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| Rough legged Hawk, Hadley, MA, Nov 25, 2018 |
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| Rough legged Hawk, Hadley, MA, Nov 25, 2018 |
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| Rough legged Hawk, Hadley, MA, Nov 25, 2018 |
Although the forecast called for heavy rain this morning it had all moved out to the east before daybreak so I was able to get a little birding in after work. I started out at the East Meadows in the hopes of finding a Rough legged Hawk seen there yesterday. It is a species I have not yet seen this year in Hampshire County and if I could find one it would push me past my old record for species seen in the county in a year. I scanned for a bit and found some Red tailed Hawks but no Rough legged Hawks. There were also swirling groups of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings plus a few Lapland Longspurs mixed in. I didn't venture too far into the meadows as it was quite muddy and I certainly didn't want to get stuck. I decided to try my luck across the river in Hadley and drove through various open areas/fields. I noticed a decent movement of geese heading north from the area of Moody Bridge Road so headed north to see if I could find where they had settled down to feed. As I got to Mill Valley Road and South Maple Street I noticed a raptor hovering over the fields...a dark morph Rough legged Hawk! I managed to make a quick stop and set up the scope and get a few digiscoped shots with my phone before the bird continued to drift off to the south. I posted about the bird and I know several people were able to follow up on it and relocate it in the same general area including at least one person who had never seen the species before. The Rough legged Hawk became species #239 for me in the county for the year and surpasses my previous best year back in 2016 when I had 238. My previous attempts at big years for the county topped out at 237 in 2014 and 2015. With just over a month left in the year there is still a chance for another species or two but it will have to be an irruptive species or a rarity as I have found all the expected species at this point.
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| Canada Goose with white markings on neck and head, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Nov 25, 2018 |
After seeing the Rough legged Hawk I continued north to look for geese (and run a few errands). The biggest group of geese I found were on the partially frozen campus pond at UMASS where there were well over 500 Canada Geese including one individual with white markings on the neck and head. A return run past the area of South Maple Street turned up four late Turkey Vultures together as well as an American Kestrel but no sign of the Rough legged Hawk.
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| Lapland Longspur, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Nov 23, 2018 |
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| Lapland Longspur, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Nov 23, 2018 |
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| Savannah Sparrow, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Nov 23, 2018 |
I ventured down to the East Meadows on Friday on yet another very cold and frosty morning and turned up at least five Lapland Longspurs among the flocks of larks. There were also a few pockets of sparrows including a number of Savannah Sparrows as well as a single adult White crowned Sparrow.
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