I started out the new year with a day at work. I managed to get a few species on my way in with a few owls (including a Short eared Owl) plus a few species of waterfowl. After getting out of work on the 2nd I was not feeling great but wanted to try to add a few birds before I headed home to rest. I decided to try my luck in tracking down a Yellow rumped Warbler in the East Meadows and I was successful (adding to my streak of consecutive months of finding a warbler in the county...now at 69 months). I was afraid the warm weather and recent rain would make the meadows too muddy but I was able to get in and out before it warmed up above freezing and turned the place into a muddy mess. I made a couple other stops and turned up more species including a number of notables including Green winged Teal, Red necked Grebe, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Eastern Meadowlark and the continued Smith's Longspur. Unfortunately I didn't stay out as long as I wish I could have as I continued to feel bad. Turns out I got Covid once again, which curtailed birding a bit to begin the month. The weather didn't help either with rain and drizzle and fog on multiple days.
The third and fourth were mostly spent at home but I did go out once to get some meds and food and made a few stops where I could view from the heat of the car and turned up some more notables to begin the year with the continued Greater Scaup and a Red breasted Merganser.
On Thursday I was feeling a bit better (and tested negative for Covid) and was up for a short walk or two and spent some time trying to catch up with a previously reported Common Yellowthroat in Amherst. Although I failed to find that individual I did find a Common Yellowthroat in the same spot I had one in early December and it appeared to be the same bird I had then. I made a few other stops during the morning and turned up more species with highlights including the continued pale Canada Goose (I'll write a full post about this individual in the near future), a couple American Pipits in Hadley and large numbers of Common Grackles, Red winged Blackbirds and Brown headed Cowbirds. It has been a great winter for large numbers of these species with today featuring a single flock of 5000+ Common Grackles in Hadley (video of part of the flock at the following link).
Friday was forecast to be snowy with up to a few inches of snow. It was raining when I got up but it flipped to snow fairly early but I headed out to a few nearby spots. I birded from the car at Winsor Dam briefly before heading back home to take it easy again. The snow then changed back to rain and stayed that way through midday into the early afternoon. I saw some reports of the continued Redhead being seen in South Hadley so I decided to head down there and had it briefly as well as well as the continued scaup. The Redhead flew up river and I tried to relocate it but had no luck, By this point the snow started again so I once again headed home. While watching the feeders at the house I had multiple banded Black capped Chickadees and managed to get a few photos of them.
To end the first week of the new year I took a few longer walks during a cool and foggy morning. I finally caught up with a distantly trilling Eastern Screech Owl before the sun came up in Hadley. Once the sun was up I took a walk along the river in Hadley and had a couple Yellow bellied Sapsuckers plus loads of Common Grackles and Red winged Blackbirds but failed to relocate a Yellow rumped Warbler I had in the spot at the end of 2022. A few more stops along the river travelling north turned up a continued Eastern Phoebe that looks to be overwintering for yet another year and a Swamp Sparrow in a mixed sparrow flock (both new species for me this year). The campus pond turned up two interesting geese that looked intermediate between Cackling Goose and Canada Goose with a blocky head and small size but a larger than expected bill. I also had a Mallard in a tree...not something I see very often. By mid morning I was starting to get really tired but decided I would make one more brief stop in an attempt to find a Common Yellowthroat reported by John Y. a few days before (a different individual from the one I had on Thursday). I arrived and walked up a muddy path and ran across a group of chickadees and then heard a call that I knew was a yellowthroat and within a few minutes had looks at yet another Common Yellowthroat for January here! Really amazing given the rarity of this species here in winter. I got a few photos of the bird and then headed home to rest. Despite not being able to get out as much as I would have liked to due to not feeling great I still have had a great start to the year with a total of 83 species so far with multiple rarities. I'm just a few species off my best January at this point so perhaps I will hit a hundred species for the second time ever in January in Hampshire County (I had an incredible 105 species back in 2021).
