Friday, July 17, 2015

Birds during week including numbers of shorebirds, herons and egrets

Great Egret, Hadley, MA, July 17, 2015
Great Egret, Hadley, MA, July 17, 2015
Great Blue Herons, Hadley, MA, July 17, 2015
Great Egrets and Great Blue Heron, Hadley, MA, July 17, 2015
Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 17, 2015
Belted Kingfisher, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 17, 2015
As July rolls on the focus starts slowly turning to the beginning of migration with the arrival of early migrant shorebirds as well as dispersing waders (herons and egrets). As mentioned in the past the toughest part of finding shorebirds this time of year in the valley is finding suitable habitat where they could stop during migration (muddy fields or exposed edges of rivers and ponds).  Throughout the last five weekdays I have tried to catch up with these species (and other stuff too).  Overall managed to half a dozen species of shorebird and three species of egrets/herons....no too bad for mid July.

Although this morning started out at near record low temps (upper 40's) it rapidly warmed up I to the 80's with low humidity...a very nice day. I decided to head over to the Connecticut River in Hadley to try my luck there before heading back home. I ran into Mike L. just as I arrived there and we quickly found a couple Great Egrets as well as four Great Blue Herons plus a single Solitary Sandpiper. The river level had dropped a bit the last few days and is has exposed some mudflats that look good to attract a variety of stuff. Although I originally intended to head back toward home after checking the river I thought that I might have some good luck at Arcadia seeing that the river level was so low. We both headed over that way to check out the marsh and found a couple Great Blue Herons, a few family groups of Wood Ducks and a very vocal American Kestrel but not much else. The river was low but the expected mudflats were mainly covered with grasses and did not feature any shorebirds at all. With Arcadia being quite quiet I decided to make a swing through the East Meadows and managed to catch up with three Killdeer and six Spotted Sandpipers (including four fledglings). Also a couple Horned Larks around as well as a few hundred Red winged Blackbirds. After my brief trip through the meadows I stopped back along the river and had the same herons and egrets plus three Spotted Sandpipers. My next stop was over to Lake Wallace where I once again failed to turn up the gallinules (I'm convinced they are now gone but still worth keeping an eye out for). Highlights at the lake included a Virginia Rail, four Green Herons (including one that I got video of catching a large tadpole, link here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/19591403240/in/dateposted-public/, a decent number of the four species of expected waterfowl plus a single Least Sandpiper. At this point in the morning I headed home to pick up Wilson and we headed to the land trust trail where the best bird there was an American Woodcock that flushed up from the trail. 
 
Connecticut River-Hadley:
Arcadia:
 
East Meadows:
 
Lake Wallace:
Spotted Sandpiper fledgling, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, July 16, 2015
Spotted Sandpiper fledgling, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, July 16, 2015
Spotted Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, July 16, 2015
On Thursday I had just a limited amount of time so I headed over to the East Meadows for a quick check for shorebirds. I had hoped rain forecast for the day before would produce some muddy areas but the rain (and therefore the mud) didn't materialize. Nonetheless there were still a few shorebirds around including two Killdeer, six Spotted Sandpiper (with at least a couple fledglings) and two Least Sandpiper.  Video clip of Spotted Sandpiper fledgling: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/19749655022/in/album-72157629921964766/

Spotted Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, July 15, 2015
Least Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, July 15, 2015
Wednesday I decided to hit the East Meadows again in search of shorebirds and found some including three Killdeer, 7 Spotted Sandpipers (including a two young birds), a flyby Lesser Yellowlegs and 9 Least Sandpipers (group of 7 together plus two more elsewhere). Also a couple Horned Larks and other expected species.

East Meadows: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24266462
Horned Lark, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, July 14, 2015
Least Sandpipers, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, July 14, 2015
Least Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, July 14, 2015
On Tuesday morning I made several stops with my first being Lake Wallace.  Still a decent amount of the expected four species of waterfowl. The vulture roost in Hadley contained a single Black Vulture plus 42 Turkey Vultures. My next stop of the morning was over to the East Meadows.  Despite only a few small open areas suitable for shorebirds there I nonetheless found a decent selection including six Killdeer (three almost grown youngsters among the adults), two Spotted Sandpipers, a Solitary Sandpiper and half a dozen Least Sandpipers. The shorebirds would disappear into the lines of crops and disappear from sight at times so tough to keep track of so there may have been more than what I have for numbers above. Other notables around the meadows included three Horned Larks and several hundred Red winged Blackbirds coming out of roost.
Vesper Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, July 13, 2015
Vesper Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, July 13, 2015
Monday morning I made a couple stops before work including the vulture roost in Hadley and then to the Honey Pot. The vulture roost featured a single Black Vulture in among 41 Turkey Vultures. The stop at the Honey Pot didn't find any shorebirds but I did find at least four Vesper Sparrows scattered around the area including this cooperative singing individual...video link here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/19514964838/in/dateposted-public/

Moody Bridge Rd: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24245987

Honey Pot: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24246123
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