MA - Pine Siskin (green morph) - 12/10

Pine Siskin - green morph (images 1 - 7), last shot included to show yellow undertail coverts. Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 10th, 2010. Images taken using Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ 7 through Swarovski HD scope.

Pine Siskin - two more typically plumaged birds. Gill, Franklin Co, MA. December 10th, 2010.

A few more shots of one of the green morphs visiting the feeders. The Pine Siskin flock size was a bit reduced today with perhaps no more than 15 birds.

JPS

MA - Pine Siskins including green morphs - 12/09

Pine Siskins - green-morphs (upper two birds, front and rear) with typically plumaged birds, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 9th, 2010. Green-morphs show unusual amounts of yellow in various parts of the plumage but especially on the undertail coverts which should be white in typical birds. The green-morph at the front also had a nice greenish suffusion to the upperparts and yellowish-toned supercilia and surround to the ear coverts. Nice birds, sometimes causing confusion with female Eurasian Siskin.

Pine Siskin - green-morph, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 9th, 2010.

Pine Siskin - green-morph, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 9th, 2010.

Pine Siskins - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 9th, 2010. Slightly pale, but fairly typical bird in most respects.

What a treat to get a sudden incursion of Pine Siskins at the feeders this morning. After days with just one lone siskin working the thistle-socks with the goldfinches, a sudden mass arrival of about 30 birds included at least two 'green-morphs' - a scarce color variant with abnormal amounts of yellow in the plumage.

JPS

MA - Cackling Goose - 12/02

Cackling Goose (right) - form uncertain, Turner's Fall power canal, Franklin Co., MA. December 2nd, 2010.

Finally had a chance to get a bit closer to one of the two Cackling Geese coming into the power canal for most of this week. This is the darker of the two to the point where I'd hesitate to call it a straight forward Richardson's (B. h. hutchinsii). The overall cast to the upperparts is quite brown rather than cold gray and the breast is quite dark with variable markings across the breast sides. Not really sure what to make of of it.

MA - NORTHERN SHRIKE - 12/03

Northern Shrike - brownish toned immature, but exact age uncertain (I'm not sure if its hatch-year?), Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 3rd, 2010. First three images are digi-bin shots taken using Leica Trinovid 8 x 32 bins and Canon Powershot A1100.


Northern Shrike - brownish toned immature, but exact age uncertain (I'm not sure if its hatch-year?), Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 3rd, 2010. These two images were just taken using the Canon Powershot A1100 without any other optical aids.

The rugged farmland and rough pasture around our new home in Gill always looked perfect for a wintering Northern Shrike. Each day, when ever I was out and about, I'd casually scan the tree tops and birch snags hoping to get to lucky. I'd been a tad disappointed not to see any shrikes at all so far this fall/winter but all that change at noon today. What I didn't expect was to have my 'hoped-for' shrike right outside the kitchen window!! This bird had clearly stooped at our finch flock and sat, as bold as they come, in one of the spindly trees supporting the feeders.

As the bird sat there mild panic ensued. I couldn't find my bins and my camera batteries were firmly planted in the charger and not in the camera! Thankfully, this gift from the North graced the yard for about four minutes allowing me enough time to get a handful of digibin shots before it slithered away not to be seen again.

Talk about the 'element of surprise'! I last saw Northern Shrikes at Nome airport in Alaska in June and could hardly have imagined at that point that the next one I would see would be right outside the kitchen window. Birding is amazing.

JPS

MA - more Cackling Geese - 11/29 & 30

Richardson's Cackling Goose - nice pale individual with quite bright sandy or tawny toned breast color. Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co. MA. November 30th, 2010.


Richardson's Cackling Goose - duller individual (left) with grayer breast color. Poor shot but offering an interesting size comparison with female Common Goldeneye. Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co. MA. November 30th, 2010.

Two more individual Cackling Geese have turned up in the large Canada Goose flock regularly present on the Turner's Falls power canal. Both birds were slightly detached from the main throng of about 1,000 Canada Geese usually being found on the periphery of the larger groups. Always nice to see this species and brings to season's total to about four individuals.

