Red Crossbills and Red breasted Nuthatches this morning (plus others)

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 25, 2022

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 25, 2022

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 25, 2022

Red breasted Nuthatch, Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Aug 25, 2022

Red eyed Vireo, Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Aug 25, 2022

Magnolia Warbler, Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Aug 25, 2022

Black throated Blue Warbler, Cadwell Memorial Forest, Pelham, MA, Aug 25, 2022

River Otter, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Aug 25, 2022

In have out every morning for the last few days with my main focus being warblers (more on the warblers at the following link).  I have also continued to follow up on the ongoing influx of Red Crossbills and Red breasted Nuthatches into the area.  I saw some very interesting behavior this morning with a Red Crossbill at Quabbin Gate 8.  I heard multiple individuals flying over and eventually one came down and ended up in an oak tree where it started feeding on acorns!  I have never seen this behavior with this species before and I managed to capture a crappy video of the behavior and the link to the video is attached here:  Red Crossbill video.  Red breasted Nuthatches continue to show very well throughout the area with double digit counts at multiple locations.  Besides the crossbills and nuthatches there were many other birds around to be seen this morning as well as some mammals.  

Red Crossbills in the valley

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 7, 2022

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 7, 2022

Red Crossbills Type 10 (adult and juvenile), Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 7, 2022

Red Crossbill Type 10, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Aug 1, 2022

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Jul 24, 2022

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Jul 24, 2022

White Pines with cone crop, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 7, 2022

The last several weeks have featured an incursion of Red Crossbills into the area that really started to ramp up in July and has only increased since then.  The vast majority of the crossbills that have been recorded have turned out to be Type 10's.  There are as many as ten different call types in North America and the different types may indeed represent separate species.  The various types can be identified by looking at a spectrogram of their calls.  There are a number of individuals studying this interesting complex and you can add data by recording any Red Crossbills you hear and posting the recordings to an eBird list.  More details on the various Types of Red Crossbills can be found at the following links:

North American Red Crossbill Types

Red Crossbill call types (tips on documentation plus lots of other info)

Recording Red Crossbills

I have been running across Red Crossbills at various spots in the hill towns to the west of the Connecticut River and especially in areas around Quabbin (including right at the house) for a couple months now.  As my sightings have increased lately I decided to spend the last few days concentrating on some areas in the Quabbin area to track down and get recordings of as many as I could  

On Saturday I travelled up to Pelham and checked a few spots including walking the length of the Gate 8 road (no parking allowed so walking it is the only way to cover all the areas).  I was rewarded with several groups of Red Crossbills flying over during the very warm and humid morning.  At a small marsh just outside the boundaries of Quabbin I heard a couple individuals that sounded different then all the Type 10's I have been hearing.  Tim was able to confirm that the different sounding birds were Type 1 Red Crossbills.  The Type 1's I had are the first ones I have ever had in Hampshire County (I have had several on Prescott Peninsula in previous years).  In eBird there are just a couple of records for the county ever (Williamsburg and Southampton) and both in 2020.  I have now had three Types in Hampshire County (Type 1, Type 2 and Type 10) and a total of five Types ever (Type 3 and Type 5 in the western United States).  

Today I once again visited a number of sites in Pelham and added several more recordings that all turned out to be Type 10 plus I got some fantastic looks of both adults and juveniles and got photos and video that can be found in the following eBird list.

As mentioned above almost all the reports (at least those with audio) have turned out to be Type 10 but there have been a few other Types around in low numbers.  

Type 1 - first record for the valley this year were the two I recorded on Saturday in Pelham.  The only other records I could find for the year in western end of the state were out in Berkshire County and included an early May record of a single individual and four in mid July.

Type 2 -one was recorded in Williamsburg in late March and the only other ones have recently shown up in a couple areas of Pelham with up to half a dozen present from late July until early August.

Red breasted Nuthatch, Cadwall Memorial Forest, Pelham, MA, Jul 4, 2022

Red breasted Nuthatch, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 6, 2022

Red breasted Nuthatch, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 7, 2022

Besides the crossbills there has been a noticeable incursion of Red breasted Nuthatches that started a few months ago and continues.  The species breeds in the area but I started noticing them in areas I don't typically find them during the summer.  Other reports and eBird data does indeed support my thoughts that the species is around in greater than typical numbers.  It will be interesting to see what the fall season brings with this species too.

Birding during a long heat wave

 

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Jul 24, 2022

Virginia Rail, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 24, 2022

Raccoon, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 24, 2022

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 23, 2022

Gray Catbird, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 23, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Jul 23, 2022

Common Mergansers, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jul 22, 2022

Veery, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Jul 22, 2022

Northern Mockingbird at nest, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jul 21, 2022

Cedar Waxwing, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2022

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 20, 2022

We have endured a nearly week long heat wave that peaked today with highs in the upper 90's with high humidity.  I have spent most mornings birding early before the heat of the day peaked with most of my time spent continuing to check Lake Wallace at dawn with lots of activity continuing there but so far no unusual waders (more on some of the goings on at the lake at a previous post).  I also checked out a few areas along the river (again looking for unusual waders dispersing) and farm fields for a variety of breeding species and potentially early migrants.  I also relocated a Lawrence's Warbler that has successful bred in Belchertown after not being seen for a few weeks.  This morning I hit a few gates on the southwest side of Quabbin with the main focus being the ongoing (and increasing) incursion of Red Crossbills into the area.  I had several and got recordings of all of them and all turned out to be Type 10 (which is the main Type being seen and heard in the area).  I write up a longer post on this subject in the near future.  

