The first two days of the year have been warmer than average but also wet with bouts of rain and nearly continuous low clouds and drizzle. The forecast calls for a big cool down for tomorrow for a couple days but still no big snow storms in the immediate future (although one is possible by the end of the week). Despite the less than ideal conditions to be outside I made the most of the birding opportunities and took advantage of almost all bodies of water being ice free. The first two days of the year landed me 68 species so far (with most of those on the first of the year...more on that below). Today I had hoped the weather would have improved but when I went out before dawn listening for owls it was raining lightly and continued to do so throughout the entire morning. No luck tracking down a saw whet owl this morning but I did have multiple Barred Owls and Great Horned Owls. With the weather foggy and visibility around Quabbin greatly reduced I decided to head over to some areas along the river where the distances to view stuff on the water is much less. My first stop was Arcadia where I had an adult Snow Goose in among a few hundred Canada Geese plus a female Gadwall that played hide and seek in the grassy edges of the marsh and I never managed to get a photo of. I tried to find a Gray Catbird that is attempting to overwinter in the area of the old orchard but I failed to find it. All the open water produced at least two Belted Kingfishers chasing each other around. I next stopped in the area of Lower Mill Pond in Easthampton but it was quiet and there was no sign of any Black Vultures that have overwintered in the area in the past. I then headed over the mountain to see what might be around the Holyoke Dam with stops at the Hadley Falls Canal Park and then the dam itself. Nothing too unusual but a few new species for the year. I then made a quick stop a very foggy Winsor Dam before going home to get Wilson to go for a walk in the rain.
After getting out of work on New Years Day I immediately started looking for birds to kick off 2022. I had a couple of owls species before it even got light with Great Horned Owl and a very inquisitive Eastern Screech Owl. My first longer stop was to the Honey Pot where I had a brief view of the continued Western Meadowlark as it got flushed by a Northern Harrier and then landed out of sight and called a few times. I was unable to get a better view of the bird without trespassing so I had to be content with a brief view. There were at least two Northern Harriers present too and one even called a bit when it landed on a fence near the landfill (not something I hear too often around here). The other notable bird at the Honey Pot was a continued White crowned Sparrow which defied my attempts to get a photo. As it got a bit later in the morning I decided to head to Mitch's Way in the hopes of finding some Yellow rumped Warblers there. I found at least two of the warblers still present and feeding on poison ivy berries...a big goal for the month reached on the first day! In addition to the warblers I had a late Ruby crowned Kinglet plus a few Red winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles. I then hit a few more spots in Hadley including an area where an Eastern Phoebe looks to be trying to overwinter for the third year in a row. A stop at the campus pond found few geese present so no chance to add a Cackling Goose for the year. I then headed toward home but not before a few stops in the Quabbin Park area to see if I could add something for the Quabbin CBC. Unfortunately the fog was thick and the gates to the park were closed so no chance to add anything noteworthy for the count. Although the weather was less than ideal but I still ended the day with 60 species, a very respectful start to the new year.
The feeders at the house continue to be active with loads of banded Black capped Chickadees plus a Gray Squirrel with some dark gray undersides and flanks...perhaps a bit of coloration of a typical Gray Squirrel with a black morph Gray Squirrel?
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