MA - fringillid morning

 

Red Crossbills - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 16th, 2021.

Last Tuesday (March 16th) I ran into an embarrassment of avian riches in the Montague Plains WMA. It was was bitterly cold at the start of the day, well below freezing in fact but by mid-morning the warmth of the spring sunshine began to make a real difference and the Montague Pitch Pines became a frenzy of finch activity once again. What made this morning particularly special wasn't so much the simple presence of lots of fringillids but more to do with having them gather together in one especially sweet spot. The place was full of them with Red Crossbills (85) White-winged Crossbills (7), Pine Siskins (12), Common Redpolls (7) and other commoner species such as American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, American Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow and a handful of White-throated Sparrows.

White-winged Crossbill (female) - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 16th, 2021.

Finally a chance to catch up with proper views female White-winged Crossbills!

Red and White-winged Crossbills (males) - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 16th, 2021.

White-winged Crossbill (pair) - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 16th, 2021.

Two birds from a party of five feeding in the same Pitch Pine.

Common Redpoll with Red Crossbills - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 16th, 2021.

Red Crossbill - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 16th, 2021.

Red-breasted Nuthatch - Montague Plains WMA, Franklin Co., MA. March 16th, 2021.

Still good numbers around though far fewer than in the autumn and early winter. 

A few will breed in the plains even in non-incursion years. 

MA - Boreal Chickadee in Franklin County

 

Boreal Chickadee - New Salem Vista, Franklin Co., MA. November 3rd, 2020. 

November keeps on giving, the month of so much possibility.  Hot on the heels of yesterday's MEGA Common Cuckoo in Rhode Island, a Boreal Chickadee graced a public vista point in New Salem as I carried out a watch for migrating raptors. While it was incredibly thrilling to hear it's wheezy, nasal 'tis-tchay' calls in Franklin County, it wasn't completely unexpected as I'd been following a number of out-of-range Boreal Chickadee reports from nearby South-west New Hampshire since mid-October. Hopefully this bird is the precursor to a greater 'irruption' and we could potentially see multiple reports over the forthcoming weeks. As to my personal experience, well this is an incredibly rare county bird and one that I haven't seen since Dec 2006. Ironically, that bird was present just five miles up the road where it visited a feeder for several days in the town of Orange. The current New Salem bird didn't linger and was (sadly) too quick for the camera but I traded blurry record shots for good views through binoculars and the pencil sketch is a pretty good representation of how I saw the bird in the field.  The raptor migration wasn't too shabby either, totally dominated by Red-shouldered Hawks with a tally of fifteen passing South-west before the Boreal Chickadee appeared. After that, I I left the hawk watching and focused on trying to relocate the chickadee. 

Red-shouldered Hawks - migrating over New Salem, Franklin Co., MA. November 3rd, 2020. 

These are exciting days to be in the field. I've focused most of my effort to within 20-25 minutes of home in Northfield. Irruptives such as Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red Crossbill, Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskin and Purple Finch are present and passing through seemingly anywhere and there really hasn't been a dull moment. And just today, there's news of Pine Grosbeaks in Hampshire County to add yet another exciting element to the autumn migration. Bring it!

MA - opening up September with a Baird's Sandpiper!

 

Baird's Sandpiper - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 1st, 2020.

The opening ten days of September brought a flurry of good birds to northern Franklin County including a locally rare Baird's Sandpiper at Hell's Kitchen, Northfield on the 1st. It was a fine, crisp juvenile and courteous enough to stick around until the 3rd furnishing only my second county Baird's Sandpiper within the last ten years. My first Baird's was also a juvenile, found by Eric Huston on the Connecticut River on September 1st, 2017 and viewed from Barton Cove campground. Good shorebird conditions are not easy to find in Franklin County and we often have to be content with brief or distant views as was the case with 4 Semi-palmated Plovers at Caldwell Road sod fields, Northfield on the 2nd. The latter site also saw a Pectoral Sandpiper on August 29th with another, or perhaps the same bird at Hell's Kitchen on the 30th. Least Sandpipers have featured constantly at Hell's Kitchen (up to 23) and less frequently at Caldwell Road sod fields (up to 17) and Turner's Falls Airfield (2 - 5). An early Wilson's Snipe was noted on at Hell's Kitchen on three dates between the 3rd and 9th and on Sep 10th a calling American Golden Plover flew down the Connecticut River at Turner's Falls, the latter being a scarce, perhaps less than annual migrant in northern Franklin County.

Noteworthy waterfowl in the first ten days of the month included a lingering drake Gadwall at Turner's Falls with 2 -3 Green-winged Teal at Barton Cove and Hell's Kitchen, and a super group of six Blue-winged Teal at Hell's Kitchen on the 9th and 10th. Throughout the period 4 - 6 Pied-billed Grebes could be found lurking around a weed-choked Barton Cove. 

Red Crossbill - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. September 4th, 2020.

