Trumpeter Swan to start March plus a decent selection of other birds

Trumpeter Swan, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Mar 1, 2025

Trumpeter Swan, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Mar 1, 2025

Turkey Vulture, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Mar 1, 2025

Bald Eagle, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Mar 1, 2025

Black Vulture, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, Mar 1, 2025

Eastern Coyote, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Mar 1, 2025

Eastern Coyote, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Mar 1, 2025

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 1, 2025

I started off March with a very rare Trumpeter Swan that showed up at the UMASS campus pond yesterday and continued through today.  It was the latest in a long line of odd waterfowl that has shown up at the small pond in the middle of the campus.  It may indeed be the same individual that has been seen in various part of the Connecticut River on and off since mid January.  Very cool to get point blank looks at it today.  I tried (and failed) to turn up an arriving American Woodcock on the southern winds overnight into the morning.  However I did find some good stuff as I visited multiple spots on the east side of the river with the highlights being an Eastern Meadowlark in Hadley and a single Snow Goose among a flock of Canada Geese headed northeast at Winsor Dam.  The open water way out at the dam also produced five other species of waterfowl.  It was a good day for unusual waterfowl in the area beyond what I found with Ted finding Cackling Goose, Pink footed Goose, Greater White fronted Goose and a Tufted Duck in Longmeadow.

Snow in May!??!!?

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', UMASS, Amherst, MA, May 9, 2020

Blue gray Gnatcatcher, UMASS, Amherst, MA, May 9, 2020

Least Flycatcher, UMASS, Amherst, MA, May 9, 2020

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2020

Snow, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 9, 2020

The weird weather just keeps getting weirder.  The forecast for some overnight snow unfortunately turned out to be correct and we had a light dusting to start the day (areas not too far away had a few inches of snow).  The temperature started out around freezing and climbed to a whopping 43 degrees for a high with a strong northwest wind giving us a wind chill into the teens at times.  It felt and looked a lot more like November than May.  Today was also the eBird global big day and I normally would have been birding all day and wracking up loads of species but today was a bit different.  I tried to make the best of it and headed out at dawn to make a brief stop at Winsor Dam to see if the overnight rain/snow grounded any migrants (it did not).  Ted was already there and he also didn't have much luck and I didn't stick around too long.  With the winds forecast to get progressively stronger during the morning I decided to head over to Hadley to try to catch up with an Orange crowned Warbler that Joe found in the same spot he had one back in late April (apparently the area offers something to Orange crowned Warbler as the same general area held one late last year).  I arrived and started looking and had no luck until after a little over 25 minutes of looking.  I saw the bird very briefly before one of the Yellow rumped Warblers dove on it and chased it to an unknown location.  Not long after that sighting I had a Great Egret heading upriver with a Great Blue Heron but they were gone before I could get a photo.  I then spent the another 30+ minutes looking for Orange crowned Warbler and actually heard it sing four times over the course of that time but never got a recording and never got another look...a super frustrating bird to be sure.  I finally called it quits after about an hour and then headed briefly through the Honey Pot before going to UMASS.  I walked a bit there but the wind was really blowing by that time so I called it quits and headed for home.  The rest of the day featured sun and clouds with occasional flurries and cold temperatures.  I managed just a paltry 77 species...very low for May 9 but given the conditions I guess not too bad.

Push of migrants today

Baltimore Oriole, UMASS, Amherst, MA, May 3, 2020

Common Yellowthroat, Quabbin Park, MA, May 3, 2020

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, May 3, 2020

Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, May 3, 2020

Today was the first really good day of spring migration with quite a few new species for the year in Hampshire County (although species are still a bit behind what has become typical in the last several years). The conditions overnight were good for migration with calm winds allowing lots of birds to move. After I got out of work I had to decide on a spot to go that would offer small crowds and hopefully new birds. I decided to start off at UMASS where I added seven new species even though the area was not quite as active as I hoped it would be. After my time at UMASS I hit a few areas in Quabbin Park before the weekend hordes descended and I added four more new species with a very noticeable increase in Ovenbirds and Black and White Warblers. Most of the rest of the day was spent around the house (where I added my first Eastern Kingbird) with the exception of some time along the land trust trail with Wilson where we found a Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler.  I ended the day with a little over 80 species without too much effort.  More on warblers for the day here.

Black Bear, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 2, 2020

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, May 2, 2020

Song Sparrow, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 2, 2020

A check of the camera at the water feature turned up a few birds (my first Yellow rumped Warblers and Song Sparrow to make an appearance there this spring)  as well as a Black Bear that came in last night.

WESTERN TANAGER in Amherst!

