January 2007 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:

Bird Sightings:

1/31/07 -- WPI campus, Worcester
Around 2 PM today, I saw a Hermit Thrush foraging on the grass in front of Olin Hall at the WPI Campus. (report from Nathaniel Freedman).

1/30/07 -- Hadwen Park, Worcester
A few sections of open water here with lots of ice covered water. 2 Mute Swans, 250 Canadian Geese, 22 Mallards, 6 Black Ducks, 2 Drake Wood Ducks, 12 Hooded Mergansers, a few Ring-billed Gulls, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, and 100+ Juncos. The Wood Ducks were huddled together in the sunshine on the shore on a south facing river bank. (report from Brian Mulhearn)

1/30/07 -- Millbury Bike Path
Along the Blackstone this morning: 3 Canada geese, 5 northern pintails, 4 hooded mergansers, 10 black ducks, many mallards, 2 belted kingfishers and a northern flicker. (report from Alan Marble).

1/29/07 -- West Millbury
Today I had 2 yellow-bellied sapsuckers at the suet. Two red-bellied woodpeckers, downy and hairy woodpeckers, and a Carolina wren have been regular visitors. Two white-throated sparrows have apparently decided to stick out the winter in my yard. (report from Alan Marble).

1/29/07 -- Burncoat Pond, Leicester
Near the baseball field at the Town Beach there was a Hermit Thrush feeding on red berries. We also had a Common Raven fly by low. 2 Days ago there were still 2 Drake Wood Ducks at Hadwen Park. (report from Brian Mulhearn)

1/28/07 -- Templeton/Royalston
  • Birds seen and/or heard in Templeton today in the village of Baldwinville and the Templeton Development Center.: Species Number reported Wild Turkey 5; Red-tailed Hawk 3; Great Black-backed Gull 4; Rock Pigeon 125; Downy Woodpecker 7; Hairy Woodpecker 3; Blue Jay 11; American Crow 3; Black-capped Chickadee 36; Tufted Titmouse 2; Red-breasted Nuthatch 1; White-breasted Nuthatch 9; Brown Creeper 1; Carolina Wren 1; Golden-crowned Kinglet 2; American Robin 8; European Starling 202; American Tree Sparrow 5; Song Sparrow 1; White-throated Sparrow 6; Dark-eyed Junco 52; Northern Cardinal 7; Brown-headed Cowbird 6; House Finch 18; American Goldfinch 8; House Sparrow 35;
  • Royalston mainly from the Center: Species Number reported Red-tailed Hawk 1; Rock Pigeon 3; Mourning Dove 15; Downy Woodpecker 2; Hairy Woodpecker 2; Pileated Woodpecker 2; Blue Jay 22; American Crow 3; Common Raven 5 soaring together; Black-capped Chickadee 9; Tufted Titmouse 3; White-breasted Nuthatch 2; European Starling 5; American Tree Sparrow 3; White-throated Sparrow 1; Dark-eyed Junco 24; Northern Cardinal 2; American Goldfinch 6; Evening Grosbeak 2 at the house in the hollow, one handsome male and at least one other calling in the disctance.
    (report from Tom Pirro).

    1/28/07 -- Lake Quinsigamond, Shrewsbury/Worcester
    There were a few spots with open water on Lake Quinsigamond today, most by RT 9 one behind Bugaboo Creek had a Pied billed Grebe in it! Also seen: 4 C. Merganser, 4 Hooded Merganser, 1 A. Coot, 1 Redhead and 42 Ring neck Duck. (report from John Shea).

    1/27/07 -- West Millbury
    There was a yellow-bellied sapsucker on the suet at home this morning. (report from Alan Marble).

