April 7, Saturday Northampton Area. 
Meet at 7 am in Super Stop & Shop parking  lot (near marsh)on King Street, Northampton . 
This trip was attended by Chris, Heather, Heather's brother from Connecticut Dave, and Ted. We checked out a few spots for waterfowl in Northampton without much luck and then headed over to Hadley.  We ended up over at Pete's house where Eric showed up as well with reports from Arcadia. We had a total of 57 species for the day. From Pete's yard: Double-crested Cormorants (2), Purple Finch, Cedar Waxwings (30), Turkey Vultures, Great Horned Owl on nest

April 8, Sunday Northampton Area. 
Meet 7 am, near marsh in Super Stop & Shop parking lot on King Street, Northampton.  CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN

April 14, Saturday Hadley-Northampton Area.  Meet at 7 am in Bread & Circus parking  lot (route 9) Hadley.47 species including those seen by Pete Yeskie in the area around Aqua Vitae Road which included Blue-winged Teal and Wood Ducks. With the river and ponds high. Ring-necked ducks have moved to flooded fields joined by a Pied-bill Grebe. The far end of the North Hadley pond now has American Coot, Mute Swan (2), and Common Mergansers. Also see in the area were Osprey, Double-crested Cormorant. Regulars include Red-bellied, Pileated Woodpecker, and Downy Woodpeckers. Tree Swallows common. Red-tailed Hawks common breeder. Pairs have formed and nests constructed. Attended by Chris Gentes, Heather McQueen and Lori Rogers.

AUGUST 19TH: Connecticut Shore 
COA SHOREBIRD AND TERN WORKSHOP STARTING AT SANDY POINT WEST HAVEN (8am) AND MOVING TO MILFORD POINT (noon-3)  This was a great trip attended by Chris Gentes, Heather McQueen, Eric Labato, Ted Zervas and Bill Sweet. We met up in Conn. with Heather's brother Dave and his friend Mike. Total birds seen between Milford Point and Sandy Point were 49. Here are the highlights:Sandy Pont (West Haven): There was a Clapper Rail show unlike any of us had ever seen. Excellent looks at these birds running across the mud flat, preening and bathing. Three individuals were seen (possibly 4). Low tide at Sandy Point is the best place I know of to see these birds. Also in the reeds were Salt-marsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow (adults and immature). Many different shorebirds including 7 Red Knots, 1 Willet, and an excellent surprise: A Marbled Godwit!.  What a spectacular bird! This bird was flying about and then landed for ten minutes to feed before flying off again. Also seen were Common Terns, Forster's Terns and Roseate Terns. The Monk Parakeets were heard and seen only briefly. Milford Point, Milford: We got to Milford Point at high tide and the sandbars were loaded with shorebirds. A lone Whimbrel was the favorite of most of us. Also seen were Oystercatchers, Short-billed Dowitchers, and others. We then walked over to the point through a very high tide and saw a Western Sandpiper in with some semipalmated sandpipers. At the point there was a mass of sandpipers feeding. In with them were a few white-rumped sandpipers. After seeing an immature yellow-crowned night-heron we headed back.

