After work this morning I had plans to meet up with former valley birder Devin to try to find the long staying mega rarity Sage Thrasher in Hatfield. As he would not be able to make it up to the location until around nine I had a little extra time and made a few other stops including Arcadia where I checked briefly for a few recently reported rarities but I came up empty. I didn't have lots of time to really poke around plus the weather was a bit cold so not too surprised I came up empty. I then headed up to Hatfield to scout out the location and hopefully turn up the bird before Devin arrived so I would know right where to bring him. I arrived and started looking for the bird but initially I had no luck. I checked a few other spots nearby before returning to its favored location. I had better luck this time and found the bird fairly easily and got a few photos. Devin and Greg both arrived just a bit after this sighting and I led them back to the spot and Greg was able to rediscover it fairly quickly. It is amazing how much more cooperative the bird has become as it enters its sixth week in the same location after its initial discovery back in mid December. There was also a birder from the eastern end of the state that arrived around the same time for his third try with seeing the bird. He failed to locate it on his two previous stops but thankfully got it this time. Everyone got good looks and many more photos were taken. It was a new Hampshire County bird for Devin and his main reason for making a visit. We also had a large flock of Snow Buntings that we initially estimated at around 75 but photo review showed at least 92 birds present.
I left Hatfield to head home to take Wilson for a walk while Devin and Greg stayed with the thrasher for a bit longer. I caught up with Devin again right around noon in Quabbin Park to try to find him another county bird for the day with our target being Red Crossbill. We started off at Hank's Meadow where we had some waterfowl but not too much else. The clouds continued to build and the wind started to increase as an incoming cold front pressed in from the northwest which will bring us very cold and windy weather through the weekend. We then tried our luck along the road near Goodnough Dike but still no luck so I had one more idea to turn them up and headed to another spot in the park that has produced them in the past. Not long after we arrived we heard a crossbill distantly. We then walked a bit toward the calls and not long after had a flock of at least 15 individuals fly past calling. I got a few recordings to determine the type(s) and we eventually got some distant looks of a couple that perched in some distant pines. It was great to see Devin and get him his two target species even when we both agreed we should be in the tropics at this time of year!
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