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Recent Postings from
The Massachusetts Birding List

Updated on Saturday, November 17 at 06:37 PM ET
The most recently received Mail is at the top.

Margo Goetschkes and I birded Halibut Point today and found 1 BOHEMIAN WAXWING 
in with 5 cedar waxwings. Margo first spotted the birds flying into some cedars 
just to the right of the gravel path/road near the start of the Back 40 Trail 
(across the gravel path from the stone carving of a man). Once in the tree, the 
birds were very quiet and often difficult to find. 


Also at a relatively quiet Halibut:
1 sharp-shinned hawk
1 red-tailed hawk
1 n. harrier
1 red-bellied woodpecker
1 COMMON RAVEN (harassed by crows)
3 A. tree sparrow
6 A. goldfinch
3 snow buntings

Granite Pier:
14 harlequin ducks
1 great cormorant

Bass Rocks:
2 red-thr loons
3 common loons
4 horned grebes
20 common eider 
1 HOODED MERGANSER
18 red-br mergansers
1 black guillemot
1 Cooper's hawk (guarding the bird feeders at Bella Luna, across from Bass 
Rocks) 



This report was manually generated by weBird, v1.


Steve Grinley
Bird Watcher's Supply & Gift and Nature Shop at JoppaFlats
Newburyport, MA 
BirdWSG AT Verizon.net

Around 1 this afternoon there was a group of 26 Redpolls feeding a few 
Birches near the blind on the Hellcat trail. One of them stood out as 
being much paler and having (almost) unstreaked undertail coverts - 
HOARY! Here are a few shots:

http://boghnielsen.com/Birds/HORE_IMG_5034.jpg
http://boghnielsen.com/Birds/HORE_IMG_5045.jpg
http://boghnielsen.com/Birds/HORE_IMG_5047.jpg
http://boghnielsen.com/Birds/HORE_IMG_5053.jpg


Erik Nielsen
Westwood, MA

Roger, that IS strange.  I wonder what was going on.  I don't remember
ever seeing owl roadkill.  Maybe I drive too fast??  I'd be interested
in any background on this issue that any Massbird readers can provide.

John Young
Jamaica Plain


Subject: Owl Roadkill From: Roger  Date: 17 Nov
2007 4:15pm While driving on the Mass Pike near Springfield and north
onto 91, I saw 10, (yes ten!) Barred Owl and 2 Screech Owls, all
roadkill. 3 of the barreds were within one mile. Is this strange or
what? Roger Reed North Egremont 

This morning, I took a group of 4  on a South Shore Bird Club (SSBC) trip to
the North Scituate area including Musquashicut Pond.  It was a very clear
day on the coast which helped compensate for our timing during low tide.
While there were a fair amount of winter waterbirds, I was surprised by the
lack of Common Goldeneye as we had only 3, Common Eider numbers also seemed
low and we did not have any Brant.

Some of the species we saw included:

American Black Duck  4
Mallard  28
Common Eider  40+
Harlequin Duck  18
Surf Scoter  ~25
White-winged Scoter ~40
Bufflehead 60+
Common Goldeneye  3
Red-breasted Merganser  12
Red-throated Loon  20+ with several close in
Common Loon  11
Horned Grebe  3
Red-necked Grebe  4
Northern Gannet  ~6   2-3 adults were in VERY close to shore and diving
Great Cormorant  39
Great Blue Heron  4
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Purple Sandpiper  32
Bonaparte�s Gull 34
Northern Flicker
American Tree Sparrow  3

Charlie Nims
Norwell, MA
cwnims AT comcast.net

Birders,

My nephew Kevin and I birded West Newbury, Groveland and PRNWR this afternoon. We 
encountered Ida, Ian and Sean in West Newbury who were kind enough to show Kevin his 
first Barred Owl on Garden Street.

Kevin acquired four life birds this afternoon: Barred Owl, American Golden-Plover, Ringed-necked 
Duck and Cattle Egret after arriving on the 12:30 train.  We finished our day on The Refuge with 
the crepuscular Short-eared Owl near Lot One.

Kevin is so looking forward to Sunday morning in the field before boarding the inbound train 
in the afternoon...

Best wishes,
Sue

Sue McGrath
Newburyport Birders
Newburyport, Ma 01950

newburyportbirders AT comcast.net
www.newburyportbirders.com

 

Greetings,

From 3rd cliff in Scituate...

68 Dunlin
8 Sanderling
9 Black-bellied Plovers
1 Semi-palm. Plovers

All located on the eastern beach huddled out of the wind...



Best Regards,

Steve

Stephen Maguire - Speaking Professional
www.maguirepresentations.com
steve AT maguirepresentations.com
 x 1

24 Hatchet Rock Road
Scituate, MA 02066

Blueberry Hill
Granville, Massachusetts, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 17, 2007
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species            Day's Count    Month Total   Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture                
Turkey Vulture               
Osprey                       
Bald Eagle                   
Northern Harrier             
Sharp-shinned Hawk           
Cooper's Hawk                
Northern Goshawk             
Red-shouldered Hawk          
Broad-winged Hawk            
Red-tailed Hawk              
Rough-legged Hawk            
Golden Eagle                 
American Kestrel             
Peregrine Falcon             
Merlin                       
Unknown Accipiter            
Unknown Buteo                
Unknown Eagle                
Unknown Falcon               
Unknown Vulture              
Unknown Raptor               
Mississippi Kite             

Total:                       
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 10:00:00 
Observation end   time: 14:00:00 
Total observation time: 4 hours

Official Counter:        John Weeks

Observers:        John Weeks

Weather:
Mostly cloudy (cover 70-95%), with lingering fog the first hour.  Wind W
6-15 mph.  Temperature 31-35 F.

Raptor Observations:
One low-flying immature Red-tail had an extraordinarily full crop.  Not
counted as migrants: immature (3rd-year?) Bald Eagle, Sharp-shin, 3-4
Red-tails.

