Alan and I headed to New Braintree on Sunday for the Forbush Bird Club Trip led by Rodney where we'd meet at Winnimussett WMA under sunny but chilly conditions. We'd be waiting for any potential stragglers and scanning for birds when Nickilas would spot a flock of geese coming in from above and fairly low.
And we'd be thrilled to discover they weren't the usual Canada Geese but rather 30 Brant gracing us with their presence as they migrated by.
Notice the half assed "U" (coming from a lazy V) which Brant will attempt to form when in larger flocks like the one above sometimes.
And away they go!! We'd take this as a good sign of course as we hadn't even left the parking lot yet so it was a very sweet and unexpected FOY and a Worcester county bird for me to boot!!
But do want to point out not that unexpected when you look at the Central Mass data for the first week of October so was happy we could contribute to the records and trends with 7 6 and 7 being the lucky numbers!
But the excitement wouldn't end there because next would come a juvenile Cooper's Hawk who wanted to "eat crow" and figured they'd make for some easy pickins!
And clearly this juve doesn't yet appreciate or understand the intelligence of corvids with crows in particular. The lousy picture shows the young Coop's trying to size up an American Crow who seems more amused than intimidated by the brazen hawk. The hawk would try and jump up with talons down and land on the crow and the crow would fly away somewhat but wasn't at all afraid. I'm guessing this young Coop's will wisen up some over the months and chose easier pickins but it was fascinating and entertaining to watch.
Soon enough we'd decide to explore for sparrows and warblers and wouldn't be disappointed as we'd see scores of Savannah and Song Sparrows popping out from nowhere. We'd also be pleased to get an adult White-crowned Sparrow which would be my best scope look ever of this adult bird so was very happy. We'd also see a couple Lincoln's Sparrows but sadly enough not the looks I got at Kristoff and am now resigning myself to the fact I just got lucky that day and will probably not have the same fate this year, but the adult White-crowned somewhat made up for it.
And what would Rodney's New Braintree trip be without a hot air balloon which we always seem to see and if I'm not mistaken it's the same color and shape as last time! ;-)
Warbler activity would be good too with plenty of Yellow-rumps, a couple of Common Yellowthroats and some very handsome Yellow Palm Warblers like the one above.
There'd also be many still singing blackbirds but all of them would be Red-winged and not the Rusty's which I still need for the year but after the Brant I'm not complaining much. It would also be here I'd get my FOY Herring Gull (there'd be 2 flying overhead in total) so it would be nice to get both my gulls in one weekend to wrap up the highly probable's for the year (but will still hold out hope for the others of course!). It would also be here we'd see one lone little Ruddy Duck in an area with some Canada Geese and nearby Wood Ducks which struck as all as somewhat odd but it would be another FOY for me.
Woodpeckers would be abundant as we'd get Pileated, Downy, Hairy, Northern Flicker, Red-bellied and this very handsome Yellow-bellied Sapsucker which I believe is my best photo of the day!
Rodney leading us back to the cars for the 2nd stop of the day.
Which would be one of my favorite snow shoeing spots and where Alan and I had the Northern Shrike and Rough-legged Hawk a few years ago. We wouldn't hold out much hope here considering there was a guy running his dog for hunting but soon enough we'd be mistaken as we'd see the regular sparrows with the Savannah's being the most numerous yet again.
Stopping along the way to get better looks at Black-capped Chickadee's, Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a stray Blue-headed Vireo.
Our final stop would be the blueberry farm and the first bird we'd see would be the hawk above! We'd make our way around and one of the first things we'd notice was the fact there weren't dozens of Chipping Sparrows flying around like they usually are.
But we'd get more raptors including an American Kestrel and this Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawk shown above. LOVE this photo as it shows the size and composition difference.
And another spec photo but you all know my fondness of specs!
We'd continue along the paths and not see as many sparrows as we normally do in this spot but the hawk's would still be visible including one of the many perched conspicuously through out the farm. I'm not really sure what this one is but on the bottom it says "Made in China" so I'm guessing an Asian Vagrant of some kind!
I'm guessing the farm owners imported these hawk in an effort to guard the field against birds but it doesn't seem to be sparrow proof (see Savannah to the far left), but hell what do you expect from something Made in China!
And a wasp taken along the way. Someone had said the name and can't remember it and google isn't helping but I do still have birds on the brain so please forgive me!
Passerine activity would start to pick up again with many gorgeous Yellow Palm Warblers, another Lincoln's and scores of other birds but then it wouldn't take long to come across a kettle of birds directly above us in the sky..
And based on the picture above can anyone guess what they are (especially with it being October and all)
Why they'd be Broad-winged Hawks of course!! This exciting moment would call for attempted video of course considering this was one of the lowest kettles of these birds I'd ever seen so figured live action from the trip would go over real well on my blog but wouldn't you know, my camera isn't smart enough to stay focused on the birds so they'd fade in and out much to my frustration, but I'll post it anyways so you can see what it was like, especially with other raptors flying in.
