A day above freezing!

American Wigeon, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Mar 8, 2014

Eastern Coyotes, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Mar 8, 2014

Eastern Coyotes, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Mar 8, 2014

After getting a report last evening via an eBird alert of a convincing (but unconfirmed) report of a Snowy Owl at the Honey Pot late Thursday afternoon I headed over there before dawn to try to track the little bastard down (wish I had this info Thursday afternoon or Friday but, oh well).  No luck finding the Snowy Owl but it could have been just passing through moving back north or could be spending time elsewhere nearby.  No luck finding the Short eared Owl this morning either.  Despite my lack of luck finding owls I still had some luck finding waterfowl along the Connecticut River in Hadley (as well as other spots).  At North Lane I had a few Canada Geese and Mallards plus a couple Common Goldeneyes.  The Honey Pot turned up an American Wigeon, almost a hundred Mallards plus a Hooded Merganser.  The Bald Eagles were around the nest with one sitting on the nest.  Just a couple Horned Larks around but I didn't spend a lot of time looking for others.  A flyover Common Grackle was the first of several I came across today.  Beyond the birds at the Honey Pot I had some great looks at some interaction between a couple Eastern Coyotes...cool stuff. 

View of mountains from Connecticut River, Mar 8, 2014

Below the Coolidge Bridge I found 38 Canada Geese, 112 Mallards and a couple each of Common Goldeneyes and Hooded Mergansers.  I'm sure the combination of most of the river now being free of ice and the presence of crew teams on the river resulted in the reduction of waterfowl at this location.  I took a quick swing over to the East Meadows to check on access.  Very few areas are accessible at this point but the area looks prime for a Snowy Owl to show up.  It is neat to see such a vast open area seemingly untouched with no tracks at all visible scanning from the area of the red barn.  As I headed south on the west bank of the river I checked a few other spots that have been productive for waterfowl in the past but those areas remain iced in.

Long tailed Duck, Hadley Falls Canal Park, South Hadley, MA, Mar 8, 2014

Common Merganser, Hadley Falls Canal Park, South Hadley, MA, Mar 8, 2014

Common Merganser, Hadley Falls Canal Park, South Hadley, MA, Mar 8, 2014

Common Merganser, Hadley Falls Canal Park, South Hadley, MA, Mar 8, 2014

Once I got to Holyoke I crossed back to the east side of the river and stopped at the Hadley Falls Canal Park and found the Long tailed Duck still present plus five Canada Geese, three Mute Swans, 18 Mallards, a Common Goldeneye, five Hooded Mergansers and half a dozen Common Mergansers including one that caught a catfish and swam past the overlook with other mergansers in pursuit.  Below the Holyoke Dam I had 33 Canada Geese, 31 Mallards, a couple Bufflehead, 31 Common Goldeneyes and a couple Common Mergansers plus a few fisherman in kayaks.  Unfortunately once again no unusual gulls among the 40 or so present. 

I then headed back north along the river with a stop a Mitch's Way which produced four Wood Ducks, 16 Black Ducks, 17 Mallards, a pair of Northern Pintails, a Common Goldeneye flying around but never settling down on the water and four Common Mergansers.  Like every other location along the river today this stop produced lots of robins.

While doing work around the house this afternoon I had a couple Turkey Vultures drifting north.  A very nice day (at least compared to our recent weather) with partly sunny to mostly sunny conditions and temperatures reaching the upper 40's.  In the evening I hit a few spots trying to turn up a woodcock or an owl but I had no luck...the breezy was a bit too strong to hear anything too distant.