Update on the neck tagged Canada Geese and an early Pine Warbler among other stuff this morning

Canada Goose with neck tag, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

Canada Goose with neck tag, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

Canada Geese with neck tags, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

Now for an update on the neck tagged Canada Geese I found last week in Hadley.  I got an e-mail from Tony Fox who has been tagging Canada Geese up in Greenland for years now. He sent lots of detailed on the tagged geese I found as well as additional info.  The tags were yellow with black writing with the codes "GT6" and "GU5".  I have found similarly tagged in the past and the codes beginning with "G" have all been tagged in Greenland (Greenland tagged Canada Geese -April 2015, Greenland tagged Canada Geese -March 2013).  Below is the information of the two geese including when and where they were caught and all the resightings so far.

GT6 caught Isunngua, West Greenland, July 2014

GT6 04.04.2015 Magenta, Farnham, Quebec, Canada, RESIGHT BHA
GT6 26.11.2015 Millers Pond, Smithtown, New York USA, RESIGHT DR
GT6 07.01.2016 Millers Pond, Smithtown, New York USA, RESIGHT MG
GT6 20.03.2016 Bassin de Chambly, Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, near Montreal, Canada, RESIGHT RBE
GT6 26.02.2017 Congamonde Lakes, Southwick, Hampden, Mass., USA, RESIGHT DOH
GT6 14.11.2017 Millers Pond, Smithtown, New York USA RESIGHT DR
GT6 03.03.2018 Russellville, North Amherst, Hampshire,Mass., USA RESIGHT LT

GU5 caught Isunngua, West Greenland, July 2014

GU5 29.11.2014 Millers Pond, Smithtown, New York USA, RESIGHT DLM
GU5 05.01.2015 Millers Pond, Smithtown, New York USA, RESIGHT DLM
GU5 26.11.2015 Millers Pond, Smithtown, New York USA, RESIGHT DR
GU5 07.01.2016 Millers Pond, Smithtown, New York USA, RESIGHT MG
GU5 19.01.2016 Elda Lake, North Babylon, New York USA, RESIGHT CC
GU5 03.04.2016 Le Croche-à-Bourret, Quebec, Canada, RESIGHT PR
GU5 14.11.2017 Millers Pond, Smithtown, New York USA, RESIGHT DR
GU5 03.03.2018 Russellville, North Amherst, Hampshire, Mass., USA, RESIGHT L

It is interesting to see the distances the two birds have covered and the fact that they were seen together on multiple occasions.  Thanks to Tony Fox for the detailed information.

Canada Goose with neck band, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 23, 2018

Canada Geese with neck band, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 23, 2018

I also got the information back on two of the three neck tagged geese I found in Hadley on February 23 (I was not able to read the third tag so didn't have enough info to send in).  The two birds I did hear about where both banded in Quebec.  The bird with the tag "Y2U7" was banded 7/3/2013 at Boucherville, Quebec and it was an adult when banded.  The second individual with the tag "X9E3" was banded 7/4/2017 near Varennes, Quebec and was also an adult when banded.  I had found another bird banded up in Quebec four years ago...more on that sighting here

Pine Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Mar 10, 2018

Pine Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Mar 10, 2018

Ruby crowned Kiglet, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2018

Red tailed Hawk, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Mar 10, 2018

Black Vultures, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Mar 10, 2018

I decided to make the trip over to Arcadia first thing this morning mainly searching for waterfowl but I found very few in the marsh (just a couple Mallards and a Hooded Merganser).  The Oxbow had a few more birds as did the nearby Fort River but overall numbers for waterfowl were quite low.  I did however turn up an Eastern Screech Owl, at least two Yellow rumped Warblers and two Fox Sparrows.  Since I was in the area I stopped over to the Lower Mill Pond in Easthampton where I had two Black Vultures atop the smokestack they have been frequenting for a few weeks.  I then headed back across the river and heading north up through Hadley and Amherst checking fields for geese but the only geese I found were on the campus pond at UMASS and even that spot only had a few hundred.  As it appeared waterfowl were just not around in any numbers I decided to head down to Mitch's Way to see if I could find anything of interest.  The walk there turned up a Yellow bellied Sapsucker as well as a Ruby crowned Kinglet (I suspect these are both overwintering birds and not early migrants as both species have been in the area on and off for the last several weeks).  As I was walking out I got a text from Devin letting me know the Pine Warbler I had searched for in vain the last few days had once again returned to their yard.  I then headed over to their house and finally got the bird as soon as I showed up as it fed on one of the suet feeders...my earliest record for the species in the county.  Thanks to the Griffith's for letting me stop by on multiple occasions to try for the bird the last few days.  If one is so interested I have a much more detailed post regarding the warbler at the following link:  Early Pine Warbler

