MA - Gill area notes to 04/09/13

Finally, a spell of warm southerlies and the first genuinely spring-like days of the year. Birds reacted accordingly with a great deal of bird song around Gill including migrant Fox Sparrows at North Cross Road, Giving Tree School on Wood Ave, South Cross Road and in our yard. Our neighbor's property off Mountain Road has had at least three singing Winter Wrens with another bird audible at the southern end of South Cross Road.  The haunting song of Hermit Thrush was heard on Derby Hill on the morning of the 8th when there was also a male Ruffed Grouse present. Two Wood Ducks were also present on a small pond off Mountain Road on the 8th, even though the pond was still mostly frozen over. In our and around our yard, American Woodcocks continue, mostly displaying at dusk.

 American Tree Sparrow - North Cross Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 7th, 2013.

Having accidently erased a bunch of nigrideus American Robin images from April 4th, I tracked down a nice feeding flock of about 300 robins on North Cross Road on April 7th. Among them at least one good nigrideus, but unfortunately out of reach for the camera. Also quite a good number of birds apparently showing intermediate characteristics between nigrideu and migratorious, perhaps 5-8 in total. In the same spot, an American Tree Sparrow was in a nearby hedgerow, the first I've seen locally for a while.







American Robin - darkish male, showing some dark feathering on the nape and upper mantle, perhaps intermediate between nigrideus and migratorious. 
North Cross Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 7th, 2013.



Today, April 9th, provided the warmest day of the year so far. Our yard seemed to be super busy throughout the day, including both kinglets - 3+ Golden-crowned and our first Ruby-crowned of the spring. House Finches continue to feature with an active nest above our mud room window, and at least three males visiting the feeders. The nesting House Finches have utilized an old phoebe nest from last year, whilst the current pair of Eastern Phoebes have already built a new nest having only been present in the yard for about five days. We also had a 'first-of-year' Chipping Sparrow, along with two other singing birds along South Cross Road in Gill. Good numbers of migrant American Robins have also been present around the yard in the last two days along with Eastern Bluebirds, White-throated Sparrows and plenty of Dark-eyed Juncos.

Dark-eyed Junco - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. April 8th, 2013.

House Finch - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. April 8th, 2013.

Female incubating eggs with the first eggs laid in the last few day of March.

Northern Flicker and American Robin - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2013

'Lead-backed' form of Red-backed Salamander - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 7th, 2013.

Found and held by Matan Lerman-Smith aged 5. Thanks to comments on the identification from Josh Rose, Noah Charney and Bob Brooks we can now correct our identification of Matan's Salamander. Initially we thought this may have been a Jefferson Salamander.

 



Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2013.

First of the year, along with three Golden-crowned Kinglets. 



MA - a few year firsts 04/05/13

As if to perfectly anticipate warmer temperatures and a forecasted spell of southern winds, Northern Flicker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Tree Swallow all appeared in or around our yard in Gill this morning. All were new for the year. Barton Cove still held some Ring-necked Ducks but much reduced in number, though the pair of American Wigeons was still present. The most significant change was in the swallow department, with 25-30 Tree Swallows hawking low over the water.

 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. April 5th, 2013.

 

Ring-billed Gull - first-cycle, Barton Cove, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. April 5th, 2013.



MA - nigrideus on the move 04/03/13

This morning I decided to look no further than the rolling fields around Gill. Seemingly each field of rough pasture, and many local yards, have been full of American Robins in the last few days. Among the typical grey-mantled robins (Turdus migratorius migratorius) were several birds of the blackish-mantled form T. m. nigrideus which breeds in the Canadian Atlantic. Despite looking for them in most flocks of Robins that I come across, I think these could be the first that I've seen locally in Gill, or at least the first that I've had the chance to view and digiscope. The birds were part of a larger movement of American Robins today and I made a crude estimate of about 1200 birds in loose flocks along Main Road between Mountain Road (north end) and Munn's Ferry Road. Within the feeding flocks I also found Killdeer, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird and Brown-headed Cowbird. Eastern Phoebes seem to be pretty widespread already with males singing from the most of the properties along Main Road and North Cross Road in Gill.

