MA - Glaucous Gulls a-plenty and January update

Glaucous Gulls (3) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. January 22nd, 2019.

January 20th brought the first proper weather event of the winter depositing a wintery mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to much of the north-east. In Franklin County we received about eight inches of fairly fresh, crisp snow which was a welcome relief as we seemed to skip the forecast ice accumulations. It finally felt like winter after a relatively comfortable start to the New Year. Although not obvious on the day of the storm, the impact of the Arctic blast was evident at Turner's Falls with the sudden arrival of three Glaucous Gulls at the power canal including a fine adult. Glaucous Gulls are not especially common in Franklin County and multiple arrivals even less so. To have three together from a modest total of just 55 gulls was even more impressive. The evening's tally also included a newly arrived first-cycle Iceland Gull and the long staying an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull - not too shabby!

Glaucous Gulls (2) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. January 22nd, 2019.

Iceland (first-cycle) Glaucous Gull (second-cycle) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. January 22nd, 2019.

Not a strong evening in terms of volume of roosting gulls but certainly high on quality. 

Aside from weather events, mid-winter does bring some stability to the local birding scene with relatively few changes taking place throughout the month. Waterfowl gathered in numbers where ever the Connecticut River remained ice free, most specifically at the Turner's Falls power canal and the fast flowing water below Vernon Dam in Vermont. Since each locations is less than 15 minutes drive from home in Northfield, I divided my birding between both. The diving duck situation below Vernon Dam was pretty sensational in mid-month with up 95 Common Goldeneyes, 25 Hooded and 15 Common Mergansers, a Bufflehead and no less than 3 Barrow's Goldeneyes on the 15th and 17th with the latter being composed of one adult male, one adult female and one first-winter male. In contrast, Turner's Falls, whilst hosting a couple of female-type Buffleheads has been notable by its lack of Barrow's Goldeneyes with none reported so far this winter. But, overall, the concentrations of waterfowl along the Turner's Falls power canal have been spectacular with up to 2400 Canada Geese, 540 Mallards, 33 American Black Ducks, 60 Common Mergansers 45 Common Goldeneyes, and 12 or so Hooded Mergansers. In addition, one or two Cackling Geese have been present (on and off) throughout January and are clearly attempting to winter in the area rather than push on further south.

Cackling Goose (center) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. January 19th, 2019.

Barrow's Goldeneye (male) - with Common Goldeneyes, below Vernon Dam, Windham Co., VT. January 17th, 2019. 

Aside from the more recent Glaucous Gulls, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls, one adult and one third-cycle remained at Turner's Falls up to January 19th at least. Up to four Iceland Gulls on any given evening in January though plumage features suggested that there were certainly more than four different individuals involved. A Glaucous Gull, quite possibly the same first-cycle that we found on the Christmas Bird Count in late December, was present at Barton Cove, Gill through until January 5th at least.

Lesser Black-backed  Gull (third-cycle) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 3rd, 2019.

Glaucous Gull (first-cycle) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 3rd, 2019.

Common Yellowthroat - Northfield Meadows, Franklin Co., January 3rd, 2019.

Passerines included two species that I wouldn't normally expect in January with Common Yellowthroats continuing to hang on in Northfield Meadows. I had sightings of singles there on the 3rd and the 11th - I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the idea of wintering yellowthroats in Franklin County! Perhaps slightly more expected though still noteworthy for mid-winter, a Gray Catbird in the riverside thickets below Vernon Dam on January 15th. It's going to be interesting to see if either of these species survived the exceptionally cold snap around January 20th?

Gray Catbird - Vernon, Windham Co., VT. January 15th, 2019.

Hermit Thrush - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 10th, 2019.

Eastern Bluebird - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. January 10th, 2019.

Raptors were few during the first three weeks of the month though the impressive numbers of Barred Owls in our area provided some compensation. But an adult Red-shouldered Hawk in Turner's Falls on the 8th, a male Sharp-shinned Hawk on Ben Hale Road, Gill on the 10th and a Peregrine over the Turner's Falls power canal on the 21st were all noteworthy. 

Red-shouldered Hawk (adult) - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. January 8th, 2019.

Peregrine - over Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. January 21st, 2019. 

MA - Turner's Falls sector of the Greenfield CBC

Black-capped Chickadee - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

One of 61 recorded inside our sector at Turner's Falls.

As well as final holiday celebrations, the end of the year has become synonymous (for me at least) with the Greenfield Christmas Bird Count and this year was no exception. Having still been with family in the UK on December 28th, I felt quite lucky to be back just in time for the count on December 30th and even luckier to be joined for the entire day by Brian Kane and Josh Layfield.

Josh Layfield and Brian Kane - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

Checking the scrub for passerines under the power lines at Depot Street. 

