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.