatcher. At Orchard Hill, UMass campus, at least two singing Blue-winged Warblers.


JPS

MA - yard Mag - 05/11

Northern Parula - singing male, North Whitney Street, Amherst, Hampshire Co., MA. May 11th, 2010.

Magnolia Warbler - singing male, North Whitney Street, Amherst, Hampshire Co., MA. May 11th, 2010.

Very cold to start with this morning, frost much evidence in the early hours. However, the local streets and woods were, once again, full of bird song. During my morning run I tallied at least a dozen Northern Parulas singing, none of which will stay in our area to breed. Also numerous Scarlet Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles, Blue-winged, Black-throated Blue and Blackburnian Warblers.

At home, a single Black Cherry tree held Northern Parula, Magnolia, Blackburnian, and Yellow-rumped Warblers so I took the opportunity to take a few digibin shots from the bedroom window! Off the rear deck, a Swainson's Thrush was grubbing around in the leaf litter.

Later in the day, a Common Yellowthroat was a surprise in the flower beds outside Holdsworth Hall on the UMass-Amherst Campus.

JPS

MA - more thrushes - 05/09

Pink Lady's Slipper. Shutesbury, Hampshire Co., MA. May 9th, 2010.

Red-spotted Newt (red eft/terrestrial juvenile). Shutesbury, Hampshire Co., MA. May 9th, 2010.

Hermit Thrush. Shutesbury, Hampshire Co., MA. May 9th, 2010.

Swainson's Thrush. Shutesbury, Hampshire Co., MA. May 9th, 2010.

Raw and unseasonably cold, but at least the mosquitoes were kept at bay. We took a casual Mother's Day stroll along a small section of the Robert Frost Trail in Shutesbury. Birds were relatively few but Blackburnian Warblers (5+) amongst the most frequent singers, with Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers as well, along with several Ovenbirds. A migrant Swainson's Thrush lifted up from the leaf litter by the trail with two Hermit Thrushes further along the same trail for a nice comparison.

JPS

MA - Wood Thrush - 05/07

Wood Thrush - Amherst, Hampshire Co., MA. May 7th, 2010.

It's amazing how approachable some birds will be if one just stands quietly in the woods. Wood Thrushes only arrived a few days ago (May 2nd/3rd) but already seem to be widespread and common. This bird was foraging just a few yards off the bike path in Amherst.

Also along the bike path on the 7th, Black-throated Blue and Chestnut-sided Warblers and a singing Indigo Bunting, plus good views of a Great Horned Owl. Another busy day locally with at least 7 Northern Parulas singing along North Whitney Street/Redgate Lane, two rather nice Magnolia Warblers, 3 Black-throated Greens and at least 30 Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Great Horned Owl - Amherst, Hampshire Co., MA. May 7th, 2010.

MA - Chuck-wills-widows - early May

Chuck-wills-widow - Williams' residence, Pharr, TX. April, 2005.

It's looking like my May 4th observation of a daytime Chuck-wills-widow in New Salem may be a less freakish sighting than I first thought. The very same day, John Galluzo reported a bird that gave a brief, but loud burst of song in the middle of the day at Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield, and a day later Kristen Lindquist received a report of a pre-dawn singing bird from Camden, Maine on May 5th. The most recent concerns of report from Peter Trull of another singing bird in East Orleans on May 7th. Interestingly all of these records are earlier than any report given in the Birds of Massachusetts (Veit and and Petersen), where the species is described as "Rare but regular visitor, primarily in spring", with spring records beginning from May 9th.