The calm before the storm

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 23, 2015

Although I continue to fight a cold I decided to take advantage of the calm before the upcoming snow storm and get out and check some spots (mostly from my  warm car).  I started out along the Swift River once again looking for a screech owl but only turned up a Great Horned Owl.  The Swift River featured some waterfowl with a number of Mallards plus at least 14 Hooded Mergansers and eight Common Mergansers plus a kingfisher.  I then stopped over at Winsor Dam where a majority of the water had a skim coat of ice on it.  The notables around early included two Horned Grebes and a couple flyby Pine Siskins.  With the rest of Quabbin likely frozen I decided to head east and hit the river in search of waterfowl (and others). 

Common Goldeneye, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

Common Merganser, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

Common Merganser, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

Hooded Mergansers, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

My first stop along the Connecticut River was below the Holyoke Dam where I had the following waterfowl:  83 Canada Geese, 3 Mute Swans, a Black Duck, 9 Common Goldeneyes, 11 Hooded Mergansers and 8 Common Mergansers.  I then travelled north along the mostly frozen river and made my next stop along Aqua Vitae Road which held a few highlights for the morning including 92 Horned Larks, a single Snow Bunting and 11 Savannah Sparrows.  The Connecticut River below the Coolidge Bridge had the following waterfowl:  235 Canada Geese, 2 Black Ducks, 72 Mallards, a Hooded Merganser and a couple Common Mergansers.

White crowned Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

White crowned Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

White crowned Sparrow (plus White throated Sparrow and Dark eyed Junco), Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

White crowned Sparrow (plus White throated Sparrow and Dark eyed Junco), Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

American Tree Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

Northern Flickers, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

Northern Flickers, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 23, 2015

My next stop along the river over at the Honey Pot was probably one of my most productive of the morning.  The notables here included four Northern Flickers feeding together in a field near 'That's a Plenty' Farm, a flyby raven, 14 Horned Larks, a Hermit Thrush feeding along the river, at least two 1st year White crowned Sparrows (there may have been a third but I only had two in view at once), a decent number of other sparrows (including American Tree, Song and White throated Sparrows) and a flyby Purple Finch.  The Purple Finch is a new species for the month here in the county bringing my total up to 84.  As I viewed the flickers and White crowned Sparrows, Dale stopped by in his search for some decent photographic subjects.  I'm sure the upcoming snow will push the birds back along the road edges allowing for better viewing and photographic opportunities.  I also ran into Jacob and Keenan who have made it back to the valley for their final semester here.

I tried to turn up some Bohemian Waxwings at the USFWS HQ building in Hadley but no waxwings at all around that spot.  I had a little better luck along Mill Valley Road with a flock of at least 142 Horned Larks feeding in the fields near the new solar power array.

Horned Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 23, 2015

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 23, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 23, 2015

I then headed back to Winsor Dam where some of the ice had melted and the more open water featured the following waterfowl:  a Black Duck, 198 Mallards, the continued female Bufflehead, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, four Common Mergansers, a Horned Grebe and a Common Loon.  No sign of the Red necked Grebe(s) today but they very well could still be around.  I'm still surprised nothing else has shown up with the large Mallard flock that has been present here for a few weeks.

It was nice to get out and enjoy the somewhat warm day before the arrival of the snow tonight which should last through the daylight hours tomorrow which will greatly curtail any birding tomorrow.  The exact amount of snow we will end up with with is tough to say at this point but the forecast is somewhere between 3-8" (and they are not too confident on those amounts as of now).