The first couple days of December produces two warbler species plus other good stuff

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 1, 2023

White throated Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 1, 2023

White crowned Sparrows, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 1, 2023

White crowned Sparrow 'Gambel's', Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 1, 2023

American Black Ducks, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 1, 2023

Eastern Coyote, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 1, 2023

I spent the first couple days of December mainly trying to track down lingering warbler species and had some success.  I started my morning at Great Pond in a vain search for the Nashville Warbler I had there as recently as November 26th.  Even without the warbler the location featured a few late species including a Ruby crowned Kinglet and three White crowned Sparrows plus over a hundred American Black Ducks. I also had a nice look at a dark Eastern Coyote first thing in the morning.  

Yellow rumped Warblers 'myrtle', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2023

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2023

Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2023

I then headed south along the river to Hadley in search of Yellow rumped Warblers and happily I found at least four hanging out.  This brought my streak of having at least one warbler in Hampshire County to 80 straight months.  I also found another Ruby crowned Kinglet somewhat near a couple of the Yellow rumped Warblers. 

Pine Warbler, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 1, 2023

Pine Warbler, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 1, 2023

Pine Warbler, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 1, 2023

Brown Creeper, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 1, 2023

Pine Siskin, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 1, 2023

My final stop on the first was to Winsor Dam with the target being a Pine Warbler.  I not only quickly found a Pine Warbler I actually found at least eight present...an unprecedented number of individuals around for the species this late in the season.  There are many years where I have no Pine Warblers in December so to have so many around is fantastic.  It will certainly be interesting to see how long at least some of them stay into the month.  

Swamp Sparrow, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Dec 2, 2023

American Tree Sparrow, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Dec 2, 2023

Winter Wren, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Dec 2, 2023

Dark eyed Junco with eye issue, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 2, 2023

On the second day of the month I headed out with the goal of finding a late Common Yellowthroat.  Sadly I failed in that mission despite checking multiple areas that have held them late into the season in past years.  Even without finding a yellowthroat I had multiple good birds over the course of the morning.  I started off at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River and had multiple Eastern Screech Owls and a late Eastern Towhee.  I then hit a few other spots in Hadley and Amherst with the highlights including several Swamp Sparrows and a flyover Red Crossbills as well as a Winter Wren trying to be a Marsh Wren in the middle of a large marsh.  I also made a stop at Winsor Dam to finish out the morning and found no Pine Warblers at all (after finding at least eight present the day before).  I did have loads of Dark eyed Juncos with one suffering some issue with one of its eyes.  By the end of the day on the second I had recorded 68 species in the county for the month...a really good start for sure.