MA - first Pied-billed Grebe - 04/08

Pied-billed Grebe - Old Vernon Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. April 8th, 2015. First of the season.

Yet another interesting day. Checked Barton Cove in the morning to find numbers of dabbling ducks greatly reduced with some species absent altogether. It's difficult to say whether they migrated out or perhaps just moved to another feeding spot further up river. However, I could only muster a handful of Mallards and a single Black Duck! The diving duck spectacle goes on with 350 Ring-necked Ducks, 15+ Buffleheads and 4 Lesser Scaup continuing among other species. A Merlin swept through as I was leaving, my second sighting here this month and likely the same bird.

Eastern Phoebes seem to be well established, despite the continued cold temperatures and today's sleet showers. This morning I counted over 20 during a ten mile bike ride from Turner's Falls to East Deerfield and back.

Common Loon - adult, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 8th, 2015. Continuing from April 5th. 

Merlin - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 8th, 2015.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull -  continuing first-cycle, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 8th, 2015.

 Ring-necked Ducks - Old Vernon Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. April 8th, 2015. First of season.

Later in the day I checked a few small ponds near my home in Northfield finding Ring-necked Ducks, Hooded Mergansers and Wood Ducks, and a little surprisingly, my first local Pied-billed Grebe of the year. 

MA - first rough-wing - 04/07

More new birds today beginning with a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker visiting a yard feeder on North Cross Road, Gill and, later, another sapsucker giving territorial drumming close to the intersection of North Cross and Main Roads, Gill. Also of note in Gill, a calling Winter Wren in a wooded gully along Main Road, just south of Munn's Ferry Road.

As usual, it was my intention to have a relatively quick check of Barton Cove after dropping Matan at school. I arrived to find Josh Rose and Al Richards already scoping out the diving duck spectacle there. Josh had already counted 375 Ring-necked Ducks though I must admit, when an eagle flushed them onto the open water away from the ice, it looked like even more than that perhaps closer to 400 birds.

Lesser Scaup - new arrivals, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 7th, 2015.

New today were 4 Lesser Scaup and a slight increase to 6 American Wigeon but otherwise the numbers looked comparable to recent visits. There was some action above the water with a couple of Tree Swallows, the first Northern Rough-winged Swallow and at least 3 Belted Kingfishers. At least three Eastern Phoebes were also foraging and calling along our particular corner of Riverview Drive as well.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - hawking over the water at Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA.

April 7th, 2015. First this year.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull - first-cycle, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 7th, 2015. 

Towards the end of our stint, a ringtail Northern Harrier drifted south above the tree line, yet another year first.

In the evening, a quick five minute check of Barton Cove revealed much the same as the morning but with the addition of the returning pristine adult Lesser Black-backed Gull first seen on April 3rd. The continuing first-cycle Kumlien's Iceland Gull was also still present. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 3rd, 2015. 

Same small adult seen this evening, April 7th, but mostly too obscured for photos. This shot is from April 3rd.

MA/VT - recent obs

Common Loon - adult breeding, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 5th, 2015.

As usual, I didn't get out to do a lot of birding over the weekend but I did have a few incidental observations of interest namely a Common Loon at Barton Cove, Gill, a northbound Cackling Goose over Turner's Falls with a small group of Canada Geese, and a concentration of a dozen Song Sparrows on the bike path, again at Turner's Falls. Sparrows proved to be an on-going theme with a newly arrived White-throated Sparrow in our yard on Sunday morning, then 2-3 singing Fox Sparrows on North Cross Road, Gill this morning along with 25+ Song Sparrows ground feeding by the roadside. Later in the morning I ventured up to Miller Farm fields in Vernon, Vermont where I found good numbers of Song Sparrows (45+) ground feeding along the fringes of the field.

Song Sparrows - Miller Farm, Vernon, Windham Co., VT. April 6th, 2015. 

Miller Farm fields and overlook was good though I had high expectations of finding big concentrations of waterfowl on the CT river above Vernon Dam. The birds were there but distance made observations relatively difficult though there were a couple of nice surprises, most notably in the form of a pair of nesting Ospreys. Amazing to see how quickly they get on with the job of nesting building having only just arrived a few days ago.......and I still haven't seen a single migrant Osprey at Barton Cove this year!

Ospreys - Miller Farm, Vernon, Windham Co., VT. April 6th, 2015.

I also spotted a real odd-ball at Vernon on the CT river - a leucistic Canada Goose, essentially all creamy-white apart from a perfectly normal black neck-sock and white cheek. I've seen quite a few aberrant Canada Geese in the valley over the years but nothing quite like this one. Hector Galbraith independently found the same bird but was viewing from the the New Hampshire side of the river in Hinsdale.

leucistic Canada Goose (center) - from Miller Farm, Vernon, Windham Co., VT. April 6th, 2015.

Back in Gill, a very quick check of Barton Cove between errands revealed a few new birds, including four Double-crested Cormorants and two Northern Pintail but otherwise similar, or even slightly diminished numbers from recent visits. The Bald Eagles were also creating havoc among the gulls so nothing new to report there.

