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