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.

A few lingering species around before an upcoming warm up

Pine Siskin, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Oct 17, 2023

White crowned Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Oct 17, 2023

Winter Wren, UMASS Demonstration Forest, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2023

House Wren, Wentworth Farm Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 20, 2023

Common Yellowthroat, Wentworth Farm Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 20, 2023

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Belchertown, MA, Oct 22, 2023

Pine Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 22, 2023

Golden crowned Kinglet, Belchertown, MA, Oct 23, 2023

Blue headed Vireo, Belchertown, MA, Oct 23, 2023

Eastern Towhee, Rail trail, Ware, MA, Oct 23, 2023

Pine Siskins, Rail trail, Ware, MA, Oct 23, 2023

I have tried to get out as much as I could the last several days between other commitments and have been rewarded with a number of lingering species.  The weather has been somewhat cool and breezy the last few days and given the date I expected to have a big influx of waterfowl but that never materialized.  Without waterfowl around I concentrated on finding late passerines (with the focus on warblers as usual).  I found a number of late species (including House Wren, Blue headed Vireo, Eastern Towhee, Pine Warbler and Common Yellowthroat) as well as continued high numbers of Ruby crowned Kinglets, Golden crowned Kinglets and Winter Wrens as well as ever increasing numbers of Pine Siskins. After a predicted frost tonight, the weather looks to start a big warm up as October rapidly comes to an end with highs that may reach into the 70's for four straight days starting on Wednesday.

Record numbers of Ruby crowned Kinglets (plus others) on a cool, windy morning

 

Ruby crowned Kinglets, Belchertown, MA, Oct 15, 2023

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Belchertown, MA, Oct 15, 2023

Golden crowned Kinglet, Belchertown, MA, Oct 15, 2023

Golden crowned Kinglet, Belchertown, MA, Oct 15, 2023

Winter Wrens, Belchertown, MA, Oct 15, 2023

Winter Wren, Belchertown, MA, Oct 15, 2023

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 15, 2023

Today was windy and cool with a real fall feel.  With the strong north winds I started my morning at Winsor Dam where I spent a bit over an hour and a half watching waterfowl and raptors move south with the highlights including a group of 11 Brant, an unidentified small goose among a flock of Canada Geese, a Red breasted Merganser (possibly two) and five Surf Scoters.  Not an epic day but a taste of things to come as fall rapidly progresses.  I wanted to get out of the wind and look for warblers so I headed to a nearby spot in Belchertown.  As soon as I arrived I started noticing multiple Ruby crowned Kinglets and every mixed flock I found seemed to be primarily composed of this species as well as good numbers of Golden crowned Kinglets.  At times I would have a dozen Ruby crowned Kinglets in view at once and my count of 60+ overall is likely an undercount and the highest count I have ever had in the county.  There were also above typical numbers of Winter Wrens (with three together in a small area).  It was certainly a morning of the tiny passerines.  I also did run across some warblers with Yellow rumped Warbler being the vast majority plus a few Blackpoll Warblers and the biggest surprise of all being a very late Cape May Warbler.  The Cape May Warbler was my latest ever record for the species in the county, breaking a record I set just a few days ago.

The first week of December

Common Yellowthroat, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Dec 6, 2022

Marsh Wren, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Dec 6, 2022

Carolina Wren, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 6, 2022

White tailed Deer, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Dec 6, 2022

Winter Wren, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Dec 5, 2022

American Robin, Manhan Rail Trail, Easthampton, MA, Dec 5, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 4, 2022

Gray Catbird, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 4, 2022

Black Vultures, South Maple St, Hadley, MA, Dec 4, 2022

Northern Mockingbird, Hadley malls thicket, Hadley, MA, Dec 4, 2022

American Pipits, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2022

The first week of December has come to a close and I have managed to find a handful of lingering species.  The weather continues to slowly grow colder as winter settles in but so far no big snow storms or bitter cold air.  I have primarily spent my available days off from work looking for late warblers and found two species to start off the last month of the year including a Yellow rumped Warbler on the 4th and a very late Common Yellowthroat on the 6th.  I'm a bit ahead of a typical December in Hampshire County with a total of 76 species so far.  Beyond the warblers I have a had a few other notable species for the month including a Killdeer, multiple Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures, a Marsh Wren (in the same area as the Common Yellowthroat and a fearless White tailed Deer), a Gray Catbird, a White crowned Sparrow, Red Crossbills and a Pine Siskin.  

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Female banded Jun 2021, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 7, 2022

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Female banded Jul 2021, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 7, 2022

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Undetermined sex banded Jul 2021, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 7, 2022

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Female banded Jul 2021, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 7, 2022

Black capped Chickadee with leg band, Unknown...missing some bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 7, 2022

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Female banded Jun 2021, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 7, 2022

I have now put up some of my feeders for the winter as well as some from a PhD student who is conducting research in the yard for a second winter.  As part of his initial study he came by and banded a few target species back in 2021 (more on that the following posts: banding June 2021 and banding July 2021).  I continue to see banded Black capped Chickadees everyday and I spent a little time at the feeders this afternoon and found at least half a dozen banded individuals.  All but one I was able to determine the background on with all of those banded during the two banding events in 2021.  A final individual I could not figure out.  It had a single light blue looking band on the left leg and unknown bands on the right...it was certainly missing some bands as nothing matched my database of banded birds.  The band may be a faded purple band but not certain.  I will be keeping my eyes out for the bird returning and hopefully I will get a look at the band(s) on the right leg.