Bird Sightings: March–April 2023

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:05 GMT

Weather

Since December, most of the Northeast has experienced an unusually quiet winter. This trend continued into March and the start of the meteorological spring. The temperature in Boston averaged 47 degrees for the month. The high temperature was a balmy 59 degrees on March 23. Rain fell on 11 days during the month, for a total of 4.29 inches, slightly above normal for March. Snowfall in Boston was a meager 0.9 inches, well below the average for March of 7.8 inches. Similarly, the seasonal snowfall total for Boston through the end of March was 12.4 inches, more than three feet less than the historical average of 49.2 inches for the same period. Although Boston and other coastal communities escaped significant snow, inland areas saw more of the white stuff. On March 2–3, a storm dropped heavy wet snow that was quickly followed by rain. Two to three inches of snow accumulated in the hills of Worcester County. On March 13–15, a nor’easter brought wet snow to many areas, with wind gusts up to 60 mph on Cape Cod. The highest snowfall was in Franklin County, with 37 inches recorded in Hawley. Windsor, in neighboring Berkshire County, had 31 inches. Snow amounts were lower in communities closer to the coast. Haverhill recorded 8.0 inches while Newburyport had just 4.3 inches. The South Shore and Cape Cod had little accumulation but did not escape the strong winds.

SALTMARSH SPARROW BY BRI BENVENUTI

Bygone Birds: Historical Highlights for March-April

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:04 GMT

10 YEARS AGO

March–April 2013

Three Cackling Geese spent most of March in Newbury. Three Northern Lapwings continued on Nantucket until April 1. The last record from this winter’s “mini-invasion” was a single lapwing spotted from a canoe at Bolton Flats on April 27. The bird lingered until April 29. An impressive count of 302 Lesser Black-backed Gulls was tallied on Nantucket in March. A Mountain Bluebird spent the end of April in Williamstown. Yellow-throated Warblers were found in Newton, Wachusett Meadow, and the Fens in Boston. Other rare migrants included a Summer Tanager in Wellfleet and a Yellow-headed Blackbird in Bridgewater. Wintering Clay-colored Sparrows continued in Hadley and Lexington.

Best sighting: a Fieldfare in Carlisle on March 17–23. This was the second record for the state—the first came from nearby Nine Acre Corner in Concord in April 1986—and the sixth record for the Lower 48.

20 YEARS AGO

March–April 2003

The biggest news of the period was anthropogenic: on April 27, 2003, the tank barge Bouchard 120 hit a bedrock ledge south of Westport. The 12-foot rupture in the hull released an estimated 98,000 gallons of oil into Buzzards Bay. The affected area is nationally important as the breeding ground for the endangered Piping Plover and Roseate Tern. Ram Island—which together with Bird Island hosted over 40 percent of northeastern Roseate Terns—was so badly oiled that hazing cannons and strobe lights were used to prevent the terns from landing. Many were successfully diverted to alternative breeding locations including Bird and Penikese islands.

Against a backdrop of boats setting oil booms, a White Ibis was found at Allens Pond in South Dartmouth. Rare geese for the period included as many as three Barnacle Geese with four Greenland Greater White-fronted Geese continuing in Fairhaven. Four Tundra Swans flew over participants in an Allen Bird Club trip to Southwick. A Mew Gull was photographed in Newburyport Harbor on March 8–10. At least twenty-three Barn Owls died on Martha’s Vineyard between February and March, victims of a particularly severe winter. A Red-headed Woodpecker continued at Turner’s Falls and a Yellow-headed Blackbird was found in Northampton.

Best sighting: a white Gyrfalcon was tallied at the Pilgrim Heights hawkwatch in Truro on March 29.