MA - Fox Sparrow - 11/04

Fox Sparrow - some fuzzy shots taken through the basement window. Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 4th, 2010. No optical aids used, just a Canon Powershot A1100.

The day got off to a great start. During my morning (pre-dawn) run in Gill I stopped to do some stretching and began mimicing the territorial call of Northern Saw-whet Owl. After just two minutes, maybe less, a bird responded from dense hemlocks close to the road giving a 'whine' call. It, or another, called from further back in the woodland a few minutes later. Needless to say, I was delighted especially as the conditions were apparently 'wrong' for owling with increasing wind and rain setting in for the day. The time would have been about 06:15hrs.

And the rain, mixed with sleet, really did set in for the whole day with no respite. The feeders in the yard remained very active all day highlighted by a Fox Sparrow, likely the same bird seen in scrub yesterday. Today, it seemed a bit more at home and fed in the open with Dark-eyed Juncos all morning. American Goldfinches with up to 15 birds, have been present daily all week feeding exclusively on Nyjer seed.

JPS

Song Sparrow - Another fuzzy shot from the basement window. Gill, Franklin Co. MA. November 4th, 2010.

MA - Fox Sparrow & Bufflehead - 11/03

Fox Sparrow. Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 3rd, 2010. Always nice to see and a yard 'first' for us. Digi-bin image taken using Leica 8 x 42 Ultravid bins and Canon Powershot A1100.

Our yard in Gill has been 'hoping' lately. The large flocks of White-throated Sparrows present for much of October have now moved on to be replaced by Dark-eyed Juncos. A handful of White-throated Sparrows remain though, as do several Song Sparrows. An American Tree Sparrow visited the feeders briefly on Nov 1st and today a nice Fox Sparrow drew attention to itself with its harsh 'schack' calls perching up briefly for a few digi-bin shots.

Other good yard birds included two Great Horned Owls calling before dawn on Nov 1st, and an American Woodcock over Main Road on Oct 31st, and daily Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Eastern Bluebirds. There was also a Yellow-rumped Warbler in the yard on Nov 1st.

At noon today, a five minute scan of Turner's Falls power canal produced a male Bufflehead and Hooded Merganser together amongst the Canada Geese but yesterday's Red-necked Grebes and Black Scoter appeared to have moved on.

Bufflehead and Hooded Merganser. Males of both species, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 3rd, 2010. Image taken using Swarovski HD telescope and Canon Powershot A1100.

MA - Barnacle Goose - 10/21 and 10/24

Barnacle Goose. School Street, Acton, Middlesex Co., October 21st, 2010. Consorting with c.200 Canada Geese. Another highlight of the recent Birdfinders Tour of New England. Found by David Sibley on October 20th and still present to date (November 3rd).

MA - Turner's Red-necks - 11/02

Red-necked Grebes - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 2nd, 2010. Images taken using Canon Powershot A1100 through Swarovski HD scope.

Spent the early evening at Turner's Falls power canal watching for (and hoping for) waterfowl coming into roost. I was thrilled to find some 'new' birds already on the canal in the form of three Red-necked Grebes and a female Black Scoter. Views of both species were excellent. Most of the 600 or so Canada Geese dispersed towards dusk but at the same time a steady stream of Common Mergansers began to fly in with 80 birds present by the time I left at 17:50hrs. Seven Hooded Mergansers came in as well, but still no goldeneyes - which could arrive any day now I guess? Also present 2 American Coots, and in the woods, at least three Golden-crowned Kinglets and a Hermit Thrush.

Black Scoter - Female, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 2nd, 2010. Image taken using Canon Powershot A1100 through Swarovski HD scope.


Hooded Merganser - Female, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 2nd, 2010. Image taken using Canon Powershot A1100 through Swarovski HD scope.

MA - Northern Saw-whet Owl - 10/24

Northern Saw-whet Owl - Salisbury Beach, Essex Co., MA. October 24th, 2010. Undoubtedly one of the highlights of our recent Birdfinders Tour of New England. A nice Sunday morning find for Steve Grinley who quickly got the word out to birders in the immediate area. Canon Powershot A560 through Swarovski HD telescope.

These two images give a better impression of how the bird appeared with the naked eye. Taken with a Canon Powershot A560 and a minimal amount of zoom. No other optical aids used.


As we arrived at Salisbury Beach a Short-eared Owl suddenly appeared over the campsite and flew straight over the famous 'owl grove'. Digi-bin shot using Canon Powershot A560 through Leica 8 x 30 binoculars.

Special thanks to the kind folks at the scene who directed us to the Saw-whet and to Brian Cassie for passing the word on when we were on Plum Island.

