Dec 6th; raw, cold and blustery with two to three inches of fresh snow deposited on the higher ground (Wendell for example) while the valley floor around the Connecticut River was thankfully spared. The day began well with several Red Crossbills moving around Gill including four together in roadside maples on North Cross Road, and single Pine Grosbeak and Common Redpoll at Gill Elementary School. A Cackling Goose roosted with fairly small numbers of Canada Geese at the Turner's Falls power canal but I had to wait until near darkness to see the Barnacle Goose which flew in with a mass arrival of geese at around 16:50 hours. Still, Barnacle Goose is a distinctive species and it wasn't too difficult to pick out from the Canadas even so late in the day.
Dec 5th; heavy rain and wintery showers all day. It was quite tough birding under those conditions but the Turner's Falls power canal came into its own in the evening with the Barnacle Goose and Cackling Goose arriving together at about 16:00 hours along with about 2,000 Canada Geese dropping in en masse in spectacular style. Two first-winter (Kumlien's) Iceland Gulls continued with the ever-growing gull flock though Lesser Black-backed Gulls remain puzzlingly scarce/absent to date. Other notables included over 100 Common Mergansers and about 65 Common Goldeneyes.