Trip Highlights

Eleven members gathered at Atkins Farm to begin our adventure to Hadley Cove and then north to the Turners Falls area.  Two sharp-eyed members spotted six Black Vultures while on Bay Rd enroute to the cove. The cove gave us looks at Common and Hooded Mergansers and Wood Duck.  There were a couple of Red-tailed Hawks noted enroute to Turners, while highlights there included Common Goldeneyes, Greater Scaup, Bald Eagles, and an Iceland Gull. Next stop was the power canal, which gave us a Bufflehead, a Common Merganser, and an Eagle.  The Rod and Gun Club has not been as productive on this trip for the past couple of years, but it is always worth checking out! This year we picked up four Mute Swans, a Common Merganser, a few Ring-billed Gulls and an empty Bald Eagle’s nest. Two more Red-tailed Hawks, 47 Robins and one European Starling finished our day up on Lake Pleasant Rd (Rte. 63) near Montague.  Special thanks to Mary Felix for keeping track of the birds we spotted. Getting out to bird is always rewarding!

Nine members joined in to enjoy a full day on the Rhode Island coast.  It was a mild, but breezy day.  

Our first stop was Colt St Park in Bristol, where two members, who arrived early to meet up with the group, had excellent views of the reported Barrow’s Goldeneye (3 photos) before they flew and were not to be spotted again that day.  The rest of us had to be pleased with a few Common Goldeneye, 8 Brant, 4 Common Loons, Bufflehead, and a Bonaparte’s Gull.

From there we headed directly to Sachuest NWR in Middletown, hoping to spot a reported Green-tailed Towhee.  It was not to be found, unfortunately.  However, we did see a Horned Grebe, a Red-throated and two Common Loons, a dozen Harlequin, a dozen Common Eider, a Razorbill, 14 Black Scoters, a couple of Long-tailed Ducks and several Great Cormorants.

Next Stop was Beavertail St Park (photo) in Jamestown, where we hit a Razorbill bonanza, finding a group of four and another four as singles.  Also there were a Common and 6 Red-throated Loons, 5 Horned Grebe, 60 Black and 6 Surf Scoters, 3 Long-tailed Duck, 40 Harlequin, and two Gannet, and a Red-tailed Hawk that put on an aerial show for us.

After a rest stop at the Village Hearth & Bakery, we left Jamestown for a visit to a new location, Bass Rock in Narragansett.  There we added White-winged Scoters and Peregrine Falcon to our list.  

Next stop was Perry’s Mill Pond (photo) in South Kingston on Moonstone Beach Road.  Here we found three Eurasian Wigeon mixed in with over a hundred American Wigeon, 6 Gadwall, 6 Hooded Merganser, 3 Shoveler, a dozen or so each of Mallard and Black Duck.  From there we hurried to Perry (aka Firehouse) Pond in Charlestown, another new location for us.  It was filled with ducks and geese, including 7 Redhead, 7 Pintail, 6 Gadwall, 4 American Wigeon, Black Duck and Mallard.

After a brief stop to look at an empty feeder area at Trustom Pond NWR, we headed back to Moonstone Beach Rd, where we stopped on the way to Mud Pond for great looks at a Barred Owl (photo) perched in a roadside tree.  The pond held 50 Hooded Merganser, which flew off as a group just before dark, some Blacks and Mallards and a Great Blue Heron sitting at the pond’s far edge.  We made our way out to the beach, enjoying the fuchsia-colored sunset sky over the ocean and finding 3 Sanderling to add to our list.  The last bird of the day was Woodcock, the familiar notes heard first, followed by several overhead flights.  We ended the birding day with a total of 54 species.  

Eleven members joined today’s successful hotline trip, identifying our target bird and a total of 25 species. We met up at 8:00 a.m. and birded in some pretty cold and windy weather until 11:30 a.m.  Thankfully, we birders are hardy and enthusiastic!

We began with a visit to Mt Holyoke College campus pond, giving us wonderful, close-up views of the reported Greater White-fronted Goose, along with almost 300 Canada Geese, 13 Mallards, a Black Duck, and a Bluebird calling as we exited our vehicles.

Next, we headed to Hadley’s Honey Pot, where we missed a continuing Smith’s Longspur.  We were rewarded, however, with very nice views of several raptors, including a beautiful male Northern Harrier, a cooperative Merlin, a perched and puffed-up Red-tailed Hawk and a Cooper’s Hawk. Also seen were several flocks of Horned Lark totaling over 200 birds, along with at least 3 Snow Buntings.  Alone male Common Merganser was all to be found on the river.