JPS

MA - Great Egret and Snipe at Turner's - 10/18

Great Egret - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 18th, 2010. This bird, along with the snipe featured below, provided two site 'firsts' for me in one evening!

Bald Eagle - juv/imm, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 18th, 2010.

Redheads - still present a week after they were found. Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 18th, 2010.

Wilson's Snipe - digi-bin shot of 8 birds together, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 18th, 2010.

MA - Redheads and other wildfowl - 10/14-15

Redhead - drake with female Mallard, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 15th, 2010.

Redheads - with female-type Lesser Scaup (center), Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 15th, 2010.

Redheads - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 15th, 2010.

Northern Shoveler with drake Mallard - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 14th, 2010.

Late afternoon visits to Barton Cove and Turner's Falls found most birds on the power canal once again, though curiously some of the Canada Goose flock (c.400) have been hanging out off Riverview Drive in Gill. The six Redheads were again present on the power canal and have been joined by a female-type Lesser Scaup (my first of the fall here). Indeed, the power canal was packed with ducks with a distinct improvement in diversity including; Wood Duck (6), Northern Pintail (3 plus 2 more at Barton Cove), Green-winged Teal (2 plus 1 at Barton Cove), Northern Shoveler (1 and my first of the fall here), American Wigeon (6), Redhead (6), Lesser Scaup (1) and plenty of Mallard and American Black Duck.

The overnight North-easterly storm with rain on the 15th seemed to produce little (if any) change with the exception being the departure of the Northern Pintail and the Green-winged Teal. Surprisingly, no obvious storm driven birds could be found.

Also of note on the 15th, a beautiful adult White-crowned Sparrow in the yard with the White-throats and juncos.

JPS.

MA - a little Big Sit in Gill - 10/10/10

Sunrise over the fog. Looking towards the Connecticut River, Gill, MA. October 10th, 2010.

October 10th was the 16th Annual Big Sit hosted by Birdwatchers Digest and sponsored Swarovski Optik. I wasn't sure about committing myself to a team but felt sufficiently intrigued by the concept to have a sort trial run on my new local patch in Gill. Having spent many ten of hours counting visible migration from fixed positions in the UK and in Israel I felt well prepared for what was about to come. By way of experiment I decided to stay local, very local in fact, and just walked across the street to our neighbors property and counted from the hill above their house. The site lies about half a mile South West of Gill Center, and is located in a field of rough pasture. Most of the horizon to the North and North-west is obscured by woodland, but the panorama to the East and South offers views overlooking some very rural countryside. The Connecticut River lies about 1.5 miles to the East but can't be seen from the count circle.

Cedar Waxwings in the mist - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 10th, 2010.


Canada Geese - migration over the count circle, Gill, Franklin Co. MA. October 10th, 2010.

Since we'd already been invited to a Wedding in the afternoon, I focused on a half day effort beginning at 6am and closing at 12 noon. Susannah and Matan visited the count circle in mid-morning but otherwise I counted alone. I didn't hear any owls or nocturnal migrants pre-dawn and the first bird of the day was a calling White-throated Sparrow at 06:15hrs whilst the last new bird to be logged was an American Kestrel at 11:42hrs. Overall, it was an immaculate fall day though in terms of the species total, mist and fog hampered observations between 07:20 and 08:50hrs and probably cost the circle a few birds.The breeze was also out of the South-west for much of the morning, not quite ideal for migration here as I think a North-westerly would have been better.

Mourning Dove - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 10th, 2010.

Even so, I was very impressed with an overall tally of 59 species, especially coming from a circle with no visible open water. Surprising and perhaps painful misses included Bald Eagle (4 from the same spot on Oct 16th), Cooper's Hawk, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Common Raven (3 from the same spot on Oct 16th), whilst 'hoped-for' but not seen were species such as Red-winged and Rusty Blackbirds.

Here's the species tally pretty much in the order in which they appeared;