Cackling Goose, a hybrid goose and more neck tagged Canada Geese plus other stuff

Greater White fronted Goose x Canada Goose hybrid and Cackling Goose, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

Greater White fronted Goose x Canada Goose hybrid, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

Cackling Goose, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

Canada Goose with neck tag, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

Canada Goose with neck tag, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

Canada Geese with neck tags, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

After the heavy rain and wind yesterday I wanted to get out and see what I could find this morning.  The most productive stop of the morning was up to the fields in North Hadley/North Amherst where I found a Cackling Goose hanging around with a Greater White fronted Goose x Canada Goose hybrid (the two birds were found together at the UMASS Pond a few days ago by Keenan).  The two birds were inseparable and were never more than a few feet away from each other.  I also found two neck tagged Canada Geese among the 1500+ geese.  The tags were yellow with black writing with the codes "GT6" and "GU5".  I have found similarly tagged in the past and the codes beginning with "G" have all been tagged in Greenland (Greenland tagged Canada Geese -April 2015, Greenland tagged Canada Geese -March 2013).  I have reported the birds to the banding lab and will update when I hear back on the details of the birds.  A Peregrine buzzed the large flock and sent them all up in the air for a bit but a good percentage settled back on the fields.

White crowned Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Mar 3, 2018

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 3, 2018

I started the morning off at Arcadia mainly looking to see if any waterfowl were around after yesterdays nor'easter but it was oddly very quiet with little in the way of waterfowl.  I did manage to turn up at least five Yellow rumped Warblers in the same area they have been for weeks. I then made a brief stop in the East Meadows but it was too muddy to go in very far so I headed over to the Honey Pot where I found two of the continuing White crowned Sparrows among a few other sparrows.  I also made a few stops around Quabbin but it was very windy at Winsor Dam so no luck in finding anything unusual there either.

Ross's Goose among several good birds the last couple days

Ross's Goose, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 23, 2018

Ross's Goose, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 23, 2018

Ross's Goose, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 23, 2018

Canada Goose with neck band, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 23, 2018

Canada Geese with neck band, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 23, 2018

Although the last couple days were not nearly as pleasant as our record setting warmth on Tuesday and Wednesday they were at least productive bird wise with lots of good stuff including a Ross's Goose today.  Ross's Goose is a rare species in Hampshire County and I have only had them a few times in the past including a single back in April of 2015 and a group of between 5-8 seen at various times on the dates of March 17-22 at a variety of locations (including in the same field I had the one today).  I found out about the bird from a phone call from Bob Zajda letting me know he saw a white goose among some Canada Geese as he was driving by but he could not stop to check on the exact species and wanted to know if I could go check them out.   I was able to head right over and eventually found a spot to get a view (very tough at this location due to private property, busy roads and lots of mud).  I initially saw a white goose in among the Canada Geese but it was tucked in and not moving around.  I started scanning the rest of the nearly five hundred geese present and ran across both a Cackling Goose and three neck banded Canada Geese.  I kept checking back on the white goose and I eventually saw it starting to move, showing its small size and small triangular bill.  I got some digiscoped shots and got word out on the bird.  I tried to relocate the Cackling Goose but I could never turn it back up.  I also spent some time trying to read the codes on the neck banded geese but never managed to read all three but I got at least one and possibly two codes and have reported them to the banding lab and will update when I hear back.  The viewing conditions were far from optimal with fog and heavy rain but it was nice to see a rare bird on a miserable day..thanks to Bob for the heads up to go check on the bird.  The two geese bring my total for the month of February in Hampshire County up to 80...a record setting pace for me.