August 29 - East Meadow Tree Swallow Phenomenon
Meet near Northampton Airport at 6:30 pm to witness the immense roost of Tree Swallows in the East Meadows. Also look for migrating Nighthawks and Merlins.
Unfortunately this trip did not have many tree swallows at all for reasons we are still trying to figure out. As of August 23 there had been a pretty good number roosting in the corn fields here, but on this night there were few. AS dusk approached there were a few groups heading in the direction of Hadley. We suspect that the very dry conditions in the meadows have contributed to a lack of insects, thus few tree swallows. They may be roosting elsewhere in the valley. It is somewhat disappointing since for the last three years this has been a reliable sight! We did see, however, an immature Northern Harrier and an Osprey. No Nighthawks were seen unfortunately. Attending were Chris, Heather, Ted, Eric, Pat, Alex, Lily and Stefan. ADDENDUM:  It was discovered that the tree swallows were roosting in a field behind the Malls in Hadley. Just why they  moved to that location after three years at the East Meadows location is not known, however it is believed that the very dry conditions in the East Meadows may have made the Hadley location more suitable. While the East Meadows area was surrounded by dirt/silt/ etc, the Hadley locale was surrounded by grassy fields. Perhaps there were more bugs up there to feed upon before roosting. The reason may have nothing to do with this.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 7 pm
Owl Program by Norman Smith. FREE
Pleasant Valley Sanctuary, Lenox, Ma
An excellent program by Norman Smith, director of Blue Hills Reservation Mass. Audubon Sanctuary. Mr. Smith has been capturing and banding raptors for over 20 years. This lecture highlighted many of his accomplishments and discoveries. An excellent presentation.  Sunday,

November 25 - Local Trip. 
A Red-Throated Loon was seen today (Sunday, November 25) on the Connecticut River in Hadley at the end of Meadow Street by Heather McQueen, Stefan Rayer, Eric Labato and myself. 

Here is the list from our birding trip around Amherst (Mill Lane, Wentworth Farm, Lawrence Swamp):

Ring-billed Gull (50)
Herring Gull (5)
Canada Goose (12)
Black Duck (4)
Mallard (6)
Red-Tailed Hawk (1)
Mourning Dove (20)
Rock Dove (20)
Belted Kingfisher (1)
Downy Woodpecker (1)
Hairy Woodpecker (2)
Blue Jay (8)
American Crow (12)
Black-Capped Chickadee (15)
White-Breasted Nuthatch (2)
Brown Creeper (1)
Golden-Crowned Kinglet (4)
Eastern Bluebird (5)
Northern Mockingbird (5)
European Starling (20)
Cedar Waxwing (7)
American Tree Sparrow (50)
Song Sparrow (10)
Swamp Sparrow (1)
White-Throated Sparrow (15)
Dark-eyed Junco (11)
Northern Cardinal (1)
House Finch (100)
American Goldfinch (27)
House Sparrow (2)

A check of the Conn. River in Sunderland from the Riverside Cemetary off Route 47 for Goldeneyes was negative. The following was observed there: 

Eastern Bluebird (4)
Carolina Wren (1)
Dark-Eyed Junco (25)

A report from Pete Yeskie's house in Hadley:
Common Mergansers (4) 
Red-bellied Woodpecker (1)
Downy Woodpecker 
Hairy Woodpecker 
Tufted Titmouse 

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 10 am- 2 pm. Club trip to the Skinner House on Mount Skinner to do some hawk watching.
Meet up top. ***Please note that the Brookline Bird Club is also doing a hawk watch the same day from 9-5 up at Goats Peak on Mt. Tom (Tom Gagnon) if you are inclined to go over there instead. Either way, hopefully there will be some Broad-winged Hawks migrating through.
We (Chris, Heather, Eric, Bill, Stefan and others) were hoping for a big day for hawk watching especially after hearing about what was seen from Goat's Peak the day before (see below). As luck would have it we saw only a few hawks between 10 and 1:30 when we called it a day. There were a few interesting birds seen at the summit including Juncos, Black & White Warbler, and Solitary Vireo. At the main entrance we had Chestnut-sided Warbler, Warbling Vireo, and American Redstart. A call to Pete on the river to see if there were any unusual gulls around came up with nothing. He had a Pine Warbler at the bird bath earlier. Chris, Heather and Stefan then headed over to see if the Pied-billed Grebe was still around at North Hadley Pond (NO), but there was a Magnolia Warbler, Phoebes, Wood Ducks and some Brown Creepers. A trip up Mouth Warner followed with nothing much unusual until a wave passed over us and the following were seen: Philadelphia Vireo, Blackpoll Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Magnolia, and a Myrtle Warbler. Also seen were some spectacled thrushes in a few spots, Hermit or Swainsons? We're not too sure.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29  Pelagic Trip leaving from Newburyport. 9-5pm.This trip ended up being cancelled due to high seas. 

