Honeypot this morning

American Golden Plovers, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Sep 5, 2013

American Golden Plover, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Sep 5, 2013

American Golden Plovers, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Sep 5, 2013

Made a few stops on my way to work today with my first stop at the Honeypot in Hadley.  As I was arriving there just before dawn it started to rain.  I stopped to scan from the dike and shortly thereafter Ian and Ben stopped.  Given the rain showers they decided that perhaps the East Meadows would be productive.  I decided to join them after I scanned a bit of the fields and found three American Golden Plovers in among the grasses.  After scanning though a couple more times I headed to the East Meadows where I caught up with Ian and Ben and they had nothing so we headed back over to the Honeypot for just over an hour.  Highlights included a total of four American Golden Plovers, four Killdeer, two Great Egrets flying by, a huge gathering of swallows (minimum numbers-250 Bank Swallows, 300 Tree Swallows, 10 Barn Swallows and hundreds of others too far out to ID), four Double crested Cormorants,  at least 18 Chimney Swifts, 16 Horned Larks and 120+ Bobolinks plus an awe inspiring symbol of 'merica flying by.  I had to leave for work but they managed to add a Cliff Swallow to the species seen.  If only the rain showers had hit a few hours earlier it could have been even more productive.

I got a call around midday that Bob Z was back at the Honeypot and had half a dozen golden plovers as well as a Buff breasted Sandpiper and a few Least Sandpipers in the fields plus a single Semipalmated Plover on a sandbar in the river.

Tonight should feature a big influx of migrants as the winds continue out of the north.  The overnight low may actually set a record as the temperature dips down to the upper 30’s.  We shall see what tomorrow brings as far as new migrants go.