Weekend birding...more waterfowl and a few new species for the year

Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 18, 2015

Mallards, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 18, 2015

Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 18, 2015

Kelvin-Helmoltz clouds, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 18, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 18, 2015

With the forecast for freezing rain/snow/rain for the day today I headed out early to get in a little birding before the weather turned to shit.  I attempted once again to try to track down a screech owl (this time along the Swift River) but once again failed.  My owling stops turned up just three Great Horned Owls but I guess that is better than nothing.  As the skies brightened up a bit I headed to Winsor Dam where I had a group of about 130 gulls on the water but nothing unusual among them.  Waterfowl included four Black Ducks, 26 Mallards, three Common Mergansers and a couple Horned Grebes. I also had some Kelvin-Helmoltz clouds (AKA wave clouds) that appeared briefly on the horizon just before sunrise...the photo just does not do the formation justice...really neat to see.  A ride through Quabbin Park found some areas of open water which contained a couple Black Ducks, three Common Mergansers and a Hooded Mergansers.  I'm sure there were other species out there but I didn't spend tons of time looking before I headed back to Winsor Dam where I stayed for about an hour before the freezing rain started.  The waterfowl species composition had changed a bit with nine Black Ducks, 14 Mallards, ten Common Mergansers, a Horned Grebe and a Red necked Grebe.  Other notables around included four Bald Eagles (all adults with a pair at the nest site), a Common Raven and a flyby Common Redpoll (there may have been more than one but I never saw them, heard only).  I made it home before the roads got slick and took Wilson for a walk in the rain in the woods near the house where we flushed up a Ruffed Grouse.  The redpoll added yet another species to the county list for the month (#83).

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 17, 2015

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 17, 2015

Horned Grebes, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 17, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 17, 2015

Another productive morning at Winsor Dam on Saturday as I spent about an hour and a half there.  The ice is slowly but surely closing in on the open water but large areas of open water are still available for waterfowl.  When I arrived just before nine I immediately noticed some great birds out on the water including two distant Red necked Grebes and two Horned Grebes.  I headed out across the dam to try to get a better view (and some photos of the grebes).  About half way across the dam I scanned for the birds and then noticed a small dark diving duck that was just too far away to identify.  As I was trying to figure this bird out I heard the calls of White winged Crossbills and looked up to see three of them flying rapidly south.  As I only had the scope and phone I never got a photo of the birds.  I then went back to the diving duck and moved closer to it along the dam and finally got good views and it was a Bufflehead (likely the same individual I found here yesterday).  I took a couple iPhone shots and then the phone died (a common problem in cold weather).  I decided I wanted some photos of the bird so I walked back to the car and got my good camera and then came back to get some photos.  I also noticed some more ducks on the far western shore and started scanning through them when a Bald Eagle flushed the group.  The group eventually settled back down on the water and I counted a total of 243 Mallards and a dozen Black Ducks.  Overall a very productive stop as once again Quabbin produced some quality birds.  The crossbills also added another species for the month in the county bringing me up to 82 so far.

Mink, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 17, 2015

Before stopping at Winsor Dam I once again hit a few spots along the Connecticut River from South Hadley to Hadley.  I started out before dawn below the Holyoke Dam and counted a total of 690 Canada Geese, four Mute Swans, 44 Mallards, 41 Common Goldeneyes and five Common Mergansers plus a continued Peregrine Falcon sitting on a street light on the bridge.  I headed north hitting the Dinosaur footprints area (some Canada Geese and a few Common Mergansers), the river from the East Meadows (185 Canada Geese, 12 Mallards and four Common Mergansers), and then the Honey Pot (145 Canada Geese, 7 Common Mergansers, 28 Horned Larks and a light Savannah Sparrow among others).  The Honey Pot also featured a Mink that would run along the ice and then dive back into the river, repeating the action several times as it worked its way upriver.

After dark I also had some great looks once again of Comet Lovejoy as it is now almost overhead and giving great views.

Various birds (including Northern Shrike, Merlin and Bufflehead) on another cold day

Northern Shrike, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Jan 16, 2015

Northern Shrike, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Jan 16, 2015

Northern Shrike, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Jan 16, 2015

Sunrise, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Jan 16, 2015

This morning I headed over to Arcadia to see what I could find on yet another cold morning. I had hopes of catching up with a screech owl over there but I had no luck despite some effort. No luck finding the Rough legged Hawk again nor any larks, buntings or longspurs...I guess they have moved on to other locations. What I did find was a large number of American Tree Sparrows (120+) along with a few Song Sparrows and juncos with them. I found the best bird of the morning there as I was scanning through the sparrows when all of a sudden a Northern Shrike flew through trying to pick one off without success. I assume this is the same shrike James had here a few days ago. Always a cool bird to see and the second one I have seen so far this year. 

