We have been stuck in a pattern the last several days of cooler than normal temperatures and occasional rain which has slowed down migration quite a bit. Today was a rare day when the sun shined a bit (at least after the morning fog burned off) and actually got into the mid 60's after a cool start in the 30's. I made a few stops on the east side of the river for the morning and found a few new species for the year here including Eastern Kingbird, Yellow throated Vireo, Ovenbird and Northern Parula. It was the first day of the spring where I broke into double digits for warbler species with a total of ten (more on warblers for the day at the following link).
Yesterday I stayed in the southern Quabbin area with a few visits to Winsor Dam and a longer stay within Quabbin Park. The dam featured nine species of waterfowl including a pair of White winged Scoters plus a breeding plumage Bonaparte's Gull. Quabbin Park highlights included a pair of Merlin that copulated and could very well breed in the area and decent numbers of Yellow bellied Sapsuckers, Purple Finches, Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Towhee and Black and White Warblers among 46 species present.
After work on Wednesday I made a few stops in Hadley before heading to the rail trail. My stops in Hadley turned up my first Warbling Vireo and Rose breasted Grosbeak and other expected species with some building nests. The rail trail highlight by far was a Least Bittern I had in flight at one the marshes and then dropping out of view. I spent quite a bit of time trying to relocate it without any luck. Other notables that morning included lots of Purple Finches at multiple stops.
Following some very heavy rain during Sunday while I was working, I headed over to Hadley to check a few fields to see if the rain grounded any interesting birds. Most fields were devoid of birds with the most productive spot being a flooding field in Amherst that held three species of shorebirds as well as some waterfowl, including a pair of Blue winged Teal among a larger group of Green winged Teal. I also made a stop at Winsor Dam where I had a frustratingly distant dark hooded gull that I could just not see well enough to ID...sometimes stuff just gets by without a definitive ID. The cool weather also produced a good show of swallows at the dam with over a hundred individuals of four species (most being Tree Swallows)
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