February comes to a warm end and more on the injured Ross's Goose

Ross's Goose, Russleville Rd, Hadley/Amherst line, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Ross's Goose, Russleville Rd, Hadley/Amherst line, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Ross's Goose, Russleville Rd, Hadley/Amherst line, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Canada Goose with extensive white on neck, Russleville Rd, Hadley/Amherst line, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Green winged Teal, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Northern Pintails, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

American Wigeon, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Ring necked Ducks, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

Ross's Goose with injury (initial view along river), Hadley, MA, Feb 24, 2018

River Otter, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 24, 2018

On Saturday I set out early to try to catch up with the Ross's Goose (and other notable geese) I found the day before and I was able to find it right away among some Canada Geese in the Connecticut River in Hadley.  Unfortunately the bird looks to have gotten into quite a fight and was covered with blood.  My views were somewhat obscured but the pristine white bird seen the day before was looking much the worse for wear.  I watched the bird leave with a group of Canada Geese and head out to the northeast and it seemed to fly without difficulty.  I then headed in the same direction and found the geese settled into a series of fields on the Hadley/Amherst line off Russelville Road.  This vantage point provided a closer, unobstructed view of the bird and the bird looked even worse than before with an obvious neck wound and lots of blood all over the bird.  It seemed rather alert and able to walk around and swim but didn't seem to feed.  The number of Canada Geese was also impressive with a total over two thousand present.  I then headed over the river to Arcadia to catch up with a few people to go birding with for a bit.  My first stop along Fort Hill Road turned up a Green winged Teal and a Yellow rumped Warbler.  As it appeared that the ice was out of the marsh and part of the Oxbow, I headed over in search of additional waterfowl and found ten species of waterfowl including multiple Wood Ducks, a pair of American Wigeon, nine Northern Pintails, another Green winged Teal and five Ring necked Ducks.  It was a very productive morning overall with really good diversity for late February.  In addition to the birds we were all treated to a nice, close look of a River Otter feeding on a rather large fish...any morning is better with a otter!

Snow Goose (blue morph), Russelville Rd fields, Hadley/Amherst, MA, Feb 26, 2018

Snow Goose (blue morph), Russelville Rd fields, Hadley/Amherst, MA, Feb 26, 2018

Ross's Goose, Russelville Rd fields, Hadley/Amherst, MA, Feb 26, 2018

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 26, 2018

After seeing reports from Sunday (while I was working) that the Ross's Goose, as well as a blue morph Snow Goose, were up on the fields in Hadley/Amherst I headed right over there on Monday morning after work.  I arrived to find thick fog but obviously large numbers of geese present.  I initially had over 1300 Canada Geese but no sign of anything unusual.  I left to run a few errands and returned once the fog started to lift.  I had better luck the second time I checked the fields turning up the Ross's Goose, still covered in blood but still moving....a tough bird.  The bird was a bit further out and a bit west from where I previously found it.  I moved a bit further down the road to scope out more of the fields and as soon as I got there I had some low flying geese moving further north with a Cackling Goose bringing up the rear of one group.  The Cackling Goose even called twice as it disappeared into the fog heading north.  I suspect the group set down in some of the inaccessible fields but could never confirm.  After a bit more scanning I turned up the blue morph Snow Goose which became the fourth goose species for the morning...really unusual for late February.  After getting my fill of the geese I headed for home with a brief stop off at Winsor Dam where I had a male Bufflehead at the edge of the rapidly disappearing ice.

Iceland Gull (middle foreground), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 27, 2018

On my way to work on Tuesday I stopped off at Winsor Dam to check on the gull gathering there and found an impressive number of gulls with at least 650 Ring billed Gulls, 37 Herring Gulls, 3 Great Black backed Gulls and at least two Iceland Gulls plus a number of gulls just too far away for an ID.  Typically finding large gatherings of gulls at this location is tough to do as the state actively attempts to keep the gulls away for water quality reasons but with the ice still blocking their boats from getting on the water the gulls have a temporary reprieve and I get to see some decent numbers and varieties of gulls close to home.  Unfortunately the ice is rapidly disappearing so the gull honeymoon will soon be over.

