February 2015 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:

2/8/15 -- Hubbardston-Ware River Nature Club's annual dinner meeting (NOTE CHANGE OF DATE)
2/15/15 -- The Forbush Bird Club trip to Cape Ann that was postponed to Sunday, Feb. 15th has been cancelled due to weather.

Bird Sightings:

2/28/15 -- Rutland: Woke this AM to a house finch, redpoll and pine siskin trifecta at the feeder. (report from Ted Purcell).
2/27/15 -- Rutland: Was just out back with the dog and her ears pricked up, I thought I heard a "croaking" and then heard it for sure and then a raven flew up out of the woods behind our house. (report from Ted Purcell).
2/26/15 -- Flint pond, Shrewsbury: At 8:15 am I saw a large bald eagle on the ice edge fishing. (report from Doug White)
2/25/15 -- Gardner: This evening at 5:20 I was fortunate to see a Black Vulture in flight over rte2, near exit 23, as it moved from north to south....then east. Perhaps headed to toward the landfill in Westminster, were I have seen them on a few occasions in previous years. (report from Tom Pirro).
2/24/15 -- Central Mass Rail Trail, West Boylston: In a 2 hour walk along the trail from Rt. 140, from 3:30 until 5:30, highlights were 1 barred owl, 1 Pileated Woodpecker, and 1 golden crowned kinglet. (report from Roscoe Sweeney).
2/24/15 -- Chaffin pond, Holden: Today around noon a sharp shinned hawk was on the hunt. (report from Scott&Ruby Corazzini).
2/22/15 -- Rutland: At our feeder today we had a pair of pine siskins, a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers (rarely see both at same time), a mockingbird and four bluebirds. Also had a red-wing blackbird in the yard hoping today's warmth and sunshine meant spring was coming. (report from Ted Purcell).
2/21/15 -- Gardner: This morning there were at least 4 Bohemian Waxwings along with a dozen Cedars feeding in a crabapple tree in front of 83 Central Street in Gardner. This is near the intersection of School Street, Lake View and Central Streets.
# 83 sits well above the public sidewalk, so observes should not be too intrusive for the residents, as always be respectful. Parking would be best on side streets. Traffic moves along quickly on Central (aka Rte 101), high snow banks limit visiblity for drivers ... so birders should be carefull and use common sense....stay on the side walk and off the road. I have posted a few photos on my blog.
(report from Tom Pirro).
2/20/15 -- Charlton: A Red-shouldered Hawk showed up at our bird feeder this afternoon. This was a first for us. We are located quite close to the center of town, but with lots of woods and swampy areas nearby. (report from Robert Hartwig).
2/20/15 -- Oxford: A friend who lives on Lovett Road in Oxford reports that he and his neighbors have been seeing 3 Bald Eagles since Feb 16, 2 adults and an immature. There's a pig farm in the area and maybe that's what is attracting them. He also said there have been dozens of crows around there, too. There's a road opposite The Market Basket on Sutton Ave. that will bring you to Lovett Road. It's kind of hilly. (report from Joan Zumpfe).
2/19/15 -- Worcester: Today at my Suet Feeder in my backyard there was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a Downy Woodpecker. (report from Peter Morlock).
2/18/15 -- Gail drive, Holden: From Gail drive, Chaffin pond at 5:45pm today 2 Great horned owls soared from a tall pine tree to another and perched together for 5 minutes then dropped to lower branches and then back to the original tree for several minutes. (report from Scott Corazzini).
2/18/15 -- Rutland: Today at the feeder in Rutland there was a Pine Siskin in with a half dozen goldfinches. Also two bluebirds, a Carolina wren, a red-bellied woodpecker, a hairy and downy woodpecker, juncos, cardinal (2), blue jays (6) and house sparrows(2). I threw out some bread crumbs on one of the recent bitter cold days and the Carolina wren shot out from under the deck at them as soon as they hit the ground. (report from Ted Purcell).
2/14/15 -- Clinton: Around noon today there was an Eastern Screech Owl roosting in an old woodpecker hole off of route 62 in Clinton, across from the old train tunnel. Watched it and took photos for about 30 min. (report from Roscoe Sweeney )
2/14/15 -- Berlin: A cooper's on Thursday (2/12) and today a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Amazing to see both in my backyard in two days of each other. (report from Randy Langer).
2/14/15 -- Leicester: A short-eared owl was observed for about 30 min. today at about 1:30, on Mannville St. in Leicester ( where the old landfill is). Watched it (hunting) until a group of crows came along and chased it. I took two photos of it (photo1| photo2). (report from Anne Greene).
2/14/15 -- South Quabbin/the Brookfields: We spent the morning birding Quabbin Park/South Quabbin area. Not much around (there are more birds of more species in my backyard) but we did manage: Mallard (1: on river); Common Merganser (1:ditto); Bald Eagle (1ad: NB: all of south Quabbin water is ice covered); Red-bellied Woodpecker (4); A Robin (5); Cedar Waxwing (7); Pine Siskin (3).
On the way to Sturbridge we made a few stops in the Brookfields and had: Hooded merganser (3: most of the river is ice covered); Bald Eagle (1ad); Cooper's Hawk (1); Red-shouldered Hawk (1); Red-tailed Hawk (2); Red-bellied Woodpecker (3)
BTW: the HERMIT THRUSH continues at our feeders (Worcester) despite all the weather. Also in our tiny yard: (2) carolina Wrens; (1) Red-breasted Nuthatch and hunting Red-tailed and Cooper's Hawks.
(report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
2/14/15 -- Chaffin Pond, Holden: Today, Gail Drive, vicinity of Chaffin pond, there were 20-30 common redpoll feeding in birch trees, 8 bluebirds, brown creeper, red-breasted nuthatch, gold finch, red-bellied woodpecker, Cooper's hawk. (report from Scott Corazzini).
2/12/15 -- Berlin: This cooper's hawk has been hanging around my back yard all fall and winter. Held still long enough for a shot. (report from Randy Langer).
2/8/15 -- Spencer: Today an adult bald eagle was scavenging a dead calf at the dairy farm in Spencer where my son works. (report from Ted Purcell).
2/7/15 -- Holden: I had a female Goldeneye in a very small patch of open water at the Holden Reservoir causeway on route 31. An odd site indeed this winter. (report from Rodney Jenkins)
2/6/15 -- vicinity of Salisbury&Park Ave, Worcester: The HERMIT THRUSH continues at our feeders, feeding both on the ground and in the feeders throughout the day. The bird actually holds its own against the throngs of House Sparrows. Other birds include a Carolina Wren and a large (female?) immature COOPER'S HAWK that is taking a variety of birds. (report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
2/1/15 -- Sterling: A flicker and 5 bluebirds were seen at 32 Maple Street around 2PM. 2 Pine Siskins at a feeder on Matthew Lane at 1 PM. (report from Marion Larson and Scott Handler)