Easter birding

 

Green winged Teal, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Mar 31, 2013

 

Green winged Teal, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Mar 31, 2013

 

American Wigeon, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Mar 31, 2013

American Wigeon, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Mar 31, 2013

Spent the morning birding with Ian Davies and Ben Lagasse and we visited quite a few locations looking for whatever might be around.  Before meeting them before dawn I stopped at Wentworth Farm CA and had a Great Horned Owl as well as a few woodcock.  Once we got together we first stopped at Hadley Cove, were we had small numbers of seven species of waterfowl but nothing unusual.  We then headed across the river with stops at the Oxbow, Arcadia and a couple other spots in the Northampton area.  The Oxbow had at least 88 Common Mergansers, 17 Ring necked Ducks, 8 Black Ducks, 7 Wood Ducks and other expected species.  No sign of the scaup present there yesterday.  We then headed to Arcadia and had a Pied Billed Grebe just off the road in the same location it was in yesterday.  On the marsh at Arcadia, it was very quiet with little activity.  Other areas nearby were equally as quiet.  We continued north up to Great Pond in Hatfield where we spent over an hour checking the area and found the following waterfowl: seven American Wigeon, 18 Green winged Teal (no luck with the Blue winged Teal found here yesterday), five Ring necked Ducks, a dozen Wood Ducks, 17 Black Ducks, two Common Mergansers, 21+ Mallards and 128 Canada Geese (all flybys).  We also had several Swamp Sparrows calling, at least 22 American Tree Sparrows, a Field Sparrow that called a few times (species #109 for the county this year), a Northern Harrier flying over the pond, two Great Blue Herons flying past, five Wild Turkeys out in the middle of a large field and a couple Killdeer.  We continued further north with a stop at Tri town Beach to see if we could catch up with the large gathering of geese that have been there the last few days.  The geese appeared to have moved on with only a few present plus a few Common Mergansers.  We checked through several fields in Amherst looking for geese before heading over to Lake Warner.  No luck with geese in any of the fields at all.  Lake Warner was also quiet with just a Mute Swan, a few Ring necked Ducks and Mallards plus our first Eastern Phoebe of the day.

Song Sparrow, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Mar 31, 2013

Before heading back toward home I briefly stopped by the rail trial in Amherst and checked out the area around Hop Brook.  Noteworthy birds included a few tree Swallows and eight Green winged Teal.

Common Merganser, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 31, 2013

Gadwall (some imagination required), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 31, 2013

Gadwall (some imagination required), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 31, 2013

Winsor Dam with skim coat of ice after 10am, Mar 31, 2013

I stopped by Winsor Dam late morning and found the reservoir still had a skim coat of ice on it from the night before.  As I was there the ice all melted away as the day warmed and the winds increased.  I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes sky watching at this location and had some movement of blackbirds, robins, grackles and crows plus small groups of Canada Geese.  Also had three Great Blue Herons together moving northeast as well as two Tree Swallows.  Raptors around included seven Turkey Vultures, a few each of Red tailed Hawk and Bald Eagle.  A couple of Eastern Phoebes called back and forth at the dam too.  Waterfowl on the water at various times included a pair of Gadwall (first spring record for me at Quabbin), three Bufflehead, a dozen Black Ducks, 31 Mallards, one Hooded Merganser and 31 Common Mergansers.  Also had my first butterfly of the season here, a Mourning Cloak.

With today marking the last day of March I will take a look at where I stand in my quest to see as many species as possible in Hampshire County in a year and compare my status to my previous best year (2012).  As of today I stand at 109 species.  Last year on the same date I stood at 100 species and did not reach the 109 mark until April 15^th.  With April starting tomorrow the new species should start to come fast and furious, especially near the end of the month.  By the end of April last year I was up to 130 species and added 30 of those in April. 