 Double-crested Cormorants - four fresh arrivals, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 6th, 2015.

Bald Eagle - juvenile/first-winter, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 6th, 2015.

MA - Rusties and much more on the move

April 3rd: Another fantastic morning in Gill. Eastern Phoebes clearly arrived en masse last night with singing birds at many properties along North Cross, Boyle and Main Roads. Also very pleasant to hear a Field Sparrow singing on North Cross Road this morning, my first local bird of the year. As the day slowly warmed up it became clear that a major arrival of American Robins had taken place overnight. The fields, meadows and lawns around Gill were simply full of them! Yesterday's hundreds swelled to thousands and I estimated about 5000 American Robins widely scattered throughout the fields along Boyle Road, North Cross and Main Roads, Bascom Road and West Gill Road (just inside the Bernardston town line). With them came hundreds of Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Brown-headed Cowbirds. Sorting through them I found some Rusty Blackbirds, and good numbers of them to boot! The Rusties blended in beautifully with the blackbirds, cowbirds and grackles. In fact, they reminded me very much of the Brewer's Blackbirds seen earlier this year in California. In particular, the dull gray female Rusties might have caused some real identification issues with that species had it not been for the obvious pale eye visible at some range and shown by all the birds this morning. Surprisingly, the same field hosted two American Pipits, yet another first for the year.

Rusty Blackbirds - West Gill Road, Bernardston, Franklin Co., MA. April 3rd, 2015.

About 25 birds foraging in an open meadow with American Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and Brown-headed Cowbirds. Difficult to photograph as the birds were distant and the field clearly posted. 

With so many fresh arrivals in the area, I could hardly resist a quick visit to Barton Cove. The planned five minute check became 45 minutes as the cove was teaming with birds. Easily 400 Ring-necked Ducks were present along with a couple more season firsts - American Wigeon and a female Greater Scaup, plus well over 20 Green-winged Teal, 12 Bufflehead, 10 Wood Duck and numerous Common Goldeneye, Common and Hooded Mergansers. New arrivals including three Great Blue Herons 'barking' as they flew in and a single Belted Kingfisher.

Great Blue Heron - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 3rd, 2015.

One of three new arrivals today.

The morning also produced two 'fresh' gull arrivals with another smart adult Lesser Black-backed and a Kumlien's Iceland Gull.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 3rd, 2015. 

Another pristine breeding plumage bird, seemingly much smaller than the adult/near adult seen on March 31st. 

Kumlien's Iceland Gull (front center) - first-cycle, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 3rd, 2015. 

MA - more migration and a Glaucous Gull

Another busy day with the pulse of migration evident throughout. After yet another frigid start (24 deg F) the day warmed up nicely with a genuinely warm southern wind by early evening.

Tree Swallow - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 2nd, 2015.

At least 18 Tree Swallows appeared rather suddenly over the ice at Barton Cove this morning.

Throughout the morning good numbers of migrating Canada Geese headed north, not big flocks but constant groups probably totaling about 700 birds for the morning. At Barton Cove waterfowl numbers again improved with over 45 American Black Ducks and 12 Green-winged Teal and continuing good numbers of Ring-necked Ducks (100+), Common and Hooded Mergansers, Buffleheads and Common Goldeneyes. As I watched the ducks, a flock of 18 Tree Swallows swept through my scope view. Another highlight of the morning was a first-cycle Glaucous Gull, my first in a while and an excellent bird for a morning visit. It ultimately remained throughout the day was still present in early evening.

Glaucous Gull - first-cycle, Barton Cove, Franklin Co., MA. April 2nd, 2015.

Heading back to Northfield my journey was interrupted by hundreds of American Robins in Gill feeding in a broad scatter across the increasingly snow-free fields. I'm comfortable with an estimate of about 1000 birds including a decent percentage of birds showing the characteristics of the darker-backed form nigrideus. As much as 15-20% of the birds showed varying degrees of dark pigmentation in the mantle though only 4 or 5 birds jumped out as being especially black-backed. Among them, lots of Brown-headed Cowbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds and a handful of Killdeers. Also had my first singing Eastern Phoebe this morning on North Cross Road, though as usual, I was scuppered by Susannah who had one singing on Main Road two days earlier, on March 31st!

 American Robins - showing characteristics of T.m. migratorius (front left) and T.m. nigrideus (rear right).

Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 2nd, 2015.

 American Robin - showing some characteristics of  T.m. nigrideus. Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 2nd, 2015.

American Robin - showing characteristics of  T.m. nigrideus. Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 2nd, 2015.

These dark-mantled birds seem to appear within a fairly narrow time window in Gill, the 

first week in April consistently being the best period to find them. 

A short visit to Barton Cove in the evening found an interesting looking Cackling Goose, and a high flying Double-crested Cormorant.....my first local bird of the year.

 Cackling Goose (center) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 2nd, 2015.  Alert posture.

Small size not particularly evident in this shot but very interesting head and bill structure may point 

towards taverneri or Taverner's Cackling Goose.

