{"id":6481,"date":"2015-11-11T09:15:28","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T14:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/?p=6481"},"modified":"2015-11-11T09:15:28","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T14:15:28","slug":"last-month-in-birding-october-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/last-month-in-birding-october-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Month in Birding: October 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every month we feature a few the past month’s bird sightings as suggested by our experts.\u00a0Here are five notable observations\u00a0from October.<\/p>\n

Purple Gallinule\u00a0(Porphyrio martinicus<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

A living rainbow, this bird\u00a0has enormous feet that enable it to walk across floating wetland plants such as lily pads. It can also swim. The purple gallinule\u00a0is essentially a tropical species, and in the US it is typically found only in the far south\u00a0and southeast. However, individuals\u00a0regularly wander and turn up in odd places during migration\u2014such as\u00a0this one found at the Westborough WMA in Worcester County.<\/p>\n

\"Purple

Purple gallinule at Westborough WMA \u00a9 Justin Lawson<\/p><\/div>\n

Bell’s Vireo\u00a0(Vireo bellii<\/span><\/em>)<\/h3>\n

Another southern species, the Bell’s vireo breeds in the central and western US and parts of Mexico, and winters in Mexico. A small, fairly plain-looking songbird, it has a remarkably loud song<\/a>. Researchers at the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences banded a Bell’s vireo last month.\u00a0It was the\u00a0third such occurrence since 2005.<\/p>\n

\"Bell's

Bell’s vireo in Manomet \u00a9 Lauren diBiccari, Manomet Staff<\/p><\/div>\n

Rufous Hummingbird\u00a0(Selasphorus rufus<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

Native to the western US, the rufous hummingbird breeds as far north as Alaska. It is a speedy, vibrant species, and makes up for its small size with tenacity and aggression. The male’s throat is orange but the female only shows a spot of orange. Last month a rufous hummingbird\u00a0was seen in Great Barrington. The Allen’s hummingbird, a very similar species, can be very hard to distinguish from the rufous. Fortunately, the bird in\u00a0Great Barrington\u00a0was an adult male with a distinctive, completely rufous-colored back.<\/p>\n

\"Rufous

Rufous hummingbird in Seattle (CC BY-NC 2.0<\/a>) Minette Layne<\/p><\/div>\n

Say’s Phoebe\u00a0(Sayornis saya<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

Last month we\u00a0shared a report<\/a>\u00a0of a Say’s phoebe on Nantucket. In October, another\u00a0individual\u00a0was spotted in Eastham. This western flycatcher\u00a0is at home on ranches, and in badlands, desert edges, and other open arid habitats. It breeds all the way to northern Alaska and winters in parts of the southwestern US and Mexico. Individuals\u00a0sometimes wander East during fall migration, and when they do, they inevitably make an eastern birder’s day.<\/p>\n

\"Say's

Say’s phoebe in Eastham \u00a9 Ben Lagasse<\/p><\/div>\n

Northern Wheatear\u00a0(Oenanthe oenanthe<\/em>)<\/h3>\n

This songbird is master traveler.\u00a0It nests in Europe and Asia\u2014with some birds entering North America in the high north from both the east and west\u2014and winters in sub-Saharan Africa.\u00a0Researchers have found<\/a>\u00a0that Alaskan northern wheatears\u00a0travel an average of over 9000 miles to reach their wintering grounds! Stragglers sometimes find their way south to Massachusetts, where one was spotted at the Wachusett Reservoir in Worcester County last month.<\/p>\n

\"Northern

Northern wheatear at Wachusett Reservoir \u00a9 Justin Lawson<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every month we feature a few the past month’s bird sightings as suggested by our experts.\u00a0Here are five notable observations\u00a0from October. Purple Gallinule\u00a0(Porphyrio martinicus) A living rainbow, this bird\u00a0has enormous feet that enable it to walk across floating wetland plants such as lily pads. It can also swim. The purple gallinule\u00a0is essentially a tropical species, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[160,162],"class_list":["post-6481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nature-notes","tag-bird-sightings","tag-last-month-in-birding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3t87A-1Gx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6278,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/last-month-in-birding-september-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":6481,"position":0},"title":"Last Month in Birding: September 2015","author":"Rosemary","date":"October 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Every month we feature\u00a0five of the past month's bird sightings as suggested by our experts. Here are a few remarkable observations from September. White-faced Storm-petrel (Pelagodroma marina) This small seabird bird often hovers low over the surface of the water, searching for food by gliding back and forth and bouncing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/nature-notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/10\/bellsvireo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/10\/bellsvireo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/10\/bellsvireo.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9387,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/bird-a-thon-2017-in-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":6481,"position":1},"title":"Bird-a-thon 2017 in Review","author":"Mass Audubon","date":"June 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Bird-a-thon, Mass Audubon's annual birding competition and fundraiser, took place on May 12-13. Here, Mass Audubon's Director of Important Bird Areas Wayne Petersen, gives a run-down of the birding portion of the event. Now that the dust following Bird-a-thon 2017 has settled and spring migration has finally come to a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Get Involved"","block_context":{"text":"Get Involved","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/get-involved\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/06\/We-won-edited.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/06\/We-won-edited.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2017\/06\/We-won-edited.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7184,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/last-month-in-birding-february-2016\/","url_meta":{"origin":6481,"position":2},"title":"Last Month in Birding: February 2016","author":"Rosemary","date":"March 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are five\u00a0incredible bird sightings from last month as suggested by Mass Audubon's experts. Yellow-billed Loon\u00a0(Gavia\u00a0adamsii) The largest loon species\u00a0in the world, this bird\u00a0breeds on the high Arctic tundra, farther north than our familiar common loon. Scientists still have much to learn about its\u00a0habits. Outside of certain Arctic and west\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/nature-notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/03\/mystery-gull.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/03\/mystery-gull.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/03\/mystery-gull.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7875,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/the-most-notable-2016-bird-a-thon-sightings\/","url_meta":{"origin":6481,"position":3},"title":"The Most Notable 2016 Bird-a-thon Sightings","author":"Mass Audubon","date":"July 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"More than 700 birders on 24 teams participated in Bird-a-thon 2016 this May, recording a total of 270 species of birds. 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Highlighted below are some notable sightings as determined by Wayne Petersen, Director, Important\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Get Involved"","block_context":{"text":"Get Involved","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/get-involved\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/06\/White-faced-Ibis-Harry-Liggett-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/06\/White-faced-Ibis-Harry-Liggett-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/06\/White-faced-Ibis-Harry-Liggett-1024x678.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/06\/White-faced-Ibis-Harry-Liggett-1024x678.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5395,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/last-month-in-birding-april-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":6481,"position":4},"title":"Last Month in Birding: April 2015","author":"Rosemary","date":"May 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Once again it\u2019s time to take a look at a few of last month\u2019s most exciting bird sightings as suggested by our experts. Swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus) This spectacular raptor is named for the elegant tail with which it steers as it gracefully soars in search of flying insects and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/category\/nature-notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/05\/caracara.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/05\/caracara.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/05\/caracara.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6858,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/last-month-in-birding-december-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":6481,"position":5},"title":"Last Month in Birding: December 2015","author":"Rosemary","date":"January 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"December brought another month of amazing bird sightings to Massachusetts. 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