Back home in the snow and cold for a short time

Pine Warbler, Williamsburg, MA, Feb 13, 2026

Bufflehead, Coolidge Bridge, Hadley, MA, Feb 13, 2026

Greater Scaup, Coolidge Bridge, Hadley, MA, Feb 13, 2026

Ring necked Ducks, Coolidge Bridge, Hadley, MA, Feb 13, 2026

Mallards, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Feb 13, 2026

Wilson eating snow, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 12, 2026

Eastern Towhee, Granby, MA, Feb 12, 2026

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 11, 2026

After a long ride home with Wilson that started before dawn on Monday we arrived home to a snow filled hellscape on Tuesday.  Thankfully we missed the absolutely brutal cold of the weekend when it was below zero with wind chills at -30.  The only silver lining was I still had some new species to try to find in Hampshire County for the year as I only had New Years Day to find stuff before I left to Florida.  After spending most of the morning Wednesday cleaning up all the snow I eventually made it out to try to track down a Yellow rumped Warbler along the river and eventually I had a single flyover.  I then spent some time trudging through a foot and a half of snow trying to track it down to get a photo without any luck...just ended up getting soaked.  I also stopped by Winsor Dam and found the reservoir totally iced over...something that doesn't occur most years.  Thursday we had to drive down to Tufts for an appointment for Wilson in the morning and the only birding I did was to stop down at a private residence where an Eastern Towhee is overwintering.  I managed to get some good looks and marginal photos of the bird after a bit of looking (thanks Carol for allowing me to stop by).  Friday was a very cold morning with a low near 10 but the winds from the last couple days had abated.  My main focus for the morning would be trying to catch up with a Pine Warbler at a private residence in Williamsburg (which I did indeed catch up with).  Before making it to see the Pine Warbler I was out the door well before dawn to chase down owls and hopefully get a look at a rocket launch headed to the International Space Station (I missed seeing that).  Owls were around and I had a few species before hiking a bit in Williamsburg where I had at least three Red Crossbills flying over.  Around eight I made it to the spot with the warbler and had the bird on a couple occasions coming into a mealworm feeder over the course of 45 minutes.  I then headed east with stops at Arcadia where I had a couple Yellow rumped Warblers, the Coolidge Bridge where I had both species of scaup, three Ring necked Ducks, a couple Bufflehead and a possible Barrow's Goldeneye and then Aqua Vitae Road before going home to pick up Wilson for a walk.  Once back home I had a couple Black Vultures flying over the house.  By the end of the day I had found several new species for the year in the county and my count now stands at 82.  

The fifth (and last) week in Florida

Wood Stork, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Sunrise, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Blue gray Gnatcatcher, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

White eyed Vireo, Thornby Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Yellow throated Warbler, Campbell Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

I started off the last week in Florida hitting a few local parks not too far from the house including Gemini Springs Park, Thornby Park, Campbell Park and Audubon Park.  It was yet another cold morning with temps in the 20's with a slight breeze (at least it was not quite as cold and windy as the day before).  It was weird to see some thin ice on some of shallow part of marshes.  Given the conditions I tried to find some edges that got sun early in the morning and this proved somewhat successful with a number of species taking advantage of the sun warming things up.  Overall a more productive day then the day before.

Dawn, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Bald Eagle with prey, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Sandhill Cranes, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Great Blue Heron, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Northern Yellow Warbler, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Great Egret with fish, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Purple Gallinule, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Common Gallinule, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Tuesday featured another cold start with frost.  Thankfully it was sunny with little wind so it didn't feel as bad as previous days.  I headed out well before dawn to make the trip up to Lake Woodruff NWR and arrived just after six.  With the near full moon you could walk with a headlamp on and I focused on rails and had some fantastic luck with the best by far being a Black Rail (a life bird for me...species #2186) that sounded off a few times.  I had five species of rails...something I have never done before (plus a variety of gallinules and coots).   

