MA - Rough-legged Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk - dark-morph, Moran WMA, Windsor, Berkshire Co., MA. January 12th, 2015.

Yesterday (01/12) I decided to take advantage of a calm morning before the forecast snow storms kicked in in late afternoon. ebird had been sporting images of a dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk in the uplands of Eastern Berkshire County for several days and, seeing as Rough-legged Hawks are like 'hens teeth' in Franklin County I thought it would be fun to try and see it. Two other species had the potential to enliven a morning's birding there; Northern Goshawk and Northern Shrike, the latter being reported almost daily from Moran WMA in Windsor.

 Rough-legged Hawk - dark-morph, Moran WMA, Windsor, Berkshire Co., MA. January 12th, 2015.

The drive up through western Franklin County into Berkshire County had a rugged beauty all of its own. On the other hand, being mid-winter, it was exceedingly quiet bird-wise with a flock of 35 Wild Turkeys in Buckland being the only observation of note. Arrival at Moran WMA was virtually birdless aside from a couple of Common Ravens but I ran into a birder who'd just seen a Northern Shrike giving me some room for optimism. The walk into the WMA was icy and bleak with a flyover Red-winged Blackbird (FOY) being of interest but it wasn't until I reached the forested area that things picked up with nice views of Red-breasted Nuthatch and Brown Creeper within a couple of rather large chickadee flocks.

Red-breasted Nuthatch -  Moran WMA, Windsor, Berkshire Co., MA. January 12th, 2015.

About six of these perky little passerines in the spruce woods. Otherwise seemingly scarce in Western MA this winter.

But the raptors proved aloof...very aloof in fact and I was almost back at the parking area before I spotted a dark buteo hovering above a hillside. It looked promising and must surely have been the Rough-legged Hawk but it was just too distant to be sure. Then I decided to stay put in the parking lot and let the beast come to me. Within a few minutes a beautiful dark-morph Rough-leg cruised by and began hunting high over Moran WMA. It was the in the air for about an hour and even passed directly overhead at one point. In between times, I watched up to seven Common Ravens together just playing and sparring on the wind and saw a sub-adult Bald Eagle pass through southbound. The most frustrating bird of the day was a Northern Shrike that 'teed-up' all too briefly beside the lower parking lot, whilst I was in the upper parking lot! I only managed a couple of atrociously distant shots but any day with a Northern Shrike is a good one IMHO.

Northern Shrike - Moran WMA, Windsor, Berkshire Co., MA. January 12th, 2015.

Teed-up for just a few seconds before I lost touch with it. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Eugene Moran WMA. With just 11 species over three hours of effort, it's relatively low on diversity in mid-winter but the quality is there. I'm ashamed to say it's about ten years since I last visited Moran but I'll certainly be back for another winter visit soon.

MA - Barrow's in the fog

This drake Barrow's Goldeneye has been giving me the run around since I first noted it on January 1st. It often arrives at the power canal very late in the evening, so late in fact, that it's eluded the camera until this afternoon when it arrived at about 16:35 hours, Unfortunately for me, the power canal was shrouded in fog and rain so I felt pretty lucky to come away with these gloomy but identifiable shots.

Barrow's Goldeneye - male in fog with Common Goldeneyes, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 10th, 2016.

A few new birds arrived to Turner's Falls during the week including two new Kumlien's Iceland Gulls (one first-cycle, one third-cycle) and a female Lesser Scaup. The latter was first noted by Tom Gagnon at Unity Park on Jan 7th and still present on Jan 10th. It appears to have a damaged or broken right wing. Oddly enough, the female Greater Scaup  was last seen at the power canal on Jan 5th. 

 Lesser Scaup - female, Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. January 9th, 2016.
First noted by Tom Gagnon on Jan 7th, apparently with damaged right wing. 

 Kumlien's Iceland Gull (center) - third-cycle, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. January 7th, 2016.

