Warm weather arrives for a few days

Eastern Phoebe, Hadley, MA, Mar 11, 2021

Ring necked Ducks, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Mar 11, 2021

American Wigeons, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Mar 11, 2021

Canada Goose with extensive white on head, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Mar 11, 2021

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 11, 2021

Northern Shovelers, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 11, 2021

A real taste of spring arrived today with temperatures that made it to around 70 courtesy of southerly winds and mostly sunny conditions.  The morning started off somewhat cool (upper 20's) and cloudy but the clouds started breaking up from mid morning on and the temperatures responded, rising to near record levels and the warmest weather we have been since fall.  I took advantage of the conditions to get out after work and hit several areas.  My first stop was to check the area in Hadley which has featured an Eastern Phoebe all winter and I relocated it again this morning and it has started to sing....the second year in a row the species has successfully overwintered at the location.  I thought I heard a Yellow rumped Warbler call distantly but I was not able to hear it again nor see it.  Most of rest of the morning I spent looking for waterfowl.  Hadley Cove was fairly quiet with just the expected species around.  A stop down at Mitch's Way found no geese at all (most geese seem to have cleared out of the area and flocks have been seen moving north for the last few days).  The most notable waterfowl there were at least 64 Ring necked Ducks and a pair of American Wigeon (which kept diving to feed...not a common behavior with this normally dabbling species).  I then headed north checking fields in Hadley and Amherst for geese and the only group I found was a flock of 500+ off Meadow Street that had one individual with extensive white on the head.   After heading home to get Wilson and taking him for a walk along the land trust trail I made my way over to Winsor Dam to see what migrants I could find moving north.  The area in front of the administration is building is still mostly frozen with some open water way out toward the boat launch area so not much for waterfowl to be seen on the water.  I did have some Common Mergansers and geese flying north as well as a Double crested Cormorant.  The more notable species were raptors with many moving on the south winds.  The most unusual species was a juvenile Northern Goshawk that flew south against the wind hugging the western shore.  I got great scope views of the bird before it disappeared into the southwest cove.  I tried to get some photos through the scope but the bird was moving too quick and all I ended up with were a few blurry shots.  After waiting awhile to see if the goshawk would reappear I saw that Mary found a pair of Northern Shovelers at Lake Wallace.  I headed over and ran into Mary and we got to see the pair resting in the lake.  This is the first time I have had Northern Shoveler at Lake Wallace (bringing my total species there to 162...a productive little spot for sure).  Tomorrow looks to be a transition day with temperatures still in the 50's before a cold front comes in and cools us down for the weekend into early next week.