First week of April comes to an end

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 1, 2018

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 1, 2018

Overall the first week or so of April was cooler than normal with occasional bouts of rainy and/or snowy weather plus some strong winds.  Despite the less than ideal conditions early migrants continued to arrive.  I stopped at a few spots on my way home from work on Sunday but didn't find anything too unusual.  On Monday I made it out before snow quickly put an end top my time outside.

Eastern Phoebe, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 3, 2018

Palm Warbler 'yellow', rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 3, 2018

Rusty Blackbird, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 3, 2018

Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 3, 2018

Pine Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 3, 2018

Tuesday was a nicer day (at least in the morning) so I spent more time out and about with highlights including multiple Ring necked Pheasants, at least two continued White crowned Sparrows at the Honey Pot, lots of Eastern Phoebes at multiple locations, my first yellow Palm Warblers of the spring, singing Pine Warblers and a few Yellow bellied Sapsuckers.  Two of the better stops of the morning were along the rail trail in Amherst and Quabbin Park.

Long tailed Ducks, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Apr 4, 2018

Tree Swallows, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 4, 2018

Pileated Woodpecker, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 4, 2018

 Great Blue Heron at nest, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 4, 2018

American Robin with leg bands (banded 2017), Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 4, 2018

American Robin with leg bands (banded in 2016), Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 4, 2018 

Although the forecast for Wednesday was for some early rain giving way to some sun with temps into the 60's the rain/drizzle/low clouds never really gave up so the temps never climbed a whole lot before a cold front came in during the afternoon.  Despite the rainy weather I headed out in hopes of finding some good stuff forced down by the weather.  The best I could come up with was a pair of Long tailed Ducks at Beaver Lake.  Lake Wallace didn't have much as far as waterfowl goes but it did feature 80+ Tree Swallows looking miserable, a Great Blue Heron back at one of the nests and a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers destroying a rotten log.  I got to watch them for quite some time and got some video.  I also had two banded American Robin show back up in the yard (unfortunately none of the GPS tagged birds)...the birds were banded June 5, 2017. and June 2, 2016.

Black Vultures, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Apr 5, 2018

Common Loon, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 5, 2018

I only had a couple hours to be out on Thursday morning before other commitments brought me back inside but I still managed to find a few things around including the continued Black Vultures in Easthampton, a continued Common Loon in the oxbow at Arcadia (an unusual species at this specific location as there is usually so much boat traffic) and the Red headed Woodpecker in its usual spot.  I'm sure there were more birds out there but the very strong winds  and cool temperatures made birding a bit difficult at times.

Blue winged Teal, Hadley, MA, Apr 7, 2018

Greater Scaup, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Apr 7, 2018

Greater Scaup and Ring necked Ducks, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Apr 7, 2018

Dark eyed Junco with white on face, Griffith's, Belchertown, MA, Apr 7, 2018

Dark eyed Junco with white on face, Griffith's, Belchertown, MA, Apr 7, 2018

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Griffith's, Belchertown, MA, Apr 7, 2018

After work today I checked a few spots on my way home following another bout of snow yesterday and again overnight.  Thankfully most of the snow melted fairly quickly but the day was still windy and cool.  I found a total of 13 species of waterfowl with just a few stops with highlights including a pair of Blue winged Teal in Hadley among 28 Green winged Teal, two Common Loons at Winsor Dam and four Greater Scaup at Beaver Lake.  After I got home I got a text from Devin letting me know a likely cassiar race of Dark eyed Junco that showed up in their yard a few days ago had returned and if I wanted to check it out I could swing by.  I had to take Wilson for a walk first but after that I stopped by and despite spending some time looking the bird never turned up while I was there.  There were still interesting birds stopping by the feeders including a Dark eyed Junco with white patches on its face (the individual has been around most of the winter) and a banded chickadee.  Overall for the month so far I have found 87 species in the county which is better than I have ever done before for the first week of the month despite the less than ideal migration conditions.  Once the weather breaks the migrants should really start moving back in.