After missing a group of five Redheads that showed up when I was working last week I didn't think I would get another chance to see this rare duck but I was wrong. I got a text from Joe last evening that a Redhead was in the flooded fields along Aqua Vitae Road in Hadley. With less than ideal migration conditions overnight I hoped the bird would stick around. I headed to the location before dawn and waited for it to get light enough to see. I scanned through the gathering of waterfowl and actually had a brief view of it fairly early on but it quickly disappeared into the grasses and out of view. I then spent the next 30+ minutes endlessly scanning with the scope in the wind and cold and I finally relocated it and got some photos...well worth the wait! Redhead is a rare species here and this is just my sixth Hampshire County record of the species. Beyond the Redhead I had seven other species of waterfowl with above usual numbers of Wood Ducks and Ring necked Ducks.
I decided to try for some additional waterfowl so headed across the river and up to Great Pond where the flooded areas offered lots of duck habitat. The habitat produced some good variety and numbers with the highlights including three Northern Shovelers, 144 Wood Ducks, 52 American Black Ducks and 162 Green winged Teal (all appeared to be American subspecies). It has been a fantastic March for me so far with a total of 106 species in the county so far (just one shy of my highest ever total of 107 back in 2021). Waterfowl has figured in prominently (as expected) with 27 species so far.
Yesterday (St. Patrick's Day) was mainly rainy with limited visibility throughout the day. I tried a few spots during the day without too much luck.
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