MA - Honey Pot - 01/11

Northern Harrier - sub-adult male, Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire Co., January 11th, 2010.

Snow Buntings - Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire Co., January 11th, 2010.

Lapland Longspur and Horned Lark - Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire Co., January 11th, 2010.

Drove through the Hadley Honey Pot this morning finding some nice species close to the road. Felt very cold (about 20 deg F) but there was some genuine, spring-like warmth once the sun broke through. Highlights included a fine sub-adult male Northern Harrier, c.100 Horned Larks, 45 American Tree Sparrows, 12 Snow Buntings and at least 2 Lapland Longspurs. I couldn't find the large flock of Snow Buntings (c.200) that I briefly saw the previous day, but it sounds like they moved to the Aqua Vitae road in Hadley, with a similar sized flock being reported there by Nancy Eaton today.

CT - Windsor Gulls - 01/06

Kumlien's Gull - adult, Windsor/Bloomfield Landfill, CT. January 6th, 2010.

Tried Windsor Landfill for the first time this winter, meeting up with Nick Bonomo for a couple hours around noon. A frustrating experience in many respects. Not the usual volume of gulls present with only 1,000 or less in the area, and often split into 2 - 3 groups of resting/feeding birds. Moreover, a couple of Bald Eagles kept the gulls aloft for much of the two or so hours that we were there. Even so, it was fascinating to watch the constant turnover of birds coming through the site and we ended up with a tally of 5 Kumlien's (2 adult, 3 first-cycle) and a Glaucous Gull (first-cycle).

MA - Kumlien's Gulls - 01/05/10

Kumlien's Gull - second-cycle, Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. January 5th, 2010.

Kumlien's Gull - first-cycle, Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. December 23rd, 2009.

A quick run up to Barton Cove this evening produced a second-cycle Kumlien's Gull, my first of this age class for this winter period. Throughout December, 1-3 first-cycle Kumlien's Gulls have frequented the Barton Cove gull roost probably involving about five different birds. Also this evening, a rather bedraggled first-cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull, images of which I may post later.

Elsewhere of note today, two calling male Ring-necked Pheasants and a Northern Flicker on Mt. Warner Road, Hadley.

MA - borealis and dresseri Common Eiders - Dec 06

Common Eiders. S. m. dresseri and S. m. borealis (right). Provincetown, MA. December 28th, 2006.

Photo-comparisons of adult male borealis and dresseri Common Eiders from Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts, December 2006 with reference to a recent discussion on the Surfbirds identification forum. This bird showing characteristics of S. m. borealis could represent the first state record since 1946, with at least two others being reported and photographed in MA since.

Common Eider. (Presumed) S. m. borealis. Provincetown, MA. December 28th, 2006. Captioned image describing distinguishing features in direct comparison to S. m. dresseri. Dave Pullan has kindly reminded me that the lack of a green band between the white cheek and black cap of the presumed borealis is an additional feature separating it from the resident dresseri. The green band can be seen fairly clearly on the male dresseri below.


Common Eiders. S. m. dresseri and S. m. borealis (front). Provincetown, MA. December 28th, 2006. Note differences in head shape and especially the shape of the frontal bill lobes.

Common Eiders. S. m. dresseri. Provincetown, MA. December 28th, 2006.

Common Eiders. S. m. dresseri. Provincetown, MA. December 28th, 2006.

Common Eider. (Presumed) S. m. borealis. Provincetown, MA. December 28th, 2006. Potentially first state record since 1946.

Gambian Gull - November 17th, 2007.

unidentified gull, Banjul Harbour, The Gambia, West Africa. November 17th, 2007.
(Click on the image to view at a larger size).

An interesting gull photographed by my friend Simon Edwards in Banjul Harbor, The Gambia in November 2007. Only two photographs exist with the bird being seen only briefly. "Unfortunately these are the only photos I could obtain, the bird took me by surprise appearing very briefly in front of me and then disappearing for good behind a large ship in the harbour. I can remember at the time seeing the beginnings of a hood (smudgy black area at the rear of the head above and behind the eye) ", says Simon.

So with those limitations in mind, I'm curious to know whether this bird can be identified to species?

Simon has raised the possibility that it may be a Laughing Gull, a possibility with which I agree and thus a very good record for The Gambia, and West Africa.

Grey-headed Gull (the common small/medium gull along The Gambian coast) can be ruled out on wing and tail pattern, but can a first summer/second winter Audouin's Gull be ruled out?

Simon and I would be very interested in receiving comments and pointers towards the identification of this bird.

Thanks very much indeed.

JPS.

