Shorebirds in Deerfield

Peregrine Falcon with Cooper's Hawk in pursuit, Deerfield, MA, Sep 5, 2011

Peregrine Falcon, Deerfield, MA, Sep 5, 2011

Peregrine Falcon, Deerfield, MA, Sep 5, 2011

After hearing word of some odd shorebirds in a flooded soccer field near Old Deerfield I decided to cut my morning trip to central Quabbin a little short and make the trip up there.  The morning at Quabbin had been somewhat quiet but still produced a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Barred Owl and eleven species of warbler. 

When I arrived in Deerfield around 9:40 the shorebirds were all still present with the exception of a Buff-breasted that was there earlier.  The area where all the shorebirds had gathered had been a soccer field but no looked completely different.  The floods caused by hurricane/tropical storm Irene had caused some incredible damage here and deposited a huge amount of mud and debris on the fields.  A large puddle within this landscape was attracting the large gathering of shorebirds.  Most every bird was just a bit to far away to get any good photos and with the deep mud present you did not dare go off the road.  The species that were present while I was there included Baird's, White-rumped, Pectoral, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover and Ruddy Turnstones.  Beyond the shorebirds another interesting sighting was a group of 36 Common Ravens moving north together.  The second largest group of ravens I have ever seen in a single group.  After watching the shorebirds for about 40 minutes a Peregrine Falcon came sweeping in scattering the birds in every direction.  A Cooper's Hawk immediately joined the ruckus by going after the Peregrine.  The falcon came very close to grabbing a Semipalmated Sandpiper but just missed.  The falcon looped around a couple times and then disappeared leaving an empty field behind.