January 1, Thursday "First of the Year Birds"

Heather and I went in search of "first of the year birds" and saw 44 total species. Here's what we saw: Canada Goose, Mute Swan (Barton's Cove), Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Pintail (1-UMass Pond), Common Goldeneye (Mating Behavior -Turners Falls Canal/Conn River in Gill), Hooded Merganser (1-Barton's Cove), Common Merganser, Bald Eagle (2 adults Hadley, 1 adult Northfield), Sharp-shinned Hawk (1-Hadley, 1-Northampton), Red-tailed Hawk (10+), Peregrine Falcon (1-Hadley flying up River), Ring-necked Pheasant (East Meadows), Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Great Horned Owl (2 calling Lawrence Swamp), Belted Kingfisher (1-Northfield), Downy Woodpecker, Northern Shrike (2-Hadley, 1-Gill), Blue Jay, American Crow, Horned Lark (10-East Meadows), Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch (South Amherst), White-breasted Nuthatch, Golden-crowned Kinglet (4-South Amherst), Eastern Bluebird (3-Hadley, 8-Bull Hill Road), American Robin (3-Hadley), Northern Mockingbird, Starling, Cedar Waxwing (10-Hadley), Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Junco, Cardinal, Common Redpoll (1-Turners Falls), House Finch, Goldfinch, House Sparrow.

Total Species Seen: 58
Weather: Chilly early, warmed up toward end. Sunny. Light Breeze.

Total Species Seen: 40 * Weather: Sunny and Warm

Participants Chris Goodchild, John Goodchild, Dave Mako, Heather McQueen, and Chris Gentes.

On this trip we parked at the Graves Farm parking lot and walked alog the road back to the cliff swallo nests at the old barn and then back to the parking lot. Next we walked on the path into the woods.

Birds seen or heard: Wood Duck, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Broad-winged Hawk, Rock Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Wood-pewee, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chicadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Crow, Blue Jay, Bluebird, Veery, Wood Thrush, Robin, Red-eyed Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, WARBLERS: Black-and-white, Yellow, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Blackburnian, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Bobolink, Red-winged Blackbird, Cowbird, Indigo Bunting, American Goldfinch.

Total Species Seen: 37
Participants: Heather McQueen, and Chris Gentes.

This trip began with a pelagic trip out of Gloucester on a Whale Watch Boat. There was not much whale or bird activity. We did see a school of 100+ Atlantic Dolphins. In Gloucester Harbor there were Common Eiders, Bonaparte's Gulls, and numerous Wilson's Storm-petrels. Once we arrived at Jeffries Ledge there were more storm-petrels. The only other pelagic birds we saw were a single Manx Shearwater and a single Red-necked Phalarope. Oddly enough there was a Ruddy Turnstone that flew by the boat. Also observed were a few Common Terns and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Overall not too bad considering we got a free pass for another trip since no whales were seen.

After the whale watch we decided to drive up to Plum Island to see if we could locate the least bittern, but it was extremely hot and windy at Hellcat. The conditions were sweltering and we didn't find the bittern, so after looking at some shorebirds for a few minutes we headed back to the valley. We saw the following: Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Semipalmated Plover, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Tern, Purple Martin and Marsh Wrens.

Other birds seen on the trip included: DC Cormorant, Glossy Ibis, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Herring Gull, Great Black-back Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Dove, Mourning Dove, Crow, Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, Grackle, and House Sparrow.

Total Species Seen: 34
Participants: Heather McQueen, and Chris Gentes.
Weather: Rain with a few breaks.

A night of rain and thunderstorms gave us high hopes to find shorebirds in the valley. The river was high so we checked fields in the East Meadows, Arcadia Meadows, Northampton, Hatfield and Deerfield. Most birds were seen in harvested cucumber fields that had pools of water. Seven species of shorebirds seen. 127 individual birds.

 

NORTHAMPTON
East Meadows - Ruddy Turnstone (1ad 1juv), Solitary Sandpiper (1), Least Sandpiper (2).
Venturer's Field Road - Killdeer (35).
Arcadia Meadows - Killdeer (18), Solitary Sandpiper (2), Spotted Sandpiper (2).
HATFIELD
Near Great Pond - Killdeer (3), Least Sandpiper (1)
Pilgram Airport - Killdeer (47), Semipalmated plover (3), Lesser Yellowlegs (1juv), Least Sandpiper (6).
DEERFIELD
Stillwater Road - Solitary Sandpiper (1).

Other birds seen on the trip included: Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Mallard, Wood Duck, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon (juv), Bald Eagle (juv), Ring-billed Gull, Mourning Dove, Rock Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Crow, Robin, Catbird, Mockingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Tree Sallow, Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, Bobolink, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Goldfinch, Indigo Bunting, Starling, House Sparrow

Total Species Seen: 36

Participants: Janice Jorgensen, Dave Mako, Marylee Bomboy, John Van De Graaff, Chris Patterson, Bob Stevens, Chris Suprenant, Heather McQueen, Chris Gentes.

A slight chill in the air - partly cloudy with a slight breeze.

We met at the bottom of Olive Street in the West Meadows. Before we got started Seth Kellogg and friends stopped to say hello. They had come from the East Meadows where they hadn't seen anything of note. We then drove up to near the water ski club, and then walked along Ned's Ditch. There were numerous Song Sparrows in the grasses - along with a few Swamp Sparrows. In the woods there were some White-throated Sparrows. Near the trolley line there were more Song and White-throated Sparrows. A Blue-headed Vireo was observed by a few. We then went to the other side of the trolley line where we observed more sparrows - mostly Song, Swamp and White-throated. A few juncos were seen, as well as a single White-Crowned Sparrow, and a few Savannah Sparrows. A few got a brief look at a possible Grasshopper Sparrow that ducked down and didn't come back up. We then headed up to the dirt road where we observed a half-dozen White-crowned Sparrows, a Lincoln's Sparrow and more Juncos. We headed back down the other side of the trolley line where we got looks at a Bobcat that crossed the path, passed by up on the trolley line, and then crossed the path further up behind us.
BOBCAT track - photo by Bob Stevens

We then observed two Chipping Sparrows which we carefully observed to insure they weren't Clay-colored. Back near the Oxbow we observed a Pied-billed Grebe, a few Cormorants, a few dozen Ring-billed Gulls and two Great Blue Herons.

Other birds seen included: Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Mallard, Turkey Vulture, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Mourning Dove, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Flicker, Phoebe, Blue Jay, Crow, BC Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, WB Nuthatch, Robin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird, C. Grackle, Starling, Cardinal and Goldfinch. We also saw an American Lady butterfly.