Some mid week mornings along the Connecticut River

Wood Ducks (with Mallards), Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Feb 27, 2014

Wood Ducks (with Mallards), Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Feb 27, 2014

Mallards, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Feb 27, 2014

The last few days the weather has gone back to the arctic like conditions we have ‘enjoyed’ the last several weeks.  Day time temperatures have been in the 20’s with night time lows in the single numbers.  With the return of very cold weather once again the Connecticut River has started to freeze up once again which has started to congregate waterfowl again (and keep the crew teams off the river a little longer).  Yesterday I stopped at North Lane in Hadley and found just a few open spots of water and a couple Common Goldeneyes.  A brief stop to check the river from Honey Pot Road produced the typical waterfowl in fairly low numbers.  Today I stopped by the river below the Coolidge Bridge and had the following waterfowl species:  a pair of Wood Ducks, three Black Ducks, 526 Mallards, five Common Goldeneyes, a Hooded Merganser and 7 Common Mergansers.

Tonight should bring in the coldest weather yet this week with temperatures below zero with a strong wind...oh joy!  Although it will probably be too bitter cold to be out tomorrow, I will still almost certainly be out there because you never know what you will miss if you don't go out.