*All the images below were taken in Gill, Franklin Co., on April 3rd 2013 and digiscoped using a Panasonic Lumix FZ7 and Swarovski HD scope.

 American Robins - North Cross Road. Typical scene from the first few days of April.

Many fields in Gill currently host such flocks.

Male American Robins - notice the 'sooty', blackish appearance and overall color of the bird above (T.m. nigrideus). This bird shows no contrast between the nape and the rest of the upperparts except for the rump which is contrastingly gray. The bird below (T.m. migratorious) it shows a fairly neat contrast between the black rear crown and gray mantle feathers, the mantle being only slightly darker than the rump. The blacker-mantled birds are distinctive and stand out in a loose feeding flock of robins.

 

T.m. nigrideus - All three images above refer to the same male on Munn's Ferry Road, April 3rd, 2013.

 



T.m. migratorious

T.m. nigrideus - (male) right of shot with unidentified female at left and possibly another male nigrideus at the rear.

T.m. nigrideus - head, nape and mantle all relatively uniform blackish.

 

 

T.m. nigrideus - same bird as above. Most of the throat is blackish with only a small amount of white below the bill.

Compare with the bird below (T.m.migratorious or intergrade) which has a much more extensive white chin and throat.

 

 

T.m. migratorious or intergrade - two images of this male certainly show some blackish centered feathers in the mantle but the overall tone is still quite gray, not anywhere near as dark as the clearest examples of nigrideus. Assumed to be an intergrade between the two forms. Birds like this seem to be at least as frequent as the better examples of nigrideus in the flocks around Gill.





MA - Ring-necked Ducks 04/02/13

So much for spring! This morning I had my first birding jaunt since returning from Israel on March 26th. Conditions couldn't have been more contrasting. Barton Cove greeted me with a biting eastern wind and horizontal snow showers. I was as cold this morning as on any given day during the winter. The recently arrived local Eastern Phoebes must have been shivering!

I was hoping to find diving ducks in the cove and I wasn't disappointed. A nice raft of (c.85) male and female Ring-necked Ducks were riding the white-caps and facing into the wind. With them, a pair of slighly out-of-place American Wigeons and a couple of Hooded Mergansers. Elsewhere on the cove, an additional dozen or so Hooded Mergansers and plus three or four Common Mergansers.

 Ring-necked Ducks - with American Wigeons (left and right), Barton Cove, Gill, MA. April 2nd, 2013.

Part of a raft of c.85 Ring-necked Ducks at the cove today.



Eilat to Tel-Aviv

The final day of Birdfinders spell in Israel began with another sojourn into the Eilat Mountains.  A strong northern blew down the Arava Valley which seemed like promising conditions for a good migration of raptors. Surprisingly, our arrival in the mountains was greeted by fairly light and variable winds, and it appeared that wind strength and direction in the valley below must have been highly localized. Even so, we experienced a fine passage of raptors with birds passing northwards across a broad front. Eventually we settled at Netaphim Crossing where we had many close passing Steppe Buzzards and Black Kites, with some Black Storks and Steppe Eagles, and a smattering of Long-legged Buzzards and Egyptian Vultures. It's never too late to pick up new species for the tour, and on this morning we bagged our first Osprey and and Lesser Spotted Eagle of the trip. A small flurry of swifts was composed of all four possible species in Israel (Common, Pallid and Alpine) including our fourth Little Swift of the trip in what had been a stellar tour for that species.

 

Birdfinders at Netaphim Crossing, Eilat. March 25th, 2013.

 

Ein Netaphim - looking East towards Jordan. March 25th, 2013.

 

Steppe Buzzard - gray-brown morph, Ein Netaphim, Eilat. March 25th, 2013.



