Recording setting first week of January

Rough legged Hawk, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 7, 2025

Lapland Longspur, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 7, 2025

Snow Buntings and Horned Larks, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 7, 2025

Black Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, Jan 7, 2025

Wilson, Belchertown, MA, Jan 7, 2025

To end the first week of the new year I got out after work and headed down to the East Meadows to try to track down a Lapland Longspur for the year.  It was only in the teens with a breeze that picked up even more when the sun came up producing wind chills down near zero. I had some luck with raptors including two each of Northern Harrier and Rough legged Hawk (possibly even three).  I found a few large flocks of Snow Buntings and Horned Larks and after picking through found at least three Lapland Longspur including one with a lot of retained cinnamon on back of head.  The ever increasing wind eventually drove me out of the area.  I was also able to add Pine Siskin for the year with a flyover at the house with a group of goldfinches.  I have now had a total of 90 species in Hampshire County this year...my best first week of January ever.  My previous high at this point was 87 back in 2021 and that month ended up being my best January ever with 105 species!  Doubt I will beat that total without lots of irruptives around but I will try.

I had to work on Monday so only able to get a short, cold walk in with the biggest highlight being at least one and possibly two Virginia Rails at a marsh in Northampton...amazing to hear them calling despite the cold predawn conditions.

 Tufted Titmouse, Hadley, MA, Jan 5, 2025

Dark eyed Junco, Hadley, MA, Jan 5, 2025

White throated Sparrow, Hadley, MA, Jan 5, 2025

Hermit Thrush, Hadley, MA, Jan 5, 2025

White crowned Sparrow (Gambel's), Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Jan 5, 2025

Great Blue Herons, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Jan 5, 2025

Green winged Teal, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Jan 5, 2025

Dark eyed Junco with white wing bars, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Jan 4, 2025

Dark eyed Junco with white wing bars, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Jan 4, 2025

Eastern Bluebird, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Jan 4, 2025

Northern Harrier, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Jan 4, 2025

Barred Owl, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Jan 4, 2025

On my last two days off I was out early on both mornings despite the continued strong winds with the goal being a number of owl species I have not yet had for the year.  I started at Quabbin on Saturday and got a Northern Saw Whet Owl before dawn and then added a Barred Owl in Hadley.  Other notables for the day including a smattering of waterfowl at Winsor Dam over the course of the day including Long tailed Ducks, Bufflehead and a Red breasted Merganser and a rather interesting look Dark eyed Junco in  Amherst that may be a White winged Junco subspecies...still waiting for others to review.  Sunday I started off along the river and added Short eared Owl and then a few Eastern Screech Owls a bit further north.  I then spent over an hour around Great Pond and had 36 species with notables including almost 75 American Black Ducks, two Green winged Teal, a Northern Pintail, two Great Blue Herons and large numbers and variety of sparrows (eight species) with the most common species being American Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow and White throated Sparrows and the rarest being at least three White crowned Sparrows (with examples of both Gambel's and dark lored) and some Swamp Sparrows.  I continued my morning a little further south along the river and added my first Yellow rumped Warbler of the year that flew over (I was never able to relocate it on the ground) and a few Hermit Thrushes.

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.

'Gambel's' White crowned Sparrow back at the Honey Pot as well as species #100 for the county this year

'Gambel's' White crowned Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Mar 5, 2016

'Gambel's' White crowned Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Mar 5, 2016

Mute Swans, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Mar 5, 2016

Ring necked Ducks, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Mar 5, 2016

Canada Goose with white on neck, Amherst, MA, Mar 5, 2016

I planned on staying around the south Quabbin area this morning but the northerly winds at Quabbin were too strong so I headed over to the Hadley/Amherst area instead.  I spent over an hour at the Honey Pot trying my luck at tracking down sparrows and I managed to relocate the 'Gambel's' White crowned Sparrow that I last had there on January 31st (I assume it is the same individual as this subspecies is quite rare around here and the bird was in roughly the same spot as previously seen).  I also had an adult White crowned Sparrow of the eastern race that was singing and a somewhat early Swamp Sparrow which became species #100 for the county this year.  I beat my previous date to get to 100 species in the county by a week and a half...a very good year so far.  Decent numbers of American Tree Sparrows and Song Sparrows were around too...full eBird list here:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27973025

I found a large group of geese in a field off Meadow Street in Amherst that contained over 1300 individuals but I had no luck turning up anything beyond Canada Geese (one did have some extra white on its neck but that was the only unusual one among the large group).

A stop by Beaver Lake in Ware turned up even more Ring necked Ducks then were there yesterday plus a few other species of waterfowl but nothing too unusual.

'Gambel's' White crowned Sparrow relocated and lots of other stuff along the river this morning

'Gambel's' White crowned Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 24, 2016

Northern Harrier (one of three), Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Jan 24, 2016

Today I headed over to Arcadia predawn to try to catch up with the Short eared Owl over there once again and I got some decent looks as it hunted the fields around 6:30 before heading to roost.  I also had a couple Great Horned Owls calling but had no luck getting a screech owl to respond.  As it got a bit brighter the Northern Harriers came out to hunt the same fields and I had at least three around (a nice count for this species in January).  Other highlights there included a Hermit Thrush and a flyby Snow Bunting.

Bald Eagle, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 24, 2016

Northern Harrier, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 24, 2016

I then headed over to the East Meadows hoping to relocate the 'Ipswich' Savannah Sparrow that was present there in early January but I didn't have any luck finding it.  It may still be around as I had no luck finding any Savannah Sparrows and the 'Ipswich' was associating with them.  I had a few pockets of sparrows but nothing too unusual.  Highlights included a male Northern Harrier rocketing through, at least 85 Horned Larks and a couple Snow Buntings.

'Gambel's' White crowned Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 24, 2016

'Gambel's' White crowned Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 24, 2016

'Gambel's' White crowned Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 24, 2016

American Tree Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 24, 2016

After the East Meadows I headed across the river to Hadley and checked the river near Huntington Road and found a few Common Goldeneyes and some Common Mergansers plus a few hundred Canada Geese and lots of ice.  I then made a stop at the Honey Pot where I had another Northern Harrier, 55+ Horned Larks and best of all I was able to relocate the "Gambel's" White crowned Sparrow.  This unusual western subspecies was first found by James Smith back in early January and I first got to see it on January 8th.  It had not been seen again until today (as far as I know).  Glad to see it is still alive and kicking.

Canada Goose with white at base of bill, Meadow St, Amherst, MA, Jan 24, 2016

Canada Goose with white at base of bill,  Amherst, MA, Jan 24, 2016

I then moved north up through the fields of Hadley and Amherst and finally found a large group of geese (738) in one field which unfortunately contained just Canada Geese but did contain one unique individual white white at the base of the bill.  The best bird I had there was quite distant as it cruised away from me heading toward the river...a light morph Rough legged Hawk.  I was unable to relocate it but with so much good habitat it could be anywhere.  The Rough legged Hawk became species #83 for Hampshire County this year.  I also had another flock (65+) of Horned Larks moving around the fields.

The rest of the morning was spent at a few spots close to home but these stops didn't feature too much out of the ordinary but it was nice to be outside nonetheless enjoying sunny and temperatures near freezing.