 Kumlien's Iceland Gull (center) - first-cycle, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. January 7th, 2016.

Otherwise, the picture at Turner's Falls has been one of continuing waterfowl with Wood Duck (3), American Wigeon (2 females) and a Green-winged Teal (male) all remaining through to Jan 10th along with an impressive showing of Common Goldeneye, Common Mergansers and Hooded Mergansers. At least one Lesser Black-backed Gull and two Belted Kingfishers remain in the area as well. 

MA - 'Ipswich' Savannah Sparrow in Northampton - 01/07/16

'Ipswich' Savannah Sparrow (P.s. princeps) - East Meadows, Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. January 7th, 2016.

Yesterday (01/07), after dealing with errands in Northampton, I headed over to the East Meadows. It was the first time in a few years that I've birded the area and initially it seemed completely devoid of birdlife. After a while I found a small flock of Horned Larks and settled down to enjoy them. At that point I thought that they may well be the 'only' birds of interest I was going to see in the frozen meadows. Close by, I noticed a couple of Savannah Sparrows foraging in a weedy, fallow strip. The birds caught my attention because I just don't see Savannah Sparrows in Franklin County in mid-winter. Teed up among them was a strikingly pale sparrow and I immediately thought of Ipswich Savannah Sparrow, a subspecies (P.s. princeps) of Savannah Sparrow typically associated with Atlantic coastal dunes and beaches in winter. Having seen pale Savannah Sparrows in the Pioneer Valley before I proceeded cautiously and tried for as much photo-documentation as I could within my time constraints. I would admit to finding the result pretty compelling, enough to actually put in a strong claim of an inland Ipswich Savannah Sparrow. The Birds of Massachusetts (Veit and Petersen) offers just one accepted inland record for the state - Great Meadows, October 1966 (Garrey, photo-documented), thus it's an exceedingly rare occurrence for deepest interior Massachusetts.

Other birds of interest in the meadows included, 110 Horned Lark, 85 Snow Bunting, 1 Lapland Longspur, 55 American Goldfinch and at least 16 Savannah Sparrows. In the end, a great morning after a slightly disappointing start.

 'Ipswich' Savannah Sparrow (P.s. princeps) - East Meadows, Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. January 7th, 2016.

Rightmost bird with small flock of Savannah Sparrows. My first views of the subject bird.

 'Ipswich' Savannah Sparrow (P.s. princeps) - East Meadows, Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. January 7th, 2016.

Rightmost bird with Savannah Sparrow. Overall pallid gray cast with light gray rump.

  'Ipswich' Savannah Sparrow (P.s. princeps) - East Meadows, Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. January 7th, 2016.

Recalling Clay-colored Sparrow at times.

  'Ipswich' Savannah Sparrow (P.s. princeps) - East Meadows, Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. January 7th, 2016.

Nice view of the fairly sparse reddish brown (not black) streaking along the flanks.

Savannah Sparrow - East Meadows, Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. January 7th, 2016.
Compared to Ipswich Sparrow above much darker with stronger, blacker flank streaks and pale, whitish mantle 'braces'.

MA - freeze brings nice waterfowl mix

The last three days have seen a significant drop in temperature with the nights dropping down to as low as 4 deg F. As a result, Barton Cove was about 85% frozen this morning (01/06) with significant ice accumulation at Turner's Falls power canal as well. The small Mallard flock at the power canal has swollen significantly over the last couple of days bringing with them good numbers of American Black Ducks and a surprisingly good selection of other dabblers as well as some diving ducks closely associating with them; American Wigeon (2 females), Wood Duck (2 male and female), Green-winged Teal (male), Hooded Merganser (5), Common Goldeneye (3 males), Greater Scaup (female) and Lesser Scaup (first-winter male) have all been with the Mallard flock over the last two days. The evening roost has been nothing short of spectacular with up to 600 Mallard, 35 American Black Duck, 65 Common Merganser, 95 Common Goldeneye and again, a fine drake Barrow's Goldeneye all coming into the power canal roost on January 5th.

