Common Gallinule in Hatfield in December...adding yet another species to my year total for Hampshire County!

Common Gallinule, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

Common Gallinule, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

Common Gallinule, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

Northern Pintails, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

Mallards, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

Canada Goose with extensive white on neck, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

White throated Sparrows, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

Northern Mockingbird, Cow Bridge Road, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

White crowned Sparrow, Cow Bridge Road, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

White throated Sparrow, Cow Bridge Road, Hatfield, MA, Dec 6, 2018

I headed out before dawn this morning with my destination being the area of the Northampton Christmas Bird Count I will be covering with the Griffith's this year (area 35).  Although the count is still a week and a half away I wanted to see where the main pockets of birds were and to see if I could find anything unusual.  I started off along the Connecticut River where I found a few species of waterfowl but little in the way of passerines.  I then headed over to Great Pond to walk along the edge being warmed by the sun to see what might pop up.  I ran across a few pockets of birds including a large group of White throated Sparrows plus a few other sparrow species.  During my walk along the edge I finally managed to find a warbler for the month after quite a bit of looking when I had a Yellow rumped Warbler flyover.  With this sighting I have now seen at least one warbler every month this year in Hampshire County, something I have never been able to accomplish before.  As I continued my walk I could hear some waterfowl at the southern end of the pond and I eventually could see quite a few in the area of open water including lots of Canada Geese (including one with extensive white on neck) and lots of Mallards.  The more I looked, the more I turned up with several unusual species in among the Mallards including 8 Wood Ducks, a female Gadwall, two American Wigeon, 58 Black Ducks, four Northern Pintails and a Green winged Teal.  All the ducks were great but the best bird of the day by far turned up as I scanned the waterfowl and discovered a juvenile Common Gallinule!  Not a species I was expected to find today and one that was not really even on my radar to find.  I managed a few marginal shots before it disappeared, swimming into the marsh.  The gallinule is rare any time of the year around here but especially so in December.  I could not find any records in eBird of the species anywhere in western Massachusetts during the entire winter season (December-February).  There was a juvenile Common Gallinule that was up at Tritown Beach last seen about a month ago but tough to say if it is the same bird or not.  The gallinule pushes by year total for Hampshire County up by yet another species, bringing my total up to 241...pushing further and further past my best previous year.  With still a few weeks left in the year there is still a chance to push it up even further.  While I was in the area I walked a part of Cow Bridge Road and turned up another large group of White throated Sparrows as well as a juvenile White crowned Sparrow.  A really productive morning for sure.