Western Tanager, Amherst, MA, Apr 18, 2020

Western Tanager, Amherst, MA, Apr 18, 2020

Western Tanager, Amherst, MA, Apr 18, 2020

Western Tanager, Amherst, MA, Apr 18, 2020

Western Tanager, Amherst, MA, Apr 18, 2020

Western Tanager, Amherst, MA, Apr 18, 2020

After catching up with a Glossy Ibis (plus some Blue winged Teal) late in the morning yesterday in Amherst I figured the unusual species were done for day but I was wrong!  I was just about ready to start cooking dinner in the early evening on Saturday when I got a call from Scott telling me about a Western Tanager coming into some feeders at a private residence in a suburban neighborhood in Amherst.  I quickly got the specifics on the location and I was out the door.  The bird had been seen on and off for the afternoon but was not being seen when I arrived.  The homeowner stated it has been disappearing for awhile but would then return to feed.  After waiting for about twenty minutes I spotted it as it came in high in the trees where it appeared to be gleaning insects in some freshly leafing out branches.  After feeding up high for a few minutes it dropped in briefly to the feeders before disappearing for a few minutes.  It then reappeared up high in the trees once again before it dropped in to visit the feeders.  A really impressive bird to see and not what I expected to see here in mid April.  In looking up any records for the species in Hampshire County I could only find a single record in eBird (from a Bird Observer submission which is always suspect as records there are frequently wrong) plus a single record from a well known birders memory 'back in the 60's'.  This is certainly the first well documented record.  The species does show up in the state from time to time but almost always on the coast and more typically in fall so a spring record inland is a very rare occurrence.  Obviously the species was a new one for me in Hampshire County, bringing my county total up to 297.  Although I did not go back today it was seen by other birders through at least midday (I thought it would have left with the south winds and warmer temperatures but I was happy to be wrong).  More photos at my flickr album.

Northern Flickers, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 19, 2020

American Robin, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 19, 2020

White tailed Deer, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 19, 2020

Killdeer, Slobody Farm Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Apr 19, 2020

Canada Goose with first goslings of the season, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 19, 2020

 Hermit Thrush, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 19, 2020

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 19, 2020

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 19, 2020

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 19, 2020

Winsor Dam Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 19, 2020

With a sunny day and temperatures forecast to reach near 60 and southerly winds I headed out a first light today to cover a variety of locations looking for early migrants.  I headed over to Quabbin Park  and thankfully found the location back open to the public after being needlessly closed due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.  I hoped for an early Eastern Whip Poor Will but no luck but I did find my first of the season Red breasted Merganser at Winsor Dam.  I then headed over to the rail trail in Amherst (plus the nearby Slobody Farm Conservation Area).  Nothing too unusual but certainly an influx of migrants such as Swamp Sparrows and Northern Flickers (among others).  I next headed to UMASS briefly before making my way back toward home with a stop at Lake Wallace which held my first fledgling Canada Geese of the season as well as continued numbers of Palm Warblers among the 42 species present.

Cerulean Warbler today

Cerulean Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Aug 27, 2019

Cerulean Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Aug 27, 2019

Yellow Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Aug 27, 2019

American Redstart, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Aug 27, 2019

A great morning out despite a little bit of fog and cool temperatures (47 degrees to start).  Today I started out my morning at UMASS but it was fairly slow so I decided to try my luck at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River.  The best bird by far was a Cerulean Warbler that was in a small mixed flock, a very rare fall migrant here.  A full story on the Cerulean Warbler can be found at the follow link.

A few sightings from the last several days

Common Yellowthroat, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Aug 22, 2019

Song Sparrow, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Aug 22, 2019

Eastern Cottontail, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Aug 22, 2019

I headed out bright and early this morning into a foggy morning that never cleared out while I was birding.  I tried for shorebirds in some Hadley fields but the fog made viewing difficult and I only managed to find some Killdeer.  I then headed north with a stop at Lake Warner where I briefly relocated the Black crowned Night Heron that was originally found by Scott several days ago.  It was half hidden when I first saw it but it was then flushed by a cow coming down into the water at which point it flew up and landed briefly in a dead tree before flying east across the pond and disappeared into the fog.  The rest of my time out for the morning was spent around UMASS where I had the typical stuff one would expect for the end of August.  The biggest mystery for the day was a loud call I heard twice while at UMASS that I could not identify.  It was coming from a thicket and despite a lot of looking I never was able to find the bird.  It only called twice and the calls were separated by several minutes so no recording. 

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 19, 2019

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 19, 2019

Dawn, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 21, 2019

I made numerous stops at Lake Wallace first thing in the morning over the last several days with the highlights including at least 17 Green Herons on a couple days and a calling Virginia Rail multiple times.

White M Hairstreak, Cadwell Memorial Forest, Pelham, MA, Aug 20, 2019

White M Hairstreak, Cadwell Memorial Forest, Pelham, MA, Aug 20, 2019

On Tuesday I found a new butterfly species for me as I came across a White M Hairstreak while out walking with Wilson in the Cadwell Memorial Forest in Pelham.  The species is at the northern end of its range here in Massachusetts but has become more numerous as the climate warms (along with other species of butterflies).

Bobcat, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 14, 2019

Raccoons, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2019

Wild Turkey, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2019

The cameras at home continue to capture some good stuff including a Bobcat in the late afternoon, a family of Raccoons and a Wild Turkey.