Hooded Mergansers, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Lesser Scaup and Ring necked Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Lesser Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

American Wigeon and Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

Ring necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup and American Wigeon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 28, 2018

After a somewhat late start this morning after work I headed over to Arcadia seeing what I could find for waterfowl and any other early migrants.  Lots of Common Mergansers in the Oxbow and a smattering of other waterfowl species but nothing too unusual.  No sign of any Great Blue Herons back in the rookery but the eagle perched in there and my distance away may have been a factor in detecting them.  I then headed across the river and spent about half an hour looking for geese in the Meadow Street fields but only came up with Canada Geese (with almost two thousand present with most on the ground plus a few hundred flyovers heading north).  No sign of the injured Ross's Goose in the spots it had been hanging out in.  Not sure if it moved north with other geese or if it succumbed to its fairly serious looking injuries.  The last time it was seen by anyone was apparently when I had it early on Monday morning...I guess I ended up being the first and last person to see the bird while it was here.  I made a few other quick stops on the way home with the most productive being Winsor Dam where I had a nice mix of waterfowl with the most unusual being three Lesser Scaup in among a mixed flock that also contained four American Wigeon, 18 Ring necked Ducks, three Bufflehead and a Common Goldeneye.  The Lesser Scaup became my 100th for the year in Hampshire County (the earliest date I have ever reached 100 species.  The 88 species in February beats my previous record for this month that had been 84 species back in 2016.  The very mild weather for the middle to end of the month certainly helped push my totals up higher than usual.

More waterfowl in the valley including three neck tagged geese from Greenland and six Northern Shovelers at UMASS

Northern Shovelers, UMASS horse farm, Hadley, MA, Apr 5, 2015

Snow Goose (with Canada Geese), Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 5, 2015

Snow Goose (with Canada Geese), Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 5, 2015

Snow Geese (blue morph) with Canada Geese (three small bird in center of photo), Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 5, 2015

Turkey Vulture, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 5, 2015

Canada Geese, Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 5, 2015

American Wigeon, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Apr 5, 2015

I spent the rather cool weekend in search of waterfowl and had some decent luck.  Today I started off before dawn in the East Meadows where I hoped to find some stuff on the river and perhaps in the flooded fields.  The river was running fast and high so there was little activity there and the roads were just too rutted up to properly explore the area.  I then headed north hitting Great Pond in Hatfield and then the fields up to the Sunderland Bridge and then south through Amherst and Hadley.  Most stops featured at least some waterfowl with the most productive stop overall being the fields along Meadow Street in Amherst.  The highlights (including all the waterfowl seen) below:

East Meadows- 12 Wood Ducks, 2 Black Ducks, 26 Mallards and 2 Common Mergansers plus 2 Savannah Sparrows.

Great Pond- 265 Canada Geese, 5 Wood Ducks, 3 American Wigeon, 8 Black Ducks, 11 Mallards, 21 Green winged Teal, 5 Ring necked Ducks and 2 Hooded Mergansers.

Meadow Street fields- 4 Snow Geese (one white, three blue..all travelling north with flocks of canada geese), 1725+ Canada Geese (flocks moving steadily north), 3 American Wigeon, 12 Black Ducks, 34 Mallards, a Northern Pintail, 16 Green winged Teal, a Ring necked Duck, a Northern Harrier, 34 Killdeer, an American Kestrel, a Peregrine Falcon and 650+ American Robins.

UMASS horse farm- 2 Black Ducks, 3 Northern Shovelers (continued from yesterday...see below), 28 Killdeer and 6 Wilson's Snipe.

Lake Warner- 9 Canada Geese, a Mute Swan, 2 Wood Ducks and 41 Ring necked Ducks.

Farm Lane, Hadley -196 Canada Geese and a Palm Warbler.

Mill Valley Rd, Hadley-61 Canada Geese.

East Hadley Rd, Hadley-183 Canada Geese and 13 Killdeer.

UMASS campus pond-184 Canada Geese and 22 Mallards.