We bade farewell to Eilat and set sail for Tel-Aviv and the flight home. The drive across the desert was enlivened by a constant search for roadside Eastern Mourning Wheatears and we eventually connected with several deep inside the Ramon Crator. After that, every gas station or coffee stop was peppered with new birds for the trip - Eurasian Griffon Vulture at See Boker, and Stone Curlew, Eurasain Jackdaw, Eurasian Jay and Common Myna near Hulda Junction (along with a Syrian Woodpecker!).

As always, spring in Southern Israel had produced a fascinating two weeks. Each week was tempered by some incredible highs and a few lows, and both weeks had been remarkably different in content, especially considering that each was composed of the same basic tour.

I'm already looking forward to going back in November!

Eilat - the last full day

Our last full day in Eilat  (March 24th) was spent chasing a couple of ghosts, namely a probable Sooty Gull seen off Eilat's north beach on March 22nd and two Menetries's Warblers found by Barak Granit at Km20 Acacia scrub on the 23rd. In the event, we didn't come across either species but in the process, as so often happens in Eilat, we found other interesting birds along the way beginning with a (or the) White-cheeked Tern with Common Terns on the north beach in the morning.

White-cheeked Tern - (2nd from right) with Common Terns, Eilat North Beach, March 24th, 2013. Presumed continuing first-summer bird from March 22nd. Exceedingly rare before mid-April, the earliest spring record documented in the 'Birds of Israel' being April 10th, 1989. This bird was a totally unexpected find for our Birdfinders group on a March trip to Israel.



Despite a good team effort, we found no certain Menetries's Warblers at Km20 though we did have brief views of a good candidate. However, far from being a wasted effort, we did come across several new species for the tour including two Siberian Stonechats and a really fine Great Reed Warbler. A Savi's Warbler was also heard singing but refused to give itself up and remained hidden in the same dense thicket as the Great Reed Warbler pictured below.



Great Reed Warbler - Km20, Eilat. March 24th, 2013.

Who would think of going to the desert to get views like this of reed-bed skulkers?

 

 

 

Siberian Stonechat - male, Km20, Eilat.

 

Siberian Stonechat - female, Km20, Eilat.

 

 

Common Nightingale - skulking but viewable. Km76, Yahel, Eilot region. March 24th, 2013.

 

Cretzschmar's Bunting - Km76, Yahel, Eilot region. March 24th, 2013.

A tricky looking bird, presumed to be a first-spring female, with whitish throat and pale buff malar.

 

 

We later drove north and spent the remainder of the day at Km76 just north of Yahel. This proved to be a good move as the area was alive with migrants including numerous Eastern Orphean Warblers, Ehrenberg's Redstart, Wryneck and our first Common Nightingales and Bimaculated Larks of the tours. Towards dusk two harriers began hunting the many tens of Short-toed Larks present. One of them was a clear male Pallid but the second, an immature bird, looked better for an early Montagu's to me. Sadly, distance and brevity meant that this bird remained unidentified and never made it onto our final tally.



 

 



Pharaoh's Revenge - March 23rd

 Pharoah Eagle-owl - Hazeva. March 23rd, 2013. First views of a very cool find by Birdfinders tour participant David Coker. The bird soon retreated to a more distant, but rather more open Acacia giving us breathtaking scope views. Just one highlight from a staggeringly brilliant day trip to the Dead Sea which included a pair of Arabian Warblers feeding fledged young at Hazeva, a pair of Hume's Owls together spotlighted while 'dueting' in a remote wadi, and excellent flight views of a Nubian Nightjar in the Southern Dead Sea. Migration during the day included over 300 Common Cranes at Hazeva, and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters (3) and a Collared Pratincole at Neot Hakikar, all heading north and all new to the tour week.