 

Merlin, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 16, 2015

American Goldfinch, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 16, 2015

As I had an appointment in Hadley at ten I slowly worked my way east with a quick run through the very quiet East Meadows plus a stop along the river there to check for waterfowl. The mostly frozen river still contained some birds with 210 Canada Geese, 89 Mallards and 8 Common Mergansers hunkered down along the edge of the ice. Without too much activity on the west side of the bridge I crossed over the river and headed to the Honey Pot where I found some more open water which contained four Common Goldeneyes, 238 Canada Geese and five Common Mergansers. I also had a Merlin perched at the very top of a tall tree near the model airplane field. Some sparrows still around as well as some Horned Larks (around a dozen) but much lower numbers then on previous visits. I think the birds are a bit more dispersed as the snow cover has decreased. I also checked a few spots for roosting Long eared or Short eared Owls but no luck (I have checked for both species predawn at this location several times over the last few weeks with no luck...at least so far).

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 16, 2015

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 16, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 16, 2015

After a bit of time spent in Hadley I made it home just as a cold front moved in with some strong winds and decreasing temperatures (forecast for below zero again tonight). Wilson and I then headed out for a walk with a quick detour to Winsor Dam where I caught up with a Bufflehead (quite unusual around here in winter) as well as 140 Mallards. The Bufflehead becomes species #81 for the county so far this month.  Our walk at Covey WMA was cold and windy but still produced a rather frigid looking Great Blue Heron in the Swift River.

Meanwhile the yard continues to host mainly the expected species for January but today a Carolina Wren made an appearance...first one in the yard in a month.

Iceland Gull and Red necked Grebes at Winsor Dam

Iceland Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 15, 2015

Iceland Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 15, 2015

Iceland Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 15, 2015

Iceland Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 15, 2015

Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 15, 2015

Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 15, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 15, 2015

I managed to add three new species late in the day as I came home with a couple of them fairly good species for the county, especially in January.  I finally ran across some Wild Turkeys along Bay Road in Belchertown before I headed over to Winsor Dam.  When I arrived there was a group of around 70 gulls well out from the HQ building but fairly visible with a scope.  As I scanned through the gulls I ran across a 1st winter Iceland Gull which I managed to get some photos of as it mixed with the Ring billed Gulls and Herring Gulls.  A fairly unusual species of gull here but I'm sure it is around more than I see it but is just too far out to see.  The gull numbers continued to build and surpassed 130 individuals before the anti gull patrol flushed them all.  Besides the gulls I also had some waterfowl including two Red necked Grebes (both were quite distant and I only managed some blurry photos...rare here in winter), 13 Common Mergansers, five Black Ducks and 230+ Mallards.  The Wild Turkeys, Iceland Gull and Red necked Grebes became species #78,#79 and #80 for Hampshire County this month.

Costa Rica part 2 (Dec 22-Dec 30 2014)

White crested Coquette, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 28, 2014

White crested Coquette, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 28, 2014

Blue crowned Manakin, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 25, 2014

Red capped Manakin, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 25, 2014

Two barred Flasher, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 24, 2014

Roadside Hawk, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 24, 2014

Fer-de-lance, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 29, 2014

White ruffed Manakin, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 22, 2014

Orange collared Manakin, Los Cusingos, Costa Rica, Dec 27, 2014

Swallow tailed Kite, Rio Magnolia Lodge, Costa Rica, Dec 24, 2014

The second part of my latest trip to Costa Rica began late on December 21^st with our arrival at the Rio Magnolia Lodge in the southern Pacific foothills.  We stayed at the lodge until December 30^th and made just a few side trips including a trip down to the coast to Hacienda Baru NWR on the 23^rd, a day long trip with birding guide Andres to Bosque del Tolomuco and Los Cusingos on the 27^th and a non birding trip to Uvita to do some snorkeling (still managed to sneak in a few bird sightings on that day too…no trip is complete without some boobies).  The lodge once again proved to be a great birding location with 141 species seen or heard over the course of my time there.  No life birds there this time but after a half dozen visits that is not too surprising!  I’m sure I could have added more species with the assistance of a bird guide there but I was very happy to turn up what I did.  Besides the birds at the lodge the variety of other life was impressive including all the butterflies, moths and snakes including a Fer-de-lance that we nearly walked into along one of the steep trails there.  Thankfully we saw it in time to avoid a nasty encounter with one of the more venomous snakes in Costa Rica. 