Red shouldered Hawk, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 23, 2018

White crowned Sparrows, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Feb 23, 2018

Dawn, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Feb 23, 2018

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 23, 2018

Elsewhere today I turned up a number of good birds and I have listed the highlights below:

-Common Loon and Iceland Gull (different individual compared to yesterday's bird) at Winsor Dam

-Killdeer, a Hermit Thrush and two Field Sparrows at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River

-2 White crowned Sparrows at the Honey Pot in Hadley

-2 Fish Crows at the Hadley Mall

-Red shouldered Hawk at Quabbin Park

Ring billed Gulls and Herring Gulls (part of several hundred present), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 22, 2018

American Wigeon pair with Canada Geese, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 22, 2018

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 22, 2018

Yesterday I also had some good stuff before the snow and rain moved in with the highlights being a pair of American Wigeon, two female Red breasted Mergansers and an Iceland Gull at Winsor Dam.

Greater White fronted Goose and Black headed Gull highlight the last couple days

 

Greater White fronted Goose, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 7, 2015

Greater White fronted Goose, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 7, 2015

Greater White fronted Goose, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 7, 2015

Greater White fronted Goose, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 7, 2015

Greater White fronted Goose, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 7, 2015

Blue winged Teal, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 7, 2015

The last few days have continued to produce some great birds around the area and I have managed to catch up with them either before or after work. This morning I made another early morning stop along Connecticut River in Hadley and found a Greater White fronted Goose in among the 620+ Canada Geese (many of which headed out to the south around 6:30 including an individual that may have been a Cackling Goose). The Greater White fronted Goose appeared to be a first year bird with no black marking on the belly and slightly less white around the base of the bill (the same individual was seen later in the day along East Hadley Rd). Lots of other species of waterfowl around including 54 Wood Ducks, 3 American Wigeon, 19 Black Ducks, 28 Mallards, a male Blue winged Teal, 34 Green winged Teal, 44 Ring necked Ducks, 5 Common Mergansers and a single Pied billed Grebe. There were even more birds deeper in the flooded areas but distance and trees made it impossible to see everything.

Black headed Gull, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 6, 2015

Black headed Gull, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 6, 2015

Black headed Gull, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 6, 2015

Black headed Gull, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 6, 2015

Yesterday I started out very early along river the in Hadley where I had 540 Canada Geese, 23 Wood Ducks, 8 Black Ducks, 33 Mallards, 8 Green winged Teal, 7 Ring necked Ducks and 4 Common Mergansers. During the late morning I got a call from Keenan about an odd gull he was looking at. He sent Jacob and myself a photo and as we were looking at the photo Jacob suggested it was a Black headed Gull, which is indeed what it was! A very rare visitor to the area but the bird was oddly within several hundred feet of the location in North Hadley/Amherst where Keenan and Ian found one a couple years ago. I managed to steal away for a short time to get a brief look at it and get some photos of an adult in full breeding colors (also noticed that three Northern Shovelers continue to show well at the UMASS horse farm). A truly amazing run of gulls continue in the valley with seven species so far this year. 

Canada Geese with neck tags, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2015

Canada Goose with neck tags, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2015

Canada Goose with neck tags, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2015

Green winged Teal, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2015

Canada Goose with odd facial pattern (black line through white on face), East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2015

I also heard of some additional neck tagged geese from Greenland being seen and I hoped to catch up with some after work.I stopped once again along the Connecticut River and found a couple of neck tagged birds in among 140+ Canada Geese.  These two birds had yellow collars with the codes “GX4” and “G73” and were tagged in Greenland.  Below is the information on the two birds I received via Anthony Fox (researcher in Greenland). 