Southern Quabbin area

 

Dawn at Hanks Meadow, Mar 30, 2013

Ring necked Duck (showing its ring neck), Route 9 marsh, Quabbin Park, Mar 30, 2013

Ring necked Duck, Route 9 marsh, Quabbin Park, Mar 30, 2013

I decided to spend the day around the local area starting out before dawn trying to find some owls around south Quabbin. No luck with owls but did have a few American Woodcock. I stopped by Winsor Dam and had 17 Common Mergansers, 14 Mallards and a few Canada Geese plus hundreds of gulls but nothing unusual among them that I could find. I then headed through Quabbin Park and had  two Common Goldeneye, seven Ring necked Ducks, 16 Common Mergansers, three Hooded Mergansers, 7 Black Ducks, 21 Mallards and 11 Canada Geese.  I also had a kingfisher, a lucky 13 Wild Turkeys, a couple Tree Swallows and a Winter Wren singing.

Tree Swallow, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 30, 2013

I next headed over to Lake Wallace where I caught up with species #108 when I found a Swamp Sparrow calling. Other birds there included 7 Ring necked Ducks, 4 Wood Ducks, 4 Hooded Mergansers and a Tree Swallow.

Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Mar 30, 2013

Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Mar 30, 2013

Common Merganser, Winsor Dam, Mar 30, 2013

Winsor Dam panoramic, Mar 30, 2013

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Mar 30, 2013

Quabbin Reservoir from Winsor Dam, Mar 30, 2013

I then headed back over to Winsor Dam and had more waterfowl including a couple Bufflehead,  three Common Goldeneye, a dozen Common Mergansers, nine Mallards, three Black ducks and 74 Canada Geese with most of those headed north. I spent almost 45 minutes there watching for migrants moving by but nothing too unusual.  There was a movement of blackbirds and grackles and a few robins plus at least two Killdeer flying by.

Great Blue Herons on nest, Quabbin Gate 9 marsh, Pelham, MA, Mar 30, 2013

In the early afternoon I took a ride up to Gate 9 to check the marsh nearby for waterfowl. A large portion of the marsh was still iced in so I only had a few Hooded Mergansers, Mallards and Canada Geese in the small parts of open water. I did have four Great Blue Herons sitting on nests in the small rookery there.

Tomorrow and Monday could be good with south winds kicking in and bringing a new influx of migrants with it. Anything is possible but I expect to see more waterfowl, Tree Swallows and sparrows plus early warblers and other early season migrants and possibly some of the irruptive species from the winter moving back north.

Brief check for waterfowl



Northern Pintail, Black Duck, Green winged Teal and Mallard, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 29, 2013

I made another brief stop at Hadley Cove this morning and had a small selection of waterfowl present.  There were no Canada Geese present at all but I did have four Northern Pintails (males), seven Green winged Teal, five Wood Ducks, six Common Mergansers, seven Black Ducks and 16 Mallards.  The weather continues to warm a bit with temperatures once again getting to the 50’s today.  The weekend should finally bring in some good numbers of early migrants as the temperatures continue to rise with the winds turning to the south.  I’m sure several new species for the year will arrive over the next few days.

Neck tagged Canada Goose from Greenland!

Tagged Canada Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

Tagged Canada Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

As mentioned in an earlier post from March 23 I found a neck tagged Canada Goose at Hadley Cove:(http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2013/03/greater-white-fronted-goose-or-geese.html
 I have just gotten back some detailed information about this individual from researchers in Denmark.  The bird (a male) was originally tagged in west Greenland on July 17, 2008!  Very cool.  It has been seen a few other times over the last several years (list included at bottom of post).  With all the recent Greater White fronted Geese around I guess it is not completely unexpected that a Canada Goose joined them in their trip down from Greenland.  It is very interesting to me to track the journeys that certain individual birds take over the course of their lifetimes.  I have seen (and reported) several tagged geese over the years but this one is the farthest travelling individual I have yet found.  This is the first time I have gotten back a personal e-mail (with quite a bit of detail) from a researcher on a tagged bird I have found.  I have included the e-mail below:

Thank you very sincerely for your reports of the Canada Geese marked with the yellow collar GJA From just south of Hatfield, Hampshire County, Mass.on 23 March 2013 for which we are extremely grateful! I am very happy to tell you that this Canada Geese was marked by our banding team in Greenland and that we are extremely excited about the news! GJA was caught as part of a project to mark Greenland White-fronted and Canada Geese in west Greenland in the summer of 2008 and was recaptured nearby on another lake in summer 2009!
GJA was caught and banded on a lake simply known as Lake T to the banding team (very few lakes in this area have Greenlandic names) which is at 67°07'58"N 50°34'02"W in an area known as Isunngua, immediately north of the airport at Kangerlussuaq in west Greenland. This has been a study area for our investigations on and off over many years. It was an adult male when caught, part of a flock of 42 non-breeding adults trapped on 17th July 2008. It was retrapped the following year on Lake U (67°08'04"N 50°34'26"W) on 18th July 2009.

I have taken the liberty of attaching two files below for your information - one containing the listing with your observation along with others from this year so far and a pdf file containing a short paper describing our earlier findings (this file need Adobe Reader to open - let me know if you cannot open this). If you would like a little more information about the project last summer, you can find this at:http://greenland10.wikispaces.com/ with an update from this year via the link on the bottom of the list in the Word document.You may also be interested to read of other sightings of these geese from North Maine (including photographs) athttp://northernmainebirds.blogspot.com/

Needless to say, if you hear of any other reports of ringed or collared Canada Geese (especially those beginning with G since these are ours) please do not hesitate to report them to us here - needless to state, we would be extremely interested to know whether any other collars turn up in this area.
Do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like further information!

All very best wishes and enormous thanks again for taking the trouble to report these birds!
T

Tony Fox
Research Professor

Department of Wildlife Ecology and Biodiversity
National Environmental Research Institute
University of Aarhus
Kalø
Grenåvej 14
DK-8410 Rønde
Denmark

Below I have also included the various sightings of this particular goose since it was initially captured back in 2009.  Interesting in that the bird travelled quite a bit further south this winter.  Keep your eyes out over the next few weeks for neck tagged geese (especially tags that start with "G"). 

GJA caught Isunngua, west Greenland, July 2008

 

GJA         18.07.2009              Lake U, Isunngua, West Greenland                                                          RESIGHT                                GWGS

GJA         12.04.2010              Beaudet Reservoir, Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada 46°04’N 71°58’W      RESIGHT                                CR

GJA         21.04.2010              Beaudet Reservoir, Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada 46°04’N 71°58’W      RESIGHT                                CR

GJA         21.05.2010              Near Lake P, Isunngua, West Greenland                                                  RESIGHT                                HTH

GJA         19.03.2012              Bassin de Chambly, Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, near Montreal,

Canada, 45°27'40.1”N 73°16'23.6” W                                     RESIGHT                                RBE

GJA         31.07.2012              Lakes Q and R, Isunngua, West Greenland                                                              RESIGHT                                HTH

GJA         23.03.2013              Hadley Cove, Hatfield, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA

42°19’49.95”N 72°35’17.92”W                                                              RESIGHT                                LT

Thanks to the researchers for providing all this detailed information on this bird I have included in this post.

Cackling Geese and more Black Vultures

Cackling Geese, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Mar 27, 2013

Cackling Geese, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Mar 27, 2013

Cackling Geese, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Mar 27, 2013

Cackling Goose, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Mar 27, 2013

Cackling Goose, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Mar 27, 2013

Despite not having the day off to bird I still managed to run across some great birds today.  Before work I stopped at Hadley Cove and had a small number of waterfowl that included seven Northern Pintails, all males.  During the mid morning I had two Black Vultures flyover at tree top level as I drove along West Farms Road in Northampton.  The birds were likely leaving a nearby roost area along with several Turkey Vultures.  Later in the morning I heard and saw an Eastern Phoebe along the Mill River near Smith College.  The weather warmed into the 50's today but cooled a bit later in the afternoon when the winds picked up and some rain fell.  On my way home I stopped by the UMASS campus pond to follow up on a report of two Cackling Geese on the pond.  When I arrived I ran into a couple other birders checking out the birds.  I got some great looks at the two individuals over the next 20 minutes or so before they left along with many Canada Geese to the north and west.  The Cackling Geese became species #107 for the county this year.  Thanks to Ian for the heads up on the geese.

