February 2014 Central Mass Bird Sightings

Sightings are listed in reverse chronological order. The email address of birders submitting reports, as well as other Central Massachusetts birding info can be found via the Central Mass Bird Update homepage.

Bird News:

ONGOING -- Asian Longhorned Beetle Information
2/7/14 -- interview with ERROL FULLER on WICN
2/16/14 -- The 1st Worcester County Winter Bird Rall y
2/19/14 -- Exhibition of Photography and Art Tiles by Garry Kessler, at The Art and Frame Emporium, 18 Lyman St., Westborough. Rescheduled Opening on Wednesday, Feb. 19 from 6 PM to 8 PM; running from 2/8 through 3/1
2/25/14 -- AVIAN AWAKENING: DISCOVERING THE WILDLIFE OF NEW ENGLAND, a program of nature photos by Bruce deGraaf, sponsored by the Hubbardston Nature Club

Bird Sightings:

2/26/14 -- Chandler St, Worcester: I had 9 Turkey Vultures today around Worcester State University over Chandler St and area. (report from Scott Ricker).
2/26/14 -- Quabog and Swift Rivers, East Brookfield/Palmer: We decided to bird right along the mainstem of the Quabog River from Lake Lashaway to the river's confluence with the Chicopee River in Palmer. To our surprise, there was even less open water along the river than there was a week ago. Hiking in paths was also a challenge because the snow had developed an icy crust and you broke through every third of fourth step, making progress difficult and dangerous. Pull-offs were in mostly poor shape with ice and snow. The Quabog River runs from East Brookfield through Brookfield through Warren and then forms the border between Monson and Palmer for a while and then at the "Three Rivers" area meets the co-joined Ware and Swift Rivers at the start of the Chicopee River in Palmer. As the river runs through Warren it becomes shallow and "riffly" and as there is a significant elevation drop into Palmer, the river gains some speed.
Totals: Turkey Vulture (1); Mute Swan (2); A Black Duck (1); Hooded Merganser (5); Common Merganser (16); Red-tailed Hawk (1); Ring-billed Gull (4); Herring Gull (1); Great Black-backed Gull (1); Passerines were typical with good numbers of the usual species: jays; chickadees; bluebirds.
From Three Rivers, we followed the Swift River north to Quabbin Reservoir through the towns of Palmer and Ware. The Swift River is for the most part a narrow river but surprisingly had more open water than the Quabog did. We noted: Mallard (16); American Black Duck (4); Ring-necked Duck (1m); Hooded Merganser (14); Common Merganser (4);
At Quabbin Park there was a deer carcass out from the Administration Building. Through Quabbin Park we had (2) Turkey Vulture; (7) Bald Eagles; (1) Golden Eagle and (6) Common Ravens.
NB: At the trout farm Sheila was able to get a few poor shots of a Short-tailed Shrew that was running around frantically. At the Enfield Lookout, we watched a coyote stalk a deer out on the ice. The coyote had attacked the deer, which had fallen, but had gotten up. The coyote had laid down facing the deer about 30 yards away while the deer just stood frozen facing the coyote. They were like that for 15 minutes and we left.
(report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
2/26/14 -- Holden: In our yard today between 7 am-9am we had 4 eastern bluebirds perching on nest boxes, 2 carolina wren, 1 fox sparrow, 3 white throated sparrow, 6 American robin, 4 common grackle, 2 rw blackbird, and 1 raven (report from Scott Corazzini).
2/25/14 -- Holden: I saw an adult bald eagle soaring over Kendall reservoir along rte 31 in Holden today. (report from Ted Purcell).
2/25/14 -- Millbury: Today there are 16 Common Grackles and 14 Red-winged blackbirds in the marsh. I guess Spring is really coming! (report from Susan LaBree).
2/23/14 -- Downtown Worcester: This morning at about 9:30, I saw two Peregrine Falcons. One was on the T&G building and the other was on the Peoples United Bank Building. (report from Alan Marble).
2/22/14 -- Uxbridge Community Gardens: While checking out the usual birds at Uxbridge Community Gardens this morning, I was quite surprised to hear a very early Killdeer calling overhead. I got the binoculars on it and made visual confirmation. (report from Alan Marble).
2/19/14 -- Worcester: This morning while shoveling I heard a Fish Crow calling near my yard and a Pileated Woodpecker calling in my yard.. I looked up and found a male Pileated Woodpecker in a tree about 20 feet from me. (report from Bart Kamp).
2/19/14 -- Downtown Worcester: This morning the old Worcester Center Galleria was being demolished. A peregrine Falcon was circling overhead as the demolition started, then it flew off. (report from Brian Mulhearn)
2/18/14 -- Main South, Worcester: I have had this leucistic Tufted Titmouse coming to my feeders the last few weeks. Photo taken through a window.. (report from Brian Mulhearn)