Aqua Vitae Rd was our last stop, and after some searching, we got on a couple of large flocks of Horned Larked that landed in the field on the riverside of the road.  They were quite active on the ground, but we were able to pick out three more Snow Buntings in their midst.  Other land birds there were Mourning Dove, Downy, Red-bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers, Blue Jay, Tree Sparrow, Junco, and a pair of Cardinals.

Five members participated and racked up 52 species, including some special finds.  I’ll share our birding spots and some highlight birds we identified.

Sider’s Pond, Falmouth – 60 Red-breasted and 20 Hooded Mergansers, a Red-throated Loon, and a Great Blue Heron

Salt Pond and ocean viewing across the street – 32 Bufflehead, 6 Goldeneye, 1 Surf Scoter, 2 Razorbills, 15 Long-tailed Ducks, 30 Common Goldeneye, 250 Common Eider, 1 Horned Grebe, 1 Common Loon

Ashumet Pond, Falmouth – 75 Ring-necked Ducks, 60 Coot, 5 Ruddy Ducks, 60 Bufflehead, 75 Common Goldeneye and a Barrow’s Goldeneye hybrid

Mashpee Pond-Attaquin Park, Mashpee – 1 Western Grebe, 2 Common Loon, 35 Bufflehead

Marstons Mills Pond, Marstons Mills – 15 Northern Pintail, 1 Ring-necked Duck, 2 Hooded Merganser, 3 American Wigeon, 20 Gadwall and a Kingfisher

Shawme Lake, Sandwich – 1 Eurasian Wigeon (close and excellent views) and 95 American Wigeon

Town Neck Rd, Sandwich at the Treehouse Brewery parking lot – 8 Razorbills, 75 Common Eider, 1 Black, 25 White-winged and Surf Scoters, and 2 Common Loons

Cape Cod Canal – Added 8 more Razorbills at close range, 1 Gannet, 75 Common Eider, 15 White-winged Scoters, 2 Red-throated Loons, and 8 Common Loons

Skipping Plymouth altogether in hopes of getting a reported Barrow’s Goldeneye at Little Quitticus Pond in Lakeville, we headed straight there.  The bird was not to be found, nor did we get the Short-eared Owls hoped for at our last birding spot, Cumberland Farms in Middleborough.  Despite ending the trip with missed birds, we did enjoy a great day of coastal birding!

This was our 32nd year of participation as Cobble Mtn Circle in National Audubon’s Christmas Count.  Here’s a rundown of how we did this year compared to past years.  We brought in a total of 69 species, the second highest species count ever and the highest since 2001.  Observer number and hours in the field were on the high side of average, and miles covered was a bit lower than average.  Water was unfrozen for the most part. The temperature ranged between 45-49 degrees F, but clouds prevailed and the winds were almost constant out of the NW at 10-25 mph.

There were several species found in higher numbers than usual.  Of these, three species that continue to extend their winter range, an all-time high of 8 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and 45 Carolina Wrens, and the second high count of Red-bellied Woodpeckers at57.  Also high were counts of American Tree Sparrow at 89, highest count since 2006, and Swamp Sparrow at 4, highest count since 2004.

There was just one species found in notably lower numbers than usual.  The Cedar Waxwing count of a single bird this year was the lowest ever in count history.  

We were fortunate to find some rarer species.  An American Coot and a Ruddy Duck were spotted on Congamond.  The last time these species were recorded was in 2014. The Ruddy Duck is very sporadic on the count and the Coot has been sporadic over the last 20 years.  Two Pine Siskins were spied on a feeder in Granville.  It is only the second time this species was counted in the last ten years.  We also got Eastern Towhee for the first time in 11 years.  The count for towhee has been sporadic throughout.  Merlin was counted by two teams and has been spotted only three other times in the Cobble Mtn Count.  Saw-whet Owl was heard in Granville for the first time since 2015.  Finally, a Killdeer was found for the first time ever in count history.

Unfortunate misses this year were Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Horned Lark, and Eastern Screech Owl.  

One count week bird was added by Dorrie Holmes, and that was Bufflehead.

Click below to view or download complete count results.

2022 Cobble Mtn Count Results