New arrivals for the beginning of April

Hooded Merganser, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2020

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 5, 2020

Ring necked Ducks, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Apr 5, 2020

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2020

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 5, 2020

I spent a decent portion of the morning covering a variety of locations in search of newly arrived migrants and I had some good luck with five new species for the year.  It was nice to be out again now that I'm feeling a bit better and the weather was a bit warmer.  I started the morning at Arcadia but I had to limit myself to the areas of the sanctuary that could be birded from public roads as Arcadia itself is now closed to the public due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.  Nonetheless I had some good stuff there including my first Double crested Cormorants and Palm Warbler of the season plus half a dozen Yellow rumped Warblers (almost certainly part of the group that overwintered in the area and not newly arrived migrants).  I then drove north to Great Pond where I had several species of waterfowl, my first Osprey and a calling Eastern Screech Owl.  I was going to hit some other spots nearby but the weather turned to crap with rain so I headed back east to Winsor Dam where I had some waterfowl way out on the reservoir including a female Ruddy Duck (new for the year and a tough species to get in Hampshire County) with a small group of Black Ducks.  I tried to get some digiscoped photos but the distant was just too much.  I then headed over to nearby Lake Wallace where I had a selection of expected waterfowl plus half a dozen Palm Warblers.  I then headed back home to do some stuff around the house but still added some good birds for the day including my first Barn Swallow (in among a group of Tree Swallows and a single Northern Rough winged Swallow).  More on the three species of warbler for the day at the following link.

Black capped Chickadees with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2020

Eastern Bluebird, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2020

Dark eyed Juncos, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 4, 2020

The cameras at the house have continued to catch my banded Black capped Chickadees (among other species) plus the water feature has started attracting species with five species of bird so far (plus Gray Squirrel and Black Bear).

The end of March and the beginning of April amid the pandemic

Red shouldered Hawk, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 31, 2020

Pine Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 31, 2020

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 28, 2020

The last week or so has been quite a roller coaster on so many levels.  The world as a whole has really been turned upside down by the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic and my little slice of it has been impacted.  Work has been crazier and crazier with each passing shift with more and more sick people and ever changing protocols.  The numbers of people infected (or likely infected) has grown exponentially and the official numbers are still way below what is actually occurring (mainly due to lack of available testing).  I got to experience the rather unpleasant test on Wednesday when I started developing symptoms (headache and sore throat to start).  The next few days the symptoms continued and I developed an occasional cough and chest tightness.  After getting the test done late on Wednesday afternoon I was told I should hear back with results in 2-5 days.  I finally got the results back after a week and lots and lots of phone calls to try to track down the results.  In the end I tested negative for the virus but that result is both good and bad.  It is nice to not have to isolate as much and be able to go back to work but it is pretty much inevitable I'll get it and it would have been nice if I had gotten and had mild symptoms.   During the last several days I have kept myself isolated at home most of the day with just some short morning trips to nearby Quabbin early in the morning to enjoy the solitude of a warm car while I checked out the area for waterfowl mainly.  I would have loved to stay out longer and walk a bit but I didn't feel up to it most of the time and I didn't want to be near anyone.

Being stuck around the house has allowed me to see some good stuff including multiple days with a pair of Red shouldered Hawks (which have a decent chance of nesting here) plus multiple days with up to half a dozen Rusty Blackbirds.  More on the duck boxes and what the game cameras have caught at the bottom of the post.

Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 27, 2020

Wood Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 27, 2020

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 27, 2020

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 27, 2020

Friday I stuck close to home again with just a few early morning stops including Quabbin Park and Winsor Dam.  It was certainly a nice morning with temperatures in the mid 40's and dead calm conditions early on.  The highlights included a Virginia Rail at Quabbin Park and a Red throated Loon and three Red necked Grebes at Winsor Dam.  The temperatures eventually made it up to the low 60's and I managed to get the water feature up and running at the house before I ran out of energy (some photos of the first captures at the end of the post).

Northern Shoveler, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Mar 25, 2020

Green winged Teal, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 25, 2020

Common Mergansers, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 25, 2020

Wednesday I headed over to Williamsburg early to see if I could find the reported Red Crossbills in the area of Nash Hill Road.  I took a short walk and managed to get a brief view of at least four Red Crossbills as well as a recording before I headed back to the car (confirmed as Type 1 Red Crossbills).  I also made a brief run through Arcadia where I found some waterfowl including a Northern Shoveler.  It is likely the same bird that has been reported in Ned's Ditch but I saw it in a completely different area.  No luck finding any Yellow rumped Warblers but I was not able to hit all the areas they have been in recently.  There is a chance they have moved on as the weather has warmed up.  I was starting to feel bad as the morning moved along so I headed for home.

After getting out of work on Tuesday morning I hit a few spots before going home to sleep.  The best stop was to Beaver Lake in Ware where I had three Lesser Scaup in among a large group of Ring necked Ducks.  The entire group lifted off and headed north back toward Quabbin Park but the park was closed due to clean up from the snow storm the night before so I was never able to relocate the group.