2/17/14 -- South Quabbin area: We found (and photo'd); a pair of RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS today in the Swift River, which runs between Ware and Belchertown, south of Quabbin Reservoir. They were visible from the southern end of River Road, near a group of Hooded Mergansers, Mallards and Black Ducks. We birded Quabbin Park and along this first section of the Swift River . The reservoir is completely ice covered. Totals were: Mallard (25); A Black Duck (4); Hooded Merganser (18); Red-breasted Merganser (pair); Bald Eagle (1ad); Red-tailed Hawk (1); Ring-billed Gull (just 1 at the state trout farm); Red-bellied Woodpecker (2); Downy Woodpecker (2); Hairy Woodpecker (2); Blue Jay (6); A Crow (3); C Raven (1); Black-capped Chickadee (35); Tufted Titmouse (9); Red-breasted Nuthatch (4); White-breasted Nuthatch (3); Golden-crowned Kinglet (5); Hermit Thrush (2: Quabbin Park); A Robin (11); Dark-eyed Junco (2);
Also: from the Administration building: 1 Eastern Coyote, the same one with the injured paw that we saw Saturday when there were at least 7 coyotes seen from the same spot. Sheila will post some pics on her blog.
(report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
2/16/14 -- downtown Worcester: I saw one of the Peregrine Falcons sitting on the People's Bank sign (Building behind City Hall) around 3:00 this afternoon. It was too far away to tell if it was the male or female, or if it had been injured. (report from Emily Eaton).
2/16/14 -- Worcester: Since 2/13 an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk, an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk and an adult Cooper's Hawk have hit birds in the yard. They left feathers on the ground; but with no bird. Each was seen perched in a nearby tree with empty talons after the hit. (report from Bart Kamp).
2/16/14 -- Trout Brook Reservation, Holden: While snow shoeing at trout brook reservation today we observed a winter wren for several minutes in and out of snow covered brush piles; also ruby crowned kinglets, cedar waxwings, brown creeper, red breasted nuthatch. (report from Scott & Rubina Corazzini).
2/15/14 -- Quabog IBA+South Quabbin area: We started the morning birding just a few stops in the QUABOG IBA in the Brookfields. Birding was tough as people were still digging out from the last storm and there were very few places to pull over and park. Most of the water on the lakes was ice-covered, but we still managed along the river: Great Blue Heron (1); Mute Swan (2); A Black Duck (13); Mallard (40); Hooded Merganser (15); Common Merganser (9); Bald Eagle (1imm). Passerines included Common Raven (1); Carolina Wren (2); E Bluebird (4); American Robin (48); N Mockingbird (1); Tree Sparrow (3);.
Then we headed to South Quabbin (Ware-Belchertown). Most of Quabbin Park still had the gates closed, so we birded from in front of the Administration Building (the road from Rt.9 to there is always open), then went on to the state trout farm and along the first mile of the river. We had: Bald Eagle (2ad+2subAd); Red-tailed Hawk (1); Mallard (10); Hooded Merganser (9); American Robin (32); Cedar Waxwing (4). Plus: a nice show of minimally (7) Eastern Coyotes on the ice covered reservoir.
Finally we stopped at Orlando's Ponds in Charlton. Here there was a very small blob of open water that had: Canada Goose (5); Mallard (300+); A Black Duck (29); Red-tailed Hawk (1 in the area).
(report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
2/12/13 -- Downtown Worcester: There was a Peregrine Falcon Perched atop the Peoples Bank Building at 8:15 this morning. (report from Brian Mulhearn)
2/9/14 -- Rutland: At 11:00 this morning - close to old state hospital - there was a Bald Eagle circling and heading west. (report from Jane Fitzgerald).
2/8/14 -- Rutland: We had two adult bald eagles frequenting the ice fishing derby at Demond Pond in Rutland. One or two have been regular lately. They seem to come and go from the feeder stream that flows from an area of large white pines. (report from Ted Purcell).
2/8/14 -- Leominster: Around 2 PM while driving south on Rte I-190 in Leominster I spotted an adult bald eagle flying very low over the highway bridge that spans the Nashua River near Exit 5 (Rte 117 exit). The bird flew downstream along the Nashua River. (report from Marion Larson).
2/8/14 -- Blackstone/Millville: This morning we birded a few stops along the Blackstone River in Worcester County. Out first stop was in the small towns of BLACKSTONE AND MILLVILLE. Here we bumped into Glenn d'Entremont, which was a pleasant surprise. He was looking for Black Vultures. We had just looked over the border in Woonsocket and had only 3 Turkey Vultures roosting on houses and none at the transfer station. We took him a tour of the Woonsocket spots and as we returned to the Blackstone Dunkin' Doughnuts lot a single TV flew in. We left to see if we could find the roost and did, from the entrance road to the Hartnett Middle School off Federal Street. We had atlased the areas down here and knew all the areas to look. We called Glenn an got him on some perched Black Vultures. But shortly afterwards (by 9:30AM) suddenly all the vultures put up, circling in one confusing large mob of Turkey and Black Vultures. They then seemed to go down somewhere nearby. We left Glenn and found where the vultures went down, They were NOT in Woonsocket per usual, but atop neighborhood houses in southern Blackstone like along Williams and May Streets. Some houses had more than 10 vultures on them. At the end, we believe we had: Minimally (61) Turkey Vultures and Minimally (23) Black Vultures. Likely more, but it was tough to count as they were spread out and moving around.
