2004 Bird Sightings
* 2005 Bird Sightings * 2006 Bird Sightings
of the Connecticut
River Valley, including Hampden, Hampshire
and Franklin Counties of Massachusetts
Northampton Bird Watcher's
Club Home Page
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Species Highlights
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TOP VALLEY BIRDS OF 2004
A Bohemian Waxwing was seen in Easthampton on January 22. More were seen in several other locations throughout the winter.
A Varied Thrush was discovered at Quabbin Park on January 25 and remained throughout February.
On February 17 a Thayer's Gull was discovered in Northampton at the dump on Burt Pit's Road. It provided a nice diversion to the coldest winter in 100 years.
A Trumpeter Swan was discovered on March 10 in Northampton's East Meadows. Whether it was an escaped domestic bird, an offspring of the stocked Ohio population, or a wild bird remains unknown.
On April 17 in Northampton a Short-eared Owl was observed during a club walk.
During the May 15 Bird-a-thon a Chuck's-will-widow was heard in Holyoke.
From May 23-30 a cooperative Prothonotary Warbler was seen and photographed by many on the bike path in South Amherst.
A secretive Common Moorhen was in Longmeadow from April 29 to May 10, and a King Rail was heard in Old Deerfield on May 17.
A Wilson's Phalarope put in a brief appearance in Easthampton near Dank's Pond on May 26.
Six Sanderlings were seen in the drained power canal in Montague on July 28.
A Ruddy Turnstone was seen in Northampton on August 20. Two days later a Red-necked Phalarope was observed in Whately for twenty minutes.
On August 25 five Baird's Sandpipers were observed in Northampton. The next day a Buff-breasted Sandpiper was discovered as well.
On September 1 a Lark Sparrow was seen in Northampton's East Meadows.
A migrating Sandhill Crane flew over the hawk watch in Granville on September 5.
On September 9 with Hurricane Ivan to the south and a stationary front stretched across Massachusetts conditions were perfect for a huge shorebird fallout. In Whately and Northfield there were single Hudsonian Godwits. At Turners Falls there were five Red-necked Phalaropes. White-rumped Sandpipers were seen in Northfield, Whately and Southwick. The next day in Northampton's East Meadows there was a Whimbrel and at the Oxbow there was a Caspian Tern.
On October 23 a Ross's Goose was located in Turners Falls and birders from around the region flocked to see it. It was the second or third sighting in the state.
A less than cooperative Hermit Warbler was seen by just a few lucky birders at Ashley Pond in Holyoke on November 29-30.
On December 17 a Western Kingbird was discovered in Northampton near the Old State Hospital Grounds. This bird was seen for a few days before moving on.