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| Black crowned Night Heron, Big E lagoon, West Springfield, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
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| Black crowned Night Heron, Big E lagoon, West Springfield, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
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| Snowy Egret, Big E lagoon, West Springfield, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
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| Green Heron, Big E lagoon, West Springfield, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
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| Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
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| Green Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
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| Great Egrets, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
After seeing numerous reports of both Snowy Egrets and Black crowned Night Herons plus great numbers of Great Egrets down in Hampden County I decided to head down that way after checking some other spots in Hampshire County. I spent the entire morning covering the area from Hadley to Holyoke in Hampshire County and then down to Stebbins and the Big E lagoon in Hampden County before returning back to Holyoke and then back home. I ended the morning with five species of waders with the following totals: Great Blue Heron (48), Great Egret (63), Snowy Egret (1), Green Heron (11) and Black crowned Night Heron (3). I had no luck relocating the Little Blue Heron below the Holyoke Dam but it was a really good morning nonetheless. The numbers of Great Egrets continue to be impressive with the most productive spots being Arcadia with 22 and Stebbins with 32. I'm certain there are over a hundred individuals of this species in the valley and likely more. As I don't get down to Hampden County very often I managed to get two new species (Snowy Egret and Black crowned Night Heron) for that county this morning bringing my total there to 173.
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| Greater Yellowlegs, Big E lagoon, West Springfield, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
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| Semipalmated Sandpipers, Big E lagoon, West Springfield, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
Besides the waders it was a decent morning for shorebirds with six species including Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper and Greater Yellowlegs.
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| Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
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| Green winged Teal, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 31, 2016 |
Other highlights besides the waders and shorebirds included the following: 110 Chimney Swifts and 160+ Bank Swallows at the Holyoke Dam, 54 Wood Ducks at Stebbins and 71 Wood Ducks and four Green winged Teal at Lake Wallace.
Full lists from stops this morning with additional photos:
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| Tropical Storm Hermine projected path, Aug 31, 2016 (courtesy of NHC) |
TD 9 has finally formed into Tropical Storm Hermine and will likely be a strong tropical storm or possibly a weak hurricane when it hits the west coast of Florida. The projected path of the storm continues to be pushed a bit more north toward the northeast but should still stay offshore. With that said it may indeed get close enough to bring some substantial rains if it does track close enough. The likely time for impact here would be Sunday or Monday.
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