MA - Caspian Tern in Gill - 05/04

Very cool to see a full adult Caspian Tern foraging (successfully) in Barton Cove this morning, right off Riverview Drive in Gill. Very reminiscent of this observation at the same place last year on April 28th. Also, a nice raft of five Common Loons out on the cove, all five of them in full breeding plumage. 

 

 

TX - Amazing Texas - Part II

More highlights from the recent Birdfinders tour during the central two weeks in April, 2012;

 Altamira Oriole - Estero Llano Grande, Weslaco, Hidalgo Co., TX. April 12th, 2012.

 Scott's Oriole - Neal's Lodges, Concan, Uvlade Co., TX. April 16th, 2012.

 Black-capped Vireo - Kerr WMA, Kerr Co., TX. April 15th, 2012.

 

 Golden-cheeked Warbler - Lost Maples Scenic Area, Bandera Co, TX. April 15th, 2012.

 Bell's Vireo - Neal's Lodges, Concan, Uvlade Co.,TX. April 16th, 2012.

TX - Amazing Texas - Part I

Two thousand five hundred miles and over 300 species. Quite simply, spring time in Texas is our most diverse North American tour. Here's the first of several pages of highlights from the Birdfinders trip in 2012;

 Ferruginous Pygmy-owl - male, Kennedy Co., TX. April 11th, 2012. 

Barred Owl - Uvlade Co., TX. April 16th, 2012.  

  

 Zone-tailed Hawk - Lost Maples State Natural Area, Bandera Co., TX. April 15th, 2012.

Bullock's Oriole - male, Neal's Lodges, TX. April 16th, 2012.  

 Blackburnian Warbler - Sabine Woods, TOS Sanctuary, Jefferson Co., TX. April 18th, 2012.

 Tropical Parula - male, Santa Ana NWR, Hidalgo Co, TX. April 12th, 2012.

MA - Common Tern, Gill - 04/27

My first outing to Barton Cove since returning from Texas produced a nice adult Common Tern, and a fine raft of 8 Buffleheads, both species being jostled around by a stiff NW wind. Hundreds of swallows were hawking over the water, most of them Tree Swallows but with some Barn Swallows mixed in. Three Double-crested Cormorants and a Great Black-backed Gull were resting just off the public boat ramp off Route 2. 


Elsewhere in Gill, three singing Louisiana Waterthrushes ( one at home, one behind Gill fire station and one off Barney Hale Road), and a Black-throated Green Warbler singing off Barney Hale Road too. 

Buffleheads - group of 8, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co. MA. April 27th, 2012. 

Common Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co. MA. April 27th, 2012. Heavy crop from distant digi-scoped shot but note dark tipped bill and darker gray primaries when at rest. 

Common Tern - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co. MA. April 27th, 2012. Heavy crop again but showing darker 'wedge' on outer primaries of left wing. 

TX - Black-whiskered Vireo - 04/18

This bird was seen at the end of a thrilling afternoon in the TOS Sanctuary at Sabine Woods (once again!). The small woodland was loaded with migrants, especially eastern wood-warblers and thrushes. Although the Black-whiskered Vireo had been found and reported the previous day, an afternoon with no sightings left us with little hope of catching up with this state rarity. The vireo, however, had other ideas and put on a stellar show for fifteen minutes close to the road and only a few feet from where we'd parked our vehicle. Despite being a large, hefty vireo with sluggish movements, it did a great job of remaining partially obscured for nearly every photo attempt I made! 


This is the second Black-whiskered Vireo that I've seen on a Texas trip, the first being back in April 2006 at Smith Oaks in High Island. That was then about the 25th state record and others have occurred since, sometimes with several individuals in a spring. The burning question is which subspecies is involved - the Florida race V. a. barbatulus or the northern Caribbean subspecies V. a. bonairensis ? The latter is, apparently, notably longer billed than the Florida race and has occurred as a vagrant in Florida and Louisiana. 

Black-whiskered Vireo - Sabine Woods, TOS Sanctuary, Jefferson County, TX. April 18th, 2012. Some of our group saw the same individual on April 21st when we returned to search for the Tropical Mockingbird featured in the previous post.

TX - Tropical Mockingbird - 04/21

Just back from another extremely exciting two week tour of Texas. Lots of highlights to report as one might imagine, but this one caused the biggest stir. A strange mockingbird at Sabine Woods found consorting with one or more Northern Mockingbirds for several days before being identified as a Tropical Mockingbird. We were fortunate enough to catch up with bird on the very last morning (April 21st) of our tour and enjoyed good, close views on a cool, gray, blustery morning. There's already been plenty of discussion about the provenance of the bird's origins, but ultimately the record will have to be assessed by the Texas Bird Records Committee, and the ABA and AOU Committees.

