April comes to an end

Blue winged Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Apr 30, 2016

Blue winged Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Apr 30, 2016

Blue winged Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Apr 30, 2016

Blue winged Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Apr 30, 2016

Greater Yellowlegs, Hadley, MA, Apr 30, 3016

After work this morning I made a few stops before getting home with my first one along the river in Hadley where I had a few shorebirds including my first Greater Yellowlegs (#154) of the season. As I was heading toward Quabbin I got a call from Devin telling me they had a Red breasted Merganser at Gate 5 so I continued on to Winsor Dam where I was able to view it distantly...I missed on the Long tailed Ducks they had there but I will eventually catch up with that species sometime. My next stop was over to an old orchard where I picked up my first Blue winged Warblers (#155) of the year. I briefly made it home before heading out again with Wilson along the land trust trail where we added two new species...Ovenbird (#156) and Prairie Warbler (#157). After a nice long walk there we headed for home.

White throated Sparrow, home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 30, 2016

Palm Warbler, home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 30, 2016 (motion camera)

At home I added one more new species when a Ruby throated Hummingbird (#158) finally showed up at the feeders. I also captured another species on my motion camera, a Palm Warbler.

As April ends I will take a look at where I stand compared to the last few years at the same time. With my total right now at 158 I'm slightly ahead of 2015 and 2014 where I had 148 and 149 at the end of April but slightly behind my best total by the end of April of 167 which occurred in 2013. This time of year the birds come fast and furious so it is best to compare where you stand at the end of May and how fast you get to the 200 species mark. See below a brief summary of these two data points.

Total at end of May
2012          2013            2014            2015
185            210              213              210


Date to reach 200 species

2012          2013            2014             2015
Sep 7         May 18        May 14         May 15

Increasing numbers of new arrivals the last couple days

Northern Parula, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Northern Parula, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Yellow rumped Warbler, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Louisiana Waterthrush, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Spotted Sandpipers (part of group of 16 in small area), Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2016

After work this morning I made a few stops before heading home and I managed to find a number of new species.  My first stop along the river in Hadley produced a high count of 16 Spotted Sandpipers, a couple Solitary Sandpipers and a Warbling Vireo (#146).  I then worked further south to Mitch's Way which produced a number of new species for the year including Yellow Warbler (#147), Rose breasted Grosbeak (#148), Northern Waterthrush (#149), Gray Catbird (#150), Northern Parula (#151) and Nashville Warbler (#152).  I found a total of eight warbler species at Mitch's Way and ran across two more species elsewhere making today the first day this spring to get so many.

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 28, 2016

Greater Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 28, 2016

I also made a brief stop at Winsor Dam which turned up a male Greater Scaup and a Bonaparte's Gull in just a few minutes of scanning.  The house also produced some good stuff including a somewhat early Veery (#153)

Yesterday morning on my way to work I made a couple stops along the river in Hadley but the fog made viewing tough but I nonetheless turned up one new species...Common Yellowthroat (#145).  Sadly no luck on finding any shorebirds at the Honey Pot or the East Meadows but there may have been birds there hidden in the fog.

Rainy and cool weather produces Bonaparte's Gull, Purple Martin and Lesser Black backed Gull (two new Quabbin birds in a day)

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2016

Rusty Blackbird, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2016

Although the weather today was cool, damp and raw it produced some unusual birds as I hoped it would. I started off early at Winsor Dam even before the rain hit and had a breeding plumage Bonaparte's Gull (#142) both in flight and on the water. I then stopped at Beaver Lake and through Quabbin Park before the heavier rain started. Quiet at Beaver Lake and no waterfowl beyond a single Common Loon at Quabbin Park. I also managed to find only my second (and third) record ever for Fish Crow at Quabbin when two flew past me at Hank's Meadow moving to the northwest. My last record of this species was back in 2006 at Winsor Dam. Also had a very vocal Rusty Blackbird at Hank's Meadow.

Later in the morning as the rain continued I stopped back at Winsor Dam and had around a hundred swallows feeding low over the water with most being Tree Swallows with a few Barn and Northern Rough winged Swallows mixed in. The best bird by far among the group was an obviously larger, darker bird that turned out to be a rare in the area Purple Martin (#143).  I attempted some digiscoped shots but the distance was too great and the rain too heavy to get any shots.  It was only my second record of it in the county with the other occurring in August last year.  The martin becomes a new addition to my Quabbin list which now stands at 240.  I made a few more stops over the course of the day at the dam but the Bonaparte's Gull and Purple Martin never made another appearance.

Lesser Black backed Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2016

Lesser Black backed Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2016

Lesser Black backed Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2016

Lesser Black backed Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2016

In the evening I decided to make one last swing by Winsor Dam and I'm glad I did.  I scanned the water and found nine Common Loons as well as a small gathering of gulls that included a Lesser Black backed Gull among the Herring and Ring billed Gulls.  The plumage was a little odd to me but after consultation with a few books and some affirmative e-mails from Ian and Keenan my initial ID on the bird proved to be correct.  The back was not as solid as I would expect on a full adult but the head and neck appeared clean white which would age the bird as a 3rd cycle individual.  The gull not only became another species for the county this year (#144) but became my second new Quabbin bird for the day...a very difficult feat to achieve short of a hurricane!

