September ends and October begins

Song Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 2, 2017

Swamp Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 2, 2017

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 2, 2017

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 2, 2017

Northern Cardinal, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 2, 2017

October began sunny and cool with lows in the 30's and highs in the 60's for the first couple days of the month.  On my way to work on Sunday I stopped off at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River to see what I could find before 7 AM and I was not disappointed.  Highlights included two American Woodcocks displaying predawn, a Marsh Wren, 13 species of warbler including 3 Tennessee Warbler, a Connecticut Warbler, a Cape May Warbler, a very late Yellow Warbler and a Wilson's Warbler among 40+ species.  I wish I had more time as the spot was super active and I'm sure more good stuff was around.  Full eBird list: Silvio Conte NWR 10/1

Today after work I stopped at Arcadia for about an hour and a half.  There were some very active areas as well as a few quiet ones.  The fog would lift briefly only to drop back in again until it finally burned off just as I was leaving.  A noticeable drop in the numbers of some species (warblers, buntings, etc) but an uptick in sparrows.  Nothing way out of the ordinary...full list:  Arcadia 10/2

Greater Scaup, Beaver Lake, Ware, Sep 30, 2017

I managed to find a couple new species for September on the last day of the month despite (or because) of the cool, showery weather.  The first one was a somewhat late Black bellied Plover that was flushed by a tractor at the Honey Pot.  The second was an early Greater Scaup in among some Mallards at Beaver Lake in Ware.  The new eBird app allows you to see your results for the last five years for a county, state or country for the current month and overall YTD (more bird geeking info).  My total of 155 species for September beats my previous best September set back in 2013 with 154 species.  The decent numbers of Tennessee and Connecticut Warblers continue to show quite well through the end of the month.