    1/27/07 -- South Quabbin/ West Brookfield/Charlton
  • We started off this EXTREMELY cold morning en route to Quabbin and stopping off for some owling in the Ware River Watershed IBA. It seems all the dirt roads that are usually open in mid-summer are still open because of the lack of snow. Normally, most of these roads are gated by now. In 45 minutes we heard: Great Horned Owl (2); Barred Owl (1); N. Saw-whet Owl (2).
  • THEN, at South Quabbin (Quabbin Park), that part of Quabin off Rt. 9, in increasing snow "flurries" and still very cold temps (6+ max, wind chills well below zero): MALLARD (151: typically you only find small or modest numbers of Mallards around south Quabbin because the water is so deep, but today there were two huge flocks hugging the shore, obviously evicted from favorite ponds by the ice); American Black Duck (31); American Wigeon (2m+1f); Hooded Merganser (4); Common Merganser (3); Bald Eagle (2ad: we initially had one bird perched very close by from the lookout in front of the Administration Building. That bird took off and crossed Rt.9. Later, we had 2 adults at the State trout hatchery. I assume one of those birds was the one we first sighted.); Ring-billed Gull (1); Red-bellied Woodpecker (1); Downy Woodpecker (4); Hairy Woodpecker (1); Pileated Woodpecker (1); Northern Shrike (1); Black-capped Chickadee (61); Tufted Titmouse (17); Red-breasted Nuthatch (11); White-breasted Nuthatch (7); Brown Creeper (6); Blue Jay (32); American Crow (31); Golden-crowned Kinglet (21); A Tree Sparrow (10); Dark-eyed Junco (102); N Cardinal (17); NB: The deep waters are starting to really freeze at this end of Quabbin, though there is still lots of open water. Besides Quabbin proper, we birded the state fish hatchery and the immediate roads.
  • Heading back to Worcester, we stopped of briefly in WEST BROOKFIELD and had: Wild Turkey (28); Blue Jay (33); American Tree Sparrow (2); White-throated Sparrow (40+); Dark-eyed Junco (115+); Northern Cardinal (17); Brown-headed Cowbird (2);
  • In CHARLTON at Orlando's Pond, the Mallards were too densely packed around the small area of still open water to get an exact count, but we did have: Canada Goose (42); Mallard (460+); A Black Duck (64); American Robin (35+);
  • In TATNUCK BROOK, WORCESTER there were (42); additional Mallards waitign for hand-outs.
    (report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).

    1/25/07 -- Broad Meadow Brook MAS, Worcester
    Highlights: 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker, and 1 Carolina Wren. There is a small Beaver Lodge in the small Heron Pond behind the Auto Parts Place. (repot from Brian Mulhearn)

    1/24/07 -- Rutland Prison Camp, Rutland
    There were 6 Robins and 6 Bluebirds eating in the Sumacs. There were a few Turkey tracks in the snow, along with a few Ruffed Grouse tracks. There were about 25 Tree Sparrows, and a Hairy Woodpecker. There were easily 10 Beaver Lodges along a half mile section of the river there, and there were Mink tracks. (report from Brian Mulhearn)

    1/20/07 -- Blackstone National Corridor: RI end
    We conducted standard point counts of these two bodies of water at the southern end of the Blackstone National Corridor. Numbers were typical or low. See details below:
  • SEEKONK RIVER (Providence/East Providence: south to Bold Point, end of the Corridor); : Few birds, especially off Bold Point, where atypically, we found no comrorants and extremely few gulls and ducks. Great Cormorant (3: very low); Mute Swan (2); Mallard (44); American Black Duck (26: very low numbers for thsi time of the year); Hooded Merganser (30); Bufflehead (62); Common Goldeneye (11); Red-breasted Merganser (32); Common Merganser (3); Ruddy Duck (58); Bonaparte's Gull (2); Ring-billed Gull (535); Herring Gull (179); Great Black-backed Gull (38); Red-tailed Hawk (1); Red-bellied Woodpecker (2); N Flicker (1); Fish Crow (42: there were two large flocks of crows, one on each side of the river, and this is the minimal number of Fish Crows we could tally); Northern Cardinal (38: most in Swan Point. At one point we had a "flock" of 19. I have never seen such a large grouping of this species before.);
      NOTA BENE: one of the reasons there may have been so few ducks on the river is that there was a hunter not in a boat, ON THE WESTERN SHORE. He had a small string of decoys out. He was NORTH of Swan Point, under the tall power lines that cross the river, or just south of there. and was therefore firing right out across the narrowing river in the general direction of the Boys and Girls Club in East Providence/Pawtucket. I didn't think you could hunt from the shore here. If someone knows diferently, please let me know. He fired off twice while we were in the area.
  • JAMES TURNER/PAWTUCKET RESERVOIR+CENTRAL POND ,north of causeway (East Providence); : Still 85% open. Great Cormorant (4); Mute Swan (16); Canada Goose (48); Mallard (124); American Black Duck (64); Northern Shoveler (2f); Lesser Scaup (25); Canvasback (4m); Bufflehead (2); Hooded Merganser (40); Common Merganser (58); Ruddy Duck (75); Red-tailed Hawk (1); American Coot (1: low); Ring-billed Gull (115); Herring Gull (29); Great Black-backed Gull (9); Belted Kingfisher (1); Fish Crow (12);
  • On the way home we stopped by the RI end of WALLUM LAKE, BURRILLVILLE, and had: Ring-necked Duck (1); Lesser Scaup (7); Herring Gull (1);
  • THEN on Town Farm Road, SUTTON MA: we found an adult Northern Shrike.
    (report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
    1/20/07 -- Sutton
    There is a Snow Goose hanging out with some Canda Geese in the Whittier Farm Milk Store Fields in Sutton. The bird is actually best (sometimes only) viewed from Town Farm Rd in Sutton. This Rd is located off of West Sutton Rd and if entering from this road Town farm is a large hill. Continue up the hill (keeping an eye out for a Northern Shrike that Mark Lynch and Sheila Carroll found earlier today). You will come to the top of the hill and see a silo with a large field in front of it in the distance. The Snow Goose is in the field in front of the silo. (report from Dan Berard).