Pine Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2015

This afternoon as I did some work around the yard I noticed a Pine Warbler feeding on seeds under the feeders...first time I have one at the feeders.  A walk along the Jabish Canal with Wilson produced a Winter Wren, a singing Pine Warbler and a Swamp Sparrow.

Northern Shovelers, UMASS Horse Farm, Hadley, MA, Apr 4, 2015

Northern Shovelers, UMASS Horse Farm, Hadley, MA, Apr 4, 2015

 

Northern Shovelers, UMASS Horse Farm, Hadley, MA, Apr 4, 2015

Canada Goose with neck tag, Spruce Hill Rd, Hadley, MA, Apr 4, 2015

Canada Geese with neck tags, Farm Lane, Hadley, MA, Apr 4, 2015

Canada Geese with neck tags, Farm Lane, Hadley, MA, Apr 4, 2015

Wilson's Snipe (three birds), Meadow St fields, Amherst, MA, Apr 4, 2015

Ring necked Ducks (part of flock of 72), Lake Warner, Hadley, MA, Apr 4, 2015

Yesterday started out fairly calm but the wind picked up by mid morning and made viewing a bit difficult with strong northwest winds bringing a quick end to our couple days of above normal temperatures.  Despite the challenging weather I still had another spectacular day for waterfowl with 14 species.  The biggest highlights included three neck tagged Canada Geese in Hadley that were tagged in Greenland and a group of half a dozen Northern Shovelers on a tiny pond at the UMASS Horse Farm (my highest count for this species in the county ever...my previous best was two a few different locations over the years). 
*****update on neck tagged geese via Anthony Fox (researcher in Greenland)**** 

Here is the background info on the three geese seen on April 4:

G6H caught Isunngua, West Greenland, July 2014
12/22/2014 Browns Road Park, Nesconset, New York
4/4/2015 Hadley, Hampshire, Mass
GC0 caught Isunngua, west Greenland, July 2009
7/23/2009 Lake I, Isunngua, West Greenland
7/27/2009 Lake F, Isunngua, West Greenland
11/19/2009 Collins Lake, Caribou, Aroostook, Maine,
3/25/2010 Baie-du-Febvre, Lac Saint Pierre near Montreal, Canada
5/21/2010 Lake E, Isunngua, West Greenland
6/2/2010 Lake D, Isunngua, West Greenland
6/7/2010 Lake D, Isunngua, West Greenland
6/9/2010 Lake I, Isunngua, West Greenland
7/24/2012 Lake C, Isunngua, West Greenland
10/11/2012 Broad Brook Pond, East Windsor, Connecticut
3/10/2014 Millers Pond, Smithtown, New York
12/22/2014 Browns Road Park, Nesconset, New York
4/4/2015 Hadley, Hampshire, Mass.
GU6 caught Isunngua, West Greenland, July 2014
10/16/2014 Mayall Road, Grey, Cumberland, Maine
12/22/2014 Browns Road Park, Nesconset, New York
4/4/2015 Hadley, Hampshire, Mass.

Below are the rest of the highlights from the morning.

Connecticut River, Hadley- 257 Canada Geese, 10 Wood Ducks, 2 Black Ducks and 57 Mallards.

Honey Pot- 9 Killdeer, 18 Horned Larks.

North Lane, Hadley- 29 Canada Geese, 6 Wood Ducks, 2 Black Ducks, 2 Mallards, 3 Ring necked Ducks and 5 Common Mergansers.

Farm Lane, Hadley- 482 Canada Geese (including the three tagged birds from Greenland), 42 Horned Larks.

Mill Valley Road, Hadley- 236 Canada Geese, 4 Killdeer.

UMASS horse farm- 6 Northern Shovelers.

Meadow St fields, Amherst- 1160 Canada Geese, 6 Wood Ducks, 3 American Wigeon, 7 Black Ducks, 44 Mallards, 3 Northern Pintails, 17 Green winged Teal (including one male with no vertical white line on chest nor a horizontal line), 7 Killdeer, 5 Wilson's Snipe, 32 Horned Larks.