Non-raptor Observations:
Northern Shrike, approx. 100 Redpolls.
========================================================================
Report submitted by John Weeks (aerie.john AT cox.net)

Today, our MAS (Broad Meadow Brook) class went back to South Quabbin/Quabbin
Park off Rt.9 in Belchertown to check on the recent reports of Western
Grebes. To date, there have been three separate single person reports of the
grebes; though there have been many more reports of other people searching
and not seeing the birds. Today we checked from the end of the trail at the
Blueberry Patch/Picnic Area. This offers good views of the western edge of
Little Quabbin island as well as the water between Little Quabbin and the
Prescott. We also checked from several other vantage points, including
hiking down the trail past an un-numbered gate that is just to the west of
Gate 52. This overlook offers excellent unobstructed views up the east side
of Little Quabbin, up past Mt. Lizzie all the way to Shaft 12. (For
directions to this trail see my write up of South Quabbin in the Bird
Finding Guide to Western Massachusetts; Ortiz et al editors). Visibility was
very good, and we certainly saw plenty of Horned Grebes, but no Westerns or
anything at a distance that we could even hope were Western Grebes. Below is
our trip list:
Common Loon (4)
Horned Grebe (13)
Mallard (9)
White-winged Scoter (1m)
Long-tailed Duck (17)
Bufflehead (17)
Common Goldeneye (2f)
Hooded Merganser (3)
Red-breasted Merganser (1f)
Common Merganser (4f)
Osprey (1)
Bald Eagle (1imm+1ad)
Red-tailed Hawk (2)
Wild Turkey (2)
Ring-billed Gull (14)
Downy Woodpecker (2)
Hairy Woodpecker (6)
Pileated Woodpecker (1)
Northern Shrike (2)
Blue Jay (21)
A Crow (30)
Common Raven (3)
Black-capped Chickadee (26)
Tufted Titmouse (2)
White-breasted Nuthatch (2)
Brown Creeper (3)
Eastern Bluebird (14)
A Robin (6)
Cedar Waxwing (8)
American Tree Sparrow (9)
Dark-eyed Junco (49)
N Cardinal (2)
Pine Grosbeak (26)
Common Redpoll (13)
American Goldfinch (7)
Evening Grosbeak (3)
PLUS: White-tailed Deer (2)

Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll
Moa.lynch AT verizon.net

While driving on the Mass Pike near Springfield and north onto 91, I  
saw 10,  (yes ten!)    Barred Owl  and 2 Screech Owls, all roadkill.   
3 of the barreds were within one mile.  Is this strange or what?

Roger Reed
North Egremont

PI/Mass birds,

I admit to being envious this week when I saw the reports of a cattle egret on 
Plum Island. Although I had seen one in Florida, the thoughts of seeing one on 
the island and adding to my year and life list for the island made me want to 
leave work early. Unfortunately that was not possible. I could only hope that 
the bird would stay one more day till Saturday when I could visit the island. 
With the egret in mind I made why was down to the north pool overlook area 
where the cattle egret had been reportedly been seen the days before. 


As I got out of my car I scanned all around me for some sign of the egret. It 
was not to be seen. I spent 5-10 minutes scanning the water, checking the 
ducks, watching a harrier chase after a small-unknown bird. As I was about to 
get into my car another car pulled up to the lot. As the two gentlemen got out 
of the car I heard them say, oh there is the cattle egret. The egret had been 
there the whole time, right under my nose, so to speak. It had been hiding 
right next to the lots overhang and if I had just peaked down I would have been 
eye to eye with it. 


It just goes to show you, you have to look right under foot sometimes.

I have posted two pictures of the cattle egret on my website at: 
http://www.pbase.com/plumphotos/image/ 

Here is my list of birds seen today.

Location:     Parker river NWR MA
Observation date:     11/17/07
Number of species:     41

Snow Goose     1 n pool dike
Canada Goose     various
Mute Swan     2 flyby n pool overlook
Gadwall     various
American Wigeon     pans
American Black Duck     various
Mallard     various
Northern Pintail     various
Green-winged Teal     forward
Common Eider     ocean 7
White-winged Scoter     ocean 7
Bufflehead     sound w wardens
Hooded Merganser     forward
Common Loon     2 ocean 7
Horned Grebe     2 ocean 7
Northern Gannet     5 ocean 7
Great Blue Heron     1 s marsh
Cattle Egret     1 n pool overlook
Turkey Vulture     2  w pans
Northern Harrier     2 various
Hawk  (Cooper's)   1 n field
American Coot     6 n pool overlook
American Golden-Plover     1 pines field
Greater Yellowlegs     3 pans
Purple Sandpiper     3 Emerson rocks
Ring-billed Gull     beach 7
Herring Gull     beach 7
Great Black-backed Gull     beach 7
Mourning Dove     1 hellcat
Eastern Phoebe     1 wardens
Blue Jay     4 various
American Crow     various
Black-capped Chickadee     9 various
Red-breasted Nuthatch     3 pines
American Robin     6 hellcat
Pine Warbler     1 pines
American Tree Sparrow     8 various
White-throated Sparrow     5 marsh & dune trail
Dark-eyed Junco     3 various
Snow Bunting     hellcat dike
Northern Cardinal     2 various

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)



Nancy Landry
Havehill MA
njlandry AT verizon.net
www.pbase.com/plumphotos

We birded Royalston in the morning and a little of Athol in the 
afternoon.

Royalston - 9am to noon

Evening Grosbeak - 105 (40 at a house on Bolton Street, 35 at the 
north end
                               of town just past the house with all 
the feeders and 30 reported
                               from another part of town by others)
Pine Grosbeak - 25 (all at the north end of town just beyond the 
house with
                                the feeders)
Barred Owl - 1 (reported to us as we arrived, but not seen by us near 
where all
                        the Grosbeaks were at north end of town)
Wild Turkey - 1 (same as Barred Owl)

Athol - 1pm to 2:30pm

Pine Grosbeak - 1 (across street from Ellinwood Golf Club in spruces)
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2 (in cemetery beyond Ellinwood Golf Club)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 (Athol Water Treatment plant at west end of 
town)
Redpoll - possibly 30, with 1 seen in a tree - most were in a flyover 
flock against
               a cloudy sky so difficult to see any color - also at 
the water treatment plant)

Steve Moore
Northboro, Ma
barb620 AT theworld.com

Sean Williams, Ida Giriunas and I birded the Plum Island area today between 
, seeing the following species. Highlights included a first-winter 
(1-W) Iceland Gull (ICGU) going south past Lot 1, the continuing Cattle 
Egret (CAEG) at the North Pool Overlook (NPO), and an American Golden Plover 
(AMGP) in the Pines Field. Also, in West Newbury, Sean picked out a Barred 
Owl (BDOW), at the location described below. It was still there at ~1345. I 
will probably post pictures of the CAEG and BDOW later.


