Northern Shrike - High Ridge WMA, Westminster, MA

I had a great time this afternoon watching this adult NORTHERN SHRIKE at High Ridge Wildlife Management Area (Overlook road entrance). It was working a line of crabapple trees when I arrived. The interesting part was that it was singing almost the whole time I was there! For those of you who don't know about the Northern Shrike, they breed way the hell up North. To observe one singing like it was on territory is pretty great. They are predatory songbirds. Check out the hooked bill, which it uses to kill and dismember its prey. Unfortunately, this bird was not hunting.

-K

Townsend's Warbler - Ipswich

Jim Berry got a surprising Christmas present last year when a Townsend's Warbler showed up at his feeders in Ipswich, MA. Jim has been very generous allowing hundreds of birders to stand in his backyard to see this vagrant. Today is Feb 18 and the bird is STILL showing up at his feeders, constantly feeding on the mealworms Jim puts out daily. I was able to see this bird twice; once on 1/16 and then again (very briefly) during the Superbowl of Birding on January 28. 

And here is the normal range of the Townsend's Warbler. How did this bird end up in Mass? Will it return to its normal range?

-K

Strange Squirrel Death

I saw this while driving and I needed to take a photo because it boggled my mind.Not quite sure what happened here. My first guess was that it fell from above, but looking at it more it almosts seems like it got its right leg wedged between two twigs. What do you think?

12/17 - PINK-FOOTED GOOSE in Rutland

At about 11:30AM on 17Dec11, I was scanning through some Canada Geese in Rutland when I came across this PINK-FOOTED GOOSE. This is the first record for Worcester County and I think it's only the sixth or seventh record in the state (if accepted). At first I thought it might be the same bird as the one reported in Lynn a week earlier, but the bill colors are very different. The bill of the bird in Lynn had black bill with a pink tip, while the bird I saw had a mostly pink bill.

The Pink-footed Goose breeds in Greenland and Iceland and winters in Scotland and England. Their numbers are increasing. Interestingly, while watching this bird a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE flew in with another group of Canadas.

And here's the bad news: Unfortunately, this bird is located on private property and, although the landowner gave me permission to walk on the grounds, they were adamant about not having a crowd of people. It's not a birder-friendly area and definitely cannot support many cars. For this reason I am not posting the exact location. I'm posting this report soley to document the record and to make people aware that this bird is in the area. So, check all flocks of Canada Geese!

 Kevin

Recent Fall Photos

I'd be glad to answer any location/ID questions you have for this post. Otherwise, you're going to have to ID these by yourself. I'm being lazy on this one:

10/29: Brant in Clinton

I always check the Clinton High School baseball field for interesting birds. On October 29th there was a BRANT mixed in with a bunch of Canada Geese:

Check out the migration route of this bird. Pretty impressive.



Bolton Flats: Late September / Early October

Here are a few photos from earlier in the fall at Bolton Flats:

AMERICAN REDSTART

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD

BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER

SMOOTH ASTER

LEOPARD FROG

RED-TAILED HAWK

COMMON BUCKEYE

BROWN THRASHER

NODDING LADY TRESSES