Lake Warner- 2 Mute Swans, 6 Wood Ducks, 4 Green winged Teal, 72 Ring necked Ducks, 5 Hooded Mergansers, 27 Common Mergansers and a Great Blue Heron.

Connecticut River near Huntington Rd, Hadley- 2 Ring necked Ducks, 4 Bufflehead, 6 Common Goldeneye and a Common Merganser.

East Hadley Road, Hadley- 135 Canada Geese, 4 Killdeer.

PINK FOOTED GOOSE! Another epic day of birding the valley!

Pink footed Goose, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Pink footed Goose, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Pink footed Goose, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Pink footed Goose, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Pink footed Goose, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Pink footed Goose, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

What a great day of birding yesterday!  It was so busy and hectic I ran out of time to post about it yesterday so the post had to wait a day.  The highlight by far was a Pink footed Goose I found at the old Pilgrim Airport on the Hatfield/Whately town line.  Finding a first county record in Hampshire County (and one of only a few state records) is always a highlight and being able to have other people see it too was just icing on the cake.  I almost didn’t head over to Hatfield in the afternoon as I already had done a full morning of birding (more on that below) but I thankfully made the decision to go.  My main goal was to try to track down a flock (35-40) of Snow Geese that were seen earlier at Pilgrim Airport but took off to the south.  I decided I would try for them and I made it to Hatfield around 1pm and started checking various fields to the south of the airport.  Not much around to see with highlights being a Bufflehead and Common Merganser in the river in Hatfield and a few hundred other Canada Geese in various fields in Hatfield.  With little activity elsewhere I made it to the airport around 1:30 and scanned around and came up with five Snow Geese (all blue morph) which blended in quite well with the 542 Canada Geese present at that time.  I scanned through the flock a couple times but didn’t notice any other unusual geese but did find a few each of Wood Duck, Black Duck and Mallard plus a Killdeer.  I thought I might have some luck checking more fields to the south and east but came up with only a few dozen Canada Geese scattered around.  I then decided to stop back by the airport one last time in the hopes the Snow Geese came back and if they were not there I would head up to the Sunderland bridge and then come south through the fields in Hadley and Amherst looking for geese.  I started scanning through the geese again and this time I spotted a half dozen blue morph Snow Geese (I’m sure the sixth one was there on my earlier stop and I missed it).  I then scanned through the remaining geese and came across an odd individual that was actively feeding.  My first thought was a possible Greater White Fronted Goose but after just a few moments that ID went out the window.  The bird lifted its head up and I noticed a slightly darker head, a small pink bill with a black tip and base…I knew I had something good!  I was thinking Pink footed Goose but I had never seen one before and I was trying to recall the identifying marks of the bird.  The bird was moving around and then I saw the pink legs.  I had already gotten several digiscoped shots and I then tried to confirm the identification but the bird is not featured in most field guides.  I then sent a quick message (with photos) to Ian and then gave him a call.  He concurred with my initial thoughts on the bird so we then got the word out to people.  I made a few posts and a few phones calls before my phone finally died (iPhones don’t like the cold!).  As I waited for others to arrive I had a Snow Goose show which lasted the rest of the afternoon.  First a flock of fifty birds flew over high, calling but they kept moving.  A bit later a group of 46 came in and landed in the field plus I had at least two more in with distant groups of Canada Geese moving north bringing my total for Snow Geese up to 114 for the day including at least ten blue morph.  Over the next couple of hours dozens of people arrived to look at the bird with many of them seeing this species for the first time in their lives.  When I left at around 4:15 the bird was still being seen and it stayed through sunset from what I have heard.  In addition to the above mentioned geese I had the following totals for waterfowl: 1125+ Canada Geese (roughly 650 in the field with the remaining flying by), 3 Wood Duck,  9 Black Duck, 18 Mallard, 7 Green winged Teal (flyby) and a Common Goldeneye flying by distantly.  Other notable birds included a Killdeer and a flyby group of 48 Horned Larks.    A very productive afternoon of birding as far as I’m concerned and one that I will remember for quite some time to come.  The Pink footed Goose becomes the third first Hampshire County record I have found with the others being a King Eider last November at Winsor Dam and a White tailed Tropicbird at Winsor Dam following Hurricane Irene three years ago. 