Lincoln's Sparrow, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

White winged Scoter and Pied billed Grebe, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

White winged Scoter, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

Common Ground Dove, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

Pied billed Grebe and American Coots at sunrise, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

Northern Parula, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

Palm Warblers 'yellow', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

A morning without frost arrived for Wednesday morning (although it was still cold early with a low of 35).  Eventually the day warmed up nicely into the low 70's with abundant sunshine.  I started off before dawn at Gemini Springs Park and added a number of unusual species for the day including a White winged Scoter, Lincoln's Sparrow, White crowned Sparrow and American Redstart.

Limpkin, Campbell Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 5, 2026

Ring necked Ducks, Blue Heron Nature Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 5, 2026

Sandhill Crane with leg injury, Blue Heron Nature Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 5, 2026

Blue gray Gnatcatcher, Blue Heron Nature Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 5, 2026

After one really nice day we returned to cooler weather and some rain for Thursday.  I awoke to heavy rain so stayed at the house until it finally stopped around seven (at least for a bit).  I visited just a couple spots within a few minutes of the house including Blue Heron Nature Park.  Eventually a few showers showed up later in the morning but at least I got out for a couple hours.  

Blue headed Vireo eating a lizard, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Blue headed Vireo eating a lizard, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Pileated Woodpeckers, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Pileated Woodpeckers, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Yellow throated Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

White eyed Vireo, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Lincoln's Sparrow, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Painted Bunting, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

White winged Scoter, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Friday morning yet again featured frost...not what I wanted to see when I got up to head out.  At least it the sky was clear and once the sun came up things started warming up.  Of course then the wind picked up but by then I was headed home.  I spent nearly three hours at Gemini Springs Park and had a number of good sightings.  Rarities included the continued White winged Scoter and Lincoln's Sparrow.  I also got to witness some interaction among a couple male Pileated Woodpeckers (check out the video in the above attached eBird list) plus got to watch a Blue headed Vireo feeding on a lizard of some type.  I have never seen that behavior before with the species and I got video of that too.  I also added a new warbler species for the year with a Black throated Green Warbler that showed briefly in a mixed flock.  Overall a great morning despite the continued cool temps.

Bobcat, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Bobcat, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Pied billed Grebes, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Lincoln's Sparrow, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Common Ground Dove, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Pine Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Blue gray Gnatcatcher, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Red shouldered Hawk, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

On Saturday the weather was very similar to the day before although thankfully no frost.  I initially was going to head up to Lake Woodruff but with the breezy conditions I figured it was not worth the longer drive.  I instead returned to Gemini Springs Park for a few hours.  The wind was an issue at times and made tracking down some stuff difficult.  Nonetheless it was still a productive morning with a few continuing rarities, nine species of warblers and some good looks at a Bobcat. 

Anhinga with fish, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Western Cattle Egret with staining on rear, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Northern House Wren, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

American Bittern, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

 

Ring necked Duck, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Common Gallinule, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Northern Yellow Warbler, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Gray headed Swamphen, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Purple Gallinule, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Boat tailed Grackle, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

For the last full day in Florida I headed to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive before dawn and did a little birding at Apopka Birding Park before the gates opened.  Once the gates opened I spent a little over three hours exploring the drive and I had 90 species on the drive alone...it really is a great birding spot.  Loads and loads of waterfowl and waders and other marsh birds.  The list sums it all up quite well and it was a great way to end my time in Florida.  I then headed home a little before midday and finished packing for the trip back to the arctic wasteland of home.  I ended the day with a nice round 100 species total.  For the entire week I had 128 species with two new species for Florida.  Full report from week five at the following link.

The week in warblers can be found at the following link: Final week warblers.

Overall for my time in Florida (from January 4-February 9) I found a total of 212 species with one lifer in Florida (Black Rail) bringing my life list to 2185.  I added 15 species to my Florida list, which now stands at 265.