Trip Highlights

We had our usual good luck at the Meadowbrook School, a dependable spot for Woodcock in spring. Five participants heard about 4-5 Woodcock.

Eight participants enjoyed a sunny day on the North Shore with light northwest winds.  No birds showed themselves at our meeting spot in Gloucester, but when we arrived at Jodrey Pier, we found many Common Eiders, some Red-breasted Mergansers, 4 Common Loons, a Goldeneye, a Black Guillemot, and six Surf Scoters, but no white-winged gull.  We had heard about a Dickcissel coming to a feeder nearby at the home of Paul Hackett, but two visits failed to get it, though we waited a long time with others on the second visit.  A Sapsucker and Red-breasted Nuthatch were the best feeder birds there.        

After lunch, while at Foley Cove we had 2 Eiders and some Black and White-winged Scoters.  At Andrews Point, we had 50 Buffleheads, 50 Harlequins, 30 Black and a few White-winged Scoters, 25 Eiders, 20 Goldeneyes, and 20 Great Cormorants.  Less common were 2 Oldsquaw, 2 Gadwall and 2 Purple Sandpipers, 4 Common and a Red-throated Loon, many Black and a few White-winged Scoters, a Razorbill, and a Horned Grebe.  Cathedral Ledge had 50 Harlequins, 25 Eiders, an Oldsquaw, Razorbill, 4 Bufflehead, and 3 Common Loons.  Granite Pier had 3 Brant, 32 Buffleheads, 14 Surf and 12 White-winged Scoters, 6 Common Loon, and 2 Great Cormorant.

At Brace Cove we got a Great Cormorant, all three Scoters, Buffleheads, Goldeneyes, and Eiders.  At the Elks Club we found an adult King Eider, 3 Black Guillemots, Buffleheads, Scoters, and Eiders.  At Eastern Point there were 300 Eiders, numerous Bufflehead and Red-breasted Mergansers, 15 each of Surf and White-winged Scoters, 9 Oldquaw, 2 Gadwall, and 2 Purple Sandpipers.  We went to the ocean side of Niles Pond and got good views of a flock of Greater Scaup with one Lesser Scaup.  In the pond there were two Gadwall, 2 Bufflehead, 12 Red-breasted Mergansers, 6 Surf Scoters, swans and a flying Iceland Gull.    A wonderful day of birding!

It was a very windy morning, but nine eager members met at the Atkins farm in Hadley for a ride along the upper Connecticut River lowlands north to Turners Falls.  The nearby fields proved sparse, except for a couple of Cowbirds in a pack of many hundred Starlings crowded among the cows at the South Maple Street farm.  From there, we headed east and north, spotting our first Red-tail Hawk perched low in the trees, but the East Meadows was bereft of birds.  

Crossing the river into Northampton, we got close looks at a single Common Merganser plus a Mockingbird and an adult Bald Eagle perched in a tree along the shoreline.  We hurried toward Arcadia and found cars parked along the way beside a weedy meadow.  Others were waiting there for a reported Redpoll flock and we eventually got good looks at a single one munching contentedly at the top of a weed.  A few Canada Geese, another Redtail and Bald Eagle were also present.  Here and at Arcadia itself there were sparrows and Chickadees, Nuthatch, Titmouse and a Carolina Wren.

We decided to head north as scheduled and arrived at Turners Falls, counting up to eight Redtails along the way.  A small area was unfrozen in the river above the dam, where four Mute Swans and about 30 of the three common gull species were bathing and resting.  We continued through town to the Canal, where hordes of Mallards and Canada Geese plus a dozen Mute Swans were keeping the near side along the road free of ice.  We waited for some time, hoping that the reported rarer ducks would arrive from the river.  Finally, we spotted a lone Goldeneye and 6 Black Ducks, as well as two Bald Eagles.  There were a few gulls among them and more gulls joined them, including a sparkling Iceland Gull.  

