I began 2024 by heading out well before dawn to try to track down owls. The weather was fairly cooperative with temps around freezing, light winds and no snow to contend with. I started at Quabbin where I had both Northern Saw Whet Owls and Great Horned Owls and then headed across the river to Hatfield where I eventually had three owl species and finished the morning with all four expected owl species. I then spent a little time at Great Pond looking for waterfowl (which there was little of) and sparrows where I had half a dozen species including a couple White crowned Sparrows and a Swamp Sparrow. With the morning slowly warming up I then decided to focus on warblers and headed over to Hadley where I found at least four Yellow rumped Warblers and extended my streak of at least one warbler species in the county to 81 consecutive months. I also had multiple Ruby crowned Kinglets and half a dozen species of woodpeckers. I then worked my way east with multiple stops along the way including Hickory Ridge Conservation Area and Lake Wallace before arriving at Winsor Dam in an unsuccessful attempt to track down any of the rarities that have been around the dam recently including Say's Phoebe, Eastern Phoebe and Pine Warblers. After the dam I made a few more stops and turned up some more unusual species including Ring necked Ducks (thanks Mary) and Red Crossbills. Throughout the day multiple locations featured flocks of Red winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles and Brown headed Cowbirds...an unusual occurrence for the date but given the warmer than normal temps and lack of snow not really surprising. I was running out of steam by midday so headed for home. My first day total came to 65 species which was just behind my best ever single first day of the year in the county back in 2021 when I had 67 species.
On the second I was once again out early looking for owls and I was very happy to come across a cooperative Northern Saw Whet Owl that I was able to get photos of. I almost forgot how tiny they are when I saw it...not much bigger than a eastern white pine pinecone. After my stops for owls I headed over to the Hadley/Amherst area with the focus being on trying turn up a late Common Yellowthroat (I failed on that quest) and adding any other species for the year I had not yet seen. I hit a small marsh at the Hadley malls where I had at least two Swamp Sparrows and a Northern Harrier that flew over a few times. I then checked UMASS in the hopes of finding some unusual geese but only found several hundred Canada Geese. My next stoop was the rail trail where I found another four Swamp Sparrows. Without any luck finding a yellowthroat I headed back over to the Quabbin area to focus on perhaps tracking down a continued Pine Warbler and/or the Say's Phoebe. Although I found a number of new species I had no luck finding any warblers and the phoebe (at least initially). As I was the dam I ran into Brian and we discussed the Say's Phoebe a bit and possible locations it might be spending its time. The bird has become very intermittent after being seen most every day from its initial discovery on December 10th until December 22nd. It was then not seen again until the afternoon of Dec 30th when it showed up for the Quabbin CBC (along with an Eastern Phoebe). I have looked for it on multiple days without any luck and have checked many nearby areas. I wished Brian good luck and left the dam only to get a text a few minutes later from him telling me he found the Say's Phoebe along the dam. I quickly headed back and got the bird for the new year. It fed along the dam until flushed by walkers and then it settled back at the admin building on top of one of the chimneys. Truly amazing the bird has stayed around this long (the longest staying Say's Phoebe ever in the state by a long shot). I really wonder where it is that it spends its time when not along the dam or the admin building. I then went home and got Wilson and we headed out for a walk and found a few more new species for the year and brought my total up to 72 species in the county for the year.
I spent the third day of the new year (and my last day before returning to work) out exploring various spots to find new species for the new year. I was undecided on where to go for the morning initially and finally decided on heading to the dam in Holyoke and then onto Arcadia. I added a few species during those stops and then headed back over toward Quabbin to try again to track down Pine Warblers and perhaps relocate one of the phoebes. Although I failed to find a Pine Warbler once again I did run across several Red Crossbills (all the ones I was able to get recordings of turned out to be Type 12). I then came home and got Wilson and we took a walk along the Swift River in Ware and I added a couple more species for the year with Purple Finch and Fox Sparrow. A return trip to Winsor Dam around sunset featured loads of gulls with the most unusual among them being a Iceland Gull. I now stand at 79 species for the year in the county in the first three days, which is the highest total I have ever had for the first three days of a year here. My previous best start to a year was back in 2021 when I had 74 species by this point. That year was also the only time I broke the hundred species mark in January here when I had an amazing 105 species by the end of the month. I'm not expecting to beat that record as I will be heading out of the area again mid month to warmer locations.
The forecast over the next several days looks to feature a cool down and then a snow storm for Saturday into Sunday. I suppose we are overdue for our first real snow but I'm not looking forward to it at all...Wilson will be the only happy one at the house if we get snow.
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