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| Black and White Warbler, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2013 |
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| Black and White Warbler, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2013 |
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| Canada Goose gosling, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2013 |
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| Marsh at dawn, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2013 |
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| Canada Goose gosling, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2013 |
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| Canada Goose gosling, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2013 |
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| Canada Goose gosling, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2013 |
With high hopes I set out once again this morning in the hopes of
finding a large influx of migrants. However, like previous days, it was not to
be today. Although the winds were right last night here early on the conditions further
south were not, so no big influx. It is actually quite surprising to walk so
much in various areas this time of year and not run across decent numbers and
variety of species. Birds are certainly moving but not yet in huge numbers. The migration
is turning out to be more like what it use to be like in spring with the peak
probably occurring in mid May instead of early May as has been the case the last several years. However everything could change rapidly this
time of year with a slight change in the weather. It will be interesting to see
what the next week brings. So although there was not a big influx, the migrants
continue to trickle in slowly. It was yet another cool morning starting off
in the high 30's but warming up nicely once the sun came out. The temperature
eventually topped off in the upper 70's. I started the morning at the rail
trail and walked the section from Station Road to Mill Lane. I managed to find
just five species of warblers (all in low numbers). The upside was one of the
warblers was new for the season- Common Yellowthroat (#169). I also heard a
Veery (#170) singing distantly. I also ran across the first of what will be many young Canada Geese.
After the rail trail I headed down to Mitch's
Way to try to catch up with one of the southern warblers (Hooded, Kentucky,
Prothonotary and Yellow throated Warblers). No luck with any unusual warblers
at all. The best bird I had here was the third new species for the day, a
Yellow throated Vireo (#171). Nothing else too unusual was around and many
areas were quite quiet. A brief stop at the base of Skinner SP didn't produce
a hoped for Worm eating Warbler.
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| Great Blue Heron flying away, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, May 2, 2013 |
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| Great Blue Heron flying away, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, May 2, 2013 |
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| Bald Eagle on nest, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, May 2, 2013 |
I then headed across the river to Arcadia to
try to catch up with a couple of Great Egrets that have been seen near the heron
rookery. Despite much effort checking the area of the rookery I didn't find the
Great Egrets (perhaps first thing in the morning or at dusk is best?) the Bald
Eagle was still sitting on its nest and nearly 50 Great Blue Herons nearby were
busy either sitting on nests or bringing sticks in to build new ones. Also had
a pair of Green Herons chasing each other around the rookery. The number of
Yellow Warblers, Blue Gray Gnatcatchers and Warbling Vireos seems to have grown
over the past few days but oddly I had only one Gray Catbird...quite unusual for
the early part of May. A few other walks with Wilson around the local area
produced the expected species but nothing too exciting.
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