Close up with a Fisher plus a Northern Shrike today and other odd and ends the last few days

Fisher, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Nov 29, 2020

Fisher, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Nov 29, 2020

Fisher, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Nov 29, 2020

The sighting of the day was not a bird but a mammal when I had a close encounter with a Fisher at Gate 8 at Quabbin.  I decided to take a long walk at Gate 8 mainly looking for irruptives with the hopes of additional crossbills and perhaps a Boreal Chickadee.  I was about a mile in getting some recordings of Red Crossbills when I heard some rustling in the woods and figured it was some deer moving through.  I finished up the recording and then heard more rustling that sounded like it was getting closer and closer.  I then caught sight of a dark mammal moving rapidly toward my vicinity and it briefly disappeared behind a tree and then popped up on top of a stonewall about 20 feet away.  It stayed there for just a few seconds before turning around and quickly heading back into the woods.  Easily the best looks I have ever had of an adult Fisher.  As far as birds go I had a few flyover White winged Crossbills as well as several Red Crossbills including my first Type 2's plus the expected Type 10's.  No luck finding a Boreal Chickadee but I hope some will show up at some point this winter.

Northern Shrike, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Nov 29, 2020

Northern Shrike, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Nov 29, 2020

Northern Shrike, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Nov 29, 2020

Great Horned Owl, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Nov 29, 2020

Before heading to Gate 8 I decided to try my luck in relocating a juvenile Northern Shrike that Ted found in a series of fields near the rail trail in Amherst.  I arrived before dawn and spent some time listening for owls and I had a few Great Horned Owls as well as another unidentified call that may have been a Long eared Owl but I heard it just once and it could have been an odd call from a juvenile Great Horned Owl.  Once it started to get light enough to see the Northern Shrike started to show along one of the hedgerows and I snapped off a few photos from a distance before leaving the shrike to let it do some early morning hunting.  The shrike became species #246 for the year for me in Hampshire County...a recording setting year that just keeps adding species.

Red Crossbill (Type 10), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 28, 2020

Red Crossbill (Type 10), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 28, 2020

Evening Grosbeak, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 28, 2020

American Robin with white on wings, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 28, 2020

On Saturday I spent some time around Quabbin Park and Winsor Dam mainly looking for irruptives and finding several including Evening Grosbeak, Red Crossbill (all Type 10), Pine Siskins and Red breasted Nuthatches.  I also came across an oddly plumaged American Robin with white on its wings.

Gray Catbird, Easthampton Rail Trail, Easthampton, MA, Nov 27, 2020

A short walk after work on Friday along the rail trail in Easthampton turned up a late Gray Catbird.  I searched a few areas in the vicinity for lingering warblers but came up empty.

September begins with lots of Red breasted Nuthatches and Red Crossbills

Red breasted Nuthatch, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Red breasted Nuthatch, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Red breasted Nuthatch, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Red Crossbill (Type 10), Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Red Crossbill (Type 10), Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Blackburnian Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Red eyed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Yellow throated Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Wood Ducks, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Purple Finch, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Now that September has begun the peak of fall migration has arrived and I was out before dawn to start the month.  I began a very productive morning at Winsor Dam where I had at least one Eastern Whip Poor Will still calling distantly as well as a couple species of owls.  I next headed over to Lake Wallace and one of the first birds I heard on arriving was a very late Louisiana Waterthrush singing a partial song along the outflow stream.  I tried to track it down to get a photo or recording but had no luck in doing so...my latest record ever for the species in the county (beating my previous late date of Aug 26, 2012).  Other notables around the lake included at least one Virginia Rail still calling and at least 16 Green Herons (down from a season high of 36 on August 26th).  I then headed over to Quabbin Park looking for migrants with the focus on the ongoing irruption of Red breasted Nuthatches.  As soon as I arrived I started hearing Red breasted Nuthatches and they were seldom out of ear shot with large concentrations in areas with pines.  I ended the morning with a total of at least 102 individuals (my highest count ever for the county) and most of these were heard only so the total was almost certainly higher...a truly impressive showing of this species this fall.  I also ran across multiple small groups of Red Crossbills (all Type 10) and got some of the best looks I have had of the species so far this season.  Other highlights for the morning at Quabbin Park including at least three Yellow throated Vireos, 29  Red eyed Vireos, 16 White breasted Nuthatches, a few Purple Finch flyovers (seems like a flight of these is starting to occur this fall too), 26 Eastern Towhees and ten species of warbler.  After running a few errands I made a brief stop along the rail trail in Hadley where I had two Olive sided Flycatchers and more Purple Finches.  It was a good start to the month with a total of 89 species for the day.

Wilson patiently waiting for a stick to be thrown, Aug 31, 2020

This August ended up being my best August ever for overall species in Hampshire County with a total of 151 species, easily eclipsing my previous best August back in 2018 when I had 143 species.

The latest update tropical update shows a recently formed tropical storm south of Jamaica (Tropical Storm Nana) and another tropical storm (Tropical Storm Omar) off the east coast of the US.  TS Nana is forecast to move west into Belize and Honduras and TS Omar is forecast to move off the mid Atlantic coast and have no direct landmass impacts before it fizzles out in the north Atlantic.  There are a few more tropical waves coming off Africa that may develop in the long term but nothing soon.  The peak of tropical season is rapidly approaching the activity continues to be high.