The last couple mornings produce a few new birds

East Meadows, Northampton, MA, May 28, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 28, 2015

With the rain showers that arrived early yesterday evening and the murky, low cloud conditions this morning I had hopes of finding something brought down by the weather. I started at Winsor Dam but did not find anything noteworthy. I then headed over to check out the Connecticut River in Hadley but only managed to find lots of mosquitoes. Without much luck so far I then headed over to the East Meadows, were the roads were just a little muddy but thankfully not extremely dusty for a change. I made several stops to scan the large expanse of fields and on my second stop past the red barns I had a flyby, calling Black bellied Plover which I was never able to get a look at in the fog and low clouds (so there may have been more than one). Other shorebirds included a single Solitary Sandpiper and five Killdeer. Other notables included a group of 78 adult Canada Geese (odd to have such a large group around here so late in the season), a flyby Green Heron and other expected species.  Heading out tonight to conduct the first of my two Eastern Whip Poor Will surveys.

Turkey Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, May 27, 2015

Bobolink, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, May 27, 2015

Yellow billed Cuckoo, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 27, 2015

Eastern Kingbird on nest, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 27, 2015

I made a few stops yesterday morning including a brief stop at Winsor Dam then onto the newly repaved rail trail in Amherst and finally to the vulture roost on Moody Bridge Road. Winsor Dam was fairly quiet with a couple of Double crested Cormorants on the water and two adult eagles at the nest. The rail trail was a bit buggy so my stop there was rather brief but I still managed to get some good stuff including a Sora calling, a Yellow billed Cuckoo and two pairs of Eastern Kingbirds nesting plus many other typical species and a handful of Snapping Turtles laying eggs along the bike path. The vulture roost contained at least 14 Turkey Vultures but no Black Vultures (at least that I could see).