  Cackling Goose (right) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 2nd, 2015. Alert posture.

Cackling Goose (extreme left) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 2nd, 2015. Relaxed posture.

Double-crested Cormorant - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 2nd, 2015. 

First of the year headed straight up the Connecticut River. 

MA - Game On!

Today, March 31st, really seemed like a turning point in the transition from winter to spring. At least in the Gill/Turner's Falls area, the air was full of bird song with some real and obvious signs of migration to boot. I paid a couple of visits to Barton Cove, morning and late afternoon, and had new birds on both visits. Most obvious was the returning waterfowl building up to over 70 Ring-necked Ducks in late afternoon along with 7 Bufflehead and numerous Common and Hooded Mergansers, and Common Goldeneye. In the morning I also managed to add Mark Lynch and Shiela Carroll to my local year list and they very kindly put me onto the first Wood Ducks of the season. I could only muster 6 Wood Ducks but Mark and Sheila had a whopping 22 birds! American Black Ducks too have arrived with 7 yesterday and 10 this morning along with the first Gadwall (2) of the season.

Ring-necked Ducks - some of the 70 present, Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2015.

Buffleheads - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2015.

Peregrine - young bird by the Great Falls Discovery Center, Turner's Falls, March 30th, 2015.

But it was the goose and gull migration that really captivated my imagination today. Throughout the morning, and actually throughout yesterday morning, small but frequent flocks of Canada Geese migrated northwards. The numbers were not huge but the consistency of the flocks was impressive. In late afternoon, a small grounded flock of Canadas at Turner's Falls contained a Greater White-fronted Goose.  The ice flows held some impressive flocks of gulls in a broad scatter across Barton Cove with at least 700 gulls present by late afternoon. It ended up being a fine day for Lesser Black-backed Gulls with a pristine adult and a first-cycle in the morning, and an additional first-cycle bird in the afternoon. Great Black-backed Gulls were also up on previous visits with over a dozen passing through today, and there was a nice pale first-cycle Kumlien's Iceland Gull in the morning as well. 

Greater White-fronted Goose (left) - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2015.

Greater White-fronted Goose (right) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2015.

Same bird as above but resting on the Gill side of the river.

Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult/near adult) - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2015.

Kumlien's Iceland Gull (first-cycle) - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 31st, 2015.

More on passerines, including migrating redpolls, in the next post........

MA - Fox Sparrows and more 03/27

Funny to think of 39 deg F as 'spring-like' but it actually felt warmer than that this morning. The roads around Gill were absolutely full of bird song with Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, Dark-eyed Juncos and American Tree Sparrows all over the place. A few American Robins have started to appear including the first 'black-backed' male of the season. This morning was especially notable for singing Fox Sparrows with two heard along North Cross Road and another along Main Road near Upinngil Farm. It was also great to see my first migrant Canada Geese (250) heading north over Gill without stopping, and equally great to hear Killdeers displaying along Boyle Road, Gill. There was also a nice approachable flock of 42 Cedar Waxwings on North Cross Road though, for this morning at least, no Bohemians among them.

Cedar Waxwings - North Cross Road, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 27th, 2015.

In the afternoon, I made a quick check of the rapidly receding ice at Barton Cove hoping for a few early season swallows but had no such luck. Two drake Green-winged Teals were present however, one a Unity Park and another way out on the ice completely alone. The Ring-necked Duck flock at Turner's Falls power canal had swollen to 37 birds. Common and Hooded Mergansers, and Common Goldeneyes continue there. And a couple more season firsts in the form of a Great Blue Heron at the power canal and a calling Fish Crow on Main Street, Greenfield.

Ring-necked Ducks - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 27th, 2015.

Some of the 37 birds present on the power canal this afternoon. 

MA - a few new arrivals

On Monday I topped up the nyjer seed feeders having neglected them for a bit whilst I was in Florida. The chickadees and juncos found the seed straight away but the Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches only discovered the new seed two days later. Really good numbers of Pine Siskins (35-100) have been feeding around North Cross Road, Gill about one mile to the south of us so hopefully the feeders will start pulling some of those birds into our yard. No sign of any redpolls thus far.

The warmer air has finally arrived bringing plenty of rain this afternoon. A quick drive around Turner's Falls was pretty quiet but did show a continuing build of Ring-necked Ducks (3 on the 22nd, 7 on the 24th and now 14 on the 26th). A fine drake Green-winged Teal appeared to be a new arrival hanging out with the Mallards at Unity Park where the very pale second-cycle Kumlien's Iceland Gull continued.

Pine Siskin - Northfield yard, Franklin Co., MA. March 25th, 2015.

Green-winged Teal - male, Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 24th, 2015.

 Kumlien's Iceland Gull - second-cycle, Unity Park Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 26th, 2015.

 Ring-necked Duck - male, Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. March 24th, 2015.

Ring-necked Ducks -  Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 24th, 2015.

 Ring-necked Ducks -  part of a group of 14, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 26th, 2015.