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 19, 2020

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 19, 2020

Black capped Chickadees with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 19, 2020

Eggs in duck box #1, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 26, 2020

Eggs in duck box #2, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 26, 2020

Black Bear at empty feeders, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 29, 2020

Tufted Titmouse, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 27, 2020

Black Bear, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 29, 2020

Eggs in duck box #1, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 31, 2020

Drak eyed Junco, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 1, 2020

Meanwhile at home the cameras have continued to capture two of my banded Black capped Chickadees.  In addition two of the three duck boxes now have eggs in them.  I have also had a Black Bear visit on multiple nights but he has only found empty suet feeders (thankfully he has not broken the feeders in anger)

Yellow rumped Warblers and waterfowl for the morning

Yellow rumped Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 18, 2020

Northern Shoveler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 18, 2020

Common Mergansers, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 18, 2020

Bald Eagle on nest, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 18, 2020

I took advantage of a beauty of a day with sunny skies and fairly light winds to get out a bit before the weather went downhill for the next few days.  It was a bit chilly at first light at Arcadia with a temperature around 25 but it didn't stop me from picking up a deer tick...those little bastards are tough!  I wanted to catch up with the overwintering Yellow rumped Warbler before the coming of spring moved them along and I had fantastic luck with at least 17 present with a flock of eleven near the solar array, four near the bridge and a couple singles elsewhere.  The marsh was very quiet with just a smattering of waterfowl.  I did notice the bridge was open to traffic again (usually the barriers don't get moved until later in spring but without much flooding this year I guess they decided to remove them early).  With the bridge open I decided to head over to Ned's Ditch where once again I found the continued Northern Shoveler in among several species of waterfowl and got better views of it this time.  No other unusual species were noted but the diversity is starting to pick up.

Yellow rumped Warbler, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Mar 18, 2020

Yellow rumped Warbler, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Mar 18, 2020

Black capped Chickadee, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Mar 18, 2020

Common Merganser, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Mar 18, 2020

After Arcadia I headed over to the East Meadows where I picked up another half dozen Yellow rumped Warblers plus at least ten Northern Flickers.  More and more birds were singing and it certainly felt and sounded like early spring.  I tried a few fields in Hadley and Amherst but didn't come across any geese flocks in my travels.

Eggs in duck box #1, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 18, 2020

I checked the three duck boxes at the house and one now has three eggs in it and another looks like a bird has been in it but no eggs in that box yet.  If the previous several years are any indication on the species the eggs are most likely Hooded Merganser.  I also had my first Eastern Phoebe singing at the house when I got home later in the morning (no bands on the bird so not for certain it is a returning one to the yard).

Bobcat, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 11, 2020

Fox (gray or red), Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 13, 2020

American Crow, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 17, 2020

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 17, 2020

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 17, 2020

Red Squirrel, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 18, 2020

The cameras around the house continue to capture some good stuff including the continued Bobcat as well as a few banded birds.  I will probably be opening up the water feature at the house at the end of the week or next week which will certainly result in more photo ops on the cameras.

Waterfowl over the last week

Greater White fronted Goose, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 8, 2020

Bufflehead, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Mar 10, 2020

Ring necked Ducks, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Mar 11, 2020

Ring necked Ducks, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Mar 11, 2020

Common Goldeneye, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Mar 12, 2020

Green winged Teal with Canada Geese, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 12, 2020

Northern Pintail, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 14, 2020

Northern Shoveler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 14, 2020

Northern Shoveler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Mar 14, 2020

Hooded Merganser, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Mar 14, 2020

Canada Goose, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Mar 14, 2020

Common Merganser, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Mar 14, 2020

Since my return from a recent trip down to Antigua and Barbuda and Grand Cayman I have made it out several times around here over the last week mainly looking for waterfowl as the above normal temperatures and southerly winds on a few days have started to move birds in. As covered in a brief earlier post I had a Greater White fronted Goose at Arcadia the day after I got back. Over the course of the week I had a total of 20 species of waterfowl with the highlights including a Snow Goose at UMASS, a noticeable increase in Wood Ducks and Green winged Teal, a male Northern Shoveler at Arcadia, large numbers of Ring necked Ducks at multiple locations, Greater Scaup and White winged Scoter at Winsor Dam, Pied billed Grebe in Hadley and Horned Grebe at Quabbin Park. Besides the waterfowl other highlights included a very early Eastern Phoebe at Great Pond (an early date for me for the species in the county, excluding the one that successfully overwintered in Hadley this winter) and multiple Fox Sparrows, Swamps Sparrows and Rusty Blackbirds at multiple locations.

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 12, 2020

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 12, 2020

After having a visit from a Black Bear a few days ago I have limited the feeders to just a suet feeder that I bring in every night.  Without the other feeders all the birds have concentrated at the remaining feeder which has allowed me to capture a few of my banded birds on the camera.