Like I said, please pardon the lousy video quality and the groaning you will hear on occasion. Not sure if that was me or someone else but it may have been me due to my frustration in trying to stay on the birds and keep them in focus (I now wonder if I do that often while birding and just realized it now :-p). You'll also notice my lack of focus when I spot a cute little bird land on a branch above and take my camera off of the live action in the sky to try and video tape the bird that landed which I believe may be a Yellow-rumped but will never know for certain.......................
So all in all a great trip. Funny though because we didn't get the sparrow numbers we normally do but did get some unexpected birds like the Brant and Broad-winged Hawks.
After the trip, Alan and I would head out to Wachusett Reservoir in hopes for some early sea ducks or grebes so make a stop at Gate 36.
Where we'd see quite a few Common Loon's but not much else. We'd decide to head to the dam next but quickly change our mind as the place was packed as you can see below.
Have no idea what was going on, but whatever it was Alan and I wanted no part of it so off we went to Mile Hill Road instead.
This too would be fairly quiet until we came to a small tight, raft of birds that would turn out to be Mallards of all things!
And of course we'd check for Cormorants as I was smitten with the fact we got Brant on the day most sightings were seen in the past so was thinking my whacky data analysis may be more valuable than first thought so thought it would be fate that we'd get a Great Cormorant, but alas they'd all be Double-crested.
So we'd head to Scar Hill where you can get the best views of the reservoir but not before stopping to look at the tomb stone with the bird that appears to be a White-crowned Sparrows.
It would be here that we'd see other Common Loons as well as a small flock of Greater Scaup which would be another FOY for me so would be happy despite not getting any sea ducks or grebes.
All in all a great day of birding with not only a lot of birds, but a diverse variety of birds which can be so much fun sometimes, especially migration.
Alan and I did some birding Saturday morning and the 1st place we'd try was Brierly Pond in Millbury in hopes for the Ring-necked Ducks he had there the day prior. There'd be no RND's. but the place would be packed with many Mallards.
Including many handsome drake Mallards all decked out in their fresh new plumage.
And good old Cottontail would be out with her scrawny husband and all five of their hybrid offspring who all look more Graylag than they do Canada.
After that would be a place in Sutton where Ring-necked Ducks have been known to hang out and all would be quiet besides the usual Mallards, Wood Ducks and one lone Pied-billed Grebe.
Passerine activity would be moderate with three or so Red-breasted Nuthatch's (YAY!), as well as many Yellow-rumped Warblers like the one above who was kind enough to perch on a bare branch which allowed a good look at it as well as a halfway decent shot including its tail which I'm really starting to pay more attention to when it comes to warblers as that's often what you see most on them!
Our next stop would be All Faith's Cemetery in Worcester/Auburn for the American Wigeon and it wouldn't take long to find two of them in one area of the pond.
And six others in another area which would be my 1st FOY of the day which was nice. Yellow-rumped Warblers would be out here in force as well and some very vocal and still singing American Robins.
And at least 30 Brown-headed Cowbirds mixed in with some very large flocks of European Starlings.
Our next stop would be the Westborough Reservoir hoping for the American Coot where we'd walk around the train tracks to find a better area to view more of the reservoir as there was a lot on it, but needed to find the best place to see it all!
We'd finally find that spot and be happy to see we flushed a Green Heron considering their numbers are decreasing due to migration so this was a treat.
I'd be using the scope and Alan the binoculars when I came across a gull that sparked my interest as it looked like a Great Black-backed Gull. I'd look at it more and then think what I was actually seeing was a Ring-billed with a stump behind it making it look like it was dark so asked Alan to look at it as I laughed at my bad call, but sure enough the bird would spread its wing to see it wasn't a stump but in fact a Great Black-backed.
Funny seeing them this far south this early in the year as it's more common in Northern Worcester County in October.
Which you can see in this eBird chart that shows reports of this gull for the month of October only.
As well as data from Rick's site which shows most reports of this gull being reported in Southern Worcester County toward the end of October with the earliest sighting usually happening around the 26th. This too would be another FOY for me and one I was expecting in November so it would be a pleasant surprise. The other birds of note would be two Osprey who'd be perched here and there and also do some flying and kiting. We'd finally find the American Coot with 6 in total which would be another FOY for me.
We'd make our way back toward the train tracks and come across our 2nd skeleton of the day (the 1st being a Snapping Turtle) and this is what we'd see. Large bones and white feathers so wondering if it's a Mute Swan considering there are so many of them on the Westborough Reservoir (one can only hope!)
