Record warmth the last couple days

Yellow rumped Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 20, 2018

Yellow rumped Warblers, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 20, 2018

Yellow rumped Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 20, 2018

Black Vultures, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Feb 20, 2018

I got out to do a little birding yesterday after work and managed to find some good stuff despite the early fog.  I started off at Lower Mill Pond where I had two Black Vultures sitting atop a smoke stack where they have been seen on and off for a couple weeks now.  Not much for waterfowl to be seen but with the warming temperatures and the opening of previously iced out locations it is not surprising the birds have dispersed a bit.  I next went over to Arcadia mainly in search of Yellow rumped Warblers that have been seen occasionally in the general area.  I almost immediately had two or three and watched them for awhile and got a few photos through the binoculars with the phone.  As I was about to leave I noticed a few more and then suddenly I had at least eleven of them around me...unprecedented for me in the county in February...more about the warblers here.

Yellow rumped Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 21, 2018

Wood Ducks, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Feb 21, 2018

Common Merganser, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Feb 21, 2018

Golden crowned Kinglet, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Feb 21, 2018

Today I headed out with temperatures starting in the 50's and warming up quite rapidly once the fog burned off and setting yet another record (more on that below).  I found my first American Woodcock before dawn in Hadley (breaking my earliest record by a day).  I made it over to Arcadia just after dawn and once again found quite a few (ten today) Yellow rumped Warblers among the more expected species.  I made a few other short stops on my way over to Mitch's Way where I had a decent selection of waterfowl following the river heading north.  Other notables there included a continued Ruby crowned Kinglet and lots of migrating crows.  With all the geese moving I decided to check some fields in Hadley and Amherst where I found several hundred Canada Geese but nothing unusual among them.  I also hoped for an early Killdeer but I didn't have any luck.  Most stops today featured decent numbers of Red winged Blackbirds and a few Common Grackles and Brown headed Cowbirds.  I also turned up a few other new species for the county this year with a couple Turkey Vultures in Hadley in the morning and a Red shouldered Hawk over the house in the afternoon.

Now a bit more about the weather.  We broke two consecutive high temps with a high on Tuesday of 67 (old record 62) and a high of 74 today (old record of 61).  These become only the fourth and fifth days since 1940 that temperatures have reached 60+ degrees in February (with number two and three occurring last year...February heat 2017 post 1, February heat 2017 post 2).  Today also set an all time February high temperatures record eclipsing the record set last year by a degree.  Winter returns tomorrow with some light snow possible.

Gray Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 7, 2018

Gray Foxes, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 7, 2018

Gray Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 6, 2018

I also checked the motion camera I have had set up along the Jabish Brook and found quite a few shots of Gray Foxes over the last few weeks.