Barrow's Goldeneye in Hadley and lots of other good stuff in the valley

Barrow's Goldeneye (with Common Goldeneye), Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Jan 29, 2016

Barrow's Goldeneye (with Common Goldeneye), Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Jan 29, 2016

Barrow's Goldeneye (with Common Goldeneye), Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Jan 29, 2016

Savannah Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 29, 2016

White crowned Sparrows, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 29, 2016

Dark eyed Junco, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 29, 2016

Northern Cardinal, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 29, 2016

American Wigeon (with Mallards), Swift River, Ware, MA, Jan 29, 2016

White crowned Sparrow, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 29, 2016

Winsor Dam as a snow shower moves through, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 29, 2016

I hit a variety of areas this morning but kept my time in the elements to a minimum as I continue to fight a cold that just seems to never end.  I started at Quabbin Park and then over to the East Meadows, the Honey Pot and the Connecticut River in Hadley before coming back home and getting Wilson and heading to trails along the Swift River. Many highlights with the best being a female Barrow's Goldeneye (#87) in the river (a tough species to find in the county).  Others included loads of waterfowl at Quabbin Park early, two White crowned Sparrows in the East Meadows (plus lots of other sparrows) and a Gadwall (#88) and American Wigeon along the Swift River.  I'm now just one species shy of tying my all time total for species in the county in the first month of the year.  I have included a number of eBird lists from the day below:

Quabbin Park
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27186011

East Meadows
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27187017

Honey Pot
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27187646

CT River-Hadley
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27191642

Swift River-Ware
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27191589

American Kestrel, Hadley, MA, Jan 27, 2016 (phone photo through binoculars)

I did not have much of an opportunity to get out much but I nonetheless still found a few decent birds including a few that were new for the county this year. On Wednesday I had either a Long eared or Short eared Owl at the Honey Pot very early in the morning. The bird was flying past but the light was too bad and the view too brief to say for certain what it was. I also had just over a hundred Canada Geese (including one small individual), 16 Black Ducks and 137 Mallards in the river below the bridge. Later in the day I had three Common Grackles (#84) in a neighborhood in Northampton off Bridge Road. Later in the week I finally caught up with an American Kestrel (#85) as well as Ring necked Pheasant (#86) in Hadley on my way home.