Birds the last few days including a new yard species and nesting Hooded Mergansers at home

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2020

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2020

Pine Warbler, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2020

Downy Woodpecker, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2020

Chipping Sparrow, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2020

American Goldfinch, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2020

Great Blue Heron at nest, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2020

I stopped by Lake Wallace on my way to work yesterday as well as on my way home this morning. Although I didn't have a lot of time during the morning yesterday I still turned up 30 species in about 15 minutes including four species of warbler.  Today I had a bit more time and spent over an hour exploring the area with the highlights among the 40 species including three species of swallows, nesting Great Blue Herons and 50+ Palm Warblers.

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 12, 2020

The camera at the water feature captured another new species (#48) with a Ruby crowned Kinglet showing up on Easter Sunday.  Another highlight for the yard was a breeding plumage Bonaparte's Gull that showed up over the marsh in a lull in the rain on Monday adding another species to the yard list which now stands at 167.

Hooded Merganser eggs in duck box #2, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 13, 2020

Egg in duck box #3 , Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 13, 2020

Hooded Merganser on eggs in duck box #2, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2020

In between the bouts of heavy rain on Monday I checked the duck boxes (except the first box which I know has a Hooded Merganser sitting on eggs and I didn't want to disturb her).  The second box which has had a single egg in it for well over a week now suddenly has several eggs in it.  The third box (which has never had birds nest in it before) now has at least one egg in it.  I relocated this box last year to a better location and the birds finally found it.  This is the first time I have had all three duck boxes used in a single year.  I decided to check the same two boxes on Wednesday and I was surprised to find a Hooded Merganser already sitting on eggs in box #2.