Red Crossbills and Red-breasted Nuthatches continue to feature in numbers with Hell's Kitchen, Northfield and the Montague Sand Plains being among the easier places to find them. Most of the crossbills have been identified as Type 10, but Tim Spahr managed to winkle out Types 2, 3, 10 and possibly 1 from single concentration of 21 birds in the Montague Plains on Sep 4th! The presence of streaked juveniles in the flocks also raises the possibility of local breeding. Still at the Montague Sand Plains, impressive numbers of Pine Warblers (35+) have been present with the flocks containing up to five Prairie Warblers during Sep 6th - 8th. Other passerines of interest included a Palm Warbler at River Road Cemetery, Northfield on Sep 10th and a decent showing of Yellow-bellied Flycatchers after the first at Hell's Kitchen on August 30th with several more there and along North Cross Road, Gill through to Sept 9th. 

Prairie Warblers - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. September 5th, 2020.

Pine Warbler (juv/first-winter) - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. September 8th, 2020.

Finally, August 29th brought a fantastic migration of Common Nighthawks and I was lucky enough to be around Turner's Falls that evening to experience it. Between Turner's Falls Airfield and Unity Park I estimated around 620 Common Nighthawks appearing in tight, dense swarms over the town, Barton Cove and the Airfield - very impressive to say the least! 

MA - Red Crossbills and Red-breasted Nuthatches on the move

 August 15th brought a cool, north-easterly airflow and a welcome end to a prolonged spell of heat and humidity. It really felt like fall had started and there were even small kettles of Turkey Vultures and Broad-winged Hawks, as well as a juvenile Merlin to be seen at Turner's Falls Airfield that day. The 16th was equally cool and comfortable and Hell's Kitchen supported a small but enticing selection of shorebirds including 5 Least and 1 Solitary Sandpiper, a Lesser Yellowlegs and at least 12 Killdeer. A post breeding flock of at least 15 Killdeer continued to linger at Turner's Falls Airfield as well. 

But the real story revolved around the build up of several irruptive species throughout northern Franklin County, especially Red Crossbills. I've now heard and seen crossbills every day since July 31st. Sightings appear to be completely random and almost always involve flyovers will a general movement toward the SW. Flock sizes have not been large ranging from two to nine birds and actually involving quite a lot of singles. Since August 8th I've found them at numerous sites in Gill, plus Hell's Kitchen in Northfield, Millers Falls, Sunderland, Montague and Wendell. Sound recordings from about 15 observations and all have been identified as 'Type 10' by Tim Spahr and Matt Young after analysis of the 'kip-kip' flight calls. It's fantastic having these birds in our area, especially so early in the fall, and with no signs of the influx slowing down it seems that we have plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks. 

Mid-August also produced an especially noteworthy wave of Red-breasted Nuthatches with small numbers and singles occurring just about anywhere, and larger concentrations at Hell's Kitchen (15+) and North Cross Road, Gill (7+) over the 16th and 17th, and Highland Park, Greenfield (16) on the 20th.  Like the crossbills, I think we can look forward to more over the next few weeks with the potential for some quite spectacular movements and concentrations.  By comparison, the SW movement of Purple Finches over Gill and Northfield has been more subtle involving fewer birds and they have not been daily. However, the indications are there for a stronger passage in late August and into September. 

Gadwall - eclipse male, Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. August 13th, 2015.

Historical image of what is presumably the same male back for another summer in 2020!

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have graced our garden feeders in Northfield with up to eight in the yard at any one time, and on the 18th I noted four individual hummingbirds moving low over the water at Barton Cove heading in SW direction - those could well have been migrants. Barton Cove has also hosted several Great Egrets and, remarkably, what appears to be the same returning drake Gadwall back for another summer. It can usually be found loafing around with the Mallards off Unity Park and is likely to stick around for several weeks. 

MA - every day Crossbills

Semi-palmated Sandpiper (adult) - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. August 2nd, 2020.

In the first week of August, Hell's Kitchen in Northfield remained a reliable spot for small numbers of shorebirds including Killdeer, Least and Solitary Sandpipers but an adult Semi-palmated Sandpiper there on the 2nd was far less usual and my first of the fall locally. 

Tropical Storm Isaias was the most significant weather event of the week bringing thundery, squally showers and damaging wind gusts late in the day on the 4th but sadly, in terms of northern Franklin County, there were no major fall-outs of seabirds while both Worcester and Berkshire Counties enjoyed significant arrivals of Sooty Terns. The best bird at Barton Cove during the storm was an unidentified white heron, either a Snowy Egret or juvenile Little Blue Heron first spotted by Josh Layfield. Unfortunately, the views were brief and in flight, and we were unable to settle on an identification but either species would have been good for Franklin County. The day after the storm, August 5th, did produce 6 Double-crested Cormorants and 3 Ring-billed Gulls but these and the two Great Egrets loafing around the cove were probably unconnected to the storm. 