    1/19/07 -- Hadwen Park, Worcester
    Highlights: 1 Great Blue Heron, 2 Mute Swans, 2 flocks of Canadian Geese splashed down, there were 150+, 17 Hooded Mergansers, 1 Wood Duck, 4 American Black Ducks, 32 Mallards, and 1 Brown Creeper. Also, the River Otters left a half eaten Large Mouth Bass on the shore. (report from Brian Mulhearn)

    1/19/07 -- Lake Quinsigamond, Shrewsbury
    Across the lake from VinnyT's parking lot were a pair of redheads and a pair of greater scaup. (report from Alan Marble).

    11/18/07 -- Broad Meadow Brook MAS, Worcester
    Highlights: 1 Great Blue Heron, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 28 American Tree Sparrows. (report from Brian Mulhearn)

    1/18/07 -- Little Coachlace Pond, Clinton
    This morning around 10:30 AM there was a lot of activity here: Mallard 70+; Black Duck 3; Canada Goose 50+; Gadwall 4 (2M+2F). (report from Peter Morlock).

    1/17/07 -- Clinton High School
    There were about 20 Cedar Waxwings on our berry tree just outside the window. (report from Amy Mason).

    1/14/07 -- Bolton Flats/Wachuset Reservoir
    We spent a drizzly, damp, dank and chilly morning birding Bolton Flats. With temps hovering at freezing or just below, AND mist and fog, the weather was far from perfect or enjoyable.
  • BOLTON FLATS: Canada Goose (6); Mallard (2); Red-tailed Hawk (1); Virginia Rail (1); Eastern Screech Owl (1); Downy Woodpecker (2); Hairy Woodpecker (1); Black-capped Chickadee (3); American Robin (6); YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (1); Tree Sparrow (123+); Savannah Sparrow (1); Swamp Sparrow (2); Song Sparrow (29); Red-winged Blackbird (2); Common Grackle (1); American Goldfinch (3);
  • At just a few stops at the WACHUSET RESERVOIR IBA (visibility over the "big" water was poor); : Common Loon (2); Canada Goose (13); Mallard (95); Greater Scaup (3); Common Goldeneye (3); Hooded Merganser (5); Common Merganser (6); Red-tailed Hawk (2); Belted Kingfisher (1); (report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).

    1/12/07 -- Lake Singletary, Millbury
    The pair of Redheads are still present on Lake Singletary in Millbury. The best way to veiw the birds is to park in the boat ramp which is located between Harris Ave and the intersection of West Main Street and Singletary Rd. From here, walk left out of the parking lot following a metal fence (by the sidewalk along West Main Street) and keep an eye out for them on the left. If you don't see them here, you can take a left out of the parking lot (this time in your car, it could be a long walk) and continue down Singletary Rd and keep an eye out on the right for a steep driveway with a sign that says Butler Farm. Across from Butler Farm there are some rocks which block what used to be a nice pull off spot. Take the right up Butler Farm. There is limited parking here but it's managable. This gives you a better view of the area. Singletary also has a good amount of other waterfowl such as Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, and Ruddy Ducks. (report from Dan Berard).

    1/12/07 -- Barre
    Among the gulls on the pond on route 122 adjacent to the Barre landfill at noon were 1 first winter Glaucous Gull, 1 adult Iceland Gull and 1 first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. (report from Bart Kamp).

