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| Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, May 9, 2014 |
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| Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, May 9, 2014 |
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| Mute Swan, Quabbin Park, May 9, 2014 |
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| Quabbin Park, May 9, 2014 |
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| Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, May 9, 2014 |
Today was cloudy with occasional rain and drizzle with temperatures around 60 or so. Perhaps not the best day if you were looking to get some sun but weather like this in May can make for some great birding and today was no exception. I started before dawn at Winsor Dam and still had an Eastern Whip Poor Will calling at 5:20. Nothing unusual out on the partially fogged in water. I then headed through Quabbin Park and managed to find some migrants including a Cerulean Warbler (#
188) in decent breeding habitat and an early (and unusual) Acadian Flycatcher
(#189). I managed some distant photos of the Cerulean and after much effort in the pouring rain I got some audio of the Acadian Flycatcher. I also ran across a few of the Mute Swans that have been seen at Quabbin lately when I found five of them near Goodnough Dike. Lots of other stuff around including a Scarlet Tanager (#
187) which I have somehow missed up until now...for those keeping count the morning visit to the park added three new species for the year to Hampshire County. I then headed over to the rail trail on my way to run some errands and managed to find eight species of shorebirds on the mudflats at Hop Brook...nothing unusual among them today but that could change any day now. A few other stops at Winsor Dam today produced groups of swallows feeding over the water including a Cliff Swallow. Lots of other stuff around too and I have included links to my eBird checklists for my longer stops today.
Link to video with audio of Acadian Flycatcher:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/14143233572/
Quabbin Park
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18296839
Rail trail-Amherst
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18297708
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| Canada Goose on top of tree, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2014 |
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| Red winged Blackbird, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2014 |
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| Sunrise, Silvio Conte NWR, Hadley, MA, May 8, 2014 |
Yesterday also saw a good influx of birds which was not surprising given the slight south winds and the way the radar was lit up. I couldn't sleep so headed out before dawn and headed over to Covey WMA where I had my first of year Eastern Whip Poor Wills (#
182) which obviously had come in overnight as I had tried the same location on Wednesday evening with no luck. I turned up a few more whips at Winsor Dam before I headed over to Silvio Conte NWR where I found another new species for the county this year, a Grasshopper Sparrow
(#183). My next stop was down to Mitch's Way which produced two new species...Green Heron
(#184) and Black billed Cuckoo (#
185). Lots of other migrants around too. I met up with Ian who was back in town to scout for an upcoming Massachusetts big day (pure MAdness!) and we tried Skinner mountain but the gate was still closed so we instead headed to the rail trail. Nothing new for me there but some good sightings including a Canada Goose that perched on top of a 25' tall dead tree...weird. The rest of the day was spent taking Wilson for a walk, making a quick stop at Quabbin Park and quite a bit of time around the house which paid off with a Cape May Warbler in among a mixed species flock...#
186. As there were many highlights for the day that I don't have the energy to type out again I'm including the eBird lists for my longer stops....suffice it to say it was a good day with 103 species total with 19 species of warbler.
Silvio Conte NWR
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18280757
Mitch's Way
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18281815
Rail trail- Amherst
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18283335
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