MA - waterfowl on the move part two; a day for Horned Grebes

Horned Grebes (5) - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.

With yesterday's low cloud, drizzle and mist continuing through the night and into the morning, and coupled with a nice temperature drop, prospects looked good for more waterbird arrivals at Barton Cove. A brief but productive early morning spin around the cove didn't disappoint. The light was so poor around 06:45 hours that I held off from taking any photos until mid-morning but the initial haul included 2 Surf Scoter (pair), 8 Lesser Scaup, 6 Greater Scaup (5 male, 1 female), 3 Ruddy Duck (2 male, one quite bright), 4 Red-breasted Mergansers (1 male, 3 female), 3 Horned Grebe (2 in breeding plumage, 1 transitional), Snow Goose (white morph continuing since Apr 2nd), and a Double-crested Cormorant arriving mid-morning. I was most impressed with the breeding plumage Horned Grebes, a species which I tend to think of as being quite a scarce migrant through northern Franklin County. With that in mind I couldn't have been more thrilled to come across a further 5 Horned Grebes in a tight flock at the Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club. The latter site also yielded my first local Ospreys (2) of the year, plus there was a notable increase Tree Swallow, Pine Warbler and Chipping Sparrow numbers along the river this morning.

Surf Scoter (pair) with Greater Scaup (6) at rear - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.

Further indications of migration included 5 (3, 2) Great Blue Herons heading north high over Turner's Falls Airfield, a species I only occasionally detect on active migration in Franklin County.

Great Blue Herons - Turner's Falls Airfield, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.

Three of five migrating high over the airfield this morning. 

By late afternoon, the weather had worsened bringing pulses of extremely heavy rain and cooler temperatures. A very quick check of Barton Cove found almost 200 newly arrived gulls including good numbers of adult/near adult Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. With them came a pristine adult/near adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. A tight flock of around 15 Double-crested Cormorants had clearly dropped in on the showers as well. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult/near adult) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.
Just left of center with Herring and Ring-billed Gulls.

Bonaparte's Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.
Image appears courtesy of Josh Layfield. Part of the flock of 29 initially found by David Sibley. 

Bonaparte's Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. April 9th, 2019.
Image appears courtesy of Josh Layfield. 

And the day turned out to be far from over when David Sibley found 29 Bonaparte's Gulls and 10 Red-breasted Mergansers at Barton Cove off Riverview Drive just 70 minutes after I had to leave the area. As if that wasn't enough, David (along with Josh Layfield and Eric Huston) finished off the evening with a calling Caspian Tern flying upriver at dusk! Although April is the best month in the year to see Caspian Tern in Franklin County, it's usually the second half of the month when they show up and today's observation is the earliest that I'm aware of. 

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.

VT - raptors - 10/18

This morning I headed north into Vermont hoping that the weak rain-bearing front that passed through overnight would stir up some movement amongst passerines, geese and raptors. I was at Putney Mountain early enough to see the tail end of the rain disappear to the NE, and then settled down for a breezy migration watch. Small numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers filtered through south along with about 12 Purple Finches and a single Eastern Bluebird. Geese were virtually non-existent.

The first raptors appeared at 07:57 hrs with a close passage of a single Osprey and Sharp-shinned Hawk together. From then onwards, small numbers (mostly Sharp-shined Hawks) passed south and south-west until I left just after noon by which time I'd logged about 80 raptors. Four dedicated hawk watchers remained on site leaving me with the uneasy feeling that I may well miss something special during the afternoon flight!

All in all, another hugely enjoyable morning highlighted by often close, fast moving raptors heading south on a gusty westerly breeze. My personal highlight was yet another sighting of Northern Goshawk.

Sunrise from Putney Mountain, Windham, Co., VT.
October 18th, 2013.

 



Osprey - migrant heading SW at 07:57hrs, Putney Mountain, Windham, Co., VT.

October 18th, 2013. Canon Powershot G10.

 



Northern Goshawk - adult soaring high over Putney Mountain, Windham, Co., VT.

Stocky whitish body with broad wings tapering to almost 'falcon-like' pointed wing tips.  

October 18th, 2013. Canon Powershot G10.

 

 

Bald Eagle - juvenile, Putney Mountain, Windham, Co., VT.

October 18th, 2013. Canon Powershot G10.

 

Common Raven - local bird with food item, Putney Mountain, Windham, Co., VT.

October 18th, 2013. Canon Powershot G10.

 

Northern Harrier - adult male, migrant heading SW, Putney Mountain, Windham, Co., VT.

Dorsal image of same bird below. October 18th, 2013. Canon Powershot G10.

 



Red-tailed Hawk - migrant heading SW, Putney Mountain, Windham, Co., VT.

October 18th, 2013. Canon Powershot G10.

 



Turkey Vulture - Putney Mountain, Windham, Co., VT.

Single from a 'stream' of 14 birds heading south overhead.

October 18th, 2013. Canon Powershot G10.

 

View from Putney Mountain at 07:00hrs, Windham, Co., VT.

October 18th, 2013. Canon Powershot G10.