The day trip down to Hacienda Baru was sunny and hot but produced some decent birds including a single lifer in the form of an unusual Mangrove Hummingbird.  Lots of great close looks at a couple of troops of White faced Capuchin Monkeys as they worked their way through the jungle provided some nice non avian excitement.

My day with Andres started out promising as we started bright and early at the higher elevation Bosque del Tolomuco with peaks of sun through the clouds.  Unfortunately the clouds moved in rather quickly, the temperatures dropped and the drizzle started and the birds became somewhat tough to find.  Despite the less than ideal conditions I still managed to turn up three life birds there including Spotted Wood Quail, a Buff fronted Quail Dove which called and called from the forest but never showed itself and Three striped Warbler (which I somehow missed on other trips).  With the less than stellar conditions we decided to descend a bit and stopped briefly for lunch at a location that occasionally features a Scaled Antpitta but no luck for us on that species either.  We then continued down in elevation ending up at Los Cusingos where we were immediately greeted by a tropical downpour that lasted 20+ minutes.  Eventually the rain stopped and we managed to get some birding in.  No new birds at Los Cusingos but some great views of some manikins, among others.  As we drove back toward my drop off for the day Andres noticed a birding friend of his stopped along the side of the road, so we stopped to see what he was looking at.  This quick stop produced my final life bird of the trip when we had a female Red breasted Blackbird teed up on a rock in an overgrown field.

Overall the latest Costa Rica trip produced 318 species with 41 of those being new in Costa Rica and 32 of those being life birds.  A great trip for some colorful tropical species including five species of manakins, 20+ species of tanagers, six species of euphonias and many others.

Cold weekend of birding

American Kestrel, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 11, 2015

Rough legged Hawk (dark phase), Arcadia meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 11, 2015

Rough legged Hawk (dark phase), Arcadia meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 11, 2015

Lapland Longspurs (middle right and middle left), Arcadia meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 11, 2015

Lapland Longspur, Arcadia meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 11, 2015

Today was yet another cold day in a string of cold days with a low temperature this morning at -6.  I headed over to the Connecticut River in South Hadley and then worked my way north along the river finally ending at the Honey Pot.  The open waters below the Holyoke Dam featured some very cold looking waterfowl including 827 Canada Geese, two Mute Swans, five Black Ducks, 69 Mallards, 37 Common Goldeneye (no barrows found despite a lot of looking), a Hooded Merganser and 11 Common Mergansers.  Other notable species there included a Sharpshinned Hawk harassing a vocal Cooper's Hawk, a Peregrine Falcon sitting on a lightpole on the bridge and at least one Fish Crow mixed in with the American Crows leaving their morning roost.  I then headed north along the largely frozen Connecticut River and ended up at the Aracdia meadows looking for the dark phase Rough legged Hawk that has been reported there the last few days.  I found the striking individual fairly quickly as it was perched along the road as I arrived.  Rough legged Hawks are always a fun bird to catch up with in winter around here and having a cooperative dark phase bird makes it even better.  Probably the best looks I have had of this color phase in years.  In the same area of the hawk was a large flock (240+) of Horned Larks.  Mixed in with the large flock of larks were at least four Lapland Longspurs as well as a couple Snow Buntings.  Once I finished scanning through the flock and checking out the groups of nearby sparrows, I headed over to the East Meadows to check the river for waterfowl.  I only managed to turn up 160 Canada Geese, 43 Mallards and a pair Hooded Mergansers in the open water areas.  The couple of Bald Eagles as well as a Peregrine Falcon kept the birds on edge as the raptors moved around.  My final stop over at the Honey Pot turned up my first of the year American Kestrel as well as 80+ Horned Larks, a Snow Bunting with the larks, half a dozen Savannah Sparrows among the other more typical sparrows.  Overall a very good morning for raptors as well as other species despite the frigid temperatures.  I added three more species for the month this morning: Fish Crow, Rough legged Hawk and American Kestrel bringing my total for the month in Hampshire County to a respectable 77.