JPS

MA - Lesser Black-backed Gull - 11/29

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult (left of center), Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. November 29th, 2010.

Nice adult on the power canal in late afternoon, presumably the same bird as seen by Scott Surner the day before, and possibly one of 2-3 returning adults that winter regularly in the Turner's Falls/Greenfield area.

MA - Kumlien's Iceland Gull - 11/30

presumed Kumlien's Iceland Gull - first-cycle, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 30th, 2010. Found late on a dull afternoon resulting in rather poor quality images. Field impression and thoughts led to this bird being identified as a darkish Kumlien's Gull but can Thayer's be ruled out? I'm feeling less sure having reviewed the images.

Another one of the four first-cycle Kumlien's Gulls from the evening of November 30th. A dark individual with a peculiar hoar-frosted cast to much of the upperparts. For a few heart-pounding moments I was thinking about Thayer's but the primary tips looked too broadly fringed with pale and the bill was distinctly pale at the base of the upper and lower mandibles which I believe would be too light for Thayer's in early December. Anyhow, an interesting bird which I'd like to see again in better light.


JPS

MA - Kumlien's Iceland Gulls - 11/30

Kumlien's Iceland Gull - first-cycle, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. November 30th, 2010.

A mild, almost balmy afternoon saw the first major (locally at least) arrival of Kumlien's Iceland Gulls to the Turner's Falls power canal. Four individuals arrived for the pre-roost gathering, all them differing significantly in plumage and more subtly in structure. This bird was the first to arrive and also the palest. I'm hoping to post images of the others within the next day or so.

JPS

MA - Rusty Blackbird - 11/29 & 30

Rusty Blackbird - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 29th & 30th, 2010. Images taken using Panasonic Lumix DMC-F27 through the basement window.

Finally got the yard's feeders up and running again after a couple of weeks hiatus since returning from Israel. After a slow start on Saturday, activity and diversity picked up today (Monday) highlighted by the unexpected appearance of a Rusty Blackbird in late afternoon.

NB. The Rusty Blackbird was again present up to about noon on Nov 30th but not thereafter.

Also, a quick run down to Turner's Falls power canal once again produced the continuing Cackling Goose but also an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, both of which had been seen the previous day by Scott Surner, along with two Kumlien's Iceland Gulls.

JPS

MA - Owls on the run!

Barred Owl - Main Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. November 25th, 2010. Happy Thanksgiving! Image taken by Susannah B. Lerman using Panasonic Lumix DMC-F27.

Moving to Gill has presented us with a much more rural situation than we experienced in Amherst. Perhaps we've just been lucky but chance encounters with owls have much more frequent and I continue to be impressed with the Northern Saw-whet Owls in our area which I've now found in about five locations within a 1.5 mile radius of the house. Most of these have been seen and heard on my runs very early in the morning (pre-dawn) and I continue to hear birds to date (Nov 29th) indicating that at least some of these could be residents or winterers rather than just solely migrants. The habitat, or at least my understanding of habitat, seems ideal for Northern Saw-whets with fairly dense stands of young Eastern Hemlock within mature, mixed woodland.

Equally impressive has been the range of vocalizations from these feisty little owls. Most of them have not given the classic monotonous 'tooting' calls which I don't think is routinely heard in fall and winter. Instead calls heard have included a rather rich "skew", an agitated whine or wail, a woodcock-like "chitter" and a louder, more aggressive version of the "chitter" call delivered staccato fashion when the bird is especially agitated. One call did surprise me, a very quiet, subtle but constant "tseeet" which I would most liken to the anxiety call of American Robin (the calls heard from parents with young close by). I'm currently looking into ideas to actually record some of these vocals and upload them to the blog.

After a quiet spell, Barred Owls have started to show up once more with two sightings on Main Road in Gill on Thanksgiving Day. Susannah managed to capture some images of one of these near Gill Fire Station on the way home from Thanksgiving Dinner!

JPS