Yellow headed Blackbird to end the first week of October

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Palm Warbler 'yellow', East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Northern Harrier, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Bumblebee, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Savannah Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle',  Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 6, 2021

Nashville Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 6, 2021

Scarlet Tanagers, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 6, 2021

The first week of October has come to an end with nice weather at either end with a very rainy spell in the middle when we picked up a few inches of rain.  I ended the first week with a great sighting to end my birding this morning with a Yellow headed Blackbird (a rather rare western species for the area) in the East Meadows.  I almost missed finding the bird as I was heading out after birding in the fog all morning and noticed another large gathering of blackbirds and decided to quickly scan the flock.  Literally the first bird I saw as I scanned from the car was an adult male Yellow headed Blackbird!  I got a few photos through the window of the car before getting out and setting up the scope.  Despite the bright plumage of Yellow headed Blackbirds that can amazingly disappear quite easily among the masses of large mixed blackbird flocks.  I eventually relocated the bird and got a few more photos before I lost track of it again.  I let a bunch of people know about it before I headed for home.  The bird this morning appears to be a different individual from the Yellow headed Blackbird seen sporadically in the East Meadows in September (that individual appeared to be a juvenile with splotchy yellow on the head and it was never part of blackbird flocks).  This becomes just my fourth Yellow headed Blackbird I have had in the county with previous ones being the other individual seen this year, a single bird in a large mixed blackbird flock in November of 2014 and another individual seen for around a week in mid to late October of 2012 in Hadley.  The Yellow headed Blackbird becomes another western bird that has shown up in the area following on the heals of a Western Kingbird I found at Arcadia on September 11th.  Hopefully more western birds will show as the fall season moves along (fingers crossed for a western warbler of course).  Beyond this morning I got to be out birding a bit yesterday and made a stop at Arcadia and had a few good counts of a number of species but nothing too unusual among the 57 species tallied in around three hours.  The month is off to a good start for the first week with a total of 113 species (a bit off the mark of the best first weeks of October with 2020 featuring 117 species and October 2018 with 120 species.  Warblers for the first week of October featured 16 species but nothing too unusual (so far anyway).     

Wilson sporting his new booty, Belchertown, MA, Oct 7, 2021

Wilson helping me prep dinner, Belchertown, MA, Oct 5, 2021

Wilson enjoying a walk, Belchertown, MA, Aug 26, 2021

We recently got some very bad news regarding my best bud.  My boy Wilson has cancer.  We noticed a mass on his right front leg recently and got a biopsy done several days ago and got the results back yesterday.  It is a soft tissue sarcoma (intermediate grade).  We have a surgical consult next week and then we go from there. I'm having a hard time with it as we lost Kody to cancer too. Wilson is doing just fine and is his normal self with the exception of having to endure a dressing on his foot and having to wear the 'cone of shame' when no one is home and at night.   We got a new booty for him to wear yesterday and he is much happier with that instead of the cone and it allows us to take walks in our usual spots, even when it is muddy.  We are hopeful we can beat the cancer and have more years to go out exploring with him.  We have no idea how much all this will cost but we will pay whatever it takes to get our boy better.

Yellow headed Blackbird and more shorebirds

American Golden Plovers, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 13, 2021

Yellow headed Blackbird (really!), East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 13, 2021

Prairie Warbler, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 13, 2021

Black Ducks and Mallards, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 13, 2021

