More egrets, herons and shorebirds the last couple mornings plus an update on the tropics

Great Egrets, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Great Egrets, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Great Blue Heron and the head of a Canada Goose, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Least Sandpiper, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Solitary Sandpiper, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Green Herons, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Solitary Sandpipers, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 20, 2016

I spent another morning after work stopping at a few spots on my way home including Arcadia, Lower Mill Pond, the Holyoke Dam and Lake Wallace.  Arcadia was fairly quiet with the best sighting being four Green Herons chasing each other around and being quite vocal as they did so.  Lower Mill Pond held a few shorebirds including eight Killdeer, half a dozen Least Sandpipers and two Solitary Sandpipers.  Holyoke Dam was active once again with 14 Double crested Cormorants, 13 Great Blue Herons, a dozen Great Egrets, two Green Herons, 78 Ring billed Gulls and 55+ Chimney Swifts.  A brief stop at Lake Wallace mid morning found 48 Wood Ducks and a couple each of Green Herons and Solitary Sandpipers.

Killdeer, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 19, 2016

Yesterday I stopped briefly along the CT river in Hadley and had three Great Egrets and then headed across the river to Easthampton where I had a few shorebirds in Lower Mill Pond but nothing unusual.

As of today the tropical Atlantic continues to increase in activity with Tropical Storm Fiona still spinning way out in the Atlantic but being beaten up badly and the forecast for her being no threat to any landmass.  A couple of more tropical waves show potential for development in the next 5-10 days.  Invest 99L is midway between Africa and the Lesser Antilles and will be slow to develop but if it holds together and develops it could pose a threat to the US but there are more questions than answers at this point.  The hurricane center gives this invest a 60% chance of development in the next five days.  Another wave just coming off the coast of Africa is being given a 70% of development within the next five days.  I will update as needed on these systems as time goes on but it certainly bears watching.