Yet another cold week

Red necked Grebe, picked up from Springfield area parking lot (story below), Feb 26, 2015

The weather the last week has continued to be extremely cold with more record cold lows (up to -19 one morning).  Luckily we didn't get any major snowfalls for a change.  The winter has been tough on everyone, including the local bird population.  The deep snow pack and lack of open water has made survival difficult for many species.  I got a text on Thursday to help identify a bird picked up by someone in a Springfield area parking lot and brought to the Dakin Humane Society.  The bird appeared to not be injured but obviously was having difficulty.  The bird was likely displaced from further north as more areas ice up completely and the bird likely mistook the parking lot as open water.  Even if the bird didn't suffer any injuries hitting the parking lot he would be unable to take back off as this species need a bit of open water in order to get airborne again.  The bird was eventually transported down to Tufts Wildlife Clinic (http://vet.tufts.edu/wildlife/) to be checked more thoroughly.  Hopefully the bird is able to get some rehab and make it back into the wild.

I have not be able to get out to do much birding the last week but had a few noteworthy sightings including my first of the season Yellow bellied Sapsucker in Northampton on Tuesday, a Northern Pintail near the Coolidge Bridge on Thursday.  Today I managed to run across multiple Common Redpolls in a few spots in Belchertown, 41 Cedar Waxwings feeding on crabapples at the HQ building at Quabbin and at least 42 Wild Turkeys in a yard in Belchertown plus a Fish Crow along King Street in Northampton.