Common Buckeye, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 13, 2021

The rare bird parade continues unabated for the month with multiple rarities seen today including a brief look at a Yellow headed Blackbird and at least 17 American Golden Plovers.  The forecast called for storms possible overnight with the arrival of a cold front. Decent southerly winds were blowing most of the night but the radars still showed some birds moving despite less than ideal conditions. With this in mind I planned to check for shorebirds at first light in various farm fields along the river. A storm woke me up at around 4am with some lighting and heavy rain. After making sure Wilson had chilled out post storm, I headed out before dawn and arrived at the Honey Pot with another storm moving through. Both storms were rather weak with fairly brief downpours. It was still raining lightly as it started to get light and I started scanning the fields but could only find a few Killdeer. I then headed across the bridge to check the East Meadows were shorebirds have been the most active lately (including double digit counts of American Golden Plovers yesterday). Ted was already there and we both scanned for awhile but didn’t find much beyond a few Least Sandpipers. We parted ways and I decided to spend some more time checking some weedy areas for sparrows and warblers. After one more brief shower forced me back to my car I was able to start covering more areas. As I was walking down a grassy strip I noticed a bird flying at me and calling. My initial thought was the bird sounded odd and was overall dark in color perhaps a little smaller than a grackle. The lighting was terrible but binocular views showed a yellowish head…Yellow headed Blackbird! The bird circled around me once before heading off, calling the entire time. I then had to decide if I would try for a recording or attempt some photos. I decided to try for photos as the bird was rapidly going away from me and I only managed some blurry shots showing a black blob with a lighter front end. The bird settled into a large cornfield and disappeared from view. I knew a few other birders were nearby and quickly contacted them. Despite a lot of effort the bird was not relocated as far as I can tell. John Y. reported a Yellow headed Blackbird on September 11th in the same general area and I’m sure it is the same bird. Oddly the bird was by itself and not associating with other blackbirds…my previous sightings of the species in the area have all been of birds in large blackbird/grackle flocks.  This is only my third record of the species in Hampshire County, with previous records in mid October of 2012 and November 2014.  As we were looking for the Yellow headed Blackbird to resurface we were treated to multiple rare shorebirds flying by and then settling into the fields including at least 17 American Golden Plovers in a single group (there may have been even more but this is the highest total seen at once).

Red eyed Vireo, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 12, 2021

Philadelphia Vireo, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 12, 2021

Eastern Phoebe, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 12, 2021

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 12, 2021

Yesterday I got to spend the morning birding with former valley birder Devin at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River with our main goal being the discovery of a Connecticut Warbler.   Despite the near constant onslaught of mosquitoes we still managed to find some good birds (alas a Connecticut Warbler was not among them). Notables included large numbers of Eastern Phoebes, multiple Philadelphia Vireos (a great fall for them so far), a couple of slightly late Bank Swallows, my first Ruby crowned Kinglets of the fall and seven species of warbler.

End of year wrap up and species #228 for the year in the county

Indigo Bunting, Quabbin

Time for the end of year posting once again.  This year was yet another good year to be out and about checking my local areas as well as places far from home for birds. 

Blue gray Tanager, Los Cusingos, Costa Rica, Dec 2012

Caspian Tern, Viera Wetlands, FL, Jan 2012

Cooper's Hawk, Sweetwater Wetlands, AZ, Apr 2012

I took a few trips this year including a trip to Florida at the end of January-early February, Arizona in April and Costa Rica in December.   Other shorter trips included day trips to the Connecticut shore and down to the Plymouth area.

Yellow-headed Blackbird, Hadley, Oct 2012

Rough-legged Hawk, Hadley Honeypot, MA, Feb 2012

Little Blue Heron, Arcadia, MA, Apr 2012
 

Brewster's Warbler, UMASS Amherst, May 2012

Golden-winged Warbler, Amherst rail trail, May 2012
 

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, May 2012

The rest of the time I spent mainly in the local area trying to maximize my county list for the year.  My initial goal at the beginning of the year was to top the 200 mark for the county which I had oddly never done before.  I managed to go well past the 200 mark and finished with a total of 228.  Although I missed on some birds I would normally expect such as American Bittern, Acadian Flycatcher, and Black Vulture I still reached a higher number than I had expected to.  I added several county birds to my life list this year including Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Yellow headed Blackbird, Rufous Hummingbird and Hoary Redpoll bringing my overall county total to 272.  Overall some really great warblers including a couple hybrids including at least two Brewster's Warblers as well as a Lawrence's Warbler plus the unusual Golden winged and a singing spring Orange crowned Warbler. 

Pine Grosbeak, Quabbin , Dec 2012

Common Redpoll, Hadley, Dec 2012

There was also a big incursion of winter irruptive species this fall and winter that continues with most every possible species represented in numbers (except for Bohemian waxwings which were around at the beginning of the year). 

Black-legged Kittiwake, Quabbin, Nov 2012

Hurricane Sandy brought a large number of sea ducks down onto Quabbin over the course of several days and finally delivered a notable inland bird for me...a Black-legged Kittiwake almost a week after the passage of the storm.  Two years in a row with tropical systems impacting the area...amazing.

