Various stops in the area following some rain overnight

 

Northern Mockingbird, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, July 10, 2015

Gray Catbird, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, July 10, 2015

Baltimore Orioles, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, July 10, 2015

House Finches, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, July 10, 2015

We had a decent dump of rain overnight and my original plan was to possibly head out in search of some shorebirds but when I got up and looked at the radar it looked like the rain was well past us so instead I headed over to Lake Wallace to try to locate the gallinules. After about a half hour of looking in vain to find them it started raining again so I switched back to my original plan and headed over to Hadley to check some fields for shorebirds and see what else I could find. Although it is a little on the early side to find shorebirds it is certainly possible but the tougher part is finding suitable habitat for them around here as most fields are full of crops now and the river is too high (and busy with boat traffic) to offer much to a migrating shorebird. Nevertheless I figured I would check a few spots and hope for some good luck. My first stop was over to the Honey Pot which actually had a few fields that looked good to attract some shorebirds but there were none to be found. Although there were no shorebirds there I found a decent variety of other good stuff including at least four Vesper Sparrow, several Indigo Buntings, 55+ House Finches and lots of birds enjoying the blueberries including a half dozen Orchard Orioles and 14 Baltimore Orioles. 

Killdeer, Aqua Vitae Rd, Hadley, MA, July 10, 2015

Killdeer, Aqua Vitae Rd, Hadley, MA, July 10, 2015

Turkey Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, July 10, 2015

After the Honey Pot I swung over to Aqua Vitae Road found my only group of shorebirds for the morning....a dozen Killdeer. Once again a few good looking fields but most the area is covered with crops. Another stop along the Connecticut River to check for some muddy edges found none but did find a ton of mosquitoes. I then headed over to Moody Bridge Road to check out the vulture roost and found 36 Turkey Vultures plus another Killdeer.

Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 10, 2015

I made another stop at Lake Wallace but once again had no luck with the gallinules. They may have moved on but I'm still hoping they are still around and will attempt to nest. Typical stuff around there but no luck with any rails (I have had Sora and Virginia Rail there within the last few days). The stronger winds on my second stop there made it a bit tough to hear anything that was distant, so not surprised I didn't find any rails.

My final stop of the morning was over to the area that has held a White eyed Vireo for several weeks. No luck there this morning but the winds just kept getting stronger so the bird may indeed still be around. I'll hopefully check again later in the weekend when the winds are lighter.

Full lists from the morning-

Lake Wallace:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24210237

Honey Pot:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24210567

Aqua Vitae Road:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24210422

Moody Bridge Rd vulture roost:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24210571

Lake Wallace:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24210953

White eyed Vireo location:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24211203