Link to all the photos I got of the Pink footed Goose: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/sets/72157642817479414/

Snow Goose, Stockbridge Road, Hadley, MA, Mar 24, 2014

As an update the Pink footed Goose was seen again today along Stockbridge Road in Hadley during the midmorning but disappeared again not long after heading to parts unknown until it was refound late in the day back along Stockbridge Road.  I made a quick swing by to try to see it again but no luck...thousands of Canada Geese and a lone Snow Goose.  In addition perhaps another Pink foooted Goose was found in Hamden County today by Steve M....nice going Steve!

Snow Geese (blue morph), Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Snow Geese, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Snow Geese, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Snow Geese, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Lesser Scaup with a Greater Scaup, Mitch’s Way, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Lesser Scaup, Mitch’s Way, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2014

Now to cover the morning before I headed out again in the afternoon.  I spent nearly the entire morning exploring along the river looking for waterfowl.  I have included the locations and waterfowl totals (and other highlights) below. 

Atkins Farm area:  three American Woodcocks displaying.

Coolidge Bridge area: 340 Canada Geese, 2 Wood Duck, 32 Mallard, 2 Ring necked Duck, a Hooded Merganser, a Great Blue Heron and a couple of vocal Peregrine Falcons (perhaps they will nest on the bridge?).

Honey Pot: 70 Canada Geese, 2 Wood Duck, 3 Mallard, 2 Hooded Merganser and at least three Horned Larks.

North Lane Conservation Area: 2 Canada Geese, 23 Wood Duck, 4 Black Duck, 17 Mallard, 10 Ring necked Duck, a Hooded Merganser and a Red necked Grebe.

East Meadows (viewing river): 1700+ Canada Geese (including a neck collared bird…red tag with white letter “Y3R7”…seen in same area March 16th), 3 Wood Duck, 4 Black Duck, 16 Mallard, a Blue winged Teal (in with Green winged Teal), 16 Green winged Teal, 32 Ring necked Duck, 4 Hooded Merganser and 4 Common Merganser.

Hadley Cove: 8 Hooded Merganser

Mitch’s Way: 2250 Canada Geese (minimum), 102 Wood Duck, 7 Black Duck, 8 Mallard, 13 Ring necked Duck, a Greater Scaup (female with lesser scaup), 12 Lesser Scaup, 9 Common Goldeneye, 3 Hooded Merganser, 2 Common Merganser, an Eastern Phoebe and a couple ravens.

Brunelle Marina: a Wood Duck and a Common Merganser.

Hadley Falls Canal Park: a Mute Swan, 17 Ring necked Duck, a Hooded Merganser and a Horned Grebe (in transitional plumage.

Holyoke Dam: 9 Canada Geese,  7 Bufflehead, 2 Common Goldeneye, 2 Common Merganser, a Killdeer, an early Northern Rough winged Swallow (seen and heard as it fed with Tree Swallows), 11 Tree Swallows plus around two hundred gulls but nothing unusual.

East Meadows (muddy fields past red barn):  320+ Canada Geese in distant fields.

East Hadley Road fields:  162 Canada Geese (half in fields, half in the air), 2 Killdeer and three Horned Larks.

 Overall I ended the day with 18 species of waterfowl in the county and added a life bird bringing my total to 819…a total I hope to add to very soon.  The goose became species number 311 for the state and number 279 for Hampshire County.

A quick additional post about some upcoming weather in the general area.  It appears a major nor’easter is set to develop off the coast on Tuesday.  Thankfully it looks to form a bit too far to the east to have a major impact here but the coast and into Canada could get nailed with a very powerful storm with winds at hurricane strength and heavy snow.  This could entrain some early spring migrants and deposit them well north of where the birds intended to go so I would not be surprised to see some unusual bird occurrences up in the maritimes of Canada.  I’m just happy the storm seems unlikely to hit us directly.