I did some more guiding this morning for a birder from India with the main goal being seeing a Red headed Woodpecker. Initially we were going to try for the one that showed up at Quabbin Park on June 20th. Although I had it the following day and it was very cooperative, subsequent visits the next two mornings failed to turn it up. With the Quabbin Park bird far from certain we made the decision to make the drive up to the Montague Sand Plains instead where there have been multiple individuals for several weeks. I seldom head up there but it is a very unique habitat in this area and a fantastic birding spot. We arrived a bit after sunrise and were greeted by a family of very vocal Common Ravens and then started our walk out through the sand plains. Beyond the usual species expected here in numbers (such as Field Sparrows, Eastern Towhees and Prairie Warblers) we had multiple flyover groups of Red Crossbills. The vast majority were Type 12 but we did have at least one that almost certainly was a Type 4 (sadly my attempted recording failed to capture it so it will have to remain as unconfirmed). Thanks to some fantastic directions we were able to find the Red headed Woodpecker at a nest site. We were able to watch from a distance the largely silent birds move around the area and come out of the nest where they are very likely sitting on eggs (Red headed Woodpecker is a very rare breeding species here so having them likely nesting is quite notable). After watching the Red headed Woodpeckers for a bit, as well as an active Northern Flicker nest nearby, we continued our walk and eventually had a couple Red Crossbills actual land so we could see them perched in a pine. On our return walk we once again stopped briefly in the area of the nest and got to see the changing of the guard at the nest hole...very cool to see.
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