I headed out before dawn this morning to begin 2021 right...out birding. My first species of the new year was the same one I ended 2020 with...a Great Horned Owl at home a bit before five. I started off the moonlit cold morning at the Honey Pot with at least one Short eared Owl working the fields. I then headed across the river and headed up to Hatfield to try to relocate the continued Sage Thrasher but not before making a few stops to check for owls. My owling in Hatfield turned up an Eastern Screech Owl and several Great Horned Owls as well as a Great Blue Heron flying down river before dawn. Once it got light enough to see I headed over to the Sage Thrasher spot in the hopes it would show early before the inevitable hordes descended to see this mega rarity for the new year. I actually found the bird very quickly as it roosted in a dense thicket (looking like a bunch of leaves until I checked it out with the binoculars). I struck around long enough to get some marginal photos and to point it out to the other arriving birders.
After my time up in Hatfield I headed south to Northampton to follow up with the Red headed Woodpecker that has take up residence in an area near the jail. I quickly walked out to the spot and after just a few minutes had the bird fly in and perch at the top of the trees. The thrasher and the woodpecker were the primary early targets as neither can be relied upon to been seen later in the year.
Once I had found the Red headed Woodpecker I headed a bit further south with a stop at Lower Mill Pond and then briefly over to Arcadia before hopping back across the river to Aqua Vitae Road and then a few spots in Hadley. Lower Mill Pond featured a smattering of waterfowl as well as an unexpected Yellow rumped Warbler that was calling as soon as I arrived (more on warblers for the day at the following link. I tried to catch up with it to get a photo as it headed downstream but no luck. Arcadia produced a few new species but nothing too unusual. It was fun watching various species feed among the floating debris left over from the very high water from several days ago...looked like a great spot for a late warbler to be but there were none.
Once I made it across the river to Hadley I made a brief stop along Aqua Vitae Road and turned up a single juvenile White crowned Sparrow but the overall numbers of sparrows seemed reduced from previous visits. A large Horned Lark flock there also contained at least one Lapland Longspur but trying to get any photos as they moved among the furrows of the farm fields was impossible. I didn't spend too much time along Aqua Vitae Road as I wanted to get over to the area that has recently held both Eastern Phoebe and Yellow rumped Warbler that look to be settling in for the winter. I had to look and listen for awhile but I eventually heard the phoebe and then got to see it. The Yellow rumped Warbler took even more time but it also eventually showed.
After seeing some early morning reports of some unusual waterfowl in South Hadley near the Holyoke Dam I headed in the direction and arrived to find Craig and Harvey scanning the river from the canal park and I apparently just missed seeing a Greater Scaup. Even without the scaup present I still had seven species of waterfowl. I then made a check of the area directly above and below the dam but with the still very high water the area was quiet. I decided to head back to the canal park once again and this time I had better luck with three Gadwall that flew in as well as sporadic views of the Great Scaup. With the morning rapidly coming to an end I headed back toward home but not before making a stop off at Winsor Dam, which produced a male Bufflehead. I then headed home to get Wilson and we took a short walk and turned up a few more new species for the day.
Overall for the day I managed to find a total of 67 species, which is my best start to a new year in the county. Many times I'm in the tropics somewhere at this point but without travel on the horizon any time soon I have to concentrate my energy locally finding stuff. Notable species for the day included Gadwall, Greater Scaup and Bufflehead among eleven species of waterfowl, Short eared Owl, Red headed Woodpecker (giving me seven species of woodpeckers for the day), Eastern Phoebe, Sage Thrasher, Common Redpolls, Red Crossbills, Lapland Longspur, White crowned Sparrow and Yellow rumped Warbler.
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