MA - Woodcocks galore and waterfowl on the move - 03/09

Gill - The day began cold but nice, with an American Woodcock displaying close to our yard at 05:20am. On my run I came across a further four, possibly five woodcocks on Boyle Street, Gill. Only the emerging dawn prevented me from recording others on my loop and I didn't hear them after 05:50am. A Hermit Thrush also called from a yard at the intersection with Boyle and North Cross, my first locally this year. Killdeers were also calling off Boyle Street in the pre-dawn with another seen in a field off Lyons Hill Road, Gill later in the day. I noted my first American Woodcock and my first local Killdeer of the year on February 29th.

 Common Mergansers - part of c. 85 present, Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. March 9th, 2012. 

 

Ring-necked Ducks - part of flock of c.80 with Greater Scaup (near center), Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. March 9th, 2012. 

 

Canada Geese - part of a mass of c.1800 birds, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 9th, 2012.  

 Gadwall - male (left) with Black Ducks and hybrid (right), Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. March 9th, 2012. 

By mid-morning I was keen to get a sense of migration which has certainly gathered momentum over the previous two days. I headed down to Barton Cove and wasn't disappointed. The cove was full of newly arrived Ring-necked Ducks (c.80), and some scaup (5 Greater and 3 Lesser Scaup), plus Mallards, Black Ducks and a pair of Gadwall. Over 80 Common and 2 Hooded  Mergansers were also present, dodging several marauding Bald Eagles seemingly intent on stealing the mergansers catch. I would admit to being more than a little surprised to see six Bald Eagles in the air together, including four adults - all the birds were in the heart of the territory of the resident pair.

Not wanting to neglect the power canal, I then headed down to Turner's Falls, timing my visit perfectly for a sudden mass-arrival of 1800 Canada Geese - quite the spectacle. Despite much effort, I couldn't rustle up any of the rarer geese and they all appeared to be Canadas. Six Ring-necked Ducks were present here too, along with with about 6 Common Goldeneyes and another Bald Eagle.

JPS

MA - Greater White-front in Gill!

After dropping Matan at nursery school, I started to drive a short loop around Gill as I do most days before heading back to the house. This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find about 120 Canada Geese feeding in the large corn-stubble field to the NE of Main and Munns Ferry Roads. The field is huge and the birds were distant, but a quick binocular scan produced a notably smaller bird - my first thoughts being Cackling Goose. However, scope views revealed it to be a fine Greater White-fronted Goose, my first in Gill. I immediately began to entertain thoughts that this and the bird I saw in Vermont the previous day were one in the same. It looked very similar indeed and like yesterday's bird, it appeared to show characteristics of the Greenland form A. a. flavirostris. Despite the distance, I still attempted, and came away with, a few digi-scoped record shots.

Greater White-fronted Goose - Main/Munns Ferry Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 7th, 2012.

VT/NH - Barnacle and Greater White-fronted Geese

Apologies for the lack of blog posts lately. A crashed laptop and a week's family vacation in Phoenix have certainly affected my ability to post, but news of both Barnacle and Greater White-fronted Geese just up the road saw me heading straight into southern Vermont this morning. Both birds were found by Dave Johnston on Sunday and by some great stroke of luck I ran into Dave during my search for the geese this morning. Had it not been for Dave's guidance and local knowledge, I would have certainly missed them. The geese had found a cozy, well protected spot on the CT River, east of a large cornfield off Stebbins Road, and were roosting around a small island. Conditions were not easy, scoping down onto the river through trees but it wasn't too long before we picked out both birds and then had an enjoyable time tracking them up and down the river. Dave tells me, technically, that all the geese (c. 500 or so) were on the New Hampshire side of the state line. Plenty of Mallards and Black Ducks were also present, along with some Hooded Mergansers, 1 Common Merganser and a number of Common Goldeneyes. Also, four Turkey Vultures in the fields and several fly-over Horned Larks.


Gracious thanks to Dave for taking me to this 'sweet spot' for geese - I doubt if I would have found it without him.


JPS

 

Barnacle Goose - Connecticut River, Vernon/Hinsdale, VT/NH, March 6th, 2012. 

Barnacle Goose - Connecticut River, Vernon/Hinsdale, VT/NH, March 6th, 2012.

Greater White-fronted Goose - Connecticut River, Vernon/Hinsdale, VT/NH, March 6th, 2012. Bright orange bill, strongly indicating the Greenland form (A. a. flavirostris) along with narrow fringes to the upperparts and a noticeably narrow white line along the flanks.

MA - three Kumlien's Gulls - 02/13

Had time for twenty minutes gulling at Barton Cove this afternoon. I arrived at 15:30hrs with about 300 gulls scattered about the ice and on the water. As with the last few days, strong winds seemed to make the birds especially skittish and they never really settled. Even so, I was delighted to find a 'new' Kumlien's Gull, a second-cycle bird, notably small, tiny in fact with notably brown primaries and uppertail. Also present, the continuing light second-cycle Kumlien's and the medium-dark first-cycle bird, along with the continuing first-cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull.

 Kumlien's Gull (left) - first-cycle, present in the area for over one week to date. Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. February 13th, 2012.

Kumlien's Gull (left of center) - second-cycle continuing, present in the area for over one week. Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. February 13th, 2012.