Among the other species seen in the Blackstone/Millville area: Bald Eagle (1ad); Sharp-shinned Hawk (1); Red-tailed Hawk (3); Canada Goose (118); Mute Swan (4); Mallard (90); A Black Duck (5); Hooded Merganser (21); Common merganser (9); Wild Turkey (11); Common Raven (1: they nest in northern Blackstone); Eastern Towhee (1); Swamp Sparrow (1); Red-winged Blackbird (1);
Further north along the river we also noted (2); Great Blue Herons and much more waterfowl.
(report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
2/7/14 -- Bart's Pond, Clinton: Trying to find open water was difficult today, but the old reliable Bart's Pond had a lot of Mallards and one Male Northern Pintail. (report from Peter Morlock).
2/4/14 -- Wachusett Reservoir: This morning we birded Wachusett Reservoir, including the Rt. 100 dike; the dam, River Road, South Bay and a rather beautiful walk out to Scar Hills Bluffs. The reservoir is now close to 100% ice/snow covered including the Quinapoxet River near River Road (I am sure it is open further up river at least in sections). We did manage: Mute Swan (1 dead? A lump of white off from River Road appeared to be a frozen, dead swan); Mallard (158); A Black Duck (1: all behind Wheetabix); Ring-billed Gull (14); Herring Gull (1). It was great snow for tracking, and I tracked a coyote along the main trail out to the bluffs, then down the side trail and then: OVER THE EDGE. The tracks showed that the coyote continued over the edge and down into some birches on the steep cliff face.
We then headed to Lake Quinsigamond-Flint Pond complex partly in the towns of Worcester, Shrewsbury and Grafton. Here there was at least some open water, though not a lot. We checked for the Red-breasted Merganser and did NOT see it, but there was a lot of work going on at the Rt.9 Bridge. Totals: Mute Swan (12); Canada Goose (146); Mallard (61); A Black Duck (36); Bufflehead (1f); Hooded Merganser (24); Ring-billed Gull (161); Herring Gull (29); Great Black Backed Gull (3);
One of the more unusual sightings was on Holden Street, at the north end of Lake Quinsigamond. A car had gone well off the road where Mud Pond connected to the lake. The car was there in the muck, there was also a huge crane and several police cars. It was a busy mess. Yet, just about 75 feet out in the thin strip of open water, there was a mess of Mallards, Canada Geese, Ring-billed Gulls and a pair of Hooded Mergs resting seeming not to notice.
(report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
2/3/14 -- Sterling: Highlights seen today at our feeders and below the feeders (at one time!) during the snow were: "our" Fox Sparrow (here since Jan 22, 2014), and a record (for us) of 22 Northern Cardinals. Previous record for us was 12 last year at one time. (report from Marsha and Fred Paine).
2/3/14 -- Holden: From our yard between 7am-3pm, highlights were red bellied woodpecker,fox sparrow, brown creeper, and sharp shinned hawk. (report from Scott Corazzini).
2/2/14 -- Royalston: Today we birded Royalston, looking (hopefully) for some Evening Grosbeaks. We dipped in all the usual spots, including areas where we had them breeding this summer. Our total list is as follows: American Black Duck (3: 1 fly-over and two in a small part of an open stream north of Tully Lake); Wild Turkey (4); Red-bellied Woodpecker (3); Hairy Woodpecker (3); Pileated Woodpecker (1); Blue Jay (32); American Crow (7); Common Raven (2); Eastern Bluebird (6); Black-capped Chickadee (72); Tufted Titmouse (10); White-breasted Nuthatch (8); Eastern Bluebird (6); American Robin (69); E Starling (16); A Tree Sparrow (3); N Cardinal (3); A Goldfinch (4);
Later at Mandel Hill, East Quabbin Land Trust property in Hardwick we had a huge flock of 100+ Snow Buntings flying overhead towards Quabbin.
(report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
2/1/14 -- Rutland State Park, Rutland: Near the entrance to parking for the beach area there was a Northern Goshawk giving its kek kek kek calls, as if it was defending a nest. This is way too soon for that, so I don't know what got it agitated. (report from Brian Mulhearn)
2/1/14 -- Winimusset WMA ,New Braintree: This evening at Winimusset WMA at 5:35pm we had a Long-eared Owl in a tree on the opposite side of the street from the little building . We heard it first and then located it a few minutes later. (report from Bob and Diane Abbott).