    1/11/07 -- Leesville Pond/All Faith's Cemetery, Worcester, Auburn
    There were 1 Great Blue Heron, 2 Mute Swan, 150+ Canada Goose, 16 Mallard, 8 American Black Duck, 4 American Widgeon, 26 Hooded Merganser, a few Ring-billed Gulls following the Mergansers, a large Coopers Hawk flying by, 1 Robin, 50+ Juncos, 2 White-thoated Sparrow, 22 Tree Sparrow, 1 Swamp Sparrow, and 6 Song Sparrow. Also, up the river past the Water Diversion Tunnel next to Route 12 there were 100+ Mallards.(report from Brian Mulhearn)

    1/10/07 -- Hadwen Park, Worcester
    Still hardly any ice on the water. There were: 1 pr. Mute Swan, 15 Mallards, 1 American Black Duck, 3 Northern Pintail (1m 2f), 20 Green winged Teal, 1 Drake Wood Duck, 2 pr. Hooded Merganser, about 100 raucous Crows, 4 Golden-crowned Kinglets, and 2 Brown Creepers. (report from Brian Mulhearn)

    1/10/07 -- Barre
    Among the gulls on the pond on Route 122 adjacent to the Barre landfill were 1 first winter Glaucous Gull and 1 first winter Iceland Gull. Because of sun glare the best viewing time would be before 1 PM. Also by 2 PM there were NO gulls on the pond. (report from Bart Kamp).

    1/8/07 -- Millbury/Sutton
    Here are some local highlights today: Bald Eagle - 1 (Sutton); Bufflehead - 1 (Millbury); Canvasback - 2 (Millbury); Redhead - 2 (Millbury); Common Raven - 5 (Sutton); Northern Flicker - 4 (Sutton). (report from Dan Berard).

    1/7/07 -- Worcester Area
    Today Fran McMenemy and I birded around Worcester. We saw the Great Egret again at Coes Reservoir. There were also 4 Cygnets nearby as well as Hooded Mergansers and 2 Great Blue Herons. At Notre Dame Cemetery, we had 19 Green-winged Teal, 2 Great Blue Herons and 2 adult Mute Swans (but no Pintails or the Wood Duck that has been seen there lately). We didn't see the Peregrine downtown but did have a Cooper's Hawk on the old Bancroft Building. At All Faith's Cemetery (Leesville Pond), we had 2 American Wigeon, 2 adult Mute Swans and 4 Hooded Mergansers. At Institute Park, we had 2 more adult Mute Swans and 22 Hooded Mergansers. At Regatta Point on Lake Quinsigamond on the Worcester side, we had 3 Redhead (1 drake and 2 females), a drake Greater Scaup and 2 adult Mute Swans. At the Pumping Station on the Lake, we saw a single American Coot. Looking down the lake from the State Park, we could see 19 Common Goldeneye. At Flint Pond,we saw 3 Common Mergansers and also saw a large group of Common Mergs at Indian Lake. There were also many Mallards, American Black Ducks and Canada Geese at several of these locations as well as Great Black Backed, Herring and Ring-billed Gulls. (report from Joan Zumpfe).

    1/7/06 -- various locations, Worcester County
    We spent a very pleasant day biridng around several areas in Worcester County.
  • We started at COES POND, WORCESTER, where the GREAT EGRET continues. Also present: Great Blue Heron (2); Mute Swan (4); Green-winged Teal (1); Mallard (15); Hooded Merganser (2); Red-tailed Hawk (1); Belted Kingfisher (1); Carolina Wren (2); NB: The egret was seen from the north side of the pond, from the Knights of Columbus building at the end of Englewood (off Lovell); where it hits Circuit Ave. People have been parking in the KOC lot and taking the trail to the far right of the building along the chain link fence out to a point where you can look across and see the outflow of Tatnuck Brook (look for cattails); from Patch Reservoir. You are walking behind Botany Bay Apartments. There have been some questions about whether you are trespassing on private property, when you take this trail and it IS clearly posted "NO TRESSPASSING" AND since January 1, the right-most section of the KOC parking area has been chained off. I believe you are indeed trespassing on Botany Bay property, the residents of which are likley not hot about folks with bins walking by thier back windows. But SO FAR, there has been no police called. Even So beware and caveat emptor. Go quietly, quickly and behave yourself. TODAY first thing, the egret was ONLY visible from directly behind the KOC building, looking across the water and was NOT visible from the trail at all.
  • We then hit just a few stops in the QUABOG IBA in the Brookfields. HIGHLIGHTS included: Turkey Vulture (1); Canada Goose (162); Mallard (only 2!); Common Merganser (64); Bald Eagle (1ad: Lake Quabog); Red-tailed Hawk (3: including one stunning leucistic individual which was almost pure white except for some faded red on upper rectrices. This bird has been present for years off and on, from behind the ball field north of Rt.9 from the twon center); VIRGINIA RAIL (1); YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (1); Northern Shrike (1ad: Quabog Marshes); Winter Wren (2); MARSH WREN (3); Eastern Bluebird (14); PINE WARBLER (1very bright m: seen with a large mixed species flock of bluebirds, robins, goldfinches et. at the western WMA parking area on Rt.9 almost across from Pillsbury Funeral Home. Very co-operative); Swamp Sparrow (1);
  • We wondered, with so much open water, where all the Mallards had gotten to. Was there the equivalent of an "elephant's graveyard" of wintering Mallards? Well, we may have found it in nearby Charlton, where on two small adjacent ponds on Brookfield Road we tallied: Canada Goose (408); Mallard (517); American Black Duck (24); N Pintail (4);
  • A brief stop on PRIVATE LAND in Sutton yielded the immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER that has been present since November, as well as Northern Flicker.
  • Our final stop was LAKE SINGLETERRY in MILLBURY, where with Dan jr. and Deb Berard and Alan Marble we tallied: NO LITTLE BLUE Great Blue Heron (1); Canada Goose (40); Mallard (25); REDHEAD (2: pair); Hooded Merganser (5); Comon Merganser (86); Ruddy Duck (34); Ring-billed Gull (400+ going to roost); C Grackle (1); Brown-headed Cowbird (22); (report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).