This spot produced our only Golden-crowned Kinglet for the day.

Unlike last year's frigid count, the day was seasonably mild and pleasant throughout, so pleasant in fact that we had no real weather event to 'stir' things up for our benefit. That much said, for a rather banal day with seemingly little avian action we did well to find 48 different bird species and tallied some 1927 individual birds, all in the Turner's Falls sector of the count. Notable misses included Northern Flicker, Brown Creeper and Cedar Waxwing all of which can often be found around Turner's Falls in the winter months. And, given the frequency of irruptive finch reports in late fall and early winter, it was a major surprise to find only one 'winter finch' for the day - a single Common Redpoll flying over Unity Park.

Brian Kane trying to track down the only unidentified call of the day, a call which remained a mystery and eluded identification. 
Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

Red-breasted Nuthatch - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

A decent tally of four, all of them at the same spot. 

Bald Eagles (immature and adult) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.
A great count with eleven seen, most of them in the afternoon when the sun came out and breeze picked up. 

On the other hand, highlights were many and included some good counts for Bald Eagle (11), Downy Woodpecker (16), White-breasted Nuthatch (18), Red-breasted Nuthatch (4), Black-capped Chickadee (61), Eastern Bluebird (16), and House Finch (82). Alas we didn't find anything truly rare but scarce, noteworthy species included Red-shouldered Hawk (1), Bufflehead (1), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1), and a Glaucous Gull picked out by Brian Kane late in the day. Particularly niggling misses included Cackling Goose and Lesser Scaup, both of which could be seen from Unity Park the previous day.

House Finches (males) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

A bumper crop of these with 82 for the day compared to 23 the previous year!

Cooper's Hawk (male) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

A fairly consistently seen raptor around Turner's Falls, we saw this particular male Cooper's in two different spots near Unity Park.

Brian Kane and Josh Layfield counting waterfowl from the bike path off Depot Street.

Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

Glaucous Gull (first-winter) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.
A nice reward for repeated checks of the gull flock from Unity Park. One of six species of the gull for the day.

Cackling Goose - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. December 29th, 2018.

We worked hard to pick out this bird on count day but couldn't find it anywhere!

White-breasted Nuthatch - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

Surprisingly common around Turner's Falls with 18 recorded on count day.

Brian and Josh worked especially hard on this count and I'm very grateful to them for putting up with me for the day. We had loads of fun and look forward to doing it again!

Brian Kane and Josh Layfield scanning for a calling Red-shouldered Hawk off Depot Street.

Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

View from the Rod and Gun Club - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

Long shadows - scanning for 'the' Red-shouldered Hawk off Depot Street.

Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

View from the Rod and Gun Club - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

Barton Cove at dusk from Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. December 30th, 2018.

Home to a modest gull roost of six species including Glaucous, Iceland and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

MA - Redhead and more in Gill

Redhead - female, Barton cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 1st, 2018.

The first day of March brought a further increase to the flock of Ring-necked Ducks already gathered off Riverview Drive in Gill with around 60 birds present. A female Redhead had likely arrived with them and gave excellent views as it fed unobtrusively among the Ring-necked Ducks. Also of note, an obvious increase among American Black Ducks with around 25 present. Good numbers of gulls continued at Barton Cove thought I could only detect two Iceland Gulls at the evening roost.

March 2nd brought an early spring nor'easter with a typical mix of snow, sleet and rain. New arrivals among the diving ducks off Riverview Drive included 4 Greater Scaup and 2 Bufflehead with the female Redhead still present. A new Glaucous Gull arrived too, initially being seen at the power canal before transferring to Barton Cove to join a number of other large gulls including a relatively high proportion  of Great Black-backed Gulls. By late afternoon. some 600+ gulls had settled on the ice and included 4 Iceland Gulls (3 first-cycle and 1 second-cycle) and the Glaucous Gull seen earlier in the morning. Waterfowl numbers remained about the same late in the day and offered nice views despite the squally rain showers.

Redhead - female, with Ring-necked Ducks, Barton cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 1st, 2018.

Redhead (left) - female, with Ring-necked Ducks and Greater Scaup, Barton cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. March 2nd, 

2018.

Glaucous Gull - first-cycle, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 2nd. 

Glaucous Gull - first-cycle, Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. March 2nd. 

MA - a busy afternoon in Gill

What should have been a brief scan of Barton Cove this afternoon ended up being a two hour vigil as birds of interest just kept cropping up every time I thought about leaving. About 600 gulls gathered on the ice off Riverview though, sadly, most of them were quite distant but at least some of the individuals looked like new arrivals with 6 Iceland Gulls (5 first-cycle and an adult) and a Glaucous Gull (first-cycle). The latter, as much as I could tell given the distance, looked like a new bird and not the long-staying individual with the damaged right right leg which I last saw on Feb 24th.

