End of July

House Wren with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jul 28, 2018

Marsh Wren, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 25, 2018

Green winged Teal, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 25, 2018

Green Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 25, 2018

Ruddy Turnstone, Hadley, MA, Jul 22, 2018

Red Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jul 9, 2018

Purple Finch, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 7, 2018

I ended up with a total of 143 species in Hampshire County for the month, which is way above my typical numbers the last several years (the last three years have totaled 127, 125 and 128).  The larger than typical number of species for the month was helped along by a decent fallout of shorebirds including several tough to get species around here (Ruddy Turnstone and Short billed Dowitcher) plus a new county bird for me (Sanderling)....the month produced a total of 13 shorebird species.  Lake Wallace produced a number of unusual species throughout the month including Least Bittern, Pied billed Grebe, American Coot, Marsh Wren, Green winged Teal, Sora and Northern Goshawk plus some really impressive numbers of Green Herons.  The month was very warm and humid with nine days above 90 and only one day in the entire month that it did not reach 80 degrees.

Elk, Rocky Mountain NP, CO, Jul 9, 2018

Moose, Rocky Mountain NP, CO, Jul 10, 2018

Black billed Magpie, Granby, CO, Jul 10, 2018

Western Meadowlark, Pawnee National Grasslands, CO, Jul 14, 2018

Lark Bunting, Pawnee National Grasslands, CO, Jul 14, 2018

The middle of the month featured a trip out to Colorado with visits to Rocky Mountain National Park, Pawnee National Grasslands and a few other areas near Denver.  A successful trip with eleven life birds among some 142 species in total.