My personal experience of this species comes in at around zero, but I understand it is a common breeding bird in southern Mexico, including the Yucatan Peninsula, home to several other (apparently non-migratory) vagrants that have reached the NE Texas Coast in spring including a Yucatan Vireo and a Greenish Eleania in May 1984.

 Tropical Mockingbird - Sabine Woods, TOS Sanctuary, Jefferson County, TX. April 21st, 2012. 

Curiously, at 09:40hrs on the 21st, the bird decided to part company with the Northern Mockingbird it was associating with and headed out of the woods, flying along the road NE towards Sabine Pass. I never saw it return despite lingering for fifteen minutes or so. I was therefore a tad surprised to see the bird still being reported throughout the 21st and well into the middle of the following week. I really thought I'd witnessed the bird leaving the area - strange.

MA - yard Chipper, Gill - 03/31

Chipping Sparrow - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2012.  (Song Sparrow at rear).

 White-throated Sparrow - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2012.  

 Song Sparrow - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2012. 

On Saturday afternoon I thought I'd just have ten minutes trying to photograph the many Song Sparrows that visit our feeders on a daily basis. To my surprise one of the birds that materialized was a breeding plumage Chipping Sparrow that had somehow eluded being noticed, despite regular checks of the feeders. It was certainly the first of the year but I didn't realize just how notable it was until I entered the information into ebird and a prompt came up entitled "Rare"! I couldn't help but wonder what other 'rarities' slip through the feeders without us seeing them, or what a more concentrated effort of feeder watching might produce?

Also, still plenty of Dark-eyed Juncos and a few White-throated Sparrows utilizing the feeders.

JPS

Israel - Owls in March

The Birdfinders week in Southern Israel (March 12th-19th) was typically excellent with migration in full flow, and a superb range of 'classic' key species making for a very successful tour. We also had a great week for owls, tallying five species, though in theory we might have seen as many as eight with a bit more luck. A personal favorite was Pallid Scops-owl, a species which I've surveyed twice in the southern Arava Valley in 2002/03 and again in 2003/04 with Susannah Lerman . Traditionally thought of as a rare winter visitor to the Southern Arava, my extreme late date in spring was March 5th (2003) so I became especially intrigued when Itai Shani spotlighted a foraging bird several times in the Yotvata fields between March 4th and 7th. Then, remarkably, the Birdfinders tour came up with two more individuals - one at Yotvata (Km 50) on March 15th, and one in the Hiyyon Plains on March 17th.  Both of these came from sites where I'd found birds on winter territories during the surveys so it would be impossible to determine whether these were on passage or late winter visitors. Either way, the presence of these birds added an exciting and otherwise unexpected element to the tour, especially with respect to the (more likely) possibility of migrant European Scops-owl occurring in the same habitat. I would have put my money on European rather than Pallid Scops on those dates!

 Pallid Scops-owl - Hiyyon Plains, Arava Valley, Israel. March 17th, 2012.

 Barn Owl - Neot Hakikkar, Southern Dead Sea region, Israel. March 14th, 2012. 

 Long-eared Owl - Gevulot, Western Negev, Israel. March 14th, 2012. 

JPS

MA - loads more Woodcocks plus spring arrivals in Gill 03/23

After spending a chilly week in Southern Israel, I would confess that I didn't expect to return to find Western Mass a lot warmer than the week I'd just experienced in the desert! Afternoon temperatures this week have consistently reached the 80s which strikes me as being ludicrous for mid-late March. Still, the balmy, foggy mornings have been perfect for listening for Woodcocks and they seem to be everywhere in Gill. Just this morning I tallied about 12 displaying birds on a six mile run covering Main, Boyle and North Cross Roads. Further displaying birds could be heard around the Main and Mountain Road intersection, all pre-dawn of course with birds starting up around 5 am. Killdeers appear to be present in most of the farm fields too, often vocalizing pre-dawn along with the woodcocks. 


Susannah tells me that the first Eastern Phoebes arrived at our home on the 15th, and certainly by the 20th it seemed like most of the homesteads along Main Road in Gill had at least one calling bird. Slightly less expected was a singing Pine Warbler in the White Pines at the Giving Tree School on Wood Ave, Gill on the 20th and the 22nd, almost certainly my personal earliest in the state and a species I wouldn't typically expect before April.


Other chance sightings included a daytime Barred Owl at about 9am on North Cross Road, on the 22nd, and an American Kestrel on Main Road on the 22nd and 23rd. That bird was just north-east of Upinngil Farm. 


At home, a few Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows remain around the feeders, whilst Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds have become regular fare over the last few days, plus an occasional Belted Kingfisher on the brook. 


JPS

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