MA - Christmas Day Robins - 12/25

During a family visit to Groff Park in Amherst on Christmas Day, the open grassy areas were littered with good numbers of American Robins. Perhaps 300 were present in all and, as usual, I patiently went through them optimistically hoping for an Old World thrush of some kind - maybe a Fieldfare or Redwing. Needless to say I didn't get lucky with mega rarities but I did find a good looking example of the blacker-backed form of American Robin T. m. nigrideus (Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec). Typically I see a few of these each winter and in early spring, sometimes in small flocks. This winter, however, they seem to have been decidedly scarce in the Pioneer Valley so I was especially pleased with this handsome dark-backed male.

American Robin - Adult male showing characteristics of 'black-backed' form T.m. nigrideus. Groff Park, Amherst, Hamsphire County, MA.

Also in Groff Park today, four species of woodpecker including a Northern Flicker inspecting a cavity (!), plus a Golden-crowned Kinglet in our yard on North Whitney Street, Amherst.

MA - Turner's Gulls - 12/18

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult L.f. graellsii with Ring-billed and American Herring Gulls, Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. December 19th, 2009.


Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult L.f. graellsii) with American Herring Gulls, Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. December 18th, 2009.

Kumlien's Gull - first-cycle, Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. December 18th, 2009.

Despite a few icy blasts from the North that left Barton Cove almost completely frozen by 12/19, the number of large gulls at Turner's Falls hasn't changed much for a couple of weeks now. Usually less than 200 large gulls come in to roost or pre-roost gatherings. What appears to be the same adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and the same first-cycle Kumlien's Gull have featured on most of the evenings that I've checked. Both were present on 12/19.

MA - Northampton CBC - 12/20

Clay-colored Sparrow. North Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA. December 20th, 2009. My first in mid-winter in MA, and Scott's third in about thirty years of doing this particular count! This bird was feeding with a large flock of Song and American Tree Sparrows by the Connecticut River in North Hadley and was quite difficult to observe. We saw it about six times in late afternoon but rarely had it perched in view for more than a few seconds at a time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite getting an unavoidable late start, I joined Scott Surner for the Northampton CBC once again. Our sector covered the Hadley Floodplain east of the Connecticut River, roughly from Hadley Cove to North Hadley. It was hard going this year with a fresh dusting of snow, very cold temperatures and a brisk Northerly wind that persisted throughout most of the day.

However, as always with this count, there were surprises in store highlighted by a Clay-colored Sparrow in North Hadley. We also found a Snow Goose on the river at Hadley off the Aqua Vitae Road, a Northern Pintail with Mallards at North Hadley, 6 Eastern Bluebirds, 40 Horned Larks, a Lapland Longspur and a Snow Bunting in the Hadley Honey Pot, and some nice concentrations of American Tree Sparrows with over one hundred tallied for the day.

More photo highlights from the day;

Snow Goose - Hadley/Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. December 20th, 2009.

Northern Pintail - female (lower right) with Mallard. North Hadley, Hampshire Co., MA. December 20th, 2009.



Lapland Longspur. Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire Co., MA. December 20th, 2009.

Snow Bunting. Hadley Honey Pot, Hampshire Co., MA. December 20th, 2009.

As usual, a most enjoyable day with good birding and good company.


JPS.

MA - Long-eared Owl, Snow Geese - 12/17

Long-eared Owl. Smith College campus, Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. December 17th, 2009. Not only a rare bird in Western MA but a rare opportunity to observe one in a completely exposed day-time roost. Clearly my approach to checking for them in extensive stands of pine and spruce in wilderness areas isn't the right one! My sixth species of owl in the Pioneer Valley since late October.

A brutally cold day with temps only in the low 20s, plus a brisk cold NW wind that never eased up all day. As fortune would have it, I was working at my computer when Seth Kellogg circulated an email concerning a Long-eared Owl at a roost in a deciduous (!) tree on the Smith College campus in Northampton. I couldn't leave straight away but an afternoon visit found it still roosting out in the open in an 'Armstrong Maple' (apparent hybrid) just south of the Nelson Library,Sm or 25-30 yards north of the small Smith College parking lot off Green Street, Northampton. The bird seemed unfazed by its admirers, birders and passers by alike, barely moving during thirty minutes of observation.

Snow Geese (6) - with Canada Geese, CT River, Hadley/Northampton, Hampshire Co., MA. December 17th, 2009.

On the way home I checked the Connecticut River from the East Meadows in Northampton and found six Snow Goose amongst a pre-roost gathering of c.1300 Canada Geese. Also present, some 25 Common Mergansers. This particular corner of the East Meadows and the adjacent Northampton airfield was the last spot where I observed Long-eared Owls in Western MA, back in February 2007. JPS