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.