American Coot and decent numbers of various species of waterfowl today

 

American Coot, Fitzgerald Lake, Northampton, MA, Mar 12, 2023

American Coot, Fitzgerald Lake, Northampton, MA, Mar 12, 2023

Ring necked Ducks, Fitzgerald Lake, Northampton, MA, Mar 12, 2023

Today was a good day for waterfowl with a total of 14 species over the course of the morning for me.  I decided to start the morning at Fitzgerald Lake in the hopes of relocating the American Coot that Mary found the day before.  I arrived before dawn and was rewarded quite quickly with views of the American Coot swimming through the fog on the opposite shore.  I also had couple other noteworthy species including a slightly early Virginia Rail calling a few times early plus two Swamp Sparrows.  Overall a half a dozen species of waterfowl were present during my time there.

Northern Pintails, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 12, 2023

Next I went down to Arcadia and checked both the Oxbow and nearby marsh.  The Oxbow was much quieter compared to previous days (no sign of the Canvasback seen there recently) with just a handful of Mallards and Common Mergansers (perhaps due to boat traffic?).  The marsh was a bit more active with female Gadwall in among a flock of at least 27 Northern Pintails (it has been a great spring migration season for pintails so far in the area).  

Eastern Phoebe, Hadley, MA, Mar 12, 2023

I initially was going to go up through Hatfield checking fields for geese and then on to Great Pond but instead I decided to head across the river and check along the river in Hadley and then check fields in Hadley and Amherst.  I didn't find much for waterfowl along the river but did see and hear the overwintering Eastern Phoebe.  

Snow Goose, Hadley, MA, Mar 12, 2023

Snow Goose, Hadley, MA, Mar 12, 2023

The fields in Hadley and Amherst turned up some decent numbers of Canada Geese in multiple large flocks plus a single each of Snow Goose and Cackling Goose.  The Snow Goose was with a few hundred Canada Geese in the same general area it was reported yesterday.  The Cackling Goose was in with a 1100+ Canada Geese flock in North Hadley in a large farm field that could only be viewed from a distance with a scope.  The Cackling Goose was not very cooperative and stayed hidden most of the time and I failed to get any identifiable photos despite lots of attempts. I would not be surprised to see more unusual geese show up over the next several days as geese continue moving north (unless our predicted big storm halts migration progress for a bit).

Mallard, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 12, 2023

Mallard, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 12, 2023

Mallard, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 12, 2023

Hooded Merganser, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 12, 2023

Green winged Teal, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 12, 2023

My last stops for waterfowl for the morning included Winsor Dam and Lake Wallace.  The dam was fairly quiet beyond a pair of Bufflehead.  Lake Wallace was a bit busier with five species with some in quite close allowing for some decent digiscoped shots.  I'm sure I could have added a few more species with a few more stops but I wanted to get home to walk Wilson.

The predictions call for a large snow storm starting later on Monday and continuing through Tuesday with the chance of a foot plus here and even more in nearby hills with strong winds.  There is still a chance of some mixing with rain at lower elevations but there is a good chance this will end up being the biggest storm of the entire winter just as spring is really starting to ramp up.