One car had to leave, but the others continued to the river above the dam and the Airport, where they found 40 Snow Buntings and another Bald Eagle.  Some more Black Ducks and a Kingfisher were in the Montague center pond.  In the Plains were found two Bluebirds and a Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Seven members enjoyed dry, calm, but cold conditions on the hotline trip in Amherst, Hadley and Northampton. We began by checking the UMass campus Pond, finding a single Snow Goose among the many Canada Geese and about 50 Mallards.  In the nearby Hadley fields there were many more geese, three Red-tailed Hawks, a Harrier, and several Robins.  A few Tree Sparrows and a Grackle were in the Honeypot and a single Common Merganser was spotted in the river.  

We crossed the river into Northampton, to find a flock of a hundred Horned Larks and a possible Sharp-shinned Hawk on Aqua Vita Road.  There was a good variety of the usual land birds at Arcadia, including a couple of Robins.  The West Meadows was our final destination, where we could find no Longspur among a flock of 50 more Horned Larks, but we did spot a Merlin and a Peregrine Falcon and two more Bald Eagles.

Three cars and nine brave birders drove through the cold and into the sun to Falmouth, at the first stop finding 600 Scaup, mostly Greater, sleeping in a tight flock on Salt Pond. Also scattered about the pond were a Common Loon, Buffleheads, Red-breasted and Hooded Mergansers, and Goldeneyes. A Great Blue Heron labored slowly across the sky. We drove to the beach road and found only a few Goldeneyes and Eiders offshore with bright light from sun and water in our eyes. We made our first visit to nearby Peterson Farm for reported landbirds, but found few. Then we stopped at Siders Pond for a few Buffleheads, a Common Loon, and a Red-breasted Merganser pair close. A few landbirds were there and a Carolina Wren sang. Then it was north to Crane reserve, where only a couple of Redtails were seen. A circuit of Ashumet Pond gave us no good access to find some reported ducks.

We hurried north to Town Neck Road in Sandwich, where the canal had a flock of 23 Brant go over low and close just as we arrived. Among the 900 eiders there were eight Common Loons, a few Black and White-winged Scoters, and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers. At the end of the road, the bay was scattered with 500 more Common Eiders, 50 Black and White-winged Scoters, a few Red-breasted Mergansers, a Red-throated Loon and another flock of Brant. One of us spotted four Razorbills riding the more turbulent waves far out and two Great Cormorants were there. We drove the short way to Sandwich center and turned onto the road next to Shawmee Lake, which was mostly frozen. At the lower end, open water had 17 American Wigeon and one male Eurasian Wigeon plus 3 Gadwall and 2 Hooded Mergansers.

We drove over the bridge and stopped for break and sandwich at McDonalds. Then we drove to Scusset Beach, where Common Eiders fed at the point and toward the bridge, estimated as another 1500 birds. Other birders walking from the west along bike trail told us of the King Eider, and we drove down to look for it. We got great looks at it from a wooden walkway fishing pier there. Two more Razorbills were spotted and a few Red-breasted Mergansers were also there.

On to Bourndale where we found Herring Pond open, but without birds at the south end. Eagle Hill had a flock of Goldeneyes close with one beautiful male Barrow’s Goldeneye. Most of us spotted it, but an adult Eagle swooped in and flushed the flock northward, where we could barely pick it out. We drove to the north end, where there were small flocks of Bufflehead, and Common Merganser with a few Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers. Some of us heard a Kingfisher call.

We were running late, so decided to skip Manomet and Plymouth Beach. We found Jenny’s Pond drained, but the Harbor had Surf and White-winged Scoters, and Buffleheads far out with Black Ducks close by. We spotted a small flock of Dunlin resting on a small weedy sandbar close-by. Then two Sanderlings also flew in and landed close to check out the shore edge for food. Then it was time to leave the coast and drive inland on Rte. 44 to the Grasslands in Halifax, still known by birders as Cumberland Farms. We found the small parking spot and outlook on the east side where we had repeated looks at several Harriers and two Short-Eared Owls. Also there was a Cooper’s Hawk that attacked blackbirds in a low tree. These were some of hundreds that were flying in and landing as they prepared to roost.