Canada Goose w/ odd coloration on head, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Mar 27, 2013

Canada Goose w/ odd coloration on head, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Mar 27, 2013

Among the nearly 700 Canada Geese I had a unique individual with some odd white coloration on its head.  It is fun to keep track of these unique indivdual geese to see where they turn up and how long they stick around.

Gadwall and Greater White fronted Goose (and others) in the valley

Greater White fronted Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 25, 2013

Greater White fronted Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 25, 2013

I birded this morning with Ian visiting a variety of areas in Amherst, Hadley, Northampton and Easthampton.  I was running a little early to pick up Ian so I briefly stopped at Orchard Hill at UMASS and had at least eight American Woodcocks calling and displaying.  Our first stop for the morning was Hadley Cove which held quite a few less waterfowl then the previous several mornings but what it lacked it quantity it made up for in quality.  We had a likely Cackling Goose from the car but then could not relocate it (not counted as it was not confirmed).  The Greater White fronted Goose was showing quite well and allowed great looks as it swam among the 120 Canada Geese present.  Other waterfowl included a Northern Pintail, a Ring necked Duck, a Green winged Teal, 15 Wood Ducks, 14 Black Ducks, ten Common Mergansers and 45+ Mallards.  We also had three Great Blue Herons come in and land in the trees near the cove.

Gadwall, Mill River, Northampton, MA, Mar 25, 2013

Gadwall, Mill River, Northampton, MA, Mar 25, 2013

Gadwall, Mill River, Northampton, MA, Mar 25, 2013

We then headed across the river with our first stop being the Mill River where we had a male Gadwall which became species #106 for my county year.  Gadwall can be quite tough to find inland so I was happy to run across this individual.  Other waterfowl here included nearly 100 Mallards, 25 Black Ducks and a couple Wood Ducks plus Canada Geese.

American Wigeon, River St, Easthampton, MA, Mar 25, 2013

American Wigeon, River St, Easthampton, MA, Mar 25, 2013

American Wigeon, River St, Easthampton, MA, Mar 25, 2013

The various areas of the Oxbow had a nice show of Common Mergansers with at least 218 present.  The oxbow also held 25 Hooded Mergansers,   Also present were four Ring necked Ducks, a couple each of Black Duck and Wood Duck, around 70 Canada Geese and a few Mallards.  A couple Bald Eagles kept watch over all the waterfowl present.  We took a ride down River Street in Easthampton to try to get a better view of the oxbow but the real treat here was a male American Wigeon in a small puddle in one the fields.  At nearby Arcadia we had small numbers of the expected species of waterfowl but nothing too noteworthy.  As we walked back to the car we had a Barred Owl fly over head and perch in a tree.

We headed back across the river with stops at North Lane, Lake Warner, Meadow Street fields, Mill Valley Road and finishing up at the UMASS pond.  North Lane and Lake Warner were very quiet with the only waterfowl being geese heading north.  The Meadow Street fields held some geese as well as at least 9 Killdeer.  The area looks great for shorebirds as the season moves on.  Mill Valley again held a nice selection of geese with at least 1090 Canada Geese but nothing unusual that we could pick out.  The area also had 24 Mallards, a few Killdeer and at least 19 Horned Larks working the eastern fields.  The campus pond held only a small number of Mallards and Canada Geese.

I then headed for home but made a quick stop at Winsor Dam in hopes of finding something good but only had a couple Common Mergansers.  The winds continued to pick up and waves started to build a bit.  The rest of the morning and midday I spent walking with Wilson along Jabish Canal and Piper Farm.  Jabish Canal turned up another Winter Wren as well as a Red shouldered Hawk, a few Red tailed Hawks, a few Turkey Vultures and a Cooper's Hawk. 

I heard late in the afternoon that the Greater White fronted Goose was refound at the campus pond.  It will be interesting to see how long the bird sticks around before heading back to breed in Greenland.

