Monday, October 11, 2010

Short eared Owl and sparrows in western Mass

Short eared Owl, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA October 11, 2010
Short eared Owl, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA October 11, 2010

I spent the morning of Columbus Day checking various areas for sparrows and other late migrants. Although the total numbers of birds were down slightly there are still a lot of birds around. The highlight of the morning was a Short eared Owl I flushed from just off the road at the Honeypot in Hadley in mid morning. I spent the first couple hours of the day at Arcadia Meadows and then briefly onto Aqua Vitae Road in Hadley and then over to the Honeypot. I managed a total of nine species of sparrows with the best being Vesper and Field. Many other nice birds such as Eastern Meadowlark, lots of Yellow rumped Warblers, various raptors with some very active Sharp shinned Hawks.

Swamp Sparrow, Honey Pot-Hadley, MA October 11, 2010

Vesper Sparrow, Honey Pot -Hadley, MA October 11, 2010

Savannah Sparrow, Arcadia Meadows, October 11, 2010
Yellow rumped Warbler, Arcadia Meadows, October 11, 2010

4 comments:

  1. That Short-eared is a good bird for 'the valley' and so beautifully documented as well. Nice one Larry!

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  2. Thanks James. I was really happy to capture some images of it.

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  3. Larry, I love the shots of the sparrows and the YR Warbler. The Short-eared Owl is simply amazing. I also enjoyed your previous post with the photo of the Philadelphia Vireo.

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  4. Thanks Hilke. Glad you enjoy the posts.

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