Arcadia and East Hadley Road- Marsh Wren, Tennessee Warbler and Yellow headed Blackbird

Marsh Wren, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Marsh Wren, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Marsh Wren, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

 

Purple Finch, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Canada Goose, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Lincoln's Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

White crowned Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

'Yellow' Palm Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Savannah Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

White crowned Sparrows (adult and juvenile), Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Northern Cardinal (one of dozens), Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Arcadia meadows at dawn, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Arcadia meadows at dawn (looking from river to Ibis Pool), Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Pine Siskin, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

White crowned Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 21, 2012

This morning I headed over to Arcadia predawn to see if I could catch up with the Marsh Wren seen there yesterday. After being there just a short time I found the Marsh Wren in the south end of the Ibis Pool and got some great looks at it as well as some photographs. The wren became species #214 for the year in the county. There were lots of sparrows around here too with an amazing 28 White crowned Sparrows (with a few actually singing) plus lots of Song, White throated, Swamp and Savannah Sparrows, a couple Lincoln's Sparrows and some juncos. There was actually a nice selection of warblers with a late Tennessee Warbler and Common Yellowthroat plus the more expected Yellow rumped and Palm Warblers. A good number of waterfowl in the marsh but nothing out of the ordinary. Nearly 100 American Pipits were in the fields and would all scatter up at once when a raptor moved by. Other birds of note included a couple flyover Evening Grosbeaks, a couple of calling Great Horned Owls, lots of Pine Siskins and other finches and many others. http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11842194.   A total of 48 species seen while covering the fields around the Ibis Pool and the old trolley line. Although the morning started off cool it warmer up nicely by mid morning although a breeze also picked up which cooled it down a bit. After a few hours here I headed for home.

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Brown headed Cowbirds (small sample of 100's present), East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

Yellow headed Blackbird, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 21, 2012

On my way home I noticed a large gathering of geese in the fields along East Hadley Road so I decided to take a quick stop to make sure nothing unusual was in the flock. As soon as I arrived I noticed a few other birders including Bob Zajda who mentioned he just refound the Yellow headed Blackbird first found here last week by Scott Surner but not seen since. There were thousands of birds around with a large group of grackles moving through as well as Red winged Blackbirds, Starlings and cowbirds. I scanned the geese and came up with just Canada Geese (288 of them) and then turned my attention to finding the Yellow headed Blackbird.I noticed a large gathering of birds behind Cook Farm so I headed there. The number of Brown headed Cowbirds here was amazing with at least 950 present. After several scans through the moving flocks I noticed the Yellow headed fairly close and got several shots. I managed to get a few others on the bird after it flushed up and perched in a tree for several minutes. Hopefully others can catch up with this bird too.

Distant (very distant...bottom center) Canada Geese flock, Jabish Canal, Belchertown, MA, Oct 21, 2012

A late afternoon walk along the Jabish Canal was fairly quiet but the winds were really up which kept most birds down.  There were some geese and raptors moving but nothing unusual.