Plum Island ():

Snow Goose     1ad 2 juvs, Hellcat.
Canada Goose     52
Gadwall     37
American Wigeon     204
American Black Duck     370
Mallard     14
Northern Pintail     212
'American' Green-winged Teal     60
Common Eider     18
Surf Scoter     1
White-winged Scoter     12
Black Scoter     17
Long-tailed Duck     16
Bufflehead     1
Hooded Merganser     4
Red-breasted Merganser     56
Red-throated Loon     59
Common Loon     16
Pied-billed Grebe     1
Horned Grebe     1
Northern Gannet     3
Great Egret     2-BFP.
Cattle Egret     1-NPO, showed VERY well for cameras etc.
Turkey Vulture     5
Bald Eagle     1-Over BFP.
Northern Harrier     10
Red-tailed Hawk     4
Rough-legged Hawk     1-Just N of Cross Farm Hill.
Peregrine Falcon     1-Pans.
American Coot     5
Black-bellied Plover     12
American Golden-Plover     1-Pines field.
Greater Yellowlegs     4
Sanderling     5
Dunlin     160
Ring-billed Gull     35
Herring Gull     10
Iceland Gull     1-1W, headed S past Lot 1.
Great Black-backed Gull     5
Rock Pigeon     1
American Crow     8
Horned Lark     14
Black-capped Chickadee     4
American Robin     23
European Starling     1530-Over the mainland, two flocks.
Yellow-rumped Warbler     2-S-curves.
American Tree Sparrow     27
Song Sparrow     2
White-throated Sparrow     9
Dark-eyed Junco     3
Lapland Longspur     3
Snow Bunting     41
Northern Cardinal     1
crossbill sp.     1-Headed NW from Lot 1.
Common Redpoll     3-Hellcat lot.


Cherry Hill Reservoir area ():

Canada Goose     31
Mute Swan     2-Upper Artichoke Res
Ring-necked Duck     291
Lesser Scaup     1m
Bufflehead     11
Common Merganser     48
Ruddy Duck     121
Great Blue Heron     1
Red-tailed Hawk     3
American Coot     4
Mourning Dove     6
Barred Owl     1-Garden St. Across from the horse farm area, which is about 
1/4 mile down on the right if you are coming from Indian Hill Rd.
Red-bellied Woodpecker     1
Downy Woodpecker     2
Tufted Titmouse     5
Eastern Bluebird     11-Indian Hill Rd.
Common Redpoll     1-CHR
American Goldfinch     2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

68 species total.

Good birding,
Ian Davies
Medford, MA
goshawk227 AT earthlink.net
www.pbase.com/daviesphoto 

Observed in Longmeadow along Pondside Rd. shortly after noon today (11/18):
   
  2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (flying together and foraging on roadside trees)
   
  Nancy Eaton
  Enfield, CT
   
   

hi,
  While walking the dog in the Acton Guggis Brook conservation area
this morning, A GH owl flew over head, we had pretty good looks as it
perched on a branch for a minute.
Jeff & Karen Harrington
Acton,Ma

Paradise Pond, Northampton, 9 a.m.:

1 SNOW GOOSE
1 hooded merganser
8 common mergansers

Axel Hildebrandt
Northampton, MA
ahildebr AT gmail.com

Steve Grinley reported at 12:45 a Bohemian Waxwing in with several Cedar 
Waxwings feeding in the cedar trees along the gravel path near the start of the 
back forty trail, Halibut Point. 


Barrett Bacall for SG

Steve Grinley
Bird Watcher's Supply & Gift and Nature Shop at JoppaFlats
Newburyport, MA 
BirdWSG AT Verizon.net

Found one there on Friday morning, November 16, late morning.
   
  Marcy Marchello
  Northfield MA
  marcymarchello AT yahoo.com

In the past year I have had good luck with drawing a pattern on glass windows 
and doors with 

a bar of white soap; no bird strikes since doing this. However soap eventually 
washes off and 

has to be renewed. It also seems to work when drawing on the inside of the 
glass; so far no 

strikes for the past two months.
Hilke Breder

 From Turk Duddi via Dori:
11/16 - East Haven, Proto Drive -- COMMON GROUND-DOVE, a little after
noon.  Also immature White-crowned Sparrows

 From Dori Sosensky with various others:
11/16 - New Haven, Lighthouse Pt Park hawk watch -- 2(+?) Cave
Swallows, flock (25+) Common Redpolls, 7-8 (probably red) Crossbills

 From Frank Mantlik
11/15 - Westport, Compo Beach, 3:15pm -- 29 FORSTER'S TERNS (roosting
on jetty near corner of So. Compo and Hillspoint), 1 NORTHERN GANNET

 From Gina Nichol and Sunrise Birding group:
11/16 - Madison, Hammonasset State Park -- NORTHERN GANNET, AMERICAN
BITTERN

 From Ken Goldsmith:
11/16 - Thompson, West Thompson Dam, Field Trial Area -- AMERICAN
PIPIT (16)

 From Carl Ekroth:
11/16 - Somers, Hutton Road --  one WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE and a possible
cackling goose with Canada Geese.

 From Bill Banks:
11/16 - Seymour yard -- first winter immature YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER

 From Christopher Lovell:
11/16 - Trumbull yard -- a lone PINE SISKIN

 From Len Kendall with Roger Preston:
11/16 - Litchfield -- PINE SISKEN at the house across the street from
Folly Point; a HORNED GREBE on the south side of Folly and three SNOW
BUNTINGS  in the parking lot as you turn to go out to Deer Island.


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It would be very interesting for people who try this to feedback results to 
a centralized location.  I would suspect that highlighter ink on the outside 
of glass would be better than on the inside of the pane, but obviously would 
be more prone to washing off in rain.  Most window glass will not allow 
large amounts of ultraviolet to pass, so the highlighter would fluoresce 
less on the inside of glass than on the outside.  However, perhaps it's not 
the fluorescent color that the birds are seeing, as much as the contrasting 
pattern presented by the ink.  Although the glass is relatively opaque to UV 
light, it is transparent to visible wavelengths, and while the highlighter 
may not be fluorescing, per se, it may present a color/pattern contrast. 
I'd encourage any "experimenters" to relay their results back to the master 
himself, Mr. Sibley.  Such results, good or bad, would be of great interest 
to the entire birding community, which is why I'd encourage people to share 
their results.

