Bird sightings
Recent bird sightings reported to Mass Audubon:
Sightings of special note last week were a continuing Townsend’s solitaire in Truro, single eared grebes at East Gloucester and Marblehead, and a golden eagle in Lenox. Also, a continuing Say’s phoebe in Belchertown, a similarly lingering Townsend’s warbler in Cambridge, a flock of 14 sandhill cranes seen in both Athol and Shelburne Falls, and several good-sized flocks of Bohemian waxwings in Franklin County.
►Berkshire County: A horned grebe at Stockbridge Bowl in Stockbridge, a blue-winged teal at Corbin’s Neck in Ashley Falls, a golden eagle at Woods Pond in Lenox, a sandhill crane off South Main Street in Sandisfield, and a continuing dickcissel at a feeder on Jug End Road in South Egremont.
► Bristol County: Single ospreys in Somerset, Taunton, and South Dartmouth, three greater yellowlegs off Winsegansett Avenue in Fairhaven, and two American oystercatchers elsewhere in Fairhaven.
► Cape Cod: Notables included a Townsend’s solitaire at High Head in Truro, a Bohemian waxwing on Water Street in Yarmouth, and a Pacific loon, a thick-billed murre, a glaucous gull, and a barn swallow at Race Point in Provincetown. A whimbrel and a willet at West Dennis Beach, another willet at the Bell’s Neck Conservation Area in Harwich, a lesser yellowlegs at Mill Creek in Chatham, a piping plover at Nauset Beach in Orleans, and an American oystercatcher in West Falmouth Harbor. Two great egrets at Sandy Neck in Barnstable, an osprey at Dowses Beach in Osterville and another osprey at Forest Beach in Chatham, two black-headed gulls at Craigville Beach in Barnstable, and 10 black vultures at Peterson Farm in Falmouth.
► Essex County: Luminaries were single eared grebes at Niles Beach in East Gloucester and the Marblehead Neck Causeway in Marblehead, nine Eastern meadowlarks on Wise Lane in Essex, five marsh wrens at Little Pine Creek in Newbury, and a continuing yellow-breasted chat on Leonard Ave. in Bradford.
► Franklin County: A couple of big flocks of Bohemian waxwings that included 35 on Pine Nook Road in Deerfield, and 28 on the Pocumtuck Ridge powerline in Deerfield. Also observed in the county were 14 migrating sandhill cranes at Banfield-Weir at West Field Road in Shelburne Falls, and 12 red crossbills at the Montague Sand Plains Wildlife Management Area in Montague.
► Hampden County: An osprey and 18 tree swallows at the Longmeadow Flats in Longmeadow, two Northern shovelers and a yellow-rumped warbler at the Stebbins Wildlife Refuge in Longmeadow, and a redbreasted Merganser at the Congamond Lakes in Southwick.
► Hampshire County: A continuing Say’s phoebe at the Quabbin Reservoir Visitor’s Center in Belchertown, two Eastern towhees at Quabbin Park in Ware, and a blue-winged teal and six rusty blackbirds at Great Pond in Hatfield.
► Martha’s Vineyard: Highlights included a redhead, a Northern shoveler, and a Eurasian wigeon at Crystal Lake in Oak Bluffs, an osprey at Felix Neck Sanctuary in Edgartown, six snow buntings at South Beach State Park in Edgartown, and a bald eagle at Aquinnah.
► Middlesex County: An orangecrowned warbler in Wakefield, four red-throated loons at The Cistern in West Medford, single Eastern towhees at the Jericho Town Forest in Weston and the Minute Man Historic Park in Lincoln, three Northern shovelers at the Woburn Community Gardens and three more at Fresh Pond in Cambridge, and a blackcrowned night-heron at the Horn Pond Recreation Area in Woburn. A continuing Townsend’s warbler on the Alewife Linear Park Bike Path in Cambridge, two Barrow’s goldeneyes at the Delaney Wildlife Management Area in Stow and another one at Eldredge Pond in Boxborough, two red-throated loons on the Mystic Lakes in Medford, and three more redthroated Loons on the MIT campus in Cambridge. A cackling goose in the School Street fields in Acton, a red-necked grebe on the Mystic Lakes in Medford, and single orange-crowned warblers on the Charles River Bike Path in Watertown and Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. Two black vultures in Marlborough, five red crossbills in the Desert Area in Marlborough, and an Eastern towhee at Dunback Meadow in Lexington.
► Nantucket: Seven Northern shovelers at The Gut at Long Pond, two piping plovers at Dionis Beach, a willet at The Creeks Preserve, two common ravens in the Sconset area, a dickcissel continuing at a Madaket feeder, and two great egrets in Upper Polpis Harbor.
► Norfolk County: An Eastern towhee at Stony Brook Sanctuary in Norfolk, two Virginia rails at Squantum Point Marsh in Squantum, an Eastern phoebe at Ridge Hill Reservation in Needham, 15 migrating double-crested cormorants in Sharon, and 3 Eastern meadowlarks at the Norfolk Airport in Norfolk.
► Plymouth County: A Western kingbird at Manomet Bird Observatory, five sandhill cranes and 35 tree swallows at Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area in Hanson, and a great egret at Daniel Webster Sanctuary in Marshfield.
► Suffolk County: Sightings included a continuing Western grebe at Winthrop Beach, where an American oystercatcher was also seen. A great egret and an American bittern at the Belle Isle Reservation, a pileated woodpecker at the Allandale Woods in West Roxbury, two gadwalls, a red-shouldered hawk, and an Eastern meadowlark at Franklin Park, and an Eastern phoebe at Millennium Park.
► Worcester County: A large flock of 14 migrating sandhill cranes in Athol, which was probably the same flock previously seen over Shelburne Falls in Franklin County. Three sandhill cranes at the Dexter Drumlin in Lancaster, two sandhill cranes at the Jordan Dairy Farm in Rutland, and 40 tree swallows over the Nichols Reservoir in Westborough.