February comes to a warm end and more on the injured Ross's Goose

Ross's Goose, Russleville Rd, Hadley/Amherst line, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Ross's Goose, Russleville Rd, Hadley/Amherst line, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Ross's Goose, Russleville Rd, Hadley/Amherst line, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Canada Goose with extensive white on neck, Russleville Rd, Hadley/Amherst line, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Green winged Teal, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Northern Pintails, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

American Wigeon, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Ring necked Ducks, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Ross's Goose with injury (initial view along river), Hadley, MA, Feb 24, 2018

River Otter, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

On Saturday I set out early to try to catch up with the Ross's Goose (and other notable geese) I found the day before and I was able to find it right away among some Canada Geese in the Connecticut River in Hadley.  Unfortunately the bird looks to have gotten into quite a fight and was covered with blood.  My views were somewhat obscured but the pristine white bird seen the day before was looking much the worse for wear.  I watched the bird leave with a group of Canada Geese and head out to the northeast and it seemed to fly without difficulty.  I then headed in the same direction and found the geese settled into a series of fields on the Hadley/Amherst line off Russelville Road.  This vantage point provided a closer, unobstructed view of the bird and the bird looked even worse than before with an obvious neck wound and lots of blood all over the bird.  It seemed rather alert and able to walk around and swim but didn't seem to feed.  The number of Canada Geese was also impressive with a total over two thousand present.  I then headed over the river to Arcadia to catch up with a few people to go birding with for a bit.  My first stop along Fort Hill Road turned up a Green winged Teal and a Yellow rumped Warbler.  As it appeared that the ice was out of the marsh and part of the Oxbow, I headed over in search of additional waterfowl and found ten species of waterfowl including multiple Wood Ducks, a pair of American Wigeon, nine Northern Pintails, another Green winged Teal and five Ring necked Ducks.  It was a very productive morning overall with really good diversity for late February.  In addition to the birds we were all treated to a nice, close look of a River Otter feeding on a rather large fish...any morning is better with a otter!

Snow Goose (blue morph), Russelville Rd fields, Hadley/Amherst, MA, Feb 26, 2018

Snow Goose (blue morph), Russelville Rd fields, Hadley/Amherst, MA, Feb 26, 2018

Ross's Goose, Russelville Rd fields, Hadley/Amherst, MA, Feb 26, 2018

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 26, 2018

After seeing reports from Sunday (while I was working) that the Ross's Goose, as well as a blue morph Snow Goose, were up on the fields in Hadley/Amherst I headed right over there on Monday morning after work.  I arrived to find thick fog but obviously large numbers of geese present.  I initially had over 1300 Canada Geese but no sign of anything unusual.  I left to run a few errands and returned once the fog started to lift.  I had better luck the second time I checked the fields turning up the Ross's Goose, still covered in blood but still moving....a tough bird.  The bird was a bit further out and a bit west from where I previously found it.  I moved a bit further down the road to scope out more of the fields and as soon as I got there I had some low flying geese moving further north with a Cackling Goose bringing up the rear of one group.  The Cackling Goose even called twice as it disappeared into the fog heading north.  I suspect the group set down in some of the inaccessible fields but could never confirm.  After a bit more scanning I turned up the blue morph Snow Goose which became the fourth goose species for the morning...really unusual for late February.  After getting my fill of the geese I headed for home with a brief stop off at Winsor Dam where I had a male Bufflehead at the edge of the rapidly disappearing ice.

Iceland Gull (middle foreground), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 27, 2018

On my way to work on Tuesday I stopped off at Winsor Dam to check on the gull gathering there and found an impressive number of gulls with at least 650 Ring billed Gulls, 37 Herring Gulls, 3 Great Black backed Gulls and at least two Iceland Gulls plus a number of gulls just too far away for an ID.  Typically finding large gatherings of gulls at this location is tough to do as the state actively attempts to keep the gulls away for water quality reasons but with the ice still blocking their boats from getting on the water the gulls have a temporary reprieve and I get to see some decent numbers and varieties of gulls close to home.  Unfortunately the ice is rapidly disappearing so the gull honeymoon will soon be over.

Hooded Mergansers, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Lesser Scaup and Ring necked Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Lesser Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

American Wigeon and Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Ring necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup and American Wigeon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

After a somewhat late start this morning after work I headed over to Arcadia seeing what I could find for waterfowl and any other early migrants.  Lots of Common Mergansers in the Oxbow and a smattering of other waterfowl species but nothing too unusual.  No sign of any Great Blue Herons back in the rookery but the eagle perched in there and my distance away may have been a factor in detecting them.  I then headed across the river and spent about half an hour looking for geese in the Meadow Street fields but only came up with Canada Geese (with almost two thousand present with most on the ground plus a few hundred flyovers heading north).  No sign of the injured Ross's Goose in the spots it had been hanging out in.  Not sure if it moved north with other geese or if it succumbed to its fairly serious looking injuries.  The last time it was seen by anyone was apparently when I had it early on Monday morning...I guess I ended up being the first and last person to see the bird while it was here.  I made a few other quick stops on the way home with the most productive being Winsor Dam where I had a nice mix of waterfowl with the most unusual being three Lesser Scaup in among a mixed flock that also contained four American Wigeon, 18 Ring necked Ducks, three Bufflehead and a Common Goldeneye.  The Lesser Scaup became my 100th for the year in Hampshire County (the earliest date I have ever reached 100 species.  The 88 species in February beats my previous record for this month that had been 84 species back in 2016.  The very mild weather for the middle to end of the month certainly helped push my totals up higher than usual.