Great Egrets and other stuff this week

Great Egrets including individual with extensively dark bill, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 6, 2015

Great Egrets including individual with extensively dark bill, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 6, 2015

Great Egrets, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 6, 2015

Great Blue Heron, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Aug 3, 2015

I made some brief stops on my way to work throughout the week with the main focus being on shorebirds and waders.  Overall most of the week was fairly quiet with the best birds waiting until today to show themselves when I had four Great Egrets and four Solitary Sandpipers at Lower Mill Pond in Easthampton.  Among the four Great Egrets was an individual with an extensive amount of dark coloration on the bill...an unusual looking bird.  As mentioned before the week was fairly quiet with just three shorebird species (Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper and Killdeer) despite some decent mudflats along the river, at Paradise Pond and over in Easthampton plus a few small open fields in the East Meadows.  Hopefully some northerly winds and cooler temperatures heading into the weekend will entice a few more shorebirds to come our way...time will tell.