Birding along the Connecticut River near Northampton/Hadley looking for shorebirds

Northern Harrier, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, August 13, 2012

Northern Harrier, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, August 13, 2012

Today dawned sunny and cooler with much lower humidity.  I decided to head over to check out some of the various fields along the Connecticut River to see if I could find any shorebirds.  I suspected (and was correct) that many of the fields still had crops in them as they have not yet been harvested.  However there were several different spots that looked great for shorebirds but there were few around this morning.  I started in the East Meadows from the airport west to the mid area of the meadows.  I scanned many fields but only came up with a small number of shorebirds including Semipalmated Sandpiper (9), Least Sandpiper (2), peep species (3), and Killdeer (3).  There certainly were some good potential hot spots down there but not much around.  Other birds of note there included a Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, scores of swallows coming out of roost and feeding over the fields with a total of a several hundred of various species including Tree, Bank and Barn Swallows.  There was also a handful of Bobolinks flying over.  The fog was slowly lifting from here as I headed north up into Hatfield. 

Barn Swallows, Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, August 13, 2012

Bobolink (one of 70+), Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, August 13, 2012

My first stop in Hatfield was going to be at Great Pond.  Sadly the best access for Great Pond in Hatfield is no longer accessible as yet another home is being built there.  There are other ways in but none are as easily accessible or provide as good a view as the one that is no longer available.  Too bad.  The fog was really quite thick at this point so I headed further north to the old Pilgrim Airport where the fog had lifted.  As far as shorebirds are concerned I had a flyover Greater Yellowlegs as well as 33 Killdeer in a plowed field.  Other birds of note included a good number of swallows as well as at least 72 Bobolinks (and likely many, many more) feeding in the overgrown fields on the north side.  My final stop in Hatfield were the fields south of the airport opposite Great Pond.  The only shorebird here was a flyover Least Sandpiper that came right over head.  I then headed across the river to Hadley.

Mute Swans (six of seven), Lake Warner, Hadley, MA, August 13, 2012

Bank Swallows feeding in freshly plowed road, Silvio Conte NWR, Hadley, MA, August 13, 2012

Red-tailed Hawk, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, August 13, 2012

Turkey Vulture, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, August 13, 2012

Turkey Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, August 13, 2012

Red-tailed Hawk, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, August 13, 2012

Red-shouldered Hawk, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, August 13, 2012

Red-shouldered Hawk, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, August 13, 2012

In Hadley most fields were still full of crops so there was not much in the way of shorebird habitat.  I made a brief stop at Lake Warner and had a single Killdeer and seven Mute Swans.  I then stopped at the UMASS Horse Farm but the area inside the track that can at times be productive was overgrown with grass and there were horses grazing in the area.  I then headed down to the area of Moody Bridge Road to see if I could find a Black Vulture.  Yet again no luck with that species but did have a dozen Turkey Vultures, three Red-tailed Hawks and a Red-shouldered Hawk.  Other birds of note here included a decent number of swallows including dozens feeding along the freshly plowed dirt section of the road.  Most were Bank and Tree Swallows with a handful of Barn's. 


Red-tailed Hawk, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, August 13, 2012

Overall I ended up with four species of shorebirds for the day with Greater Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers and Killdeer.  It was also good day overall for raptors without trying too hard with Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk and Turkey Vulture (an honorary raptor!)