A very warm day in November...Cackling Geese among others

Cackling Goose, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 6, 2015

Cackling Geese (with Mallard), Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 6, 2015

Green winged Teal with Mallards and Canada Geese, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 6, 2015

Dawn, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 6, 2015

I enjoyed an incredible warm day exploring a variety of locations.  I started the morning just before sunrise at Arcadia where the temperatures was already around 60.  The early fog made viewing a bit of a challenge but I still managed to eventually scope out most of the marsh.  I had hopes of finding a coot in among the waterfowl there but no luck today.  However I did find the two continued Cackling Geese in among the 330+ Canada Geese plus a variety of other waterfowl including a high count of 11 Wood Ducks, five Black Ducks, 74 Mallards and 15 Green winged Teal.  The nearby meadows produced more birds but sadly no unusual flycatcher that was blown in on the southerly winds.  The sparrow numbers were down but still some good ones were around including my first Fox Sparrows of the fall.  A somewhat late Palm Warbler also continued along the roadside.  My full list from Arcadia is here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25720337

After Arcadia I stopped briefly along the river in Hadley but didn't find anything too noteworthy.  I then headed over to Quabbin Park which was also very quiet with just a few loons on the reservoir and a handful of ducks on the marsh.  Overall a very nice morning to be out and about for the end of the first week of November.  It appears the weather will switch this evening when a cold front moves through and we stay cool throughout the weekend with west to northwest winds.  I would expect to see a nice influx of waterfowl over the next couple days.