The avian event of the week, at least locally, was the continued and unabated movement of Red Crossbills through northern Franklin County with 1- 10 birds noted daily between the 1st and 7th at sites in Gill, Northfield, Bernardston and Deerfield. In most cases, these were of birds passing over heading in a South-westerly direction but the few birds seen foraging appeared to be feeding in White Pines. Matt Young of Cornell identified my sound recording from North Cross Road on July 31st at 'Type 10' and I'm hoping to get the results of a further sound recording taken from a single bird, also on North Cross Road, Gill later today. Other passerines of note this week included a Bobolink over Boyle Road on the 6th (most likely a migrant) and at least five Red-breasted Nuthatches at Hell's Kitchen on the 7th, probably a family of local breeders. 

,

Great Egrets - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. August 4th, 2020.

Double-crested Cormorants and Ring-billed Gulls - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. August 5th, 2020.

Bald Eagle (adult) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. August 5th, 2020.

MI - Warblers in Spring Part III

Kentucky Warbler - Tawas Point SP, Michigan. May 18th, 2019.

Originally found by Scott Surner on May 15th and looking somewhat bedraggled by May 18th. 

Despite having fabulous views of Kirtland's Warblers the previous evening, we returned on Sunday morning for a second helping and to enjoy some of the other species that we'd seen all-too-briefly the day before. These included Brown Thrasher, Hermit Thrush and Nashville Warbler. We worked hard for Upland Sandpipers but couldn't find any before moving onto Hartwick Pines State Park for fantastic views of Evening and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Winter Wren. And there was even a Barred Owl calling the classic 'who-cooks-for-you' in the middle of the morning. The afternoon was dedicated to Bobolinks around Mio and the early evening to marshland birds where we heard lots of Soras and Virginia Rails but couldn't work-up any magic with Yellow Rail.

Winter Wren - Hartwick Pines SP, near Grayling, Michigan. May 17th, 2019. 

Evening Grosbeaks - Hartwick Pines SP, near Grayling, Michigan. May 17th, 2019. 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - Oak Openings, Ohio. May 14th, 2019. 

We rounded off a brilliant spring trip with time spent at another migration hotspot, Tawas Point State Park. It was alive with migrant warblers and vireos, not least of which was a lingering Kentucky Warbler found on May 15th be fellow Pioneer Valley birder Scott Surner. We also enjoyed more Golden-winged and Orange-crowned Warblers, and what could only be described as a 'flock' of Philadelphia Vireos on the very last morning of the trip. I dare say that had we been given more time, Tawas Point would have kept on giving to us. John and I rounded up a stunning tour with 31 species of wood-warbler recorded. A big miss this year was Mourning Warbler but then the views that we had of Connecticut Warbler at Magee Marsh seemed like an appropriate trade off and there were no complaints forthcoming from us!

Blackpoll Warbler - Tawas Point SP, Michigan. May 18th, 2019. 

Red-breasted Nuthatch - Tawas Point SP, Michigan. May 19th, 2019.

Philadelphia Vireo - Tawas Point SP, Michigan. May 19th, 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 - yard surprise

Well another morning below 20 deg F left me feeling a bit despondent but I probably should have known better. The volume of bird song along North Cross Road in Gill was enough to suggest that spring-like changes were on the way. At lunch time, the squat shape of a Red-breasted Nuthatch caught my eye through the kitchen window - certainly a yard first and all the more remarkable considering that 2014 was a relatively poor autumn and winter for this irruptive species. It didn't linger and I thought I'd lost the opportunity for an image but it reappeared in the middle of the afternoon. With my old Canon Rebel by the window I was able to snap a couple of record shots before it disappeared once more. In the same moment, another season first for our Northfield yard - a Turkey Vulture overhead .

Red-breasted Nuthatch - Northfield yard, Franklin Co., MA. March 24th, 2015.

MA - Red-nuts - 02/25

A pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches have been wintering in our yard. This is our third winter in Gill, but the first time that we've had Red-breasted Nuthatches stay throughout the winter. Doubtless these birds, and the birds still present in the woodlands around Gill, are related to the major Red-breasted Nuthatch incursion that we experienced last fall. It's a treat having them around. Lately, this pair seems to have developed a taste for nyjer seed where they 'wrestle' for dominance over the feeders with the many Black-capped Chickadees.

 

 Red-breasted Nuthatches - male (upper two images) and female (lower). Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. Panasonic Lumix FZ7. Pair present virtually daily with regular visits to the nyjer seed feeders. The background gives the impression of being rather frigid but in fact, despite the fresh snow, it was a pleasant spring-like morning with lots of bird song in the surroundings including Northern Cardinal, Eastern Bluebird and House Finch to mention a few.

 



Wild Turkeys - Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. February 20th, 2013. Panasonic Lumix FZ7. Up to 35 turkeys have been visiting our yard over the last week or so. They've virtually cleaned up the remnants of seed below the feeders leaving the sparrows and juncos with very little at all.