August comes to an end and a tropical update

Indigo Bunting, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 31, 2017

Song Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 31, 2017

House Wren, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 31, 2017

Bobolink, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 31, 2017

Bobolinks, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 31, 2017

Cape May Warbler, Jabish Canal, Belchertown, MA, Aug 29, 2017

Yellow Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Aug 29, 2017

As August comes to an end the fall migration season will soon be here in full force. The next month will see a big movement of passerines as they head south until next spring. So far for this fall migration season (August 15-November) I have found 23 species of warbler including some early migrants including two Tennessee Warblers on August 17, Connecticut Warbler a Cape May Warbler and two Northern Parula on August 29 and a Wilson's Warbler on August 24.  The new version of eBird mobile lets you see the last five years worth of month to month and year to year data which makes it easy to see where you compare from year to year. This August turned out to be the best August I have ever had for Hampshire County with a total of 135 species (compared to my previous best August total of 132 back in 2014). A few selected lists from the last few days of August with additional photos here:

Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River Aug 29
Arcadia Aug 31

Hurricane Irma forecast track as of Aug 31, 2017 at 11AM (courtesy of the NHC)

The tropics continue to be active with the remnants of Hurricane Harvey continuing to move away from southeast Texas and western Louisiana and is currently classified as a tropical depression.  The severe flooding continues and the overall damage in that area is extreme and will take years to recover.  The remnants will continue to move off to the northeast and we may even end up with some showers related to the storm over the weekend.  A much bigger potential player is recently formed Hurricane Irma way out in the Atlantic moving westward.  The storm intensified rapidly to a Category 2 storm today with 100 MPH winds and is forecast to become a major hurricane very soon.  It looks to be a potential long range threat to a number of locations including the U.S. and lots of spots in the Caribbean.  The storm is still a long way out there but it must be watched carefully.

Gray Fox, home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 25, 2017

Gray Fox, home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 26, 2017

At home I continue to capture some good stuff on the various motion cameras including a continued Gray Fox.

Finger Lakes from Aug 24-27

Taughannock Falls, Ithaca, NY, Aug 26, 2017

Just returned from a quick four day getaway to the Finger Lakes region of New York. Although it was not a birding trip I still managed to get some birding in including a walk around the trails at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on Friday and a morning trip up to Montezuma NWR with Ian. The remainder of the time was spent with quality visits to the many wineries in the area and a few waterfalls.

Trumpeter Swans, Montezuma NWR, NY, Aug 26, 2017

Red headed Woodpeckers, Montezuma NWR, NY, Aug 26, 2017

Stilt Sandpipers, Montezuma NWR, NY, Aug 26, 2017

Wilson's Phalarope, Montezuma NWR, NY, Aug 26, 2017

The Saturday visit to Montezuma was the most productive with a total of 86 species from just before dawn until mid/late morning including some truly impressive numbers of swallows, starlings, blackbirds and grackles leaving their roost at dawn (see the following list: Montezuma NWR at dawn ). Also a good showing of shorebirds with eleven species including a Wilson's Phalarope, a few Stilt Sandpipers and several White rumped Sandpipers. The marsh complex is quite impressive and covers a very large area with a wide diversity of species...it would be such a great spot to visit on a regular basis as the opportunities for rarities is high. After parting ways with Ian around 10:30 we walked a little more at Montezuma before spending the afternoon checking out some more wineries plus making a hike up to Taughannock Falls.

Lucifer Falls, Robert H. Treman SP, Ithaca, NY, Aug 27, 2017

The last day was mainly spent making the long drive back home but before we headed out we stopped at Robert Treman SP to take a short hike.  Overall for the trip I ended up with 103 species with 16 of those being new for my New York list (which now stands at 140).

Black throated Green Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 24, 2017

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 24, 2017

Wilson's Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 24, 2017

Before leaving on the trip on Thursday I spent a few hours in the morning exploring a few areas at Quabbin Park. I once again tried to find the Mourning Warblers in the area they bred this year but they appeared to have moved on. I did however run across a Mourning Warbler in an area well away from the breeding area and this individual was almost certainly a migrant. Other notables around included my first Wilson's Warbler of the fall and a few other pockets of migrants.


The hurricane season heated up a bit the last several days with the biggest story being Hurricane Harvey that struck the Texas coast as a Category 4 storm and it continues to sit just inland as a tropical storm dumping massive amounts of rain and leading to catastrophic flooding.  As far as birds are concerned there seemed to be some major displacement of both pelagic and near shore birds with the biggest influx noted so far being frigatebirds.

Solar eclipse

Partial solar eclipse, home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 21, 2017

Partial solar eclipse, home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 21, 2017

Wilson getting a better view of the solar eclipse, home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 21, 2017

Today marked a very unusual occurrence with a total solar eclipse transiting the breadth of the United States starting out near Lincoln City, OR (where we were just a month ago) and moving southeast and exiting South Carolina near Charleston. This was the first total solar eclipse in the continental US since 1979. Around here the peak of the eclipse occurred around 2:45 when 66% of the sun was blocked by the moon.  Unfortunetly some spotty clouds arrived around this time blocking the sun from view occasionally but I still managed to get some good views.  The next total solar eclipse for the US will be on April 8, 2024 and this one will be much closer with the totality moving through northern New England...given the date the chances of having a sunny day is low then but one can always hope.

