Sunday, August 31, 2014

Weekend birding at the end of August produces Marsh Wren and shorebirds (among others)

Marsh Wren (blurry shot taken at dawn), Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Marsh Wren (blurry shot taken at dawn), Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
I ended August with a bang adding two new species for the year to my Hampshire County list and getting some decent shorebird diversity considering the weather was nice. With the forecast for heavy rain this afternoon through this evening and into tomorrow I figured I would head out early today to take advantage of the still low levels of the Connecticut River. I decided to stop at the Honeypot at dawn to try to catch up with the Clay colored Sparrow I had there a few days ago but no luck. Instead one of the first birds I found was a Marsh Wren that showed itself briefly and allowed a few blurry shots before it disappeared again. I got a couple more very brief looks but no better photos. The Marsh Wren became species #221 for the county this year. As I continued poking around the area near the 90 degree turn I had a fly over, calling American Golden Plover that drifted off to the south without ever showing itself...perhaps it went to the East Meadows somewhere? The American Golden Plover added my second new county species for the year becoming #222...quite an impressive day to get two new species in one day this time of year!  Other species of note around a small area of the Honeypot included around 90 Bobolinks, a dull Yellow Warbler and a few Indigo Buntings.
Semipalmated Plover, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Semipalmated Plover, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Semipalmated Plovers with Spotted Sandpiper, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Killdeer and Semipalmated Plover, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Killdeer, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Lesser Yellowlegs, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Solitary Sandpiper, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Least Sandpiper, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Spotted Sandpipers, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Great Egret, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 31, 2014
Dawn in Hadley, Aug 31, 2014
A stop by the Connecticut River found the water levels perfect to attract shorebirds and I had six species there including two Semipalmated Plovers, three Killdeer, four Spotted Sandpipers, six Solitary Sandpipers, two Lesser Yellowlegs and 21 Least Sandpipers.  With the AGPL seen at the Honeypot I managed seven species of shorebird this morning which became my highest total for diversity so far this season.  Other notables around the river included a couple Great Egrets.  A stop back at the Honeypot didn't produce anything new (nor did it provide any better looks at species seen earlier).  Although the heavy rain showers and thunderstorms forecast for the next few days will raise the river levels and wipe out the mudflats perhaps the rain will knock down some shorebirds into some flooded fields somewhere in the valley? It will certainly be worth checking.  I still have several species of shorebirds I would love to catch up with.
Semipalmated Plover, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 30, 2014
Semipalmated Plover, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 30, 2014
Semipalmated Plover, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 30, 2014
Lesser Yellowlegs, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 30, 2014
Great Egret, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 30, 2014
Lesser Yellowlegs with a Solitary Sandpiper, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 30, 2014
Yesterday I spent the early morning hours hitting several spots starting off at Lake Wallace before dawn and then over to the Connecticut River in Hadley, the Honeypot (briefly) and then to Winsor Dam. Despite being out for just a few hours I found some good stuff including six species of shorebirds along the Connecticut River. Shorebird species this morning included a Semipalmated Plover, two Killdeer, three Spotted Sandpipers, seven Solitary Sandpipers, two Lesser Yellowlegs and 21 Least Sandpipers. Besides the shorebirds the river produced 11 Wood Ducks, 36 Mallards, a couple Great Egrets and a Great Blue Heron. The fog moved in while I was there and knocked visibility down quite a bit which made viewing a bit tough at times.
Pied billed Grebe, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 30, 2014
Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 30, 2014
My dawn visit to Lake Wallace produced 33 Wood Ducks, 58 Mallards, a Pied billed Grebe and seven Green Herons among the other species there.
Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Aug 30, 2014
A ride up to the Honeypot found the area almost totally fog free. I spent some time scanning from the top of the dike and turned up at least 300 swallows of four species with most being Tree Swallows (lesser numbers of Bank, Barn and Northern Rough winged Swallows). No shorebirds at all in any of the fields I scanned through but with many fields still full of crops I guess it isn't too surprising. Other notables included 55+ Bobolinks wheeling around before settling into a weedy field. I didn't spend any time looking for the Clay colored Sparrow I found there on Friday but it appeared others were looking.
Common Loons, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 30, 2014
Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 30, 2014
A final stop at Winsor Dam produced three vocal Common Loons flying around the area before disappearing to the north...just a taste of the waterfowl migration season coming up.

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