The last week of February

Eastern Phoebe, Hadley, MA, Feb 22, 2023

Black Vulture, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 22, 2023

Canada Goose with white spots on head and neck, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Feb 22, 2023

Brown headed Cowbirds and a few European Starlings, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 22, 2023

The last week of February featured more winter like conditions and temps with multiple bouts of winter weather.  I started off the last week of the month taking advantage of a fairly nice weather day to try to catch up with a few lingering birds and rarities.  I started off at Winsor Dam and then over to Amherst and Hadley.  I tried to relocate Yellow headed Blackbird seen on the 21st but had no luck.  I did have better luck with some other species including multiple flyover Killdeer, a Black Vulture and the continued Eastern Phoebe in Hadley and loads of blackbirds, grackles and cowbirds plus a Horned Grebe at Quabbin Park at the end of the morning.

Wilson in the snow, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Feb 23, 2023

Thursday was an icy mess with snow and sleet overnight into the morning that then turned to freezing rain and drizzle.  I made a brief foray out to walk Wilson but we didn't find too much that was noteworthy.   

Bufflehead, Ware, MA, Feb 24, 2023

Bufflehead, Ware, MA, Feb 24, 2023

Ring necked Ducks, Ware, MA, Feb 24, 2023

Bald Eagles near nest, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 24, 2023

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 24, 2023

With more freezing rain overnight into Friday morning and cold and windy conditions I stayed fairly close to home with just a few stops mainly looking for waterfowl.  I stopped near dawn at a windy Winsor Dam where I had a couple hundred gulls, a few Common Mergansers and a pair of Bald Eagles near their nest site.  A check of a few other bodies of water nearby turned up a smattering of additional waterfowl with a total of half a dozen species for the morning without anything unusual among them.  Not long after the sun came up the wind picked up dramatically as a cold front swept in.  The winds eventually knocked out power for several hours during the day but thankfully it came back on by mid afternoon.  

Purple Finch, Piper Farm Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Feb 25, 2023

Saturday dawned cold and calm with a low around 10.  I once again decided to stay close to home and limit my time out in the arctic wasteland that is Massachusetts in winter.  I started my morning at Winsor Dam and didn't have too much during my stop.  I checked a few spots along the Swift River and had some waterfowl but some usually productive areas had a fine coating of ice so no waterfowl.  I then went down to the waters edge in Quabbin Park and it was somewhat breezy and there was not too much to see.  Another stop back at Winsor Dam was equally as quiet as my earlier stop.  I made one final stop for the morning at Piper Farm before going home to get Wilson for his walk.  Nothing unexpected at Piper Farm but did have some nice looks at a few Purple Finches.

Black capped Chickadee, Hadley, MA, Feb 27, 2023

Black capped Chickadee, Hadley, MA, Feb 27, 2023

Bufflehead, Hadley Falls Canal Park, South Hadley, MA, Feb 27, 2023

Mute Swan, Hadley Falls Canal Park, South Hadley, MA, Feb 27, 2023

Hooded Mergansers, Hadley Falls Canal Park, South Hadley, MA, Feb 27, 2023

I had to work on Sunday so only managed a quick stop at Winsor Dam which turned out to be very quiet.  After work on Monday morning I took a walk along the river in Hadley to try to turn up some unusual passerines but stuck out on that quest.  I then headed further south with stops at the Hadley Falls Canal Park and the Holyoke Dam.  The most productive spot was the canal park with eight species of waterfowl including above normal counts of Mute Swan and Hooded Mergansers.  I then headed for home as I was starting to feel the beginnings of a cold coming on and wanted to try to nip it in the bud before it got worse.

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Female banded in Jun 2021, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 28, 2023

Black capped Chickadees with leg bands, unknown individual on right, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 28, 2023

Black capped Chickadees, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 28, 2023

Wilson in the snow, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 28, 2023

Wilson in the snow, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 28, 2023

The last day of February turned out to be snowy and I was fighting a bit of a cold.  We actually had our biggest snow storm of the entire winter with around 6" of snow.  Although it snowed most of the day the vast majority of the snow fell overnight into the early morning.  I stayed around the house all day with a couple short trips outside with Wilson.  The feeders were busy with lots of birds with Black capped Chickadees being the most numerous by far with multiple banded birds around (including ones not seen the other day I was really paying attention to them back on the 21st)....at least eight individual banded chickadees have been visiting the feeders in the last several days.  One is a bit of a mystery as the color combo doesn't match anything from banding in the yard so digging a but deeper to try to find out where it came from.

I ended the month with a respectable 86 species in the county, which was a bit above the normal (my fourth highest February total in the county).  However it was fairly far off my highest February ever, which occurred last year when I had an amazing 108 species!  Last year was the only time I crested into the triple digits in February here.