Horned Lark, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 10, 2015

Horned Lark, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 10, 2015

Song Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 10, 2015

Low hanging fog, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 10, 2015

Morning frost, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jan 10, 2015

I woke up well before dawn yesterday so thought I would use my time before sunrise to try to catch up with some owls along the river in Hadley. It was a frosty 8 degrees when I left the house but clear with moonlit skies. As I arrived at the Honey Pot the temperature dropped down to zero and there was a narrow layer of fog covering the fields. It was an odd sight as the layer varied between hugging the ground and being just above the ground. I scanned below the fog where I could and checked the few open areas but no luck finding a long eared or short eared owl hunting the fields. My efforts to get a screech owl calling back to me also failed so no luck with any owls at all. I even tried a few spots to find roosting owls but none were found. The fog lifted rapidly just before dawn but left behind a thick layer of frost on all the weeds, trees and grasses. I did manage to find some flocks of larks as well as groups of sparrows but did not turn up the Vesper Sparrow seen there yesterday. Highlights during the two hours there included 120+ Horned Larks, a single Lapland Longspur (with larks), a single Snow Bunting, half a dozen Savannah Sparrows and numbers of American Tree Sparrows, Song Sparrows, White throated Sparrows and juncos. The river was largely frozen but there were still open areas with the only waterfowl there being a few Common Mergansers. Raptors were oddly low in number with just a single Sharpshinned Hawk and a Red tailed Hawk but the sharpie was a new species for the year. The area near the Coolidge Bridge produced a few more Common Mergansers plus around 35 Mallards. Without too much activity happening along the river I decided to head toward Quabbin to see if any birds were taking advantage of the largely open water there. On my way over there I stopped along South Maple St at Flavors Farm and found a Brown headed Cowbird mixed in with hundreds of starlings. With the cowbird I made it to 74 species for the first ten days in Hampshire County.

Black Ducks and Mallards, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 10, 2015

I then made a few stops at Quabbin Park with the most productive being at Hank's Meadow where I had 24 Black Ducks, 13 Mallards, six Common Mergansers and half a dozen Horned Grebes. A stop at Winsor Dam produced 12 Hooded Mergansers. The reservoir is still mainly open with just coves and shallow areas beginning to ice up. With the continued cold weather I would expect large areas to freeze up over the next week or so.

A little more snow today, some unusual waterfowl yesterday and other 'stuff'

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 9, 2015

Mallards and Black Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 9, 2015

In order to keep an otherwise cold and miserable month a bit more tolerable and interesting (at least to me) I decided yesterday to try to see more species in January in Hampshire County then I have before and I'm off to a decent start despite the cold. I have looked at the last three years in the county for what I have managed to see in the first month of the year and the totals may be tough to beat.  Below are the last three years with number of species seen in the first ten days, the first twenty days and then by the end of January (thanks to eBird for making it easy to find this data).  As of today I'm at 72 so well on my way to making a run at my January Hampshire County record.

Year                 Jan 10                   Jan 20                       Jan31
2014                 71                         75                              81
2013                 75                         82                              85
2012                 50                         52                              60

The snow this morning certainly slowed down the birding a bit but I still managed to get out around the house as the snow fell and then over to a few spots later once the snow stop including Winsor Dam and Covey WMA.  Winsor Dam had up to 74 Mallards, 11 Black Ducks and three Hooded Mergansers while the nearby Covey WMA held 16 Hooded Mergansers and a Great Blue Heron along the Swift River and a flyby Pileated Woodpecker (first one for the year).

Wilson out in the snow, Belchertown, MA, Jan 9, 2015

Wilson seemed to enjoy the snow much more than I did this morning.

Long tailed Duck, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 8, 2015

Long tailed Duck, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 8, 2015

Long tailed Duck, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 8, 2015

White winged Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 8, 2015

Great Black backed Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 8, 2015

Ring billed Gulls and Herring Gulls, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 8, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jan 8, 2015

Yesterday I managed to catch up with a few nice birds for January with a Northern Shrike in North Hadley along route 47 near the Sunderland town line plus a Long tailed Duck and White winged Scoter at Winsor Dam. Other new species I added for the day included a Red winged Blackbird on Aqua Vitae Road, a adult male Northern Harrier flying over some fields in Hadley and a couple Great Black backed Gull at Winsor Dam (oddly a quite unusual species there). 

Also got a look at Comet Lovejoy (C/2014 Q2) last evening before the clouds moved in.  It is now somewhat visible with the naked eye and easily seen with binoculars.  The next several days should provide nice views of the comet before it moves back out of the local area, not to return for 8000 years.