1) White-throated Sparrow
2) Savannah Sparrow - 3+
3) Eastern Towhee - 2+ seen/heard
4) Hermit Thrush - 4
5) Song Sparrow
6) American Robin - 20+ mostly moving SW
7) Dark-eyed Junco - 10+
8) American Crow - 100+
9) Blue Jay - some migrant groups from mid-morning; 45 SW
10) Wood Duck - 1 over the circle at 06:24hrs, first surprise of the day.
11) Yellow-rumped Warbler - migrant groups moving SW all morning totaling 120 birds.
12) Carolina Wren - 2
13) White-breasted Nuthatch
14) Northern Cardinal
15) Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2+
16) Downy Woodpecker - 5+
17) Wild Turkey - 35, local flock stopping the traffic to cross the main road.
18) Black-capped Chickadee - 15+
19) Red-tailed Hawk - 15 in total with up to 7 in the air at any one time probably indicating a few migrants moving through.
20) Purple Finch - 3 local, plus 13 moving SW.
21) Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 4
22) Cedar Waxwing - 42
23) Blue-headed Vireo - 1 singing
24) American Goldfinch - 3 local, 8 moving SW
25) Canada Goose - 232, mostly migrants moving SW. Smaller groups of 4 and 6 moving between local fields. Total doubtless affected by early morning fog.
26) Northern Flicker - 5
27) Palm Warbler - 9 (birds identified to race were all Eastern/yellow)
28) Brown Creeper - 1
29) Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
30) Horned Lark - 3 moving SW.
31) Hairy Woodpecker - 3
32) Blackpoll Warbler - 11 all filtering through SW.
33) Tufted Titmouse - 6
34) Indigo Bunting - 1 (last species to be added before sunrise at 07:11hrs).
35) Eastern Phoebe - 3
36) House Sparrow - flock heard from the farm down the road. Not especially common here.
37) Pileated Woodpecker - 4 birds calling all morning plus one close to the circle by Main Road.
38) European Starling
39) Chipping Sparrow - 2
40) Northern Mockingbird - 1
41) Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
42) Swamp Sparrow - 3+
43) Great Blue Heron - 1, another nice surprise. Flew into the brook in the middle of the sedge meadow to the SE of the circle.
44) Sharp-shinned Hawk - No actual migration until 09:15hrs then scattered birds throughout the morning - 22 SW.
45) Red-eyed Vireo - 1
46) White-crowned Sparrow - 1, nice adult.
47) Eastern Bluebird - 3
48) Mourning Dove - 3
49) Feral Rock Dove - 3
50) Pine Siskin - 2 calling as they flew SW.
51) Turkey Vulture - up to 8 from 09:24hrs.
52) Ring-billed Gull - 5 moving along course of the CT River.
53) American Herring Gull - 1 juv. trailing the the Ring-billed Gulls.
54) American Black Duck - 1 moving South along CT River.
55) Gray-cheeked Thrush - calling bird present from the previous day.
56) Northern Harrier - 1 moving South at 10:00hrs.
57) Common Yellowthroat - 1
58) Gray Catbird - 1
59) American Kestrel - 1 moving SW at 11:42hrs. Only my 2nd locally.

Purple Finch - Nice male, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 10th, 2010.

Red-tailed Hawk - juvenile passing the count circle, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 10th, 2010.

Fog rolling in at 8 am, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 10th, 2010.

Looking SE from the count circle, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 10th, 2010.

Susannah and Matan trying to add to the tally, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. October 10th, 2010.

Overall I was quietly impressed with this total and will be seriously considering a more extended effort for next year. Gracious thanks to Dick and Emily for allowing the count to take place on their land.

JPS

MA - probable Cackling Goose - 10/12

probable Cackling Goose (left) with Canada Goose - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. October 12th, 2010.

Probable - because I was a bit put off by the size of this bird, even though the basic proportions, and especially the head and bill shape looked very good for Richardson's Cackling Goose (B.h. hutchinsii). I came across this bird on my third scan of the Canada Goose flock (c.600) at Turner's Falls power canal. Geese were already departing Northward when I found it so I really didn't have too much time to work on it. Had it been smaller, I don't think I would have too much of a problem with it being a Cackling Goose but the size, I think, could be an issue. Even so, it retained its small billed appearance and 'blocky' head-shape at all times.

Large male Richardson's Cackling Goose perhaps?


Small-billed, with steep forehead flattish crown and relatively short, stubby neck. The Canada Goose on the right is probably a smallish example of the form B.c. interior.



When alert, the bill looked tiny compared to the Canada Goose (B.c. interior) associating with it.

MA - Turner's Redheads - 10/12

Redheads - party of six, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. October 12th, 2010.

Had a short but enjoyable trip down to Barton Cove and Turner's Falls this evening. Barton Cove was relatively quiet except for a nice tally of five Pied-billed Grebes, but the Turner's Falls power canal was better with nearly 600 Canada Geese, 3 American Wigeon, 2 Wood Duck, and a party of no less than 6 Redheads. This was presumably the same party of Redheads reported by Mark Fairbrother at Barton Cove on the evening of the 11th when the flock contained five birds at that time - seems like they picked up a straggler overnight.

As the sun began to set, most of the Canada Geese departed Northward from the power canal and so did the Redheads, taking one of the American Wigeons with them.

And here, six Redheads with an American Wigeon in the foreground.