The rail trail in Amherst and Lake Wallace

Yellow Warbler, rail trail, Amherst, MA, June 20, 2014

Cedar Waxwing gathering nest material from old oriole nest, rail trail, Amherst, MA, June 20, 2014

Cedar Waxwing gathering nest material from old oriole nest, rail trail, Amherst, MA, June 20, 2014

Rose breasted Grosbeak, rail trail, Amherst, MA, June 20, 2014

Green Heron, rail trail, Amherst, MA, June 20, 2014

Eastern Cottontails, rail trail, Amherst, MA, June 20, 2014

White tailed Deer on edge of marsh, rail trail, Amherst, MA, June 20, 2014

Black and White Warbler, rail trail, Amherst, MA, June 20, 2014

I spent a couple of hours along the rail trail in Amherst this morning walking from Lawrence Swamp up to Hop Brook.  Lots of activity and surprisingly few biting insects (perhaps the cool temps this morning kept them at bay?)  Among the highlights were a couple of active Baltimore Oriole nests over the trail with vocal nestlings, a pair of Black and White Warblers near a nest not far off the trail, a Red Squirrel trying to raid a Northern Cardinal nest, a Cedar Waxwing gathering nesting material from an old oriole nest, seven species of flycatcher and five Green Herons among a total of 57 species. A short video clip of the waxwing gathering nest material from old oriole nest:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/14444268386/

I have included the full list from the morning:

Canada Goose  5     oddly no young seen
Wood Duck  3     females
Hooded Merganser  1     female
Great Blue Heron  1
Green Heron  5     minimum
Killdeer  2     mudflats at hop brook
Mourning Dove  7
Black-billed Cuckoo  1
Chimney Swift  6
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  2
Hairy Woodpecker  3
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee  3
Alder Flycatcher  2
Willow Flycatcher  3
Least Flycatcher  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  4
Eastern Kingbird  5
Warbling Vireo  5
Red-eyed Vireo  4
Blue Jay  3
American Crow  2
Tree Swallow  46
Black-capped Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  6
White-breasted Nuthatch  4
Brown Creeper  1
House Wren  4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Eastern Bluebird  2
Veery  4
Wood Thrush  5
American Robin  12
Gray Catbird  28
Brown Thrasher  2
Cedar Waxwing  12     one gathering nest material from old oriole nest
Ovenbird  1
Black-and-white Warbler  2     at nest site
Common Yellowthroat  13
Yellow Warbler  6
Chestnut-sided Warbler  1
Pine Warbler  1
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
Song Sparrow  11
Swamp Sparrow  6
Scarlet Tanager  1
Northern Cardinal  6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  3
Bobolink  4
Red-winged Blackbird  28
Common Grackle  22
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Orchard Oriole  1
Baltimore Oriole  8     Multiple nests with very vocal young
American Goldfinch  6

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 20, 2014

Wood Duck ducklings, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 20, 2014

Hooded Merganser with fish, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 20, 2014

Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 20, 2014

Before heading over to the rail trail I stopped by Lake Wallace in Belchertown and had the following highlights:  38+ Wood Ducks (lots of ducklings), a few Hooded Mergansers including one that caught and ate a fairly large fish, and lots of other expected species totalling 38.  I hoped to find some unusual herons/egrets but still a little early for them to be dispersing from breeding locations.