Quabbin Park area

Eastern Bluebird, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 24, 2013

Wood Ducks (and Mallards), Route 9 marsh, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 24, 2013

Hooded Mergansers, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 24, 2013

I decided to spend the day around the local area visiting Quabbin Park, Covey WMA and Lake Wallace.  The weather started off cold with temperatures in the 20's but eventually warmed into the 40's but the wind kicked up again from the northwest.  With the cold weather and northerly winds migration continues to be stalled with little movement obvious and this is unlikely to change through the next week.  Perhaps by next weekend the conditions will improve and the migration will pick up.

At Quabbin Park I had the following waterfowl (with almost all at Winsor Dam or Route 9 marsh):  13 Common Mergansers, four Hooded Mergansers, 16 Wood Ducks, three Ring necked Ducks, three Black Ducks, 20 Mallards and 11 Canada Geese.  I tried to find a Pine Warbler (which should have arrived by now) but couldn't find a one.  No other new bird species for the day at all.

Lake Wallace had 27 Hooded Mergansers, a Common Merganser, four Wood Ducks, nine Mallards and 15 Canada Geese.  Also present were at least four Tree Swallows, a few Eastern Bluebirds prospecting nest holes and a singing Winter Wren.

Covey had a little raptor activity happening with four Red tailed Hawks, a pair of Cooper's Hawks in courtship flight and a couple Turkey Vultures but little else.

Greater White fronted Goose (or geese) continues

Greater White fronted Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

Greater White fronted Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

 

Greater White fronted Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

Greater White fronted Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

Greater White fronted Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

Black Ducks (and others), Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

Canada Goose with neck tag (Yellow GJA), Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

In what is probably sounding like a broken record I spent the morning visiting various locations trying to catch up with waterfowl and whatever else might be out there.  I started out once again predawn at Hadley Cove and yet again found the cove packed with birds.  I found a (the) Greater White fronted Goose fairly quickly and got a few photos.  In among the 1900+ Canada Geese I found a neck tagged individual.  The tag was yellow with the letters "GJA".  I have reported the tag and I will update on the background of this individual when I hear back.  Besides the geese I found 38 Wood Ducks, at least 42 Black Ducks, 49 Mallards, 16 Ring necked Ducks, three Green winged Teal, nine Common Mergansers and ten hybrid Mallards/Black Ducks.  I also had a Killdeer and a kingfisher.

Old Mill River, Northampton, MA, Mar 23, 2013

A brief stop at the old mill river in Northampton produced a pair of American Wigeon, half a dozen Wood Ducks, 22 Black Ducks, 41 Mallards, 32 Canada Geese and five hybrid Mallards/Black Ducks. 

Ring necked Ducks, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 23, 2013

Wood Duck,  Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 23, 2013

A swing over to the oxbow and Arcadia produced more waterfowl including 12 Wood Ducks, 77 Common Mergansers, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, three Ring necked Ducks, eight Black Ducks, 18 Mallards and 58 Canada Geese.  At least two Killdeer were working the muddy shore and were joined by a Great Blue Heron.

Canada Geese, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Mar 23, 2013

A short ride through the East Meadows produced around 150 Canada Geese and a few Mallards plus 36 Horned Larks and at least 16 Savannah Sparrows near the airport.  The roads in the meadow were rutted up quite a bit and once the temperature went up a bit were sure to turn into a muddy mess so I headed out before checking all the potentially productive areas.  As I headed back across the bridge I had a Peregrine Falcon make a few passes at the pigeons there without success.

Greater White fronted Goose (head visible above the corn), Mill Valley Rd/S. Maple St, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

Greater White fronted Goose (head visible above the corn), Mill Valley Rd/S. Maple St, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

I next stopped at the fields along Mill Valley Road where I had a large group of geese yesterday and yet again the fields contained geese.  I turned up a Greater White fronted Goose just poking its head up above the corn.  Likely the same individual I had earlier at Hadley Cove but who knows for sure.  I went through the flocks a few times but could not find anything else unusual.  I did get a careful count of Canada Geese which totalled 1282.  I also had a flock of 82 Horned Larks flying around the fields.