Elsewhere, a male Snow Bunting brightened up the morning on River Road, Gill on Jan 4th and a lot of  Pileated Woodpecker activity continues in that area. A chance visit to the Hadley Honey Pot on January 5th produced a nice selection of sparrows including 150 American Tree Sparrows, 2 White-throated Sparrows and a strong candidate for a gambelli White-crowned Sparrow. The latter was aloof and skittish but I think the shots included here look pretty convincing.

 Wood Ducks - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 5th & 6th, 2016.

Fairly common local breeder but very scarce in mid-winter.

 American Black Duck - male, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 6th, 2016.

 American Wigeon - one of two females, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 6th, 2016.

 Green-winged Teal (left) - male, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 6th, 2016.

Greater Scaup - female, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 5th, 2016.

Continuing from Dec 31st 2015.

Pileated Woodpecker - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 4th, 2016.

 White-crowned Sparrow - immature showing characteristics of the gambelli subspecies, Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire Co., MA. January 5th, 2016. 
The plain lore and bright yellow-orange bill are good indicators for that form.

 White-throated Sparrow -  Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire Co., MA. January 5th, 2016.

 American Tree Sparrow -  Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire Co., MA. January 5th, 2016.

Good numbers of these smart little sparrows present in the weedy fields.

MA - Snow Goose and other obs

Snow Goose - immature, with Canada Geese, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 3rd, 2016.

This evening an immature Snow Goose flew into to the Turner's Falls power canal with a small flock of Canada Geese. Almost certainly, it was the same immature that I noted in Gill on January 1st. Other than the continuing Lesser and Greater Scaups, the power canal was rather quiet with very few gulls and no other geese of interest. 

Snow Goose - immature, with Canada Geese, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 3rd, 2016.

Earlier in the day, I found the roadsides in Gill to be full of birds, especially Dark-eyed Juncos (c.250) and American Robins (c.120). Also of note in Gill, a Northern Flicker, a Purple Finch and at least two Pine Siskins. Indeed, good numbers of American Robins seemed to be present at several locations today including c.150 on Federal Street in Greenfield and around 250 at the Turner's Falls power canal. One or two Cedar Waxwings were with them. 

Northern Flicker - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 3rd, 2016.

American Robins - Federal Street, Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. January 3rd, 2016.

Cedar Waxwing - Federal Street, Greenfield, Franklin Co., MA. January 3rd, 2016.

MA - year's turn brings some good birds

Snow Goose - immature with Canada Geese, Upinngil Farm, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 1st, 2016. 

Just got back from Christmas in the UK and straight into some very nice Franklin County birds; both Greater and Lesser Scaups at Turner's Falls power canal on Dec 31st and Jan 1st, a fine male Barrow's Goldeneye at Turner's Falls power canal on Jan 1st, Cackling Goose at Turner's Falls power canal on Jan 1st and a Snow Goose heading north over Upinngil Farm on Jan 1st, and Lesser Back-backed (2) and Kumlien's Iceland Gulls (2) in the Turner's Falls area.

Lesser Scaup (left) and Greater Scaup (right) - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 1st, 2016. 

The Lesser Scaup is the continuing first-winter male present since Oct 26th but the Greater Scaup is new, 

first noted on December 31st. 

Kumlien's Iceland Gull (front and flight shot above) - second-cycle, Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 31st, 2015. The first in this age class for this gull season

Kumlien's Iceland Gull (front left) - first-cycle, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 1st, 2016. 

The newly arrived third-cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull is in the center of this group, 
along with a first-cycle Great Black-backed Gull to the right of shot, so four species of large gull 
within this small group!

Lesser Black-backed Gull (front center) - third-cycle, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 1st, 2016. 
Newly arrived bird seen close to the regular, continuing adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.