Ken Sejkora, WB0OCV
Norton, MA  02766
Lat/Lon �N �W


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lynette Leka" 
To: 
Sent: Friday, November 16, 2007 9:45 AM
Subject: [MASSBIRD] RE: Bird strikes and windows: a new solution


> ohmygawsh - wouldn't it be terrific if this works!
>
> my pleasure at being in this location has been diminished by the
> sickening instances of bird injury and death due to all the glass
> windows and doors; I have been trying many methods for preventing
> strikes - all quite labor intensive, not particularly attractive, and
> none yet proven to be dependably effective; I hope any MassBirders who
> try the highlighter suggestion keep us (or a least me, offline) posted
> with results
>
> Lynette Leka
> Newbury, MA 01951
> email: lynette.leka AT yahoo.com
>
>
> 
> 
____________________________________________________________________________________ 

> Be a better sports nut!  Let your teams follow you
> with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now. 
> http://mobile.yahoo.com/sports;_ylt=At9_qDKvtAbMuh1G1SQtBI7ntAcJ 

Birders - 

Made a stop at Loop Beach in Cotuit between 3:30 and 4:00, scanning. Found the 
Barrows Goldeneye swimming with three other drake Common Goldeneye, not too far 
out in the bay. The rest of the list: 


Location:    Loop Beach
Observation date:    11/16/07
Number of species:    11

Common Eider    27
Common Goldeneye    3
Barrow's Goldeneye    1
Red-breasted Merganser    14
Common Loon    1
Horned Grebe    1
Ring-billed Gull    30
Herring Gull    55
Great Black-backed Gull    16
American Crow    2
Black-capped Chickadee    2

This report was generated automatically by eBird 
v2(http://ebird.org/massaudubon/) 


Matt Malin 
Mashpee, MA 
hossfeldt (at) yahoo (dot) com


 
____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

We just had the year's main feeder-watching event - the first sapsucker of
the season, a male, November 16.  Our earliest-ever has been October 4 (2005.)
There'll be more, although some winters have been better than others.
Our last record this year has been May 19 (Birdathon Day, as some Birdathon
teams will remember.)

Daan Sandee
Gloucester, MA                                        sandee AT theworld.com

If, by accident, I did not send this notice to all participants, I am
sending it on Massbird.

Folks:

Due to the high winds, Capt. Joe Huckenmeyer is cancelling the Pelagic trip
for tomorrow  Nov. 17.  He has offered to reschedule one early in December.
(date undetermined). It will be on a 65 foot coast guard approved vessel
with a heated cabin but not the Helen H. When we set a date, I will send
another email 

Thanks

Ida Giriunas
Reading, MA

I stopped briefly at Royalston today and saw 6-7 Evening Grosbeaks and  
2 Fox Sparrows.

Paul Cozza
Concord, MA

pcozza AT alum.mit.edu

Today I did some birded at Scusett Beach and worked
down through Sandwich and parts of Barnstable. I began
at Scusett at about 9:30 and ended in the early
afternoon at Mill Pond in Marstons Mills. I didn't
find any larks or buntings at Scusett today. It was
raining most of the morning and windy all day.

Canada Goose - 4
Mute Swan - 6
Eurasian Wigeon - 1 (Male, Mill Pond Marstons Mills)
American Wigeon - 64 
American Black Duck - 8
Mallard - 36
Blue-winged Teal - 1 (Mill Pond)
Northern Shoveler - (Female, Mill Pond)
Northern Pintail - 9 (Marstons Mills area)
Green-winged Teal - 24
Common Eider - 65
Surf Scoter - 2
Black - Scoter - 1
Bufflehead - 13
Hooded Merganser - 28
Red-breasted Merganser - 1
Red-throated Loon - 2
Common Loon - 17
Pied-billed Grebe - 1
Northern Gannet - 2
Double-crested Cormorant - 13
Great Blue Heron - 1
Turkey Vulture - 2 (Sandwich Canal Area)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Black-bellied Plover - 4 (Sandwich)
Greater Yellowlegs - 5 (Sandwich)
Laughing Gull - 15
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon - 25
Mourning Dove - 9
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 6
Downy Woodpecker - 7
Northern Flicker - 2
Blue Jay - 33
American Crow - 27
Black-capped Chickadee - 43
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1
White-beasted Nuthatch - 1
Carolina Wren - 7
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 4
American Robin - 25
Gray Catbird - 1 (Sandwich)
Northern Mockingbird - 2
American Tree Sparrow - 4 (Sandwich)
Field Sparrow - 2 (Sandwich)
Fox Sparrow - 1 (Sandwich)
Song Sparrow - 31
Swamp Sparrow - 6 (Sandwich)
White-throated Sparrow - 22
Northern Cardinal - 26
Red-winged Blackbird - 5
House Finch - 27
American Goldfinch - 17
House Sparrow



Mary Keleher 
Mashpee, MA
   
  Cape Cod Bird Club
  www.massbird.org/ccbc
   
   
   



 
____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Be a better sports nut!  Let your teams follow you 
with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now. 
http://mobile.yahoo.com/sports;_ylt=At9_qDKvtAbMuh1G1SQtBI7ntAcJ 

    Hello.  Hooded Mergs frequent Black's Nook in the Fresh Pond 
Reservation-- a small pond separated from the Reservoir on the northwest 
shore near the pedestrian entrance on Concord Avenue (where there is a bus 
stop).  Sometimes they occur in large numbers at this time of year.  Boone 
recently reported birds to be present there.  Hooded Mergs aren't rare, but 
adults  >> are extraordinarily aesthetic, both female and male.

    There's NO public parking at FP.  You will get a ticket if you use the 
two lots within the Reservation without a Cambridge resident sticker.  But 
there's plenty of parking around the old Ground Round restaurant (now 
closed) opposite the pedestrian and vehicle entrance at the FP Rotary. 
(Yes, there's another rotary; but it's called the Sozio Rotary, after an 
appliance store long located there.)

    Yours,

 Jim Barton
Cambridge, MA

U.S. Coordinator - Proact
defending birds and their habitats
before it's too late
www.proact-campaigns.net

Mass Audubon's South Shore Sanctuaries' Friday Morning Birders forayed out into 
the driving rain this morning and chose the most inhospitable place on the 
South Shore for a birding destination, Duxbury Beach. Only birders could 
consider a day like today a beach day. After scouring the beach, we headed for 
the various habitats of Marshfield, tallying 52 species. Here are the 
highlights: 

 
North River Wildlife Sanctuary, Marshfield:
1 red-bellied woodpecker
Dark-eyed juncos
 
Bluefish River, Duxbury:
Buffleheads
Hooded mergansers
2 Greater yellowlegs
 
Duxbury Beach:
Brant
Surf scoters
White-winged scoters
Black scoters
Long-tailed ducks
Buffleheads
Red-breasted mergansers
Red-throated loons
Common loons
1 Horned grebe
1 Red-necked grebe
Northern gannets
1 Northern harrier
10 Black-bellied plovers
2 Sanderlings
40 Dunlin
1 Laughing gull
2 Bonaparte's gulls
25 Snow buntings
 
Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary:
2 Northern harriers
1 Red-tailed hawk
2 American tree sparrows
 
Rexhame, Marshfield: 
Red-throated loons
Common loons
Northern gannets
 
John Galluzzo 
Mass Audubon South Shore Sanctuaries
2000 Main Street
Marshfield MA 02050
jgalluzzo AT massaudubon.org

Massbird,

With the massive finch movement afoot Massbirders should try to step up
their reporting of "Red Crossbill" to the next level. Birders are becoming
aware to differentiate Eastern Willet (T. s. semipalmata) from Western
Willet (T. s. inornata) and Atlantic Brant (B. b. hrota) from Black Brant
(B. b. nigricans), as well as other subspecies as in Nelson's Sharp-tailed
Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, and more. However, the distribution and
occurrence of the various Red Crossbill types remains one of the most poorly
known bird distribution questions--in part because significant invasions
have only happened once or twice ( was the last great year I
remember) since Jeff Groth's 1993 paper (Groth, J. G. 1993.Evolutionary
differentiation in morphology, vocalizations, and allozymes among nomadic
sibling species in the North American Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)
complex. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 127: 1-143.) that discussed the different
call types of Red Crossbill and the fact that each call type may represent a
valid species.

The issue is discussed in depth at:
http://research.amnh.org/ornithology/crossbills/.

In summary, Red Crossbill is a Holarctic (New World and Old World, northern
hemisphere) species composed of up to 20 different subspecies or groups. In
North America the subspecies taxonomy has been extremely confused, but
research by Groth and others indicates that there are 8 different call types
that can be distinguished by sonogram. The key call is the flight call (also
given perched), often described as "jip-jip"...different from the softer
"took" calls given while perched and different from the song. The known
distributions (roughly) are as follows, according to Groth (1993), with the
possible forms in MA marked with asterisks (*):

*Type 1=Widespread--can occur nationwide; some breed in central and southern
Appalachians
*Type 2=Widespread--can occur nationwide; some breed in central and southern
Appalachians
*Type 3=Widespread--can occur nationwide
*Type 4=Widespread--can occur nationwide
Type 5=Widespread in West from Rocky Mountains west
Type 6=southeast Arizona and west Mexico
Type 7=Sierra Nevada, Cascades, and western Rockies
Type 8=restricted to island of Newfoundland

In the big 1997-98 flight in Maryland I helped to collect recordings of Red
Crossbill calls. We found that almost all of 20 or so recordings involved
Type IV birds, with the exception of a single bird mixed in with one small
flock which included a Type III bird. 

What does this mean for Massbirders?

1) It is conceivable that one day, when this complex is fully understood,
North American Red Crossbills will be divided into 8 or more species

2) It is therefore conceivable that you will have to list "Red Crossbill
sp." on your Massachusetts list instead of the four potential species you
could have had!

3) The best way to document and understand which forms occur in
Massachusetts is to GET AUDIO RECORDINGS OF THEIR FLIGHT CALLS. If any
Massbirders have the means and willpower to get audio recordings of Red
Crossbills this year, I'd be happy to collect the recordings and summarize
the findings at the end of the season.

4) If anyone has audio recordings from New England from anytime in the past,
it would be worth archiving those as well.

Best,

Marshall Iliff

PS -- No, Jeremiah Trimble and I were not responsible enough to have
recording gear at the ready with our Nahant Crossbills 8 Nov 2007. We did
try to identify them by ear and felt they were most probably "Type IV" based
on the abrupt, Empidonax like call note. The photos show small-billed birds,
more consistent with Type IV or Type III than larger Types I or Type II. We
wish we had gotten recordings though!

-- 

-------------------------------------------------
Marshall J. Iliff
West Roxbury, MA
miliff AT aol.com
-------------------------------------------------
eBird/AKN Project Leader
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
http://www.ebird.org
http://www.avianknowledge.net
-------------------------------------------------

Hi,
 Yesterday afternoon, there were nine ( 5 male & 4 female ) beautiful hooded 
mergansers on the lake In Newton right at the intersection of Commonwealth Ave. 
and Walnut St. Access to the lake ( don't know its' name ) and to see the birds 
is easier from Dexter St., off Walnut. Marie Corcoran 

Paul Peterson called and offered an alternative to finding a ride from 
Boston to Royalston. He is willing to meet at the Fitchburg train 
station, if that would be more convenient. The train comes into 
Fitchburg around 10 a.m. Paul can be contacted at  to make 
arrangements.

Thanks
Linda

-- 
Linda Ferraresso
Watertown, MA
tattler1 AT verizon.net

�Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark" 
- Tagore 

ohmygawsh - wouldn't it be terrific if this works!

my pleasure at being in this location has been diminished by the
sickening instances of bird injury and death due to all the glass
windows and doors; I have been trying many methods for preventing
strikes - all quite labor intensive, not particularly attractive, and
none yet proven to be dependably effective; I hope any MassBirders who
try the highlighter suggestion keep us (or a least me, offline) posted
with results   

Lynette Leka
Newbury, MA 01951
email: lynette.leka AT yahoo.com


 
____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Be a better sports nut!  Let your teams follow you 
with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now. 
http://mobile.yahoo.com/sports;_ylt=At9_qDKvtAbMuh1G1SQtBI7ntAcJ 

Sorry for being a day late.  Resubmitted after technical difficulties.

----- Forwarded Message ---- 
From: Matt Malin  
To: MASSBird ; Capecodbirds AT yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 4:24:40 PM 
Subject: Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, MA 11/15/07 - Common Redpolls! 


I birded Coast Guard Beach yesterday morning from 0650 until about 1000 this 
morning, walking down the beach to the inlet and back along the bay side. The 
suprise of the day was the flight of Common Redpolls on the bay side as well as 
up by the buildings. I met up with Mark Faherty at the Coast Guard parking lot 
and we saw more Redpolls come in between the buildings and the beach. Below are 
my e-Bird reports. 


Location: Coast Guard Beach 
Observation date: 11/15/07 
Notes: Common Redpolls seen in two flocks of ~ 30 each with Mark Faherty from 
Wellfleet Audubon Sanctuary along the trail to the beach from the buildings. 
Redpolls were feeding in the phragmites and brush in the dunes from . 

