Weekend birding

Sharp shinned Hawk, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 17, 2014

Sharp shinned Hawk, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 17, 2014

Sharp shinned Hawk, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 17, 2014

Cliff Swallow with Tree Swallows, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 17, 2014

Cliff Swallow with Tree Swallows, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 17, 2014

Cliff Swallow with Tree Swallows, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 17, 2014

Cooper's Hawk, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Aug 17, 2014

I started off a slightly rainy morning at Winsor Dam arriving there around 5:30 just as the rain was coming to an end. As soon as I got out of the car I had an Eastern Whip Poor Will calling from west of the dam. It continued to call for several minutes before falling silent. Meanwhile scanning the waters of the reservoir produced 56 Mallards and 20 Canada Geese as well as a few Ring billed Gulls. My original plan was to stay close to home but I decided instead to head over to Hadley to try my luck in finding some shorebirds. I stopped by Huntington Road assuming the water levels had dropped over the past few days but not enough to produce any mudflats yet...maybe by the end of the week if it stays dry? The honeypot section of Hadley didn't produce any shorebirds as flooded areas have dried up and the most productive field has been plowed under again. I did run across a large group of crows feeding in one of the fields near the dike and in among them was a Cooper's Hawk. Occasionally the crows would run at the hawk and make it take flight only to settle down nearby and have the cycle repeat itself...fun to watch! I tried a few other spots along the river but the water is still a bit too high. Nonetheless I still had three flyby Least Sandpipers and a single Spotted Sandpiper. I then worked my way back toward home with a stop at Lake Wallace which produced 38 Wood Ducks plus a few Mallards and Hooded Mergansers plus seven Green Herons, a Sharp shinned Hawk that repeatedly dove and and basically harassed the hell out of the flickers nearby, two Solitary Sandpipers, eleven Chimney Swifts and a hundred plus swallows of four species including Tree, Bank, Barn and a single Cliff Swallow. The best bird here showed up right when I was leaving when an unusual (and early) Dickcissel flew over calling, heading east. I have seen a few other reports from the area over the last few days so perhaps an early incursion of this species into the area is underway?

In the evening I headed back over to Winsor Dam in the hopes that the strong northwest winds might encourage a Black Tern to swing by but a half hour of looking didn't produce one.  Just as I was about to leave I had a group of seven Common Nighthawks flying west, northwest into the strong wind. The nighthawks and the whip poor will I heard early this morning made for a two goatsucker species day, which is always a cool thing no matter how you look at it.

Video link of Cooper's Hawk and America Crows in field at Honeypot:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/14759551990/in/photostream/

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Aug 17, 2014

Least Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, Aug 17, 2014

I only had a little time to get out yesterday morning due to other commitments and I made a stop over to Lake Wallace and then to Winsor Dam. Lake Wallace produced 46 Wood Ducks, 16 Mallards and three Hooded Mergansers for waterfowl plus at least nine Green Herons, 14 Chimney Swifts and other usual stuff.  Winsor Dam was fairly quiet with nothing too unusual beyond a family of three River Otters along the dam.