G73 (formerly GTX reringed G73 summer 2014) caught Isunngua, west Greenland, July 2009 and July 2014

1/4/2013 Stony Brook Fire Department, Suffolk, New York
2/8/2015 Lake Champlain, Tahoe Drive, Villas, Cape May, New Jersey
3/18/2015 Green Lane Reservoir, Pennsberg, Pennsylvania
4/6/2015 Hadley, Hatfield, Hampshire, Mass
4/18/2015 Beaudet Reservoir, Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada

GX4 caught Isunngua, west Greenland, July 2014
2/8/2015 Lake Champlain, Tahoe Drive, Villas, Cape May, New Jersey
4/6/2015 Hadley, Hatfield, Hampshire, Mass.
4/18/2015 Beaudet Reservoir, Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada 

As I headed for home I noticed a large gathering of geese along East Hadley Road that eventually swelled to nearly a thousand birds including one individual with an unusual black line through the white on its face.More birds continued to arrive as I was leaving but I needed to get headed home.

Ross's Goose and lots of other waterfowl

Canada Goose with neck tag, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 1, 2015

Great Blue Heron, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 1, 2015

Connecticut River at dawn, North Lane, Hadley, MA, Apr 1, 2015

April has begun with a continued push of waterfowl and I have managed to get out before and after work the last couple days and have found some good stuff.  Yesterday morning I made a couple stops with my first being to the Connecticut River in Hadley where I found the neck tagged goose that was present there the day before still around among the 344 Canada Geese plus 8 Wood Ducks, 9 Black Ducks, 56 Mallards and two each of Green winged Teal and Common Merganser. The only other notable species there was a Great Blue Heron. My other stop yesterday morning was over to North Lane in Hadley where I had half a dozen Wood Ducks, 39 Black Ducks, 36 Mallards and 4 Common Mergansers. During the day I got a call from Jacob telling me he had a Ross’s Goose at the UMASS campus pond (a very nice showing of unusual geese there this year). I unfortunately was not be able to go to try to see it until later in the day and by the time I did the bird had apparently moved out north with a group of geese. I checked a variety of areas but had no luck finding the goose. The best spots I could find for geese included Mitch’s Way that held 220 Canada Geese plus a Common Goldeneye and a handful of Black Ducks and Mallards. The campus pond held 650+ geese but nothing unusual among them. Mill Valley Road started to have one group after another of geese coming in to feed in the fields with the numbering growing to 530 before a Bald Eagle flew by and flushed them all. Other notables there included 18 Turkey Vultures and 110+ American Crows. 

Ross's Goose, Connecticut River, Northampton, MA, Apr 2, 2015

Ross's Goose, Connecticut River, Northampton, MA, Apr 2, 2015

Canada Geese with yellow neck tags, Connecticut River, Northampton, MA, Apr 2, 2015

Connecticut River at dawn, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Apr 2, 2015

Cackling Geese, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 2, 2015

Cackling Goose, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 2, 2015

Cackling Goose, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 2, 2015

I was out early again today and decided the most likely spot to find the Ross’s Goose (or anything else unusual) would be at roost in the river (before the crew boats made it out for the morning). I stopped to view the Connecticut River from both the Hadley and Northampton side and found a large group of waterfowl. The group included a Snow Goose, a Ross’s Goose (likely the same one discovered by Jacob yesterday), two (possibly three) Cackling Geese, 3255+ Canada Geese (including two birds with yellow neck tags that were just too far away to read the numbers on), 21 Wood Ducks, a pair of American Wigeon, 36 Black Ducks, 112 Mallards, 5 Green winged Teal, 38 Ring necked Ducks, 4 Bufflehead, 8 Hooded Mergansers and 7 Common Mergansers. Many of the geese were distant but it was interesting to have a Snow Goose and Ross’s Goose in the same general area to compare sizes and appearance. I managed some distant photos of many of the geese. Most of the geese (and others) were flushed up by the crew teams training on the river and most headed either east or north. A total of thirteen species of waterfowl this morning was quite respectable. The other species of note along the river was my first Eastern Phoebe of the season.

 

Although the warmer temperatures today (into the low 60's) and the southerly winds will probably keep the birds moving north, you never know. Tomorrow I will have some time to check other areas in more detail and perhaps turn up something else noteworthy. There have been five species of geese in the valley in the last few days (I have only missed the Greater White fronted Geese). There is a chance to find a sixth or seventh species (Barnacle or Pink footed, but both are very rare).