Golden Eagle and some late warblers to end the first week of November

Golden Eagle, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Nov 7, 2022

Golden Eagle, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Nov 7, 2022

Golden Eagle, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Nov 7, 2022

Turkey Vultures, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Nov 7, 2022

Orange crowned Warbler, Hatfield, MA, Nov 7, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hatfield, MA, Nov 7, 2022

Black capped Chickadee, Hatfield, MA, Nov 7, 2022

Northern Cardinal, Hatfield, MA, Nov 7, 2022

I had a banner day for rare and linerging species on what would be the last of four record setting warm days in November with highs that made it to the low to mid 70's each day.  The lows for the last couple of mornings were in the low 60's (well above the typical highs in the low 50's).  I started my morning after work up in Hatfield looking for and finding two lingering species of warblers (Orange crowned Warbler and Nashville Warbler).  I had the Orange crowned Warbler fairly quickly but it took awhile to finally get brief looks at the Nashville Warbler and neither species was very photogenic.  The Nashville Warbler was the rarer of the two as it is getting very late for the species to still be around.  Besides the warblers I had a late Gray Catbird that was in a dense thicket and never allowed a chance for photos.  Once I had the warblers I headed across the river and decided on a stop at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River.  I sighted a few Turkey Vultures on my way in and after I parked and started scanning I eventually turned up at least a dozen.  As I was picking through the Turkey Vultures I noticed a single Black Vulture among them and as I was getting ready to some photos of the bird I noticed another large dark raptor heading southeast away from the vultures that looked interesting.  I quickly brought up my binoculars and quickly identified the bird as a juvenile Golden Eagle...not a species I was expected on a day with strong southerly winds.  I eventually got some distant photos of the bird before I lost track of it as it continued moving off in a southerly direction (others saw what was almost certainly the same individual in Hatfield a bit before I saw it in Hadley).  Golden Eagle can be a tough species to come across and some years I do not find one...the species is much more likely on cold days when the north winds are really blowing or sometime in the middle of winter so it was a pleasure to find one on a warm day as I walked around outside in a t-shirt. 

American Coots, Hatfield, MA, Nov 6, 2022

On my way to work yesterday I took advantage of the earlier sunrise to try my luck in relocating the Yellow headed Blackbird I found in Hatfield on Thursday as it left a large roost of blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds and starlings.  Unfortunately I did not have any luck finding the Yellow headed Blackbirds but the number of birds using the roost appeared to have dropped substantially from several thousand to perhaps a bit over a thousand and many of the birds did not head due south as had been the case a few days before.   The one highlight during my short time out included a high count of American Coots.