Strong southerly winds and heavy rain

Late morning weather map courtesy of weather.com

Radar summary as of approx 6:30pm, Sept 18, 2012

It appears we are in the midst of a fairly strong storm that will bring sustained southerly winds of 15-25 MPH with gusts over 40 MPH in the valley and 60 MPH in the hills.  Along with the wind will be heavy rain that is forecast to drop several inches of rain between Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning with the vast majority arriving this evening through very early Wednesday.  The air today certainly has a tropical feel to it with fairly high humidity.  Given the strong southerly winds there is always the possibility of more southern species being displaced by the storm.  Although most dispersed birds would be expected to end up at the coast, there is always the chance of some arriving here.  Something to keep an eye out for once the storm passes.  There is also a chance of finding shorebirds stranded by the weather in the local area and my hope is to try to catch up to some Semipalmated Plovers that have so far escaped me this year in the county.  Again the chances are low of finding something really good but it is always worth a look at a couple of spots to make sure you don’t miss out on that unique bird.  I have included a few maps of the storm.  I made a brief stop at Winsor Dam on the way home and found the area fairly devoid of birds.  The whole scene reminded me of the area immediately after the passage of Irene last year....without all the amazing pelagic birds at Quabbin of course!  The only bird sighting of note today was a Ruby throated Hummingbird that came into the feeders at home at dinner time.  It is getting to the time of year that any hummingbird has to be looked at carefully to make sure it is not something other than our typical Ruby throated Hummingbird.

Quabbin camera view at 6:40pm...calm near the HQ but lots of white caps further out, Sept 18, 2012