To finish out the second week of November I decided to finally head out of Hampshire County to see the continuing Tufted Duck at the Whiting Street Reservoir in Holyoke in Hampden County. I arrived just as it was getting bright enough to see and I walked up to the dam and started scanning through the fog. I found a number of waterfowl species and found the Tufted Duck in the same general area as some Ring necked Ducks. The bird was on the far shore so getting any photos was tough to say the least. The small tuft was hardly ever visible so had to use some other field marks to make the ID. As I waited for the fog to lift a bit a Peregrine Falcon came in and scattered a lot of the waterfowl present. Some settled further south on the reservoir but I didn't feel like walking around the whole reservoir to try to get better looks. I saw the Peregrine Falcon feeding on something and hopefully it was not the Tufted Duck! I previously saw Tufted Ducks in Germany and Iceland during a trip to Europe in 2019 but never before in the US so it was nice to see this one today (even if it was a crappy view). I then worked my way along the river with several stops including a stop down to check on the Wilson's Warbler in South Hadley, which I found after a little looking and set a new late record for me for the species in Hampshire County. As I continued to work north and then east I found a host of other species and spent most of my time trying to track down late species (especially warblers) without too much luck. Hopefully a brief warm up coming for the end of the week will make some lingering species more cooperative.
Yesterday was the coldest morning of the rapidly approaching winter with lows around 20, thankfully it was sunny with calm conditions so it was not too bad. I had to be in Hadley mid morning to pick up my new car so I decided to spend my morning in the area. I started off at Paradise Pond at Smith College to check in on the trio of Pink footed Geese that have been in the area for weeks now. The three birds were flying out with a group of Canada Geese when I arrived so no photos. I waited around a bit in the hopes they would return without any luck (they did reappear for others a little later in the morning). I check a few nearby spots in the direction they were heading but only found Canada Geese. I then decided to head up to Great Pond to try to relocate the very late Nashville Warbler Scott found there a couple days ago. Once I arrived I quickly found a Ruby crowned Kinglet and then the Nashville Warbler as well as a Gray Catbird...a nice selection of late species for sure. It took much longer to get any photos of the warbler with some success eventually. This sighting set a new late date for me for the species in the county (more on the warblers for the day at the following link). I eventually worked my way back toward home and made a stop at Winsor Dam mainly looking for waterfowl (and finding almost none). I did find at least three Pine Warblers among the juncos and bluebirds feeding in the grass and thickets.
After work on Sunday morning I tried unsuccessfully to find the Pink footed Geese at Smith College and then moved on to tracking down warblers. My first stop along the river in Hadley where I have overwintering Yellow rumped Warblers in the past produced at least half a dozen of the species. I then moved down to Mount Holyoke College to see if the Wilson's Warbler was still around. I eventually found it and tied my latest date ever for the species in the county. As I was rapidly running out of energy I made my last stop of the morning Winsor Dam where I found a couple Chipping Sparrows as well as at least a couple Pine Warblers. This gave me three species of warblers for the day...very respectable for the date. I had to be over in Hadley in the afternoon so I took advantage and made a stop at Hickory Ridge Conservation Area and turned up at least five Black Vultures and three Turkey Vultures.
Saturday I had to work so only a little birding before heading in and I didn't find anything notable. On my in between days of work on Friday I tried once again to find some waterfowl at Winsor Dam and found at least some including three Long tailed Ducks and a Red breasted Mergansers. Thursday was another workday and it was cold and rainy for most of the day and an early stop at the dam on my way in didn't produce too much.
I had the day off to begin the second week of the month and it was breezy and cold which made tracking down any passerines tough. I made a few stops in Amherst and Hadley and my best stuff included a few Turkey Vultures and a continued Eastern Phoebe.
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