A day along the river as well as other stops

Lapland Longspur, Hadley Mall fields, Hadley, MA, Mar 13, 2015

Lapland Longspur, Hadley Mall fields, Hadley, MA, Mar 13, 2015

Glaucous Gull, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Mar 13, 2015

Gulls (part of flock of 500+-mainly Herring Gulls), Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Mar 13, 2015

Green winged Teal, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Mar 13, 2015

Winsor Dam still solidly frozen, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 13, 2015

With the forecast for rain, freezing rain and snow over most of the upcoming weekend I figured I had better take advantage of the somewhat sunny day today so I spent the morning exploring areas along the Connecticut River and nearby areas before heading back toward home.  Nothing earth shattering but still managed to find three new species for the year (Green winged Teal, Common Grackle and Lesser Scaup) bringing me up to 97 species in the county so far.  My main focus was on waterfowl but the river remains largely frozen with few areas of open water.  Below are the highlights of the morning into the early afternoon.  A total of eleven species of waterfowl making today the best day so far this season for waterfowl...just a taste of things to come I hope.

Coolidge Bridge- 46 Canada Geese, three Wood Ducks, 14 Mallards, a Green winged Teal, a Ring necked Duck and two Common Goldeneyes plus a Glaucous Gull and at least two Iceland Gulls in among just over 500 gulls (mainly Herring Gulls) as well as a Peregrine Falcon.
 

Aqua Vitae Road- a Killdeer and 63 Horned Larks

UMASS campus pond- 3 Canada Geese, half a dozen Black Ducks and 220+ Mallards
 

Hadley Mall- 130+ Horned Larks and a Lapland Longspur
 

Holyoke Dam - 7 Canada Geese, two Mute Swans, 21 Mallards, five Ring necked Ducks, a Lesser Scaup, a dozen Common Goldeneyes, six Common Mergansers and four Common Grackles
 

Belchertown along North Washington St- a Turkey Vulture feasting on a road killed skunk
 

State Fish Hatchey Belchertown - five Killdeer
 

Swift River Belchertown - 7 Black Ducks, a dozen Mallards and 11 Hooded Mergansers
 

Home in Belchertown- four Pine Siskins

Kody

Kody with some of his favorites

Today also marks a sad anniversary.  Five years ago today we lost our good boy Kody.  It is still tough to think about that day so instead I try to think of all the good times we had together.  I really wish he was still here but sadly he is not.  I would have loved to have seen Kody playing with Wilson...it would have been fun to watch those two raise hell together!  Miss you buddy...