Eilat - March 21st

Another stellar day including more raptor migration in the Eilat Mountains along with a superb male Hooded Wheatear. Ein Evrona had quite a few migrants including numerous Eastern Bonelli's and Ruppell's Warblers, with mammalian highlights including Dorcas Gazelle and a couple of Cape Hares. In the afternoon we spent time in the beautiful Yotvata dunes where we eventually tracked down a singing male Hoopoe Lark, probably the same bird that eluded our first group last week. Migrant wheatears were plentiful here with over 25 birds in total including Isabelline, Northern and Black-eared Wheatears, plus a couple of challenging birds that couldn't be determined, one of which may have been a female Pied Wheatear.

We finished off the day at Eilat's north beach where we found a gentle southern breeze coming in off the sea. New birds for the tour included Baltic and White-eyed Gulls, Gull-billed, Sandwich and Common Terns, Arctic Skua (two heading north), Purple Heron (nine migrants high overhead), and three Pied Kingfishers - not too shabby!

Eilat - back on form

March 22nd - Birdfinders had a spectacular day in and around Eilat. Warm winds from the south kicked up sandstorm conditions north of Eliphaz so we concentrated on the Eilat area beginning with a short session at the North Beach. Three Arctic Skuas and five Common Terns hinted at the possibilities to come and we vowed to return later in the afternoon. In the mean time we spent time on the canal zone south of Km20, eventually finding our much sought after Dead Sea Sparrows. The canal area was actually alive with quality birds and within an hour we'd notched up Eastern Imperial Eagle (2nd cal-year), Spotted and Little Crakes, Citrine Wagtail and Indian Silverbill.

Late afternoon found us back at the North Beach finding an extra-ordinarily early White-cheeked Tern among increased numbers of Common, Sandwich and Caspian Terns. We hadn't been there long when news filtered through of a Caspian Plover at Km20 leaving us little choice but to go for it. We finished off an amazing day with stunning pair of Lichtenstein's Sandgouse coming into a drinking hole at dusk.

 Late afternoon at Km20 - birders twitching the first Caspian Plover of the spring. 

 Caspian Plover - male, K20, Eilat.

White-cheeked Tern - first summer with Sandwich Tern (left) and Common Tern (right).

Lichtenstein's Sandgouse - female at dusk, Eilat.

Lichtenstein's Sandgouse - male at dusk, Eilat.

 

 

Citrine Wagtail - male, Km20/19, Eilat.

 

 

Little Crake - female, Km20/19 canal zone, Eilat.

Spotted Crake - Km20/19 canal zone, Eilat.

  

Eilat - March 20th

The air was filled with the pulse of migration today. We began in the Eilat Mountains with a steady migration of Black Kites, Steppe Buzzards and Steppe Eagles (30+) over Wadi Shlomo along with several small flocks of Black Storks. Below us, White-crowned Black Wheatear and Blackstart fed in the local campground. Common, Pallid and Alpine Swifts all filtered through the mountains throughout the morning.

At Km20 salt pools the sky was full of hirundines including large numbers of Red-rumped Swallows and Sand Martins. Several Dead Sea Sparrows could be heard singing but wouldn't give themselves up for the group but the real highlight here was a continuing White-tailed Lapwing, almost certainly the same bird that we saw last week with the first group. After lunch we tried for another of last week's rarities - the Black Bush Robin at Neot Smadar which put on a fine display once more. We finished a superb day at Km77 north of Yahel, where once again we found the 'green desert' extremely birdy. The area contained many Isabelline and Northern Wheatears with a few Black-eared, plus Asian Desert Warbler, Lesser Ketrel (first-summer male) and a fantastic flock of 25 Pale Rock Sparrows. In many respects it was a perfect introduction to the joys of birding in and around Eilat in spring.

Black Bush Robin - Neot Smadar, Eilot region. 

Not quite as bold as we experienced last week.

Pale Rock Sparrow - Km77, near Yahel, Eilot region.

One of a flock of 25.

Short-toed Eagle - in migration, Eilat Mountains.

Black-crowned Night-herons - in migration, Km20 salt pools, Eilat.

 White-tailed Lapwing and Black-winged Stilt - Km20 salt pools, Eilat.