Our last stop would be Little Chauncey to try again for the Sora but once again it would be a "no go". Sigh, I'm starting to resign myself to the fact I won't see this bird this year but am not giving up hope just yet!
One last note is today's weather which was perfect. I really wish it would stay like this but know cold fronts brings birds and tomorrow is supposed to be mighty chilly so hoping it brings us some sparrows for Rodney's trip!
It's been a long week at work so haven't had any time to take advantage of fall migration but am officially off for three days now so hoping to get out there and see as much as I can. I've continued to analyze a lot of the data on Rick's site and while I've always been appreciative of his sight and efforts, I'm even more so now that I've discovered how easy it is to collect it for analysis with the help of "text to columns' and macros via Exel and Access which can take all of the written data and put it into a database without much manual work so figured I'd share a little more of it considering it's community data of sorts so I'm doing my part as of community citizen. So your'e probably wondering by now what the map above shows so let me tell you. The map above shows September and October sightings only of Great Cormorants. As you can see these birds are coastal which most of us know and the map proves that but things aren't always as they seem, especially during migration!
So let's look at the data a little more shall we! The chart above shows Worcester County sightings of the Great Cormorant in with October being the month most sightings are reported.
So with the data from Rick's site coupled with the eBird data, you can find out a bit more which you will see above and not surprising, Wachusett Reservoir is the most likely place you'll encounter one so if you're around there in the next few weeks be sure to give every cormorant a good once over because "you never know what your'e gonna get"!
And finally other birds to be on the look out for when your'e out there this weekend.
Data First two weeks of October for Worcester County 1998 to 2011
With fall migration now in full swing, I thought I'd rollup some of the numbers and sightings using data from Recent Central Mass Bird Sightings to allow a sneak peek of what we can expect and where for the first two weeks of October. Sure we all know what arrives and where, but sometimes it's interesting to put a visual on it as well. The chart above shows ducks and geese only and I highlighted in black the locations with the highest overall numbers that also had numerous species reported. I also highlighted in black the birds with the highest numbers being reported overall in multiple locations as well. Green-winged Teal take center stage the first week of this month which isn't surprising as I've seen recent reports of them coming in and saw some myself just last week at St Philips in Grafton.
The American Wigeon are on my "must see" list for the weekend and am glad to see Alan has finally found them at All Faith's Cemetery in Worcester after we dipped on them this past weekend which is welcome relief considering it's been the most reliable place to see these birds since Rick started his site in 1998.
American Wigeon sightings around the Massachusetts area overall with the reds being reports of the past 30 days and there's Alan's report right smack dab in the middle between Auburn and Worcester. ;-)
The other bird to look for (and only because its this week's obsession for me) are the adorable and always smiling Snow Geese! Sure we've gotten sightings of them in the past several years with most of them coming from the Hawk Watch spots and local ponds with Orlando's having a consistent appeal for these geese.
As you can see Snow Goose numbers have yet to surface anywhere around the New England area the past 30 days but you can see them moving from Canada and into New York here and there. What I really found interesting in seeing this map is the pattern it tells you when these birds move as this is only for fall migration so isn't distorted with spring migration sightings.
Of course me being the curious and inquisitive type ;-), I decided to pull out my book The Flight of the Snow Geese and see the largest migration routes of the Snow Geese being the Mississippi and Central Flyways being their preferred method of travel with the Atlantic Flyway not even getting a special mention but this book was published in 1975.
So I decided to look for something a little more recent which looks a little more promising. ;-)
And the water fowl flyways for those of you who actually find this stuff interesting. :-p
Are you still with me??? Good!! Now let's go onto one of my favorites bird species which are sparrows!! Seriously, I was telling Alan this past weekend that I believe sparrows are now on my official top 3 listing of birds I like the most with raptors being number one, gulls stay at number two and the sparrows come in at number three trumping the warblers which Alan tells me will change come May but for right now the sparrows are in the limelight as how could they not as there's no such thing as a drab "little brown bird"!
First two weeks of October 1998 to 2011 for Worcester County
Pardon the small font, but there was a lot of data to share so let me summarize it for you. The best places for sparrows this time of the year appear to be Bolton Flats, Westborough WMA and Quabog which many of us already knew. If you were out there this past weekend you couldn't help but notice the numbers with Swamp Sparrows being the most numerous where I was besides the Savannah Sparrow who can't even make it to 350 either of the weeks! According to this data the Dark-eyed Juncos should increase next week and I should have highlighted the White-throated Sparrows as well as they are moving through in mass too. Look out for the White-crowned's as well as they almost double in week 2!
Swamp Sparrow sightings September and October of this year with red being spotted the past 30 days. Source: eBird
And finally Loons and Grebes! Yeah the numbers are low compared to the others but they are a coming at our local reservoirs so keep your eyes open! ;-). And you should be able to find a Pied-billed Grebe just about anywhere right about now.
