End of August

Dawn, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Aug 30, 2018

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 26, 2018

Upland Sandpiper, Hatfield, MA, Aug 2, 2018

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 24, 2018

Snowy Egret, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 2, 2018

August has quickly come to an end as summer comes to an end.  The fall migration has been on going for weeks but will really start heating up now.  The month was warmer than average with humid and hot conditions on quite a few days.  I managed to find a total of 143 species in the county for the month which is well above average and beats my previous best August by several species.  Highlights during the month included 13 species of shorebirds including Black bellied Plover , Upland Sandpiper and Buff breasted Sandpiper, a Bonaparte's Gull at Winsor Dam, a Snowy Egret at the Holyoke Dam, a large concentration of Green Herons at Lake Wallace that topped off at 37 mid month, 20 species of warblers including a couple early Cape May Warblers and a flyover Dickcissel.

Red Foxes, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 23, 2018

Monarch Caterpillars, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 21, 2018

European Starling, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 20, 2018

Veery (juv), Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 17, 2018

The water feature continues to host a number of species with one new species (European Starling) showing up this month.  The other motion cameras also continue to catch various species moving through the yard.  The yard also played host to a large number of Monarch caterpillars that showed up on some milkweed.