Mid September birding update

Yellow billed Cuckoo, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Sep 15, 2019

Eastern Wood Pewee, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Sep 15, 2019

American Redstart, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Sep 15, 2019

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 13, 2019

Song Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 13, 2019

Common Buckeye, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 13, 2019

Blue winged Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 11, 2019

Now that the middle of September has arrived I'm using the last of my vacation time to catch up on the peak of fall migration.  The last several days have featured some decent mornings as well as a few slow ones.  On the 10th I stopped on my way to work at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River and had a Mourning Warbler that tried its bets to turn itself into a Connecticut Warbler but no luck.  After work on September 11th I headed over to Arcadia where I caught up with a few notable species including a late Worm eating Warbler (a species I seldom get in the fall but several others have been reported in the area lately so it appears a number are hanging around a bit longer than usual).  This past Thursday I planned on starting my first full day of vacation exploring UMASS but when I arrived there it was already breezy and that usually means a lot less activity so I ditched that plan and instead headed Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River where I had ten species of warbler including four Tennessee Warblers plus other 'stuff'. On Friday I started off the day before dawn at Arcadia and spent about four hours exploring various parts of the sanctuary and found quite a few good birds including my first Connecticut Warbler of the year (warbler species #52 for the year for me...you can keep tabs on my warblers here.) and a Marsh Wren.  On Saturday I started off before dawn at Quabbin Park where I still had at least one Eastern Whip Poor Will.  I then headed back over to Silvio Conte where I spent a couple hours in the gloom but still managed to turn up some birds but not as many as I had hoped for.  Today dawned foggy but I thought it might still be good so I headed over to UMASS where I spent almost the entire morning.  I had a number of good sightings with a few multiple species flocks around.  Highlights included four Common Nighthawks moving southeast at around 10AM, a trilling Eastern Screech Owl, a Merlin that zipped through and almost got a goldfinch, four vireo species, at least four Wood Thrush calling early in the morning, 15 species of warblers and four Scarlet Tanagers.  Tomorrow looks to be a bit rainy at times but there should be a big influx of birds for Tuesday morning...time will tell.

Ruby throated Hummingbird, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 13, 2019

White tailed Deer, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 15, 2019

White tailed Deer, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 15, 2019

White tailed Deer, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 13, 2019

The trail cameras at home have captured White tailed Deer fairly often the last several days and have continued to capture Ruby throated Hummingbirds as they fuel up for the journey south.