All morning birding from Quabbin to the Connecticut River

Yellow rumped Warbler, home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Brown Creeper, home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Palm Warbler, home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Yellow throated Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2016

American Kestrel, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Vesper Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Greater Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Great Blue Heron at nest, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Despite the forecast for occasional rain the day turned out fine with the sun even making an appearance from time to time. I covered a lot of area this morning starting and ending at Quabbin and covering various locations along the river in between. A total of 90 species was quite good given the slow trickle of migrants compared to the last few years on the same date. I managed to find eight new species of the the county list for the year including Sora (#134), Solitary Sandpiper (#135), Bank Swallow (#136), American Pipit (#137), Greater Scaup (#138), Black throated Green Warbler (#139), Yellow theater Vireo (#140) and Chimney Swift (#141).


Highlights included the following.

Winsor Dam: Greater Scaup and two Eastern Whip Poor Wills

Lake Wallace: Four Great Blue Herons (with one on nest), a Virginia Rail and a Sora

CT River in Hadley: six Green winged Teal and a Solitary Sandpiper

Honey Pot: Northern Harrier and five Vesper Sparrows

Arcadia: two Wilson's Snipe, five Bank Swallows, two Vesper Sparrows and a Rusty Blackbird

East Meadows: two American Pipits and a flock of 145+ Horned Larks

Beaver Lake: 8 Bufflehead

Quabbin Park: Chimney Swift, a somewhat early Yellow throated Vireo and a Black throated Green Warbler.


Tomorrow looks to feature some cold, damp weather with a cold rain and temperatures that won't make it out of the low 40's...it will be tough for insectivores.  It will be interesting to see if the weather produces anything unusual that gets put down by the rain...perhaps waterfowl and gulls?

Weekend birding brings a couple new arrivals

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Field Sparrow, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Brown Thrasher, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Pine Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Blue Jay building nest, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Pileated Woodpecker, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Another crisp cool morning with bright sunny skies found me trying a few spots in the south Quabbin area trying for whip poor wills and marsh birds. It was a little too breezy at some spots and quite cool so I struck out on finding anything interesting. I decided to head over to the rail trail to try to find some sunny spots that might attract some birds and I had some decent luck with some good photo ops. I also found a Green Heron (#133) to add to the county list this year. After the rail trail I headed over to Silvio Conte NWR in Hadley and then eventually over to a small section of Quabbin Park. Not a blockbuster day but very nice nonetheless. Full lists with additional photos below.

Rail trail-Amherst:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29163036

Silvio Conte NWR:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29163739

Quabbin Park:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29164796

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 23, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 23, 2016

On Saturday I headed out right at dawn to try to catch up with some marsh birds but could not find anything beyond Virginia Rail in the spots I checked. I checked Lake Wallace plus a few small marshes around Quabbin. I also checked Winsor Dam and Beaver Lake looking for unusual waterfowl but found none. I did spend a fair amount of time checking Quabbin Park and was rewarded with my first Black and White Warblers (#132) of the year plus ever increasing numbers of Blue gray Gnatcatchers, Pine Warblers, Yellow rumped Warblers, Chipping Sparrows and Eastern Towhees as well as others. Ended the morning with five species of warblers...just a taste of what is to come over the next few weeks. The morning was cloudy (which made photography tough) but eventually the sun broke out around midday.

American Robin on motion camera, Belchertown, MA, Apr 23, 2016

I also recently set up a small water feature to attract more birds (mainly inspired by a similar set up Steve M. has that attracted a Lawrence's Warbler last year). I just set up a motion camera on it yesterday and the first bird that I managed to capture was an American Robin. Blue Jays and White throated Sparrows showed up today. It will be interesting to see what shows up when I'm not looking.

More brief morning birding

Red breasted Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 21, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 21, 2016

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 22, 2016

I stopped briefly at Winsor Dam on my way to work yesterday morning and had two Red breasted Mergansers and a stop by there on my way home today produced two Bufflehead in almost the exact same spot.  Other highlights from the last couple days included 21 Green winged Teal along the Connecticut River in Hadley and a couple of new species along Mitch's Way today including Blue gray Gnatcatcher (#130) and Blue headed Vireo (#131).  Also good numbers of Ruby crowned Kinglets, Yellow rumped Warblers and White throated Sparrows at the same location.

Trip to the hilltowns this morning

American Bittern, Cummington, MA, Apr 20, 2016

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2016

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2016

Pine Warblers, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2016

Palm Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2016

Yellow rumped Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2016

Ruby crowned Kinglet looking like an antpitta, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2016

After work this morning I headed up into the hilltowns of Hampshire County in search of some new species for the year and I had some great luck.  I first went to Worthington to try to find the Sandhill Cranes that have been around that area for a few years now and after a bit of looking I had  distant looks at one as it walked through a private orchard and then disappeared behind a hill not to be seen again.  Not the most satisfying view but good nonetheless and good enough to add another species to my county list for the year becoming species number 127.  I then headed over to a variety of marshy areas in Cummington and had a few calling Virginia Rails as well as an American Bittern (#128) that flew past me as it traveled between a couple different marshes.  The bonus species for the morning was a flyby Evening Grosbeak (#129) that never showed itself...a tough species to get around here but certainly a bit easier in the hilltowns.  I then spent most of the rest of the day at home where a few migrants were moving through including my fourth warbler species of the season in the yard (Louisiana Waterthrush) as well as a Ruby crowned Kinglet that looked a lot like an antpitta.

Lesser Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 19, 2016

Yesterday I made a brief stop at Winsor Dam on my way to work and was rewarded wityh a group of three Lesser Scaup (#126) hanging out on the reservoir.