More new arrivals with gulls and some early shorebirds (plus others)

 

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Great Black backed Gulls with Red breasted Merganser, Herring Gulls and Ring billed Gulls, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Pectoral Sandpiper, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Lesser Yellowlegs, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Louisiana Waterthrush, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Great Egret, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Fox Sparrow, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Surf Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Following the most restful night of sleep I have had in a week as I continue to fight (and mainly lose) against a cold that I picked up after my return from the tropics I had enough energy to get out a bit more and actually take a few longer walks (short in comparison to what I usually do but longer than I have done in a week)...by the end of the walks I was totally wiped out for sure and I may have overdone it a bit.  I started out the rather glooming morning by going to Winsor Dam where I figured I would make a quick scan and move on.  However the dam produced some great stuff with a fantastic showing of gulls including a Lesser Black backed Gull, a Bonaparte's Gull and a couple Great Black backed Gulls in addition to the more expected species.  As it got more light most gulls headed off to the southeast.  I then headed to Hadley where I located the early Pectoral Sandpiper that Scott found yesterday plus another early shorebird with a Lesser Yellowlegs at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River.  My first longer walk of the day was to try to relocate the early Louisiana Waterthrush found by Cory yesterday and I quickly heard the bird singing (seeing it took quite a bit longer)....not my earliest record for the species but very close (my record was one day earlier last year)...more on warblers for the day at the following link.  I then headed toward home with a stop off at Lake Wallace where I had the Great Egret continuing from yesterday when I found it plus lots of Palm Warblers (plus a Harvey and Craig sighting).  I then headed home and picked up Wilson for a walk with a brief stop at Winsor Dam again where the fog that had settled in was slowly starting to lift.  I had a few species of waterfowl including two that were distant and I could not determine to species (possibly Hooded Mergansers?).  After our walk was all done I was getting very tired but then saw a text from Mary about some unidentified ducks she had distantly at Winsor Dam.  I made the quick ride over and together we tried to solve the mystery.  Thankfully the fog had completed lifted and the viewing conditions were as good as they get there.  After a lot of looking we finally determined the birds to be a pair of Surf Scoters...a quite rare species in the spring around here.  The birds stayed tucked in most of the time which made the ID a bit tricky.  There were also five smaller appearing gulls even further out that I think were additional Bonaparte's Gulls.  Overall a productive morning with several early or unusual species around.

Northern Cardinal, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2023

Dark eyed Junco, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2023

I also got the water feature up and operating for the year and with a bit of luck got the camera to operate again for another year (at least intermittently).  The first visitor for the year was a Northern Cardinal and it was joined by three other species so far in the couple days I have had it open.  Look forward to seeing what shows up.