Birding the morning after a bit of snow

 

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Mar 10, 2022

Cedar Waxwing, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 10, 2022

Freezing fog, Mitch's Way,  Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2022

White throated Sparrow, Mitch's Way,  Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2022

American Robin, Mitch's Way,  Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2022

Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Mitch's Way,  Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2022

Ring necked Ducks, Mitch's Way,  Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2022

Cackling Goose, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2022

Killdeer, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2022

Killdeer, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2022

Horned Larks, East Hadley Rd, Hadley, MA, Mar 10, 2022

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 10, 2022

I headed out this morning in to see what I could find after a little bit of snow yesterday.  I mainly concentrated on areas that have had overwintering Yellow rumped Warblers and I once again found a few of them.  The morning started off fairly cold with some freezing fog in places.  I wanted to check Winsor Dam early but the fog made visibility there nearly nonexistent.  Instead my first stop was Arcadia which featured at least three Yellow rumped Warblers plus a large flock of Cedar Waxwings.  I then went over to a snowy Mitch's Way where I had another Yellow rumped Warbler plus a decent selection of waterfowl with seven species (there were probably more but the fog made viewing tough).  There were also a couple Yellow bellied Sapsuckers around plus a number of other species.  I also checked a few fields looking for geese and had my best luck in a field in Hadley that held a Cackling Goose among several hundred Canada Geese.  The field also had a couple flyover American Pipits, at least 22 Killdeer (which looked less than thrilled with the snow) and a large flock of Horned Larks that included a Lapland Longspur.  Overall a nice morning to be outside and my last chance to find new species around here until I get back home after another trip down to warmer locales.  

I checked the duck boxes at the house and at least two appear to have had a visitor recently.  The wood chips are matted down a bit which is usually the first step in the nesting process.  I suspect the first eggs will be laid in the very near future.

Snow Geese, Meadow St fields, Hadley, MA, Mar 9, 2022

Northern Pintails, Meadow St fields, Hadley, MA, Mar 9, 2022

Ring necked Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 8, 2022

Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 8, 2022

Mallards, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Mar 8, 2022

I have got out a bit the last few days and mainly had a variety of waterfowl at various locations.  Nothing too unusual but certainly an ongoing influx of multiple species as the winter comes to an end and the beginning of spring migration starts up.  

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day birds

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 25, 2019

Black Ducks, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 25, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 25, 2019

I spent early Christmas morning exploring a couple more spots along the river in search of Yellow rumped Warblers (and any other lingering species I could find).  I arrived before dawn in the East Meadows and immediately had a couple Great Horned Owls calling.  I walked into the area that has held a few Yellow rumped Warblers and after a lot of poking around I eventually had a single bird flyover calling but I was unable to track down where it landed.  I also had a couple Winter Wrens including one that sang a partial song a few times.  After the meadows I headed back across the river and then south down to Mitch's Way in search of some Yellow rumped Warblers that were seen there during the Northampton Christmas Bird Count.  I eventually ran across at least two Yellow rumped Warblers as well as a couple Ruby crowned Kinglets and a single group of Black Ducks in the river.  A successful morning with at least three Yellow rumped Warblers at two spots for the morning plus at least seven seen on Christmas Eve (see below)...a full wrap up of warblers over the last couple days can be found here.

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Dec 24, 2019

Yellow rumped Warblers 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Dec 24, 2019

Downy Woodpecker, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Dec 24, 2019

White throated Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Dec 24, 2019

Northern Flicker, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Dec 24, 2019

I made it out briefly in the morning of Christmas Eve after work before I had to head home for pre-Christmas festivity's.  My brief stop was over to Arcadia primarily in search of the continued Yellow rumped Warblers.  The snow/ice had melted enough for this stop to allow me to check an area that had held a couple warblers before the snow made the area not easily accessible.  I almost immediately had at least one individual at the location as well as a group of 16 White throated Sparrows plus a number of other species.  I then headed over to the area that has held a group of Yellow rumped Warblers and turned up at least half a dozen individuals there as well as at least two Field Sparrows continuing in the same spot plus at least three Northern Flickers.

Record warmth the last couple days

Yellow rumped Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 20, 2018

Yellow rumped Warblers, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 20, 2018

Yellow rumped Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 20, 2018

Black Vultures, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Feb 20, 2018

I got out to do a little birding yesterday after work and managed to find some good stuff despite the early fog.  I started off at Lower Mill Pond where I had two Black Vultures sitting atop a smoke stack where they have been seen on and off for a couple weeks now.  Not much for waterfowl to be seen but with the warming temperatures and the opening of previously iced out locations it is not surprising the birds have dispersed a bit.  I next went over to Arcadia mainly in search of Yellow rumped Warblers that have been seen occasionally in the general area.  I almost immediately had two or three and watched them for awhile and got a few photos through the binoculars with the phone.  As I was about to leave I noticed a few more and then suddenly I had at least eleven of them around me...unprecedented for me in the county in February...more about the warblers here.

