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| Common Merganser with young, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, May 31, 2015 |
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| Killdeer (adult and young), Arcadia, Northampton, MA, May 31, 2015 |
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| Red tailed Hawk eating chipmunk, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, May 31, 2015 |
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| Mallard with young, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, May 31, 2015 |
The rain didn't arrive in substantial amounts overnight so not much
of a chance to find any grounded birds this morning. Nonetheless I still checked out Winsor
Dam before dawn just to make sure but found nothing noteworthy. Without much likelihood of finding good
stuff forced down by the weather I decided to head over to Arcadia to try to
find the Snowy Egret seen there yesterday. No luck finding the bird despite a
few hours of effort. Although the egret was a no show the other birds around
there did not disappoint. Lots of newly hatched birds about including some
great views of a family of Common Mergansers as well as a few young
Killdeer plus others. As I was scanning the marsh all the birds started making a lot of
noise so I suspected a raptor was in the area and indeed a Red tailed Hawk came
in and landed on a small tree in the marsh and then made an unsuccessful dive at
some Mallard ducklings before disappearing into the woods. I then headed down
the trail to try a few more vantage points looking into the marsh and on my walk
back I ran across the Red tailed Hawk devouring a chipmunk just a few feet off
the trail, seemingly oblivious to my presence. I set up the scope and the bird
more than filled the frame at the lowest zoom. Amazing how fast the hawk
managed to eat every last piece of the chipmunk. Lots of other good stuff
around with all appearing to be resident birds on territory. As I was heading
out I ran into Bob and Lura and they also had not yet had any luck with finding
the egret either. It may be gone or just feeding in an area nearby that is not easily
viewable. Full list from the morning there (with more photos and videos):
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| White eyed Vireo, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2015 |
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| White eyed Vireo, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2015 |
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| Blue winged Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2015 |
After Arcadia I made another brief stop at Winsor Dam before
trying again to find the White eyed Vireo in Belchertown in between some early
rain showers. Today I had much better views and got some photos as the bird
called nearly constantly during my stay there. Managed to find a total of five species of vireo today which is always a good day when you can do that around here. Also a good number of Blue
winged Warblers including a distant bird singing an odd song that I was never
able to get a look at. List with additional photos and videos here:
The month of May has been great with lots of good weather and loads of birds as the spring migration peaked. A total of 168 species this month including one new county record for me. A total of 210 species for Hampshire County so far this year...a few behind last year but still a very respectable total.
The next few days will feature occasional rain
(sometimes heavy), northerly winds and cool temperatures. Still a chance
that something will get caught in the weather and have to halt its migration for a
few days so still worth checking bodies of water and freshly plowed
fields.
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