HADLEY — A first-ever recorded appearance in inland Massachusetts of a Smith’s longspur, described as a small, brown sparrow-like bird spotted this week in a snow-covered Hadley field close to the Connecticut River, is captivating birders from across the region.
Several birders, many with large cameras in hand, arrived on Cemetery Roadlast week to get a glimpse of the bird following its initial sighting by Scott Surner of Belchertown the previous day.
In a phone interview, Surner said in his 48 years of birding this is just the second time he’s had the opportunity to see a Smith’s longspur.
“They rarely come east,” Surner said. “The Smith’s longspur in the eastern United States is quite rare. This would be about the fifth on record.”
Such field birds often go undetected due to their small size and their ability to blend into their surroundings, he said. In this case, though, the Smith’s longspur, which breeds in the Arctic and typically winters in the central United States in states including Texas and Oklahoma, stood out against the recently fallen snow covering the landscape.
Surner’s journey to discovering the bird began when he was out on Aqua Vita Road and then crossed into the Honey Pot section of town, before driving out Cemetery Road toward the town transfer station. There, he encountered at least 350 horned larks flying overhead. After passing them, he heard the distinctive rattle call of a longspur, believing it at first to be the more common Lapland longspur, until observing the bird in better light.
Though Surner said the Smith’s longspur is not a splashy bird in terms of its plumage, there are subtle differences from the Lapland longspur, including with its call.
Once he knew what he saw, Surner began contacting birder friends and has spread the word to those who are finding ideal conditions for spotting the bird.
“It’s very rare for the region, and so far it’s been cooperating,” Surner said. “It’s been putting on a show for photographers.”
Having the bird right next to the road has made spotting it easy, he said. The bird was seen on Monday, Tuesday afternoon, and most of the day on Wednesday.
That proximity to the road, though, worries some of the birders.
“People are concerned that the bird is not afraid,” Surner said. “It seems to be content at the moment.”
Whether the Smith’s longspur will be as obvious should the snow melt is uncertain, and if it sticks around birders may have to venture deeper into the fields to see it.
Surner has already added the bird to his county list of birds for 2022, becoming the 313th different type of bird seen this year. Others out trying to see the bird likely are use similar reasoning for their interest.
“People are coming who might not have a chance to see one of these birds,” Surner said.
Sites along the river remain the best places in the area to see a diversity of birds, including the Honey Pot in Hadley, the Meadows, the Oxbow, Arcadia Meadows and the West Meadows in Northamptom, and the fields in Hatfield.
Surner said he will be participating in the Northampton Christmas bird count on Sunday and that if the Smith’s longspur is seen three days before or after that date, it can be included in the census of birds that tracks the population and identifies the growth or decline of birds over time.
“It would be nice to get it onto the Christmas count list on Dec. 18,” Surner said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.