I was not expecting to find a Red Phalarope today but sometimes the unexpected occurs. I got out of work on this drizzly morning (and warm) morning and decided to hit a few areas in Hadley on my way home (more on that below). I almost didn't even stop at Winsor Dam as the rain was steadily picking up as I headed for home but I thankfully decided to stop. I arrived just before ten to limited visibility due to the light rain and low clouds and fog. I scanned with binoculars and quickly found a Common Loon and a few gulls loafing out near a large orange buoy. I quickly took out the scope and scanned through the ten gulls present in the hopes of turning up some unusual gull but only had Ring billed Gulls. As I was watching the gulls I had a bird fly in and land on the water right next to them and a immediately identified it as a phalarope of some type. The bird spun around in typical phalarope fashion before it took off and flew around a bit before settling down again. There was no obvious white rump (ruling out Wilson's Phalarope) and the underwings looking mainly light (ruling out Red necked Phalarope) so I concluded it was a Red Phalarope. The bird would settle on the water for a few minutes and then take off and fly a bit before settling again on the water again. It did this several times during the time I was watching it. I got the word out to as many people as I could but unfortunately no one else was able to relocate the bird again. Red Phalarope is a very rare bird inland in western Massachusetts and this becomes just my third individual for me in Hampshire County (with all my previous records occurring at Quabbin Park in May of 2011 and September 2020). My attempts at photos through the scope were abysmal but some video turned out a bit better and I have links to the videos attached below:
Before I found the phalarope I visited a few other areas in Hadley on my way home, mainly looking for some late warblers and finding three species (with a Common Yellowthroat and a couple Palm Warblers being a bit late). In addition to the warblers I found a few other late species including two Eastern Meadowlarks at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River and an Eastern Phoebe at Hickory Ridge. I ended the day with 53 species to start out the month. The forecast for the next week looks to feature above normal temperatures with sunny conditions so hopefully I will turn up some more lingering species.
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