Yellow rumped Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 21, 2018

Wood Ducks, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Feb 21, 2018

Common Merganser, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Feb 21, 2018

Golden crowned Kinglet, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Feb 21, 2018

Today I headed out with temperatures starting in the 50's and warming up quite rapidly once the fog burned off and setting yet another record (more on that below).  I found my first American Woodcock before dawn in Hadley (breaking my earliest record by a day).  I made it over to Arcadia just after dawn and once again found quite a few (ten today) Yellow rumped Warblers among the more expected species.  I made a few other short stops on my way over to Mitch's Way where I had a decent selection of waterfowl following the river heading north.  Other notables there included a continued Ruby crowned Kinglet and lots of migrating crows.  With all the geese moving I decided to check some fields in Hadley and Amherst where I found several hundred Canada Geese but nothing unusual among them.  I also hoped for an early Killdeer but I didn't have any luck.  Most stops today featured decent numbers of Red winged Blackbirds and a few Common Grackles and Brown headed Cowbirds.  I also turned up a few other new species for the county this year with a couple Turkey Vultures in Hadley in the morning and a Red shouldered Hawk over the house in the afternoon.

Now a bit more about the weather.  We broke two consecutive high temps with a high on Tuesday of 67 (old record 62) and a high of 74 today (old record of 61).  These become only the fourth and fifth days since 1940 that temperatures have reached 60+ degrees in February (with number two and three occurring last year...February heat 2017 post 1, February heat 2017 post 2).  Today also set an all time February high temperatures record eclipsing the record set last year by a degree.  Winter returns tomorrow with some light snow possible.

Gray Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 7, 2018

Gray Foxes, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 7, 2018

Gray Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 6, 2018

I also checked the motion camera I have had set up along the Jabish Brook and found quite a few shots of Gray Foxes over the last few weeks.

Increasing numbers of new arrivals the last couple days

Northern Parula, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Northern Parula, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Yellow rumped Warbler, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Louisiana Waterthrush, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Spotted Sandpipers (part of group of 16 in small area), Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

After work this morning I made a few stops before heading home and I managed to find a number of new species.  My first stop along the river in Hadley produced a high count of 16 Spotted Sandpipers, a couple Solitary Sandpipers and a Warbling Vireo (#146).  I then worked further south to Mitch's Way which produced a number of new species for the year including Yellow Warbler (#147), Rose breasted Grosbeak (#148), Northern Waterthrush (#149), Gray Catbird (#150), Northern Parula (#151) and Nashville Warbler (#152).  I found a total of eight warbler species at Mitch's Way and ran across two more species elsewhere making today the first day this spring to get so many.

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Greater Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 28, 2016

I also made a brief stop at Winsor Dam which turned up a male Greater Scaup and a Bonaparte's Gull in just a few minutes of scanning.  The house also produced some good stuff including a somewhat early Veery (#153)

Yesterday morning on my way to work I made a couple stops along the river in Hadley but the fog made viewing tough but I nonetheless turned up one new species...Common Yellowthroat (#145).  Sadly no luck on finding any shorebirds at the Honey Pot or the East Meadows but there may have been birds there hidden in the fog.

Lots of good stuff including Clay colored Sparrow, Black Vultures and a late Ring necked Duck

Clay colored Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, May 21, 2015

Clay colored Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, May 21, 2015

Black Vulture, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, May 21, 2015

Black Vultures, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, May 21, 2015

White crowned Sparrow, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 21, 2015

Black billed Cuckoo, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 21, 2015

Wood Duck ducklings, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 21, 2015

Ring necked Duck, Quabbin Park, MA, May 21, 2015

I decided to take today off and spend it exploring the area for late migrants and had some great luck.  I was joined this morning by Devin and we made numerous stops starting off along the Connecticut River in Hadley and then onto Mitch's Way, the Honey Pot, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Moody Bridge Road and then onto the old Amherst landfill.  We ended up with 84 species by late morning and I added another twenty four species in the afternoon and evening with a few stops around a few spots in Belchertown.  Highlights today included a Clay colored Sparrow, a White crowned Sparrow and multiple Black Vultures in Hadley and a late Ring necked Duck in the route 9 marsh at Quabbin.  We also had some really nice views of some species including a Black billed Cuckoo and a group of Wood Duck ducklings that played around in the road at Mitch's Way before mama duck called them back and they disappeared. Full lists with more photos below:

Connecticut River
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23557662

Mitch's Way
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23558319

Honey Pot
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23558644

Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23559788

Moody Bridge -Hadley
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23560941

Old Amherst Landfill
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23560322

Belchertown land Trust trail
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23561459

Quabbin Park
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23561892

Winsor Dam
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23562001