New arrivals for the beginning of April

Hooded Merganser, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2020

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 5, 2020

Ring necked Ducks, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Apr 5, 2020

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2020

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2020

I spent a decent portion of the morning covering a variety of locations in search of newly arrived migrants and I had some good luck with five new species for the year.  It was nice to be out again now that I'm feeling a bit better and the weather was a bit warmer.  I started the morning at Arcadia but I had to limit myself to the areas of the sanctuary that could be birded from public roads as Arcadia itself is now closed to the public due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.  Nonetheless I had some good stuff there including my first Double crested Cormorants and Palm Warbler of the season plus half a dozen Yellow rumped Warblers (almost certainly part of the group that overwintered in the area and not newly arrived migrants).  I then drove north to Great Pond where I had several species of waterfowl, my first Osprey and a calling Eastern Screech Owl.  I was going to hit some other spots nearby but the weather turned to crap with rain so I headed back east to Winsor Dam where I had some waterfowl way out on the reservoir including a female Ruddy Duck (new for the year and a tough species to get in Hampshire County) with a small group of Black Ducks.  I tried to get some digiscoped photos but the distant was just too much.  I then headed over to nearby Lake Wallace where I had a selection of expected waterfowl plus half a dozen Palm Warblers.  I then headed back home to do some stuff around the house but still added some good birds for the day including my first Barn Swallow (in among a group of Tree Swallows and a single Northern Rough winged Swallow).  More on the three species of warbler for the day at the following link.

Black capped Chickadees with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2020

Eastern Bluebird, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2020

Dark eyed Juncos, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 4, 2020

The cameras at the house have continued to catch my banded Black capped Chickadees (among other species) plus the water feature has started attracting species with five species of bird so far (plus Gray Squirrel and Black Bear).