Number of species: 21 

Common Eider 30 
Surf Scoter 2 
White-winged Scoter 4 
Black Scoter 6 
Red-throated Loon 18 
Common Loon 8 
Greater Shearwater 10 
Northern Gannet 60 
Double-crested Cormorant 6 
Red-tailed Hawk 1 
Bonaparte's Gull 20 
Ring-billed Gull X 
Herring Gull X 
Great Black-backed Gull X 
American Crow 12 
American Robin 3 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1 
Snow Bunting 16 
Common Redpoll 60 
American Goldfinch 32 
House Sparrow 10 

This report was generated automatically by eBird 
v2(http://ebird.org/massaudubon/) 


Location: Nauset Bay East 
Observation date: 11/15/07 
Notes: Redpolls seen in three flocks - 25 (photographed) 30, and 30 between 
0830 and 0930. Greater Yellowlegs seen on the north and west sides of the 
marsh,close to Coast Guard Beach parking lot, on the sand bars during low tide. 

Number of species: 20 

Brant 11 
Canada Goose 1 
American Wigeon 1 
American Black Duck 250 
Mallard 1 
Northern Pintail 1 
Green-winged Teal 12 
Bufflehead 30 
Green Heron 2 
Northern Harrier 1 
Black-bellied Plover 32 
Greater Yellowlegs 15 
Dunlin 100 
Ring-billed Gull X 
Herring Gull X 
Great Black-backed Gull X 
American Crow 8 
Snow Bunting 3 
Common Redpoll 85 
American Goldfinch 6 

This report was generated automatically by eBird 
v2(http://ebird.org/massaudubon/) 


Matt Malin 
Mashpee, MA 
hossfeldt (at) yahoo (dot) com 



Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.


 
____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page. 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

 From Tim Antanaitis:
11/13 - Madison, Hammonasset Beach S.P. -- 2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS, 40
SNOW BUNTINGS , 1 AMERICAN BITTERN, 1 NORTHERN GANNET, 11 RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES
11/14 - Madison, Hammonasset Beach S.P. -- 1 AMERICAN BITTERN, 3
NORTHERN GANNETS, 4 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES

 From Sarah Johnston:
11/14 - Farmington yard -- 3 PINE SISKINS

 From Patty Scott:
11/15 - Wilton garden -- three PINE SISKINS

 From Mark Jankura:
11/14 - Shelton feeder -- 4 Purple Finches, 1 Fox Sparrow, 1 Brown
Creeper

 From Jim Denham with Andy Griswold:
11/15 - Waterford, Miner Road, Hog Farm -- two immature Iceland Gulls.

 From C & G Lemmon:
11/15 - Branford, Coachman Dr yard -- 1 Brown Creeper, 8 or 9 Pine
Siskins, 6 or so Purple Finches, 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch.  The Siskins
are a first for the yard list since we moved here in 77.

 From Jan Collins:
11/14 - Somers -- 8 AM, 1 AMERICAN PIPIT in field on Hutton Rd with
40+ Horned Lark


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Birders,

I got this from Paul Baicich.  Please share it with the young naturalists in 
your lives.  

Best regards,
Sue

Sue McGrath
Newburyport Birders
Newburyport, Ma 01950

newburyportbirders AT comcast.net
www.newburyportbirders.com

Youth Photo Contest - Enter prior to December 15th!

This year, for the first time, the 2008 Refuge Photography Contest 
is accepting entries from youth! If you know a photographer under 
the age of 18, direct them to the attached flyer and NWRA's site, 
www.refugenet.org, for details on how they can enter for a  chance to win.

How to Enter:

1. Select either the Senior Youth category, ages 14-17, or the 
Junior Youth Category, ages 13 and below.

2. Choose up to 10 photographs taken on a National Wildlife Refuge 
within the past three years.

3. Submit your image(s) online at www.refugenet.org before December 15, 2007.

Five top winners in each category will receive a prize and the 
chance to have their image appear in future NWRA publications! Go to 
www.refugenet.org and click on "2008 Refuge Photography Contest" to 
learn more. If you have any questions, please contact Claire Stoker 
at cstoker AT refugenet.org or , ext.25.

National Wildlife Refuge Association
1901 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 407
Washington, D.C. 20006
Ph.

15 NOVEMBER 2007:
EAST GLOUCESTER Seawatch ( hrs.)
Weather: Overcast, light rain showers, SSE winds 20-30 mph, 50's.

I conducted a a brief seawatch from just north of Brace Cove during 
lunch.  Many of the tubenoses and most of the gulls were following a 
fishing boat returning to port.

Red-throated Loon (11)
Northern Fulmar (24): 23 light, 1 dark.
Greater Shearwater (23)
Northern Gannet (110): 90% adults.
Great Cormorant (4)
Laughing Gull (1 ad.)
Bonaparte's Gull (6)
Herring Gull (2500+)
Great Black-backed Gull (400+)
"Kumlien's" Gull (2 - 1W)
Black-legged Kittiwake (1 ad.)

Richard S. Heil
S. Peabody, MA
rsheil AT comcast.net

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG_HuFtP8w8&mode=related&search=

This report was generated with the aid of eBird v2(http://ebird.org) 

At my feeders and bird bath is a Goldfinch with what I believe is avian pox.
This is the first sick bird I have seen at my feeders and my only knowledge
of avian pox is what I've read online today.  The bird was very notable for
sitting still even when I approached fairly closely.  The eyes at times
seemed to be covered with a film and there seemed to be white growths on the
upper part of the beak.  

I have a couple of questions.  First, is there someone I should report this
to?  Second, I won't be able to clean and disinfect the feeders and birdbath
until Saturday.  Should I take them down until they are disinfected?  And
what if I see the bird again after they are disinfected?  Should I do a
weekly cleaning/disinfecting for a few weeks til there's no more evidence of
any sick birds?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Lee Wiggs
Groton
Otterr52 AT hotmail.com
 

At my feeders and bird bath is a Goldfinch with what I believe is avian pox.
This is the first sick bird I have seen at my feeders and my only knowledge
of avian pox is what I've read online today.  The bird was very notable for
sitting still even when I approached fairly closely.  The eyes at times
seemed to be covered with a film and there seemed to be white growths on the
upper part of the beak.  

I have a couple of questions.  First, is there someone I should report this
to?  Second, I won't be able to clean and disinfect the feeders and birdbath
until Saturday.  Should I take them down until they are disinfected?  And
what if I see the bird again after they are disinfected?  Should I do a
weekly cleaning/disinfecting for a few weeks til there's no more evidence of
any sick birds?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Lee Wiggs
Groton
Otterr52 AT hotmail.com

Birders, 
 
I just learned that David Allen Sibley will be joining K. Kaufmann and P. Dunne as 
a columnist in Birder's World.  His columns will be short discussions 
~ yes, with illustrations of the challenges we face with bird identification.  
His first column will be in the January '08 issue ~ all the more reason to 
subscribe or to add a subscription to Birder's World to your holiday wish list.  