Saturday, December 1 - Rockport.
This is a BBC trip which walks around Halibut Point on the first and third Saturdays. 
This trip was attended by me, Heather McQueen, Eric Labato and Stefan Rayer. The weather was very warm and we spent an enjoyable morning with the BBC at Halibut point in Rockport. Birds seen included all three scoters, 20+ Harlequin Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Eiders, Common Loons, Red-breasted Loons, Bonaparte's Gulls, unidentified large Alcids, Black Guillemots, Great Cormorants, Purple Sandpipers, and a Carolina Wren.The highlights of the Trip were KING EIDER adult drake. Easily seen in the scope from Rowley Shore Drive.  Also, a life bird for all GREATER SHEARWATER seen from Halibut Point. The black cap was noticeable by Eric through the scope. Other birds seen on the trip included Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Ring-necked Ducks, Bufflehead, Coopers and Sharp-shinned Hawks.--report by Chris Gentes--

December 16, Sunday, Northampton Bird Count
This year we helped out Bob Packard with his area in Williamsburg and Whately. Participants included: Heather McQueen, Doug Wheat, Elizabeth Broadwater, Shelly Parker, Jonathan Gottsche, Bill Sweet, two of Bob's friends and myself. We set a NEW RECORD for his area, 42 Total species! This included three new birds for the area - Carolina Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Belted Kingfisher. We also set new total number seen for a few species including Eastern Bluebird. We had the only Brown-headed Cowbird seen in the entire Northampton Circle, and we set area high counts for the whole circle with Hooded Merganser, Pileated Woodpecker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Ruffed Grouse.

REGULARLY SEEN SPECIES (WILLIAMSBURG)
Am. Black Duck 9
Mallard 6
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Ruffed Grouse 3  HIGH COUNT out of 6 seen in entire Northampton circle
Herring Gull 1
Rock Dove 20
Mourning Dove 18
Great-horned Owl 1
Barred Owl 1
Red-Bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 11
Hairy Woodpecker 6
Pileated Woodpecker 4  High Count for Williamsburg area  HIGH COUNT out of 10 seen in entire Noho circle
Blue Jay 41
American Crow 56
Black-capped Chickadee 73
Tufted Titmouse 22
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-Breasted Nuthatch 19
Brown Creeper 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 27 HIGH COUNT out of 131 seen in entire Northampton circle
Eastern Bluebird 28  New High Count total for Williamsburg area
American Robin 24
Northern Mockingbird 5
Cedar Waxwing  52
European Starling  75
Northern Cardinal  23
American Tree Sparrow  19
Song Sparrow  3
White-throated Sparrow  8
Dark-eyed Junco 23
House Finch  13
American Goldfinch  34

NOT SEEN EVERY YEAR (WILLIAMSBURG)
Common Merganser  1
Hooded Merganser 5  High Count for Williamsburg area  HIGH COUNT out of 8 seen in entire Northampton circle
Ring-Billed Gull  1
Belted Kingfisher  1  NEW FOR WILLIAMSBURG (22 seen in Northampton Circle)
Northern Raven  1
Carolina Wren  1  NEW FOR WILLIAMSBURG (21 seen in Northampton Circle)
Brown-headed Cowbird  1  Pete Yeskie had 5 in yard

WRITE-INS (WILLIAMSBURG)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1  NEW FOR WILLIAMSBURG  (4 seen in Northampton Circle)MISSES
Here are our missed birds that are regularly occurring. 
Canada Goose
Wild Turkey
Saw-whet Owl
Evening Grosbeak
House SparrowTHANKS TO EVERYONE! Weather permitting, next year we are shooting for 45!!!!--report by Chris Gentes--