 

Kumlien's Gull - second-cycle with adult Ring-billed Gull, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. February 13th, 2012. This individual appears to be new to the gull flock at Barton Cove and seemed absurdly small in direct comparison to Ring-billed and American Herring Gulls. The same individual is shown in the shot above.

JPS

MA - five Kumlien's Gulls - 02/05

Barton Cove, once again, was productive last Sunday (02/05). The small gull flock held five Kumlien's Gulls (all first and second cycle) and 3 Lesser Black Black-backed Gulls (two adults and one first-cycle), though no sign of the previous week's Glaucous. The Kumlien's included a nice range of plumages with one medium-dark bird, the type which often inspires thoughts of Thayer's, at least for a little while.

MA - engaging Rough-leg and 'Red' Fox Sparrow - 02/08

 Rough-legged Hawk - Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA. February 8th, 2012. All pics taken with a Panasoni Lumix FZ40.

  'Red' Fox Sparrow - Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA. February 8th, 2012.

Susannah was in need of a ride down to UMassAmherst this morning which was all I needed for another excuse to go and look at the Hadley Rough-legged Hawk. I found the bird straight away sitting on the grass berm between the fields and actively hunting down into the ditch below. It seemed to be in good shape, no signs of distress and I later saw it 'kiting' and sparring with American Crows by the river. It remains absurdly tame, sometimes getting dangerously close to the traffic on North Cross Road. 

Since it was yet another lovely (spring-like) morning, I decided to take my chances on another local scarcity, a Clay-colored Sparrow found over a week ago by Ian Davies.  Despite being reported multiple times since Ian's find, I had no luck with the Clay-colored but did have a nice 'Red' Fox Sparrow in exactly the same spot that Scott Surner and I saw one on the Northampton Christmas bird count back in mid-December - the same bird perhaps? This morning was especially sweet as the Fox Sparrow burst into song several times whilst I was there. Other than that, just lots and lots of American Tree Sparrows, and an American Kestrel with prey on the drive out.

JPS

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. 

CT - Kumlien's Gull - 02/03

Kumlien's (Iceland) Gull - nice first-cycle bird found during a brief visit to Windsor Landfill, Hartford Co., CT. February 3rd, 2012.

MA - Eurasian Wigeon - 02/04

The need for a leg stretch and a bike ride took Matan and I down to the Turner's Falls power canal in late afternoon. Susannah had arranged to meet us there along with our friends from Keene, Pat Clark and Kerry Doyle. The timing seemed especially sweet since a local birder informed us of a Eurasian Wigeon which had flown into the canal early in the afternoon. This was almost certainly the same Eurasian Wigeon found by Taj Schottland in mid-January, a bird which didn't stick around long enough for me to see after returning from California. 

This particular bird didn't take long to locate and was especially vocal, its high-pitched whistled "wheeooo " call ringing out across the canal with Kerry Doyle very capably picking out the bird with binoculars while I wrestled with my scope. Though much anticipated, this was the first time I'd seen a Eurasian Wigeon (ABA Code 2) on my adopted local patch and it remained, calling, until dusk. Also present, three Northern Pintail, a Green-winged Teal and a Kumlien's (Iceland) Gull. Despite the presence of a giant raft of Canada Geese (c.1500), I couldn't find anything unusual amongst them......again.

 

Eurasian Wigeon - male with Mallard (right), and three Northern Pintails (male left with two females). Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. February 4th, 2012. 

Eurasian Wigeon - male with three Northern Pintails (male left and two females right). Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. February 4th, 2012.

 

Eurasian Wigeon - male with Mallards, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. February 4th, 2012. 

 

Kumlien's (Iceland) Gull - first-cycle with adult Great Black-backed Gulls, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. February 4th, 2012. These birds later moved onto roost at Barton Cove where I saw a total of four Kumlien's Gull during a very brief visit.

CT - Lesser Black-backed Gull - 02/03

On the way home from seeing the Harris's Sparrow in Lebanon I spent about an hour at Windsor Landfill. As usual, quite good numbers of gulls (c.1000) but overwhelmingly American Herring Gulls and, surprisingly, only a few immature birds. The majority seemed to be adults. After as slow start I eventually picked out a first-cycle Kumlien's Gull, and this first-cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull. 

Leser Black-backed Gull - first-cycle with American Herring Gulls, Windsor Landfill, Hartford Co., CT. February 3rd, 2012. 

 Lesser Black-backed Gull - first-cycle (left) with Great Black-backed and American Herring Gulls, Windsor Landfill, Hartford Co., CT. February 3rd, 2012.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - first-cycle with American Herring Gulls, Windsor Landfill, Hartford Co., CT. February 3rd, 2012. Nice view showing the whitish ground color to the underparts and uppertail with fairly sparse barring and a relatively narrow tail band.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - first-cycle (center) with American Herring Gulls, Windsor Landfill, Hartford Co., CT. February 3rd, 2012. Didn't appear particularly small in direct comparison to American Herring Gulls but still showing neat, slender, all black bill.
 

Lesser Black-backed Gull - first-cycle (left) with Great Black-backed and American Herring Gulls, Windsor Landfill, Hartford Co., CT. February 3rd, 2012. Easily lost in the crowd.