Snow storm

Not alot in the way of birds to report but I couldn't resist posting a few photos of the latest snowstorm. I did make a brief stop at Winsor Dam at Quabbin this morning to try and relocate the Common Loon that has been there. No luck on the loon but did have three Common Mergansers and a group of 56 Cedar Waxwings. At home I had a very vocal Pileated Woodpecker plus the first Red Winged Blackbird at the house this season.

Cooper's Hawk in the snow

On my way to work during yesterday's snowstorm began with a spectacular site. A Cooper's Hawk was feeding on a fresh kill in the middle of my snow covered driveway. I initially didn't have my camera with me and I took a brief look through binoculars and then decided I needed to get going to work. I attempted to drive past the hawk but it was in no mood at all to move. I drove to within about 15 feet and it didn't seem fazed at all. After looking at the hawk for a few moments I decided I would back up the driveway and get my camera and see if I could get a few photos. I raced back up to the house and came back down to find the hawk still feeding. I drove to within 15 feet and leaned out the window to get some shots. The snow made it difficult to get as many shots as I wanted to get but I managed a few good ones. After several minutes I really needed to get moving so I drove closer. The hawk still would not move. I had no way around it so I inched a little closer. I was finally so close I could not see its full body past the nose of the car. I then leaned out and got a few more photos. It was so close at this point I could not fit the full body of the bird within the frame. As I was very rapidly becoming later and later for work I had to get by it. Only after I opened the door and moved toward it did it fly....about ten feet further down the driveway with the remains of the bird in its talons. It gave me a long look as I tried to inch by and it finally flew off into the woods to finish its meal in piece. A nice way to start a day despite the tough weather.

February birding...

It has been about a month since my last post so I thought I would try and get a post on here today. The avian activity has dwindled down and my free time has done the same. I have a few sightings of interest to report from the last few days. The weather has been seasonable mild with daytime temps near 40 which has greatly reduced the snow cover. I have had a Winter Wren singing a partial song the last couple mornings at home. The wren has been around all fall and winter. This morning I made a stop at Covey WMA and Quabbin Park (Winsor Dam only). Covey had a group of eight Eastern Bluebirds together. Quabbin had a flock of 54 Cedar Waxwings, three Bald Eagles and a continuing Common Loon in one of the only open sections of water on the Quabbin. In addition a couple of Coyotes patrolled the ice out near Gate 5. A fairly nice morning to be out with little wind.

Thrush at Quabbin April 2009

I have occasionally run across some interesting birds over the past several years and have managed to get photos of a few of them. I thought it would be interesting to post some photos and see what other people think of them.

The first bird I will look at will be a catharus type thrush. All of the photos have been cropped but otherwise unchanged. This bird was found early in the morning of April 30, 2009 moving through the woods in the central part of Quabbin. I was with a very experienced local birder at the time working on the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas. I saw the bird initially and first thought of Swainson's Thrush but it did not have the look of a typical Swainsons. The other birder with me immediately thought the bird seemed very interesting and worthy of further study. The bird never allowed an approach closer than 25-30 feet. The bird was all by itself and remained silent throughout our several minutes of viewing. The photos may not truly give the actually view we had in the field so I will supplement them with some additional observations and thoughts. The bird appeared to be similar in size and proportions to a Hermit Thrush. The bird lacked the typical buffy, yellowish face and bold spectacles of a Swainson's Thrush. This leaves us with Gray-cheeked or perhaps Bicknell's. In my mind at the time the face didn't have the plain, grayish face I have seen in Gray-cheeked. The face was basically a similar brown to the rest of the body and a slight grayish type eye ring, not as bold as a Hermit Thrush. Overall the coloration of the bird was a dull brownish with little variation noted at the time. The spotting on the breast was actually darker than what is shown in the photos but otherwise the photos are a fair representation of what was seen in the field. Following our viewing and with much discussion we determined the bird to be a Gray cheeked/Bicknells type. Given the early date of late April, either bird species would be quite unexpected. However this sighting corresponds with a large number of species arriving early due primarily to sustained southerly winds during this time in April. The latest edition of North American Birds goes into some detail concerning the early influx of migrants in the northeast in April of 2009. I still do not know for certain exactly what species the bird is and would love to hear some other opinions of ID of this bird. I have seen many examples of all the expected thrushes in the area (except Bicknells) and none of these species fit this bird exactly. I have additional photos and additional notes on the bird if anyone thinks it will help with an ID. Hope to hear some feedback on this bird.

Quabbin Gate 8

I made a trip up to Gate 8 at dawn and walked down to the water. It was a beautiful, calm day. I had some really nice birds along the way beginning with a hooting Great Horned Owl. I then added a Hermit Thrush, Northern Shrike, Northern Flicker, a dozen Golden crowned Kinglets, eight Red Breasted Nuthatches, seven Common Mergansers, 130+ Junco's (one group of 72), 137 American Robins most of which were leaving out of a small roost at dawn and a group of 43 Blue Jays moving around together. In addition I had some very fresh moose tracks among the other tracks in the snow.

Once back home I heard the Winter Wren that has been around all fall and winter.

Winsor Dam and Quabbin Gate 5

I made it over to Winsor Dam again to get a more accurate number of robins roosting in the area. The real movement started at 6:55 and largely ended by 7:15. My total amounted to 4600+ American Robins. Most were moving south or southeast. I also had a handful of Hooded Mergansers, a few Bald Eagles and a Common Loon at gate 5. In addition to these birds I had a Winter Wren singing a half song several times mid morning at home. It appears the temp's in the mid 40's inspired a bit of song on his part.

Robins at Quabbin

I made a trip over to Winsor Dam at Quabbin Park near dawn. I arrived at 7am with the temperature a cold 5 degrees. I immediately noticed American Robins moving east-southeast in large numbers. My conservative estimate over the next 20 minutes totalled 2460. I missed many as I concentrated on the birds within naked eye view primarily but when I did scan with binoculars there were birds moving along a broad front. I would love to trace the birds back to their roost and get more accurate numbers and perhaps find something odd in among the robins.