A day out with Devin looking for birds in the valley

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Nov 23, 2019

Ruby crowned Kinglet, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Nov 23, 2019

On Saturday I caught up with a migrant from the south (and recent western mass resident) when Devin arrived for a brief visit.  He contacted me a few days prior and said he wanted to get out for a morning of birding in the area and hopefully pick up the Pacific slope Flycatcher.  I picked him up before dawn and we were off on our adventure.  Our first stop was down to the East Meadows in Northampton where we donned some high visibility gear to announce that we were not looking to get shot and made a walk through an area that typically holds some lingering species (and few hunters).  We not only managed to not get shot but also turned up some good species including at least five Yellow rumped Warblers (fingers crossed they stick around at least into next month) and a Ruby crowned Kinglet.

Pacific slope Flycatcher, Huntington Rd, Hadley, MA, Nov 23, 2019

Pacific slope Flycatcher, Huntington Rd, Hadley, MA, Nov 23, 2019

Pacific slope Flycatcher, Huntington Rd, Hadley, MA, Nov 23, 2019

Pacific slope Flycatcher, Huntington Rd, Hadley, MA, Nov 23, 2019

Hairy tailed Mole, Huntington Rd, Hadley, MA, Nov 23, 2019

By the time we finished up in the East Meadows it was around nine and the sun was starting to warm things up a bit.  We then headed over to the Pacific slope Flycatcher spot in Hadley where we arrived and started walking down the path and almost immediately had the flycatcher fly right up to us and perch in the open, allowing fantastic looks and photos.  The bird still looked healthy and was feeding actively but with it showing itself out in the open more and more over the last several days I highly doubt it will be long before a predator gets it...hopefully I'm wrong but it is a fate that many rarities meet.  There were several other birders present and all got fantastic looks at it as it fed at or below eye level along the main path.  Besides the flycatcher we came across a Hairy tailed Mole that looks to have recently died...not too rare a mammal but not one you get to see too often.

Greater White fronted Goose, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Nov 23, 2019

Canada Goose with white on neck, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Nov 23, 2019

Canada Goose with white on neck, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Nov 23, 2019

With the flycatcher seen and photographed we decided to head over to the UMASS campus pond to see what might be around.  The pond has recently held both Great White fronted Goose and Cackling Goose among the much more numerous Canada Geese.  A scan of the pond turned up a Greater White fronted Goose and a few runt looking Canada Geese but no Cackling Goose.  The only other notable species was a Great Blue Heron hunting the middle of the pond among several hundred geese.  There were also a few Canada Geese with white on their necks...full album of unusual Canada Geese can be found here.

Black Vulture, South Maple St, Hadley, MA, Nov 23, 2019

Turkey Vulture, South Maple St, Hadley, MA, Nov 23, 2019

Turkey Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, Nov 23, 2019

With our time for birding rapidly dwindling we headed back down through Hadley and still managed to turn up more notable birds including a mixed flock of vultures circling over South Maple Street near the malls that held three Black Vultures and nine Turkey Vultures.  After see the vultures there we continued on to Moody Bridge Road where we found ten Turkey Vultures.  I'm sure some of the vultures were the same at both locations but there were also some new ones too but tough to know exactly how many were new.  Either way any vultures around the area in late November is noteworthy.