Canada Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 21, 2017

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 21, 2017

Prairie Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 21, 2017

On my way home from work I made a brief stop off at Quabbin Park and hit just a few spots before heading for home.  No sign of the Mourning Warblers today but I really didn't search for too long....list for the day at the following link: Quabbin Park

Baltimore Oriole, home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Gray Fox, home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 18,2017

Chestnut sided Warbler and Tufted Titmouse, home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 19, 2017

The motion camera at home continues to capture some good stuff including the continued Gray Fox as well as a number of species of birds.

An interesting warbler and Black crowned Night Heron this morning

Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Black crowned Night Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Black crowned Night Heron and Great Blue Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Great Egret, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

One never knows what a day out and about will turn up but today was really fantastic with some great stuff around for the middle of August including an interesting Connecticut Warbler and a Black crowned Night Heron among some eighty species overall. I was unsure where exactly to start the humid summer like morning today but I decided on Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River where I hoped to find some warblers in the dense underbrush.  Although I didn't have too much luck with warblers there I did have a couple of Eastern Screech Owls calling back and forth.  Unfortunately the mosquitoes were a bit annoying so I decided to head out of there before I ended up with West Nile Virus and stopped over to Lower Mill Pond in Easthampton to try to catch up with a previously reported juvenile Black crowned Night Heron (a very tough species to find in the county, at least for me...I have only seen one other, back in 2015).  When I arrived at the pond there were three wader species around (Great Blue Heron, Green Heron and Great Egret) but initially no night heron.  After a few scans I walked a bit further up the road to view into a previously obstructed cove and there was the bird in all its dull brown glory standing in some shallow water.  A great day in the county when you can have four species of waders in the same spot!  This continues the great year for waders with the night heron bringing the total to nine species for me, a very good total for inland Massachusetts.  My eBird lists from these two stops: Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River and Lower Mill Pond. After getting my fill of the waders and the few shorebirds around I then headed over to Arcadia to see what else I could turn up.

Connecticut Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Connecticut Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Connecticut Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Bobolink, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Yellow Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Indigo Bunting, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Song Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Arcadia once again offered up some great birds with the best by far being a very interesting individual I initially identified as an exceptionally early Connecticut Warbler found along the edge of a field in some low brush.  The behavior was exactly what I would expect from a Connecticut Warbler including walking up a branch.  However the plumage details point more to a juvenile Mourning Warbler although I still cannot explain the odd behavior.  Besides the warbler I had lots of other good stuff with continued high numbers of Indigo Buntings and Song Sparrows.  Full eBird list with more photos here: Arcadia

Mourning Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Mourning Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Late in the morning I made my way over to Quabbin Park where I was once again able to find one of the Mourning Warblers still hanging around...full list here: Quabbin Park.  I would have liked to explore some additional areas there but the day was rapidly getting hot and Wilson needed his walk so off to home I went to pick him up.

Red tailed Hawk, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Red tailed Hawk, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 19, 2017

Red tailed Hawk, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 19, 2017

The afternoon was spent around the house enjoying the day and I was treated to lots of activity from a very vocal and active family of Red tailed Hawks.

Mid August morning

Mourning Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 16, 2017

Red eyed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 16, 2017

Yellow Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 16, 2017

Canada Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 16, 2017

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 16, 2017

Blue winged Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 16, 2017

Common Yellowthroat, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 16, 2017

Porcupine baby, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 16, 2017

Now that the middle of August has arrived the fall migration season will start to kick into high gear with an overall peak coming in September.  Fall migration really starts in July with shorebirds heading back south but I consider mid August the beginning of a much larger start of migration.  I started off my morning before dawn over at Winsor Dam where I had at least one Eastern Whip Poor Will calling (and a couple Great Horned Owls) before heading over to Lake Wallace.  Lots of waterfowl at Lake Wallace early on but no sign of the Marsh Wren once again (I have missed it the last couple times I have stopped here so perhaps it has moved on).  The vast majority of the morning I spent at Quabbin Park where I covered a variety of areas and had some good stuff including at least two Mourning Warblers (an adult male and a juvenile) in the same area they bred in this year.  Lots of other good birds among the nearly fifty species tallied there this morning.  In addition to the birds at Quabbin Park I had a great look at a baby Porcupine (about the size of a football) resting on a branch.  My last stop of the morning was a brief stop back at Lake Wallace but it was fairly quiet by late morning and the several large lawnmowers working the playing fields didn't help.  Overall a very productive morning for mid August...full eBird lists below:

Winsor Dam
Lake Wallace
Quabbin Park
Lake Wallace

I also got my first Common Nighthawk of the fall over the house this evening making it a two nightjar day.