Ring-necked Ducks - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. February 27th, 2018.

Ring-necked Duck numbers were up with 10 males together off Riverview Drive though no sign of yesterday's Greater Scaup. Four Northern Pintail (2 male, 2 female) were also present along with a pair of Gadwall. As evening approached, 5 Wood Ducks flew over which I think may be my first locally since the Christmas Bird Count on Dec 31st. And, speaking of Wood Ducks, a good friend of mine photographed this wonderful Bobcat stalking Wood Ducks close to the banks of the Connecticut River today!

Bobcat - site undisclosed, Franklin Co., MA. February 27th, 2018.

Image appears with permission.

MA - more gulls and some spring migration

Glaucous Gull - first-cycle, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 20th, 2018.

Continuing bird with damaged let first seen on February 15th. 

The last two weeks of February have seen continuing high numbers of gulls in the greater Turner's Falls area with gatherings of staging birds often split between the power canal, Unity Park, Barton Cove and the campground area, so the potential for as many as four separate flocks! Though frustrating at times, the overall numbers have been impressive peaking at around 950 gulls on the 20th. The basic composition has remained the same since mid-month with up to eight Iceland Gulls (including 2 adults) and a Glaucous Gull (first-cycle) continuing through to the 24th, along with the regular wintering adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. A further unidentified dark-mantled gull appeared on the 18th for just one afternoon and, with a mantle tone intermediate between adult Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, could well have been a hybrid between those two species.

unidentified gull (right of center) - adult , Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 18th, 2018.

Quite dark mantled but not quite dark enough for graellsii Lesser Black-backed Gull. 

Here with two Iceland Gulls (second-cycle and adult). 

Three drake Lesser Scaup appeared at Unity Park on the 18th, the first migrant waterfowl of note but somewhat overshadowed by a high-flying flock of 29 Northern Pintail over Unity Park on the 21st. As much as I can recall, that is by far, the largest flock of Northern Pintail that I've ever seen in the Turner's Falls area. The pintails arrived on an incredibly warm southern system that brought 70 degree temperatures to Franklin County and large numbers of Canada Geese to Turner's Falls with over 850 of the latter dropping into Barton Cove. The last few days of the month saw up to seven Ring-necked Ducks and a Greater Scaup join the Common Goldeneye, Common and Hooded Mergansers already present, giving local waterfowl diversity a much needed boost.

Lesser Scaup - males, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 18th, 2018. 

Northern Pintail - single flock of 29, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 21st, 2018.

An impressive sight to say the least, appearing out of the fog on a very warm morning. 

Spectacular ice flows at Barton Cove,/Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 22nd, 2018.

Canada Geese - arriving from the south, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 20th, 2018.

Iceland Gulls - first-cycle and two adults, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 24th, 2018.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 20th, 2018.

This lone bird continues to be a feature within the local gull flock. 

Iceland Gull - first-cycle, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 20th, 2018.

Iceland Gulls - first-cycle at center, second-cycle at rear, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 18th, 2018.

Iceland Gull - first-cycle, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 20th, 2018.

Bald Eagle - adult, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. February 18th, 2018.

Present and very active with at least three pairs settling down to breeding. 

MA - more on the Turner's Falls gulls

Iceland Gull (center) - adult (kumlieni),Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. February 17th, 2018. 

A beautiful clean-headed, dark-eyed adult - a new arrival to the gull show at Turner's. 

On Saturday February 17th I returned to the Turner's Falls power canal where I ran into Eric Huston birding with his parents who were visiting from Fort Collins. We enjoyed mild 'pre-storm' conditions, complete cloud cover and little wind. The gulls looked settled on the ice with smaller numbers trickling in from the NW throughout the evening. The volume of birds present was much reduced from the 15th, with only about 450 birds resting on the ice but again the variety was good with the following notables;

Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1, adult continuing.

Glaucous Gull - 1, first-cycle with a damaged right leg, continuing from the 15th.

Iceland Gull (kumlieni) - adult ( lower right), with first-cycle Glaucous Gull ( extreme left).  Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. February 17th, 2018. 

Iceland Gull (kumlieni) - 8, composed of 5 first-cycle, 2 second-cycle and 1 adult. The adult was a new arrival but neither of the adults present on the 15th could be found this evening.

Iceland Gull (kumlieni) - second-cycle (center). Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. February 17th, 2018. 

Initially I took this bird to be third-cycle but a after a couple of quick references, I'm now sure it's a second-cycle. . 

Also of note, a small but interesting passage of Canada Geese heading north without showing any interest in dropping into the power canal suggesting the start of a light migration.