I got a text from Ted late yesterday letting me know he had either a Tundra or Trumpeter Swan at the Holyoke Dam and he was trying to determine which one it was. I had other commitments and was not feeling up to trying to make it down to the dam before the light of the day would be gone. Ted eventually got some great views and photos in the rapidly decreasing light and confirmed the bird as Trumpeter Swan. I figured I would try today as I would be able to bird close to the car (and even from the car). The swan was last seen very close to the shore on the South Hadley side at the end of the day yesterday. I made it down there fairly early and after viewing a bit from the South Hadley side with no luck I went across the river to the Holyoke side and quickly got the Trumpeter Swan among a group of four Mute Swans. A return to the Hampshire County side to get the species for the county found me checking a few spots to finally get a view of the bird and eventually I found a spot and got some marginal photos through the trees. As I tried to get better views I came across a few other new species for me for the year including an Iceland Gull and a Great Black backed Gull. Trumpeter Swan is very rare in the state with just a few recent records, with most of those in the last 20 years, likely a result of some of the reintroduction programs for the species. This is my second Hampshire County record for the species with the last one being one around the valley in a few spots in late March into early April in 2004.
I have added several more species to end out what is nearly the end of the second week of the new year and I now stand at an impressive 97 species for the year so far in Hampshire County...my highest total for this point in the year ever.
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