Cool, rainy weather continues...another sterna sp yesterday and a Blue winged Teal today

Blue winged Teal, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2016

Blue winged Teal, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2016

Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2016

Prairie Warbler, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2016

Although today was the driest day we have had this month it felt like the coldest day yet with a fairly busy northerly wind adding a bit of chill to the air.  I stayed around the south Quabbin area in search of more storm related birds but didn't have much luck today although the best bird of the day, a Blue winged Teal (#174) at Lake Wallace, may have been related to the poor weather.  Quite a few of the expected waterfowl were present at Lake Wallace along with freshly hatched young as well as a Prairie Warbler which seemed way out of place with no decent habitat around.  I checked various other locations during the morning but didn't have too much luck turning up anything else noteworthy.

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 5, 2016

Eastern Towhee, Quabbin Park, MA, May 5, 2016

Yellow rumped Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 5, 2016

Pine Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 5, 2016

In the afternoon I made a run over to Quabbin Park to follow up on a second hand report of a Golden winged Warbler along the Gate 54 road.  No luck finding it despite some effort but at least I got to see some mixed flocks moving through the woods.

Orchard Oriole with leg band, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, May 4, 2016

Field Sparrow with leg band, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, May 4, 2016

Black Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, May 4, 2016

Double crested Cormorants, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 4, 2016

Red necked Grebes, Quabbin Park, MA, May 4, 2016

Red breasted Merganser, Quabbin Park, MA, May 4, 2016

Mallard with ducklings, Quabbin Gate 5, Belchertown, MA, May 4, 2016

Yesterday I made an early morning trek over to the Oxbow in an unsuccessful attempt to catch up with a Caspian Tern seen there the evening before.  Not surprising that the bird was gone but I figured it was worth a try nonetheless.  I checked around Arcadia briefly and then headed back across the river and stopped at Silvio Conte NWR where I turned up two new species for the year there including Orchard Oriole (#172) and Bobolink (#173).  One of the orioles as well as a Field Sparrow I saw there had leg bands on them but I couldn't read the numbers.  Nearby Moody Bridge held three Black Vultures among the Turkey Vultures at roost.  The rest of the morning and through the afternoon I checked various locations at Quabbin including Gate 5 and Quabbin Park.  The hundreds of swallows continued to feed low over the reservoir.  I was joined by Devin for part of the late afternoon when we found a male Red breasted Merganser and three Red necked Grebes at Goodnough Dike after much effort.  My final noteworthy bird of the day was a sterna species way out at Winsor Dam at dusk, heading north. Today also marked the submission of my 19,000th eBird report...crazy!

As the cold and rainy weather continues into its fifth day I will take a look at the effects on birds and migration. I'm certain it has been very tough on any insectivores as the large gatherings of swallows can attest to. To illustrate just how cool it has been (and what a weird year weather wise it has been) the first five days of May have been colder than the first five days of February this year! We have barely touched 50 in the first five days of the month and the conditions will only slowly improve over the weekend. There are many species that have not yet arrived that should be here by now and many species that have arrived that should be present in much larger numbers if the conditions for this time of year were more typical. I'm certain that once this weather breaks there should be a large influx of birds. Until then I will continue to get out there and see what unusual species show up due to the effects of the weather.

Although the valley missed out on the largest numbers of unusual gulls and terns we still ended up with at least three tern species (Forster's, Common and Caspian Tern) plus Bonaparte's Gulls but none of the birds stuck around very long unlike the birds in the Berkshires.  The Berkshires also had one more tern species than found in the valley with a Black Tern putting in an appearance.  The Berkshires also had some unusual waterfowl including Long tailed Duck, Ruddy Duck, Horned Grebe. Red breasted Merganser and a couple Black Scoters.  Unusual waterfowl occurred here too including a Lesser Scaup, an American Coot and up to 19 Common Loons at Winsor Dam plus a male Red breasted Merganser and three Red necked Grebes at Goodnough Dike and the Blue winged Teal today.  Barton's Cove also featured some unusual waterfowl in addition to terns with five Red necked Grebes and five Surf Scoters.

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