Thanksgiving birding...Pine Grosbeaks, Cackling Goose and Northern Goshawk

 

Pine Grosbeak, Quabbin Park, Nov 22, 2012

 

Pine Grosbeak, Quabbin Park, Nov 22, 2012

 

Cackling Goose, Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area, Northampton, MA, Nov 22, 2012



Cackling Goose, Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area, Northampton, MA, Nov 22, 2012

I began this Thanksgiving by making a predawn trip over to Fitzgerald Lake in Northampton to follow up on a report of a blue morph Snow Goose seen there at dusk yesterday evening.  I figured the bird had settled in for the night and I would be able to get a look at it if I was there at first light before the geese moved out to feed elsewhere for the day.  Although there were over 800 Canada Geese on the lake there was no Snow Goose to be found.  There were a lot of shots from hunters sounding throughout the woods and it may have flushed before I could make it to its last reported spot along the dam.  I looked through every goose there and I ended up finding a nice consolation prize...a Cackling Goose!  The light was really poor for photos but the shots show the smaller size and small bill.  The color is tough to convey in the photos and the frost on its back leads it to looking a bit lighter than it should.  This species became #223 for the county this year.

Northern Goshawk, Fitzgerald Lake, Northampton, MA, Nov 22, 2012

There was also a very interesting accipiter that I flushed as I walked back toward the parking lot.  My first thought was that I flushed a Barred Owl but as I got a look at it it was a very large accipiter.  I managed a photo before it flew away.  The bulk, white supercilium, uneven tail bands and dark spots on undertail coverts makes me think it was a Northern Goshawk.  After forwarding the photo to a few others I'm fairly certain it is indeed a juvenile Northern Goshawk.  Certainly juvenile accipiters can be tough to ID so if anyone else has any thoughts regarding the ID please let me know.  This would make species #224 for the county this year.   Other birds of note here included several Ring necked Ducks and a Rusty Blackbird.

I then headed over to Arcadia (again) to see if I could find the Snow Goose there.  When I arrived only a handful of geese remained and all where Canada Geese.  There were 133 Mallards plus several Black Ducks and a single Green winged Teal.

I then headed back through Hadley and Amherst checking a few fields for geese and found 100+ along Huntington Road in Hadley and a few on the athletic fields at UMASS but no unusual geese with them.  There was also little activity on the campus pond so I headed back toward home. 

Pine Grosbeak, Quabbin Park, Nov 22, 2012

Pine Grosbeak, Quabbin Park, Nov 22, 2012

My next stop was at Quabbin Park, starting at Winsor Dam.  There was little waterfowl at Winsor Dam besides a few Common Loons.  The highlight here was at least four Pine Grosbeaks that were feeding in the crabapple trees near the HQ building.  They were still there when I left and headed over to Hanks Meadow and Goodnough Dike.  The only waterfowl at these spots were 13 Horned Grebes and four Common Loons. 

I then headed for home to get Wilson to take a walk along the Belchertown Land Trust trail.  It was fairly quiet until the end of the walk when I had a late Eastern Phoebe hunting one of the small marsh areas just in off Rt 181.  I tried for a iPhone shot through my binoculars but I couldn't get one to come out. 

I returned in the early afternoon to Winsor Dam and the Pine Grosbeaks had left but I did have a couple flyover White winged Crossbills.