Good birding,
Sue

Sue McGrath
Newburyport Birders
Newburyport, Ma 01950

newburyportbirders AT comcast.net
www.newburyportbirders.com

Birders,

Some rainy, afternoon highlights:


Creek Brook Wetland in Haverhill:

Barred Owl preening, Red-tailed Hawk, Wood Duck, White-throated Sparrow, 
Yellow-rumped Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Palm Warbler, Eastern Phoebe


Coffin Street, West Newbury:

A band of 16 [hen] Wild Turkeys was scratching in a vegetable garden.  The delicate, 
yellow flowers of broccoli were being investigated by some of the younger birds.  
I watched others scratch the oak leaf litter and swallow acorns.  Some of the birds 
hopped to flight, then landed in a tangle of bittersweet and proceeded to glean. 


North Pool Overlook on PRNWR:

The wandering, short-legged, stocky, dry land Cattle Egret was foraging.  It was swaying
its head on its thick neck and was successful in snatching grasshoppers from the short 
grass without a "beater" in the field.  I used my high, vantage point to study the toes and 
throat feathering on the lower mandible.  The middle toenail seemed laterally expanded 
with pectinate.  I witnessed the bird investigating some mammal scat.


Good birding,
Sue

Sue McGrath
Newburyport Birders
Newburyport, Ma 01950

newburyportbirders AT comcast.net
www.newburyportbirders.com

Birders will be interested to learn of a cheap (almost free), totally easy 
and apparently effective (and invisible to humans!) solution to bird window 
strikes posted today by David Sibley on his blog. I plan to use this 
information to see if I can do something about a troublesome building owned 
by Harvard Medical School I posted about earlier in the season that is 
responsible for a few dozen migratory songbird deaths every season. 
Information can be found at http://sibleyguides.blogspot.com/

In other news, a minimum of 7 Pine Grosbeaks were at the NE Fitzwilliams 
crabapple (previously mentioned in a post yesterday) this morning at 10:00, 
before the rain got bad. In clear weather at Plum Island's PRNWR, the Cattle 
Egret continues at the North Pool overlook, but no winter finches were found 
by the time I left at 1:30.

Best,

Jeffrey Offermann
Cambridge
offermann AT comcast.net

Bonnie Buxton just called to report that she and Bob had 5 red crossbills (2M, 
3F) at the Salisbury Beach State Reservation. The birds were on the ground and 
in the trees beside the trailers that are next to (on the north side) the Camp 
Store Building in the center of the Campground. 


Steve Grinley
Bird Watcher's Supply & Gift and Nature Shop at JoppaFlats
Newburyport, MA 
BirdWSG AT Verizon.net

Massbird,

I don't know about Boston, but to the south where Snowy Owls are a really
big deal, it has not been all that unusual (i.e., 10-30% of records) to have
them appear in urban settings. I am aware of records from New York,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Wahsington D.C., for example.

Best,

Marshall

-- 

-------------------------------------------------
Marshall J. Iliff
West Roxbury, MA
miliff AT aol.com
-------------------------------------------------
eBird/AKN Project Leader
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Rd.
Ithaca, NY 14850
http://www.ebird.org
http://www.avianknowledge.net
-------------------------------------------------


-----Original Message-----
From: massbird-approval AT world.std.com
[mailto:massbird-approval AT world.std.com] On Behalf Of Sean Williams
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 12:29 PM
To: Massbird AT TheWorld.com
Subject: [MASSBIRD] RE: Snowy Owl in downtown Boston

Hi all,

I would like for it to be noted that I had a very similar Snowy Owl on
Dec. 7th, 2005 on Marlborough St. in downtown Boston. It was literally
a couple of blocks away from the Public Gardens/Boston Commons. You
can imagine my surprise while walking down the street and looking up
to see a great white Snowy Owl with those big yellow eyes in a tree no
more than 30 feet away. At the time, I hadn't yet become familiar with
Massbird or any of the listservs, so I didn't post.
A couple of folks I have told have been a bit incredulous, but I guess
this sort of thing happens once in a while. Unlike the Snowy Owl
described today, this bird did fly when approached. Perhaps it had
just finished a plump pigeon.

Good birding,
Sean

-- 
Sean Williams
South Boston, MA
seanbirder AT gmail.com

Has this been seen today?  If so, I'd like to run over and check it
out on my lunch break.

Cheers,
Dany Sloan
Allston, MA

Hi all,

I would like for it to be noted that I had a very similar Snowy Owl on
Dec. 7th, 2005 on Marlborough St. in downtown Boston. It was literally
a couple of blocks away from the Public Gardens/Boston Commons. You
can imagine my surprise while walking down the street and looking up
to see a great white Snowy Owl with those big yellow eyes in a tree no
more than 30 feet away. At the time, I hadn't yet become familiar with
Massbird or any of the listservs, so I didn't post.
A couple of folks I have told have been a bit incredulous, but I guess
this sort of thing happens once in a while. Unlike the Snowy Owl
described today, this bird did fly when approached. Perhaps it had
just finished a plump pigeon.

Good birding,
Sean

-- 
Sean Williams
South Boston, MA
seanbirder AT gmail.com

Acting on a tip from Chris Leahy, we found several Bohemians mixed in with
Cedar Waxwings around the entrance to Halibut Point State Park.  There
were several flocks moving around a lot (there appeared to be no food left),
so patience was required.  Chris also had a Pine Grosbeak there yesterday
but we didn't see it.
Around the visitor center I had a close encounter not with a Pine
Grosbeak, but with a Pine Warbler, at least as rare on Cape Ann in
November as the grosbeak.  V&P have a latest date north of Boston for
Pine Warbler of November 11.

Daan Sandee
Gloucester, MA                                        sandee AT theworld.com

Hi Massbirders,
Saw 2 N. Shrikes this morning: one imm. at Great Meadows in Concord, and 
another (at 45 mph) in a red maple swamp/marsh beside rte 225 and Old Causeway 
Rd in Bedford. Also of interest in the blustery S. winds at Great Meadows were 
fly-by Common Redpoll, Yellow-rumped Warbler, 10 Horned Larks, 6 Snow Buntings, 
and a Lapland Longspur. At least one Marsh Wren also still lingers in the 
cattails beside the main dike. 