    • 1/7/07 -- Coes Pond Beach, Worcester
    From the beach with good binoculars looking North, the Great Egret is visible. (report and photo from Richard Johnson).

    1/3/07 -- Coes Pond, Worcester
    The Great Egret was at Coes Pond at 4:00. (report from John Shea).

    1/3/07 -- Hadwen Park, Worcester
  • Highlights at Hadwen Park were: 1 Pied-billed Grebe, 1 Great Blue Heron, 2 Wood Ducks, 18 Mallards, 6 American Black Ducks, 5 Northern Pintails, 14 Green-winged Teals. 7 Hooded Mergansers, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 1 Belted Kingfisher, 2 White-breasted Nuthatches, 2 Brown Creepers, and 6 Tufted Titmouse, and 4 Golden-crowned Kinglets.
  • At Curtis Pond next to Stafford St. there were: 1 Great Blue Heron, 2 Mute Swans, 8 Mallards, 4 American Black Ducks, 6 Hooded Mergansers, 25 Juncos, and about 100 common Gulls, mostly Ring-billed. (report from Brian Mulhearn)

    • 1/1/07 -- Worcester
    The Forbush Bird Club held a shortened trip on New Year's Day, 2007 that began at noon and ended at 3:00 p.m. Weather conditions were nasty (raw and wet). Precipitation varied from mist to drizzle and finally rain with fog diminishing visibility at many stops. Temperatures ranged from the mid 30's to the low 40's. Highlights were the Northern Pintails and Redheads. Here is the complete trip list. (trip report from Joan Zumpfe).

    1/1/07 -- City of Worcester
    Today, we spent a short afternoon birding around the city of Worcester, our "home turf". "Short" mainly because it was pouring here in the AM and here in central MA, there was some real icing in the morning. Afternoon conditions were murky at best, and mist and fog were real problems later on. Most of the birds we went after were "stake outs", birds found either on the Worcester CBC, or by Fran McMenemy and others. The spots we visited are tradional places to look for waterfowl both in migration and in winter well known to locals. Many of the ponds and rivers are small, urban and unimpressive looking, but they are productive. It will comes as no surprise that there was an atypical amount of open water in Worcester for for January 1. The resulting nice mix of waterfowl species was a great way to start the year. We ran into the Forbush Club trip several times led by Fran. Forbush hosts a traditional January first trip birding around the city.
  • NOTRE DAME CEMETERY: Great Blue Heron (1); Wood Duck (2m); Mallard (36); Green-winged Teal (3); N. Pintail (2m+3f); Hooded Merganser (7); LINCOLN SPARROW (1: we found this bird in a flock of 15+ Songs and a few other sparrow species in the weeds around a big dirt pile at one end of the cemetery. My first January record for central MA)
  • LEESVILLE POND (next door virtually to Notre Dame): Great Blue Heron (1); Mute Swan (2); Canada Goose (12); Mallard (19); American Black Duck (8); Hooded Merganser (12);
  • COES POND: we made a brief stop here because the GREAT EGRET was still spotted here as of two days ago. The viewing conditions were horrible and we dipped, but the bird could still be around.
  • LAKE QUINSIGAMOND: we did not do anything like a complete survey of this long pond that lies on the border between Worcester and Shrewsbury, but made just two quick stops: Mute Swan (4); Mallard (20); REDHEAD (1m+2f); Greater Scaup (1m);
  • FLINT POND (adjacent to Lake Quinsiagmond): just two quick stops: Great Blue Heron 91); Mallard (126); American Black Duck (29); Gadwall (3); Hooded Merganser (3); Cedar Waxwing (20+); (report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).

    • For previous sightings, see December 2006 Archives or Archive Index