Northampton Christmas Bird Count

Song Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

American Tree Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Hooded Merganser, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

I was actually around this year and not working for the Northampton Christmas Bird Count and was able to assist Derek in area 35 in Hatfield for a few hours in the morning before I had to head back home.  The forecasted snow/sleet never really developed yesterday into this morning and instead the immediate area received a cold rain, which made the dirt farm roads a bit muddy (to say the least).  I began my morning at a portion of Great Pond and had three species of owls before sunrise including an Eastern screech Owl that flew right in front of my car (plus a couple Barred Owls and a Great Horned Owl calling).  The conditions were calm for a very short window just before the sun came up but then it got breezy for the remainder of the time I was out and there were even some flurries a few times.  Other highlights for my first stop at Great Pond included five species of waterfowl including a late Wood Duck, at least three Great Blue Herons, and at least 17 Red winged Blackbirds.  I then decided to head to the nearby river to check to see if anything interesting could be found on the water.

American Black Ducks (and a couple hybrids), Bashin Road area, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Black capped Chickadee, Boat launch area, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Black capped Chickadee, Boat launch area, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

I checked the area around the wastewater treatment plant and the river and fields to the south and found just seven Common Mergansers and a pair of Hooded Mergansers on the river (which was running fairly high for this time of year).  A small pond along the road was a little more productive with 23 American Black Ducks.  I got a brief look at another duck through the vegetation that may have been a Gadwall but when I relocated to try to get a better look I could not relocate the bird.   I was originally planning on covering more areas along the river but another part of our team was already checking the area so I decided to concentrate the remainder of the my limited time covering areas of Great Pond I did not make it to earlier.

Swamp Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Swamp Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

White throated Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Great Blue Heron, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Song Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Eastern Bluebird, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

American Tree Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Red bellied Woodpecker, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

Red winged Blackbird, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

White tailed Deer, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 19, 2021

As the wind continued to keep things cool and birds a bit hunkered down, I walked a large portion of the periphery of the pond and marsh.  I had some decent luck finding some good stuff (although no luck, despite a lot of effort, for a yellowthroat still hanging around).  Highlights included a total of at least five Great Blue Herons (a really good count for December), eight Red bellied Woodpeckers, a flock of 95+ Horned Larks with a half a dozen Snow Buntings mixed in, loads of sparrows with 54 American Tree Sparrows, a juvenile White crowned Sparrow, 31 White throated Sparrows, 54 Song Sparrows, and 7 Swamp Sparrows plus another eight Red winged Blackbirds.  The morning also produced some mammals including a close encounter with a White tailed Deer and a couple very active Muskrats (among other species).  Overall for the morning I found a total of 48 species and our entire area of the count totaled 56 species (a new record for Area 35!) with 2500+ individuals.  I wish I had more time to cover a few more areas but I was happy to be out at all so no complaints.  Quite productive despite the wind, cold and mud.