I tried one last run through the Hadley Honeypot midday today to try my luck at catching up with a Northern Shrike or perhaps (with lots of luck) a Gyrfalcon that was there a couple weeks.  Although there was no Gyrfalcon around I did finally catch up with a Northern Shrike (county species #228 for the year!)  I was very happy to add one final species for the year.  Other birds of note around the Honeypot and nearby Aqua Vitae Road included dozens of Horned Larks, a handful of Snow Buntings and a lone Lapland Longspur.  I also made a brief stop at Quabbin Park at Winsor Dam and at least seven Pine Grosbeaks continue in the crabapple trees.

I managed to add a total of 69 new species to my life list this year with two each coming from Arizona and Massachusetts and the remaining 65 species coming from my recent trip to Costa Rica.  The highlights are many and a look back through the last year of postings will revel most of them.  A total of 556 species for the year and a total life list that now stands at 766.  Many of the highlights were captured on film and can be found at my flickr site at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/

I continue to use eBird to record my sightings and I passed a few milestones this year including adding my 10,000^th list and submitting almost 2400 lists this year with over 2175 of those lists from Massachusetts.  Yet again I will mention what a great resource eBird is for recording sightings and researching information of various species.  With the many advances made in accessing information and providing easy ways to submit data, more and more people will hopefully embrace the use of eBird and make the information even more useful to both the public and researchers.  The website to start your journey on eBird is here:

http://ebird.org/content/ebird

 

 

 

Arcadia and East Hadley Road- Marsh Wren, Tennessee Warbler and Yellow headed Blackbird

Marsh Wren, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Marsh Wren, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Marsh Wren, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

 

Purple Finch, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Canada Goose, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Lincoln's Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

White crowned Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

'Yellow' Palm Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Savannah Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

White crowned Sparrows (adult and juvenile), Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Northern Cardinal (one of dozens), Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Arcadia meadows at dawn, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Arcadia meadows at dawn (looking from river to Ibis Pool), Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Pine Siskin, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

White crowned Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

This morning I headed over to Arcadia predawn to see if I could catch up with the Marsh Wren seen there yesterday. After being there just a short time I found the Marsh Wren in the south end of the Ibis Pool and got some great looks at it as well as some photographs. The wren became species #214 for the year in the county. There were lots of sparrows around here too with an amazing 28 White crowned Sparrows (with a few actually singing) plus lots of Song, White throated, Swamp and Savannah Sparrows, a couple Lincoln's Sparrows and some juncos. There was actually a nice selection of warblers with a late Tennessee Warbler and Common Yellowthroat plus the more expected Yellow rumped and Palm Warblers. A good number of waterfowl in the marsh but nothing out of the ordinary. Nearly 100 American Pipits were in the fields and would all scatter up at once when a raptor moved by. Other birds of note included a couple flyover Evening Grosbeaks, a couple of calling Great Horned Owls, lots of Pine Siskins and other finches and many others. http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11842194.   A total of 48 species seen while covering the fields around the Ibis Pool and the old trolley line. Although the morning started off cool it warmer up nicely by mid morning although a breeze also picked up which cooled it down a bit. After a few hours here I headed for home.

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Brown headed Cowbirds (small sample of 100's present), East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

On my way home I noticed a large gathering of geese in the fields along East Hadley Road so I decided to take a quick stop to make sure nothing unusual was in the flock. As soon as I arrived I noticed a few other birders including Bob Zajda who mentioned he just refound the Yellow headed Blackbird first found here last week by Scott Surner but not seen since. There were thousands of birds around with a large group of grackles moving through as well as Red winged Blackbirds, Starlings and cowbirds. I scanned the geese and came up with just Canada Geese (288 of them) and then turned my attention to finding the Yellow headed Blackbird.I noticed a large gathering of birds behind Cook Farm so I headed there. The number of Brown headed Cowbirds here was amazing with at least 950 present. After several scans through the moving flocks I noticed the Yellow headed fairly close and got several shots. I managed to get a few others on the bird after it flushed up and perched in a tree for several minutes. Hopefully others can catch up with this bird too.

Distant (very distant...bottom center) Canada Geese flock, Jabish Canal, Belchertown, MA, Oct 21, 2012

A late afternoon walk along the Jabish Canal was fairly quiet but the winds were really up which kept most birds down.  There were some geese and raptors moving but nothing unusual.