More unusual stuff today including Common Gallinule and Marsh Wren

Common Gallinule, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Apr 16, 2019

Common Gallinule, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Apr 16, 2019

Blue winged Teal, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Apr 16, 2019

Blue winged Teal, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Apr 16, 2019

Canada Goose with extensive white on neck, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Apr 16, 2019

After the last few days of great stuff I didn't think today would turn up many more but it did.  I saw a post late in the evening yesterday about a Common Gallinule seen late in the day at Great Pond.  With the rain yesterday and the flooding associated with it I was not sure it would be worth a trip over there as access can be tough when it is wet and muddy.  However with strong northwest winds overnight and into today I hoped the area would be dry enough to access so I gave it a try.  The area near Great Pond was flooded but accessible on foot so I hiked my way in and found the Common Gallinule fairly quickly and it showed well for several minutes before it disappeared into the phragmites.  Common Gallinule is quite rare around here and I have had only a handful of records including another seen at Great Pond in December last year) As the gallinule disappeared I noticed a group of four Blue winged Teal (three males and a female)...a species that can be tough to find around here sometimes but this spring has been a good one for them.  There was a smattering of other waterfowl around including a Canada Goose with extensive white on its neck.  I headed back toward home after my time in Hatfield and stopped at a number of flooded fields in search of waterfowl and shorebirds but I didn't find too much.  The wind was a bit too strong to try to turn up many passerines so I didn't try too hard. 

Marsh Wren, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 16, 2019

Marsh Wren, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 16, 2019

Marsh Wren, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 16, 2019

After getting home and doing stuff around the house I got a text from Jonathan about a Marsh Wren he found in a small marsh area at UMASS (the exact same spot I had one on September 30th last year).  I had to run a few errands over in Hadley so I decided to swing by UMASS on my way through and had the Marsh Wren right away.  Marsh Wren is a fairly uncommon species in the Hampshire County with most records from late summer into fall..in fact this is my first spring record ever in the county.