Best,
Willy Hutcheson
Concord, MA






 
____________________________________________________________________________________ 

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Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how. 
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Greetings all,

Norman Smith, Director of MassAudubon's Trailside Museum, has asked me
to let you all know there was a Snowy Owl on Boston Common about 0800
yesterday, the 14th.? Apparently it flew when approached. Later?yesterday
afternoon in was on Faneuil Hall.? I don't recall having heard of such an
urban Snowy before.

Incidentally, his first Snowy Owl at Logan Airport was on November 5th.

Kathleen S. Anderson
Middleboro, MA
________________________________________________________________________
More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - 
http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?ncid=aolcmp00050000000003 

Thurs.  8:45-9:30. Tide low at 8:30. Light breeze SSW.

Highlight from the beach was a single Common Redpoll (yes, single) 
working its way steadily southward along the edge of the sandy road 
stopping every 20 feet or so to pick about and then move on.  My 
first of the season.

The Bluefish River west of the bridge yielded:
Great Blue Heron   -   1
Am. Black Duck   -   9
Bufflehead   -   3
Hooded Merganser   -   13  (6m,7f)  - more dependable at low water
Greater Yellowlegs   -   1
Ring-billed Gull   -   2


Rick Bowes
Duxbury, MA
rbowes(at)bowesweb.com

The article on color abnormalities in birds (Birding, Oct./Nov. 2007, pp.
36-46) has been commented on a couple of times, and even though I wrote that
the subject was too complicated for an email, I want to give a brief
description of the article in case it may interest anyone.

The author, Jeff N. Davis, finds that there is great confusion and
inconsistency in the use of words for aberrant bird coloration. Terms whose
meanings are imprecise are: albinism (is it all-or-nothing, or can it be
partial?), leucism (all-white plumage, but normal eyes and skin?  Or diluted
plumage pigments? Or individual white feathers?), and others.

He argues for using terms that specify how the abnormal plumage differs from
�normal.� The pigments melanin (brown and black colored feathers) and the
carotenoids (yellow, orange, red) can be reduced, increased, or totally
absent.  Davis introduces terms such as:

�total amelanism� for complete absence of melanin;
�partial amelanism� for absence of melanin from specific parts;
�hypomelanism� for reduction of melanin concentration where it is present;
�hypermelanism� for increased concentration of melanin.
And so on for other pigments and color features.

Jack Barthel
Uxbridge, MA


On 11/14/07 9:19 AM, "alice morgan"  wrote:

> Thanks to several people who commented on the white-headed Chickadee I
> observed yesterday. There was a comprehensive article on odd colors in birds
> in a recent issue of, I think, Birding (ABA magazine).  It identified several
> different pigments that might fail to be present, and their individual (and
> combined) effects, and challenged several terms currently in use ( e.g.,
> leucism). As I recall, it is all more complicated than we thought!

Mark Tuttle, Art King, and I birded from Provincetown to Eastham today (14
Nov 2007) from about 0900 to 1500.

We saw NO WINTER FINCHES of any sort, despite looking hard.  Also, no N.
Shrike nor Bohemian Waxwings.

Best birds of the day included:

17 RUSTY BLACKBIRD at the Beech Forest in Provincetown
1 late OSPREY seen from High Head looking southeast over dunes towards ocean
6+ GREATER SHEARWATER seen very well fairly close to shore off Marconi Beach

There was nothing notable at Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary at the feeders when we
were there from about 1400 to 1430.

Peter R. Bono
Yarmouthport, MA 02675
http://www.prba.com/prbpers.htm
 

Massbirders:

I arriverd in Royalston at about 9:45 AM. I heard finches overhead but they 
didn't stop. I checked the crab apple orchard from the road but saw no birds 
except robins. 


I went down the road keeping to the right. Just before the road goes up the 
hill on the right in the fruit trees I had five (5) Pine Grossbeaks--two males 
and three females. I watched for about 20 minutes. I went and checked a few 
other locations when I came back the Grossbeaks were gone. 


I was joined by three other Massbirders in the crabapple field across from the 
library. There were about 12-18 Evening Grossbeaks feeding in the crab apple 
trees. There were also a male and female Purple Finch. 


The Pine Grossbeaks returned to the fruit trees down the road. I watched, 
photographed, and filmed them for an hour or so then left. 


The Grossbeaks sometimes leave the fruit trees and fly up high to the tops of 
the surrounding bare trees. Sometimes when feeding and just before they are 
reading to fly they give a melodic "thew-thew" type call. 


Summary:

8 Pine Grossbeaks (3-4 males)
 Males are a cranberry red and gray color; females are gray and yellowish-green 
color. 


12-15 Evening Grossbeaks (across from the Library).

2 Purple Finches (male and female) across from trhe             library.

I was home about 3:30 PM.

Alan Strauss, Providence

A couple of comments about my experience with the Western Grebes
yesterday:

My observations were from about 12:30 to about 1 from the end of the
road to the water from the "blueberry patch."  They were far away,
perhaps a half mile or more, along the shore of Little Quabbin island.
At first glance, when they had their heads and necks tucked down, I
thought they were loons.  They then lifted their heads a bit and I was
struck by the stark black/white contrast on their necks, and, still
thinking loon, I started to wonder about Pacific.  Then I got glimpses
of fully extended necks and it was clear what they were (with the caveat
that I can't rule out Clark's).  They sometimes splashed and stretched,
at which times the neck was extended in classic Western Grebe sinuosity.
The three were always near each other (unlike my typical experience with
Common Loons and Horned Grebes at Quabbin; groupings of those species
seem to be transitory).  They spent much time under water--it would be
easy to scan and miss them.  When I saw them they were much more distant
than at the original observation.  A scope would be very helpful (I
didn't have one with me).

The only other species I saw from that site were Horned Grebes (at least
two) and Mallards (about 20 with about 2 Am. Black Ducks).  I also saw a
Bufflehead from Winsor Dam.  Note that my list is very different from
Tom Gagnon's list a day later.  In my experience that is typical for
Quabbin.  Birds dive, swim around islands, duck into coves, fly from one
end of the reservoir to the other.  Waterfowl lists can be very
different from minute to minute.  There is no way to know if the W.
Grebes are still there, until there is another sighting or until there
are many negative reports; I encourage people to keep looking (and if
you miss the grebes you may still be the one to find the Yellow-billed
Loon that is going to turn up on Quabbin one of these years!).  Both
sightings have been from the blueberry patch, but it is possible that
some other vantage point is more reliable.  In the late afternoon,
waterfowl often seem to fly from other parts of the reservoir toward the
blueberry patch to settle in for the night; late day counts there are
often more productive than earlier; I have no idea, of course, whether
the W. Grebes would follow that pattern.

Good luck.

David Spector
Belchertown