October comes to an end

LeConte's Sparrow, Deerfield meadows, Deerfield, MA, Oct 14, 2019

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2019

Marsh Wren, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Carolina Wren, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 14, 2019

Bobcat looking at a Gray Squirrel, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 22, 2019

Although I didn't manage to top my record setting October from last year I nonetheless had a great month with a total of 140 species in Hampshire County and some really great birds.  The highlight of the month was a first state record of a Pacific slope Flycatcher that showed up in Hadley.  More on that saga can be found at the following link.  I also added a life bird for the month when a LeConte's Sparrow showed up in a field in Deerfield in the middle of the month.  I found a total of a dozen sparrow species and 18 species of warblers for the month.  A few other sightings for the end of the month can be found below.

Gray Catbird, Huntington Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 29, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 29, 2019

Red breasted Mergansers,Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 29, 2019

After work on Tuesday morning I headed down to the East Meadows to see if I could find the Nelson’s Sparrow that Ted had there a few days before. This time of year can be a bit dicey down there with lots of hunters around so I did a quick check on the exact area the bird had been seen but didn’t explore widely. No luck with the sparrow but the area I checked featured lots of other sparrows. I then headed across the river and back over to Huntington Road to try my luck again with the Pacific slope Flycatcher and try to get some photos of it. Although I heard it calling several times I never got a look at it.  A brief stop at Winsor Dam on my way produced two close in Red breasted Mergansers.

White throated Sparrow, Huntington Rd, Hadley, MA, Oct 30, 2019

Eastern Phoebe, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 30, 2019

Blue headed Vireo, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 30, 2019

Fox Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 30, 2019

Wednesday was another day of low clouds and occasional drizzle but I was still able to get out a bit with a morning stop at Arcadia where I had a few late species including two Eastern Phoebes, a Blue headed Vireo and a 'yellow' Palm Warbler as well as eight species of sparrows.  A quick stop in search of the flycatcher did not produce the bird but it was seen by others later in the day.

To end the month we had another rainstorm move in with strong southerly winds and heavy rain at times.  The forecast shows a big cool down coming in after the storm so I tried one last time during the morning looking in vain for the Pacific slope Flycatcher once again.  I suspect the big cool down could finally move the flycatcher along.

PACIFIC SLOPE FLYCATCHER in Hadley! A first state record!

Pacific slope Flycatcher (photo lightened up which washed out most of the yellowish tint), Hadley, MA, Oct 25, 2019

Listening for the flycatcher, Hadley, MA, Oct 25, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Oct 25, 2019

Hermit Thrush, Hadley, MA, Oct 25, 2019

After hearing from a number of expert birders who listened to the recording I obtained yesterday of the empid flycatcher found by Joe on Wednesday the consensus was that the bird was a Pacific slope Flycatcher (more about my initial interaction with the bird yesterday at the bottom of this paragraph).  This would be a first state record of the species (pending acceptance by MARC) and therefore a mega rarity to be sure.  The plan was to make it back to the location this morning with a number of other birders to try to get more audio recordings to seal the identification.  I was not intending to try for it until it warmed up a bit later in the morning but I got a text early saying the bird was back and occasionally being seen so I hustled over from the nearby Honey Pot area of Hadley.  I arrived and the bird was not in view but after a bit of exploring by a number of birders on site it was located again and gave limited and quick views and was occasionally heard calling with both weep and ting calls. I managed a few crappy shots as well as some audio of the 'ting' call. My photos are marginal at best and when lightened most of the yellowish tinge got washed out but the overall build is there.  Additional (and much better) photos as well as audio recordings obtained by others.  Once the ID was established the report was sent out to others to come and see the bird.  It is exceedingly rare to have any part in finding a new species for the Massachusetts state list out here in the valley.  Obviously the species is a new county bird for me bringing my Hampshire County list up to 296.  It was a nice collaboration of a variety of people both confirming the identification and gathering evidence for eventual acceptance to the state list.  My eBird report from the morning can be found at the following link.

Gray Catbird, Hadley, MA, Oct 24, 2019

Hermit Thrush, Hadley, MA, Oct 24, 2019

Blue headed Vireo, Hadley, MA, Oct 24, 2019

Palm Warbler, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Oct 24, 2019

Song Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Oct 24, 2019

Dawn with fog and a sliver of a moon, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Oct 24, 2019

Eastern Comma, Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Oct 24, 2019

After seeing an eBird report from Joe about a 'traill's' flycatcher in Hadley on Wednesday I immediately contacted him to see the photos as any empid flycatcher at this point is likely to be a rarity (his list here.).  Once I got a look at the photos I was certain the bird was not a 'traill's' but I was not certain what it was but I had some ideas, all of which would be rarities.  I sent the eBird list out to a number of people and the consensus was it was very interesting and might be a 'western' flycatcher (either a Pacific slope or Cordilleran Flycatcher).  This group is very difficult to tell apart and were previously considered a single species.  The only real way to determine the species is by vocalization so a silent bird is tough (or impossible) to ID.  Either species is extremely rare around here so I figured I would try for it on Thursday morning.  The morning started off very cold with temperatures around freezing so I knew the flycatcher would not be active early on.  I spent the first couple hours of the morning exploring a few areas of the Honey Pot and had a decent selection of sparrows, a late Common Yellowthroat and 40+ Yellow rumped Warblers (more on warblers for the day here).  Once the sun started warming stuff up and burned off the fog I headed over to the area in Hadley where Joe had the flycatcher and walked the relatively small area and although I turned up some good stuff including a late Blue headed Vireo, four Gray Catbirds and five Hermit Thrushes I initially found no sign of the flycatcher.  After being there almost an hour I heard a flycatcher call that sounded a lot like a Pacific slope Flycatcher.  It called twice and then stayed silent for a few minutes before it  called more distantly (which I tried to get a recording of but the results were not good).  I tried and tried to get a view of it over the next hour and the best I got was a single call and a sputtering call but otherwise the bird was silent.  I sent my recording out to a number of people and the rest is history (covered above)


****Update***  The flycatcher was seen every day since continuing through at least Tuesday the 29th.

The last few days including some waterfowl, Bonaparte's Gulls and Bobcat and Red Fox around the house

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2019

Hooded Merganser, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2019

 Rusty Blackbird, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2019

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2019

Spotted Salamander, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 23, 2019

Wilson checking out the Spotted Salamander, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 23, 2019

After some heavy rain overnight into this morning and predicted strong west and northwest winds I headed over to Winsor Dam at daybreak expecting to see loads of waterfowl.  I arrived to find almost due north winds which should have brought in loads of waterfowl but the only flyby duck was a Mallard and the only other waterfowl around were a few Common Loons and a handful of Canada Geese...very surprising and disappointing.  The highlight for the morning were three Bonaparte's Gulls flying out toward the boat launch area.  I was joined by Ted for awhile and then a whole group from the Hampshire Bird Club.  The winds then slackened off quite a bit and became calm at times, dashing any hopes of a big influx of waterfowl.  I then tried my luck within Quabbin Park and turned up some Horned Grebes at Hank's Meadow and a few species of waterfowl and shorebirds at the Route 9 marsh.  A walk with Wilson a bit later in the morning turned up a Spotted Salamander crossing the path in front of us.

Bobcat in background with Gray Squirrel next to camera, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 22, 2019

High drama in the yard yesterday...I checked the cameras today and found this among a series from yesterday morning...if you look close you can see the tail of a Gray Squirrel on the right and in the background a Bobcat....the Bobcat was not there in the first three shots that just had the squirrel and then it appeared in the next three...neither were in the next three...there ended up being a lucky squirrel or a full Bobcat!

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2019

American Pipits, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2019

Hermit Thrush, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2019

I spent the morning yesterday exploring Arcadia but didn't find anything too unusual among the nearly fifty species.  

Surf Scoters, White winged Scoter and Black Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 19, 2019

Black Scoter, White winged Scoter and Surf Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 19, 2019

Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 19, 2019

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 19, 2019

After work on a frosty Saturday morning I made a morning visit Winsor Dam and found a variety of waterfowl that had arrived overnight including a rather rare gathering of all three scoter species in a small flock plus a couple Horned Grebes and several Common Loons.  I missed seeing the three Brant that came in and made a brief landing on the water before heading off to the south after I left.  

Red Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2019

Red Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2019

The water feature camera captured a Red Fox making a couple stops on Saturday morning.

Strong nor'easter hits the area

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2019

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2019

Bonaparte's Gulls, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2019

Bonaparte's Gulls, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2019

Bonaparte's Gulls and Ring billed Gulls, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2019

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2019

A powerful nor'easter hit the area starting on Wednesday and continuing overnight into Thursday.  The storm tracked up over New England passing just east of the valley and bringing strong east to northeast winds from Wednesday day into the overnight before the winds shifted to the southwest, then west and eventually to the northwest from Thursday into Friday.  The storm was very strong with a fairly low pressure for a storm around here with a pressure in the low 970's mb.   I headed over Winsor Dam at dawn where it was still raining and very windy with the wind out of the southwest and my initial stop didn't turn up much.  I made a few more stops at the dam over the course of the morning with the best sighting being four Bonaparte's Gulls that flew in and fed over the water and briefly landed among some Ring billed Gulls.  The heavy rain shield continued just off to the west through most of the day which probably kept birds that would have used the winds to migrate past grounded or on the other side of the heavy rain.  I can bet tomorrow will be a good day for waterfowl moving on the continued strong northwest winds.  The only unusual report from inland Massachusetts I have seen so far was a Laughing Gull in Westborough (just a bit east of Worcester).

LeConte's Sparrow in Deerfield! Plus loads of Yellow rumped Warblers and sparrows at Arcadia

LeConte's Sparrow, Deerfield, MA, Oct 14, 2019

LeConte's Sparrow, Deerfield, MA, Oct 14, 2019

LeConte's Sparrow, Deerfield, MA, Oct 14, 2019

LeConte's Sparrow, Deerfield, MA, Oct 14, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 14, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 14, 2019

Savannah Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 14, 2019

After seeing a report late yesterday of a LeConte’s Sparrow in Deerfield I almost headed there first thing this morning but I figured the chances of turning up this usually rather skulking species were low. Instead I headed back to Arcadia where I stopped on my way home from work yesterday and had a lot of Yellow rumped Warblers and sparrows. I didn’t have a lot of time yesterday to check many areas at Arcadia but today I had a bit more time. I arrived to find some spotty fog but a full moon lighting up the meadows. Almost as soon as the fog burned off low clouds settled in and it stayed cloudy the remainder of the morning but the bird activity was still high. With more time this morning I was able to get a better handle on the actual numbers of Yellow rumped Warblers and sparrows and the numbers were impressive. I had at least 243 Yellow rumped Warblers with many feeding in the remains of a cornfield near the trolley line before it got mowed down at which point they flew into a hedgerow I was walking down. As the tractor cut down the corn the numbers of warblers moving about was impressive. More on warblers for the day at the following link.  Sparrows were also present in large numbers with good variety with a total of eight species and hundreds of individuals. The biggest numbers were made up of White throated, Savannah’s, Song and Swamp Sparrows. My numbers overall for the morning are quite conservative and I still didn’t come close to covering all the areas of Arcadia. After a bit over three hours at Arcadia I saw a message from James saying the LeConte’s Sparrow was still present and showing nicely. Although not a Hampshire County bird the chances of adding a life bird anywhere in western Massachusetts was worth making the trip north.  I arrived in Deerfield just a bit after ten and started checking the area and after just a relatively short time of looking the bird popped up low in a hedge along the river and gave great views and allowed for some photos...a very cooperative bird! I was super happy to find it and add a new species to my life list...#1511.