Mid August weekend birding

Least Sandpiper, old state school soccer fields, Belchertown, MA, August 11, 2012

Least Sandpiper, old state school soccer fields, Belchertown, MA, August 11, 2012

Least Sandpiper, old state school soccer fields, Belchertown, MA, August 11, 2012

Killdeer, old state school soccer fields, Belchertown, MA, August 11, 2012

Yet another couple days of humidity with on and off showers and thunderstorms.  The last few days have been similar and have given the area a very tropical feel with temperatures staying in the low 70’s at night and rising to the 80’s to near 90 during the day.  Some of the storms have had torrential downpours and we have added several inches of rain to the annual total in a matter of a few days.  Given the continuous threat of poor weather I stayed fairly close to home all weekend.

I started Saturday morning at Lake Wallace and the soccer fields near the old state school here in Belchertown.  The fields held 31 Killdeer as well as a Least Sandpiper.  The number of Mallards and Wood Ducks has dropped a bit but that may be due to arriving a little later at the lake and many of the birds had already moved in the reedy area where the birds slip from view.  Still a good number Green Herons with at least eight present.

Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, August 11, 2012

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Quabbin Park, August 11, 2012

I next went over to Quabbin Park to try to find the Red Crossbills again and get additional recordings but I was never able to find them.  I did have some good birds despite the low clouds and poor lighting.  There was a very vocal Yellow-billed Cuckoo near Goodnough Dike.  There were a few groups of Common Mergansers with groups of 11 and 5.  A total of 7 Red-breasted Nuthatch's point toward a good season for them and the potential of a decent flight year.  One of the more vocal birds still around were Eastern Wood Pewee's with at least a dozen still calling.  A final stop at the Route 9 marsh on the way home added three Solitary Sandpipers, a Spotted Sandpiper and two Least Sandpipers coming in and out of view as they all worked the far edge of the marsh.


On Sunday I started once again at Lake Wallace and the old state school fields.  The day started off warm and humid again with lows around 73.  A slightly increased number of Killdeer (34) around as well as a slight increase in the number of Wood Ducks from yesterday.  There was yet another vocal Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the area.  Today was the first day in weeks I did not find a Great Egret present.  I then headed over to Quabbin just as it started to rain.  I stopped at Winsor Dam, the marsh and one other spot but I got rained out.  After quite a bit of early rain I decided to head for home to wait it out. 

A few other birds of note from the weekend included a Louisiana Waterthrush still singing at 5:30am at home on Saturday and another found along the land trust trail on Sunday.