Chipping Sparrow, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 7, 2022
Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 7, 2022
Rusty Blackbird, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 7, 2022
I wrapped up the first week of April by making a few stops on my way home from work including the
rail trail in Amherst where I had my first Eastern Towhee of the season plus a few Rusty Blackbirds and a large group of Blue Jays that appeared to be migrating through. Lake Wallace featured the expected species as did Winsor Dam. I spent most of the remainder of the day around the house with rain moving in during the afternoon and sticking around the rest of the day. Heavy rain should move in overnight with strong east winds. It will be interesting to see if anything gets put down by the weather.
Louisiana Waterthrush, Williamsburg, MA, Apr 5, 2022
Common Merganser, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 5, 2022
Red shouldered Hawk, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2022
Pine Warbler, Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2022
Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 5, 2022
Eggs in duck box #2, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2022
Eggs in duck box #3, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2022
Wilson enjoying the sun, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2022
After getting out of work on Tuesday morning I headed up to Williamsburg to follow up on a couple Louisiana Waterthrushes that Mary found the day before. I had at least one and possibly two despite the temperatures being a bit below freezing. This resulted in my earliest date ever for Louisiana Waterthrush in the county (more on the mornings warblers at the following link). Once I had seen the waterthrush after quite of bit of looking I headed down to Arcadia briefly. I then made a stop at Lake Wallace mainly looking for my first Palm Warbler of the season but came up empty (all was not lost as I had my first Barn Swallow of the year there). Once I got home and picked up Wilson we took a walk at Herman Covey WMA where we had a couple Pine Warblers with one showing quite well. I had an appointment midday in Hadley and was able to make a stop along the rail trail where I finally caught up with a Palm Warbler...a three warbler day for me and just the beginning of what is to come. The day turned out to be quite pleasant with sun most of the day and temperatures that reached around 60. I checked the duck boxes and still have eggs in two of the boxes but no bird sitting on the eggs yet.
Pied billed Grebe, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 3, 2022
Green winged Teal, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 3, 2022
Pileated Woodpecker, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 3, 2022
White throated Sparrow, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 3, 2022
Eastern Phoebe, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 3, 2022
Northern Pintail, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 3, 2022
Sunday found me starting my morning at Silvio Conte NWR and then over to the rail trail with the main goal being an overdue Pine Warbler and possibly a Palm Warbler. I struck out on both of these species but did have some waterfowl but nothing unusual. I then headed to Lake Wallace and had even more waterfowl but still no warblers. The highlights at Lake Wallace included my first Northern Rough winged Swallow among the Tree Swallows and continued Blue winged Teal, Northern Pintails and Pied billed Grebe. I then made a number of other stops in the south Quabbin area still trying in vain to track down a Pine Warbler. All my looking in usually productive spots for Pine Warbler turned out to be unnecessary as I had one at the house late in the afternoon...it sang several times but appeared to be moving through and it disappeared to the northeast before I could get a photo. Some light rain moved in during the afternoon and continued on and off the rest of the day.
Green winged Teal, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 2, 2022
Blue winged Teal, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 2, 2022
American Wigeon, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 2, 2022
Northern Harrier, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 2, 2022
Pectoral Sandpiper, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 2, 2022
Saturday started off cool and windy and some snow flurries early on before it became sunny. The wind made being outside a bit uncomfortable but I made the best of it with a few short walks and various stops mainly looking for waterfowl. The most productive stop was in a flooded field in the area of Meadow Street on the Amherst/Hadley line. I had a large gathering of Green winged Teal (90+) and three Blue winged Teal plus a half dozen other species of waterfowl. Shorebirds also made a good early season showing with five Pectoral Sandpipers, at least 29 Killdeer and a few Wilson's Snipe. Passserines were had to come by given the cold and windy conditions.
Red shouldered Hawk, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2022
Wild Turkey, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2022
I had a few birds around the yard on Saturday including a small group of turkeys with a displaying male showing off for all the females as well as a pair of Red shouldered Hawks that appear to have set up a territory near the house with lots of calling and flying around.
Blue winged Teal, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 1, 2022
Red breasted Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 1, 2022
Common Mergansers, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Apr 1, 2022
Common Merganser, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Apr 1, 2022
Bufflehead, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Apr 1, 2022
Ring necked Ducks, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Apr 1, 2022
Lesser Scaup, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Apr 1, 2022
Rainbow at Quabbin, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 1, 2022
To start the month off I was out the door before dawn and headed over to
Lake Wallace to look for marsh birds and waterfowl and had a Virginia Rail and half a dozen species of waterfowl including the continuing pair of Blue winged Teal. I then went to
Winsor Dam to see if anything got grounded by the heavy rain last night. I had some good luck with three Red breasted Mergansers (including an adult male) and a Long tailed Duck. The rain then redeveloped and came down heavily for a bit. I decided to run some errands but not before making a very rainy stop at
Beaver Lake which produced more species of waterfowl. After running errands I made a stop back to Winsor Dam but the ducks present earlier had cleared out. The sun tried to poke through the clouds a few times but didn't have too much luck. After a walk with Wilson I made a return trip to
Lake Wallace trying for some early season warblers but found none. The trip was worth it nonetheless when I had a Sora whinny spontaneously from the marsh. Overall a good start to the month of April.
Bobcat, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 3, 2022
Wood Ducks, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 28, 2022
Opossum, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 24, 2022
Bobcat, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 24, 2022
Gray Squirrel, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 15, 2022
Eastern Chipmunk, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 4, 2022
Beaver, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 24, 2022
Raccoons, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 16, 2022
Eastern Coyote, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 7, 2022
I finally got around to checking the game camera I have set up along the Jabish Brook at home and found a nice selection of mammals and a few Wood Ducks among the several hundred photos